 AKRON, OH – In the week prior to the season opener with Syracuse, first-year Akron Zips head coach Rob Ianello talked about perception - the perception being that this week’s visitors from the Big East Conference would come into InfoCision Stadium and were somehow destined to win. Perception, he said, isn’t reality.
Reality always arrives, however, when the clock hits 0:00, and the reality of Saturday evening’s action before 15,969 fans at InfoCision Stadium was a 29-3 Syracuse route that spoiled Ianello’s first game as a collegiate head coach.
Syracuse (1-0) simply dominated Akron in every phase of the game as the Orange accumulated 431 yards of total offense. The visitors ran 72 plays while winning their season opener for the first time since 2003 when they won at North Carolina in triple overtime 49-47.
“I knew we were ready to play” SU head coach Doug Marrone said after the game. “I like this team, but we have to start learning how to win.” In Marrone’s first season the Orange went 4-8 and Syracuse has not had a winning season since 2001, when they went 10-3.
Akron (0-1) lost its season opener for the third consecutive year and has just one lid- lifting victory since 1990. The offense managed just 166 yards over the course of the contest. The Zips had 10 penalties in the game for 82 yards and converted just 4-of-17 on third down conversions. One bright spot was that UA did not turn the ball over, while the defense forced three.
(I’m) “Bitterly disappointed in the outcome of the game” Ianello said afterwards. “We didn’t really do the things a good football team should do. I thought our effort was good, but our execution suffered greatly.”
The visitors from central New York came out strong as they took the opening possession of the contest and went 69 yards in 11 plays, capped when quarterback Ryan Nassib connected with senior tight end Aaron Weaver over the middle on a 23-yard play.
Nassib, a junior in his first collegiate start, connected on 17-of-27 passes for 229 yards and two touchdowns. He also added 58 yards rushing, 45 of those coming on a bootleg in the fourth quarter.
SU added a field goal at the start of the second quarter. Taking possession after a Zips punt, they drove the ball from their own 30-yard line to the Akron 30 where the drive stalled. Place kicker Ross Krautman came on and connected on a 47-yard field goal to make the score 10-0.
While the Orange had little trouble moving the football, Akron could not get the offensive engine going. UA did not record a first down until the final play of the first quarter.
The Zips defense kept them in the game and, late in the second quarter, forced a key turnover. On a third down and six from their own 40 yard line, Nassib was flushed out of the pocket. He was hit by sophomore linebacker Brian Wagne, forcing a fumble that Shawn Lemon recovered on the Syracuse 18.
With the ball in prime scoring territory, the Zips squandered their best opportunity to score a touchdown as they had three incomplete passes and a five-yard procedure penalty. Place kicker Igor Ivalijic came on and connected on a 40-yard field goal to make it a 10-3 game.
After the kickoff, Syracuse moved the ball crisply down the field going 65 yards in just six plays for a score. Nassib threw his second touchdown pass of the half, a 26-yarder to junior wide receiver Van Chew, to make give the visitors a 17-3 advantage at halftime.
The score reflected the dominance of Syracuse in the first 30 minutes as it ran 46 plays and gained 260 yards. Akron managed just 48 yards on 23 plays, just two first downs and did not convert a third down in six tries.
SU had a chance to effectively put the game away early in the third quarter as the Orange took advantage of a short Akron punt, gaining possession at the Zips 49 yard line. But after, Syracuse moved the ball to the 22, Wagner intercepted a Nassib pass on a third down and returned the ball to the 42.
The 34 yard interception return by Wagner was more yards than the UA offense (33 yards) had at the time.
Again the Zips could not move the ball offensively and punted back to the Orange.
Akron finally got a sustained offensive drive when they took possession on a punt at their own 20. They moved the ball to the Syracuse 23, with the big play being a 25-yard run by senior running back Alex Allen.
When the Zips failed to convert a third down and two from the 23, Ianello brought out Ivelijic and the field goal unit for a 40-yard attempt. The kick was blocked by Chandler Jones and recovered by Mike Holmes, who returned the ball 57 yards for a touchdown to make the score 23-3 and effectively put the game out of reach.
“Something hit my elbow” Jones said. “I didn’t know what it was at first but then I knew it was the football.”
“I felt at that time (we could) make it 17-6 and give ourselves chance in the third quarter, Ianello said. It would have been a two score game at the time.”
The visitors ended the scoring in the fourth quarter when senior running back Delone Carter capped an 80-yard nine-play drive with a one-yard touchdown plunge to make the final score 29-3.
Carter, who led all rushers in the game with 91 yards on 26 carries and a score, had a career best 170 yards and three touchdowns last year when the Orange defeated the Zips 28-14 at the Carrier Dome. Carter played his High School football not far away from the UA campus at Copley High School.
For UA, sophomore quarterback Patrick Nicely could not get into a rhythm and was just 12-of-35 passing for 111 yards. He was sacked three times. Senior running back Nate Burney led the rushing attack with 38 yards on 12 carrie,s while Jeremy LaFrance, the Zips leading receiver a year ago had seven catches for 75 yards.
“We got a chance to see where we are at.” Ianello said. “You ought to make your most improvement as a team from your first game to your second.”
Akron looks for that improvemen,t as well as their first victory of 2010, next Saturday as UA hosts the Gardner Webb Bulldogs (Big South Conference-FCS) in a noon kickoff. Syracuse heads to Washington to face the Huskies.
GAME BALLS:
OFFENSE: RYAN NASSIB-SYRACUSE. The junior quarterback from West Chester, Pennsylvania in his first collegiate start connected on 17-of-27 passes for 229 yards and two first half touchdowns a 23 yarder to Aaron Weaver to open the scoring and a 26-yarder to Van Chew right at the end of the half to make the score 24-3 at halftime.
DEFENSE: BRIAN WAGNER-AKRON. The sophomore linebacker from Springfield, Ohio had 14 tackles in the game (eight solo). He also was involved in two of the three turnovers the Zips forced - the hit on Nassib causing the fumble in the second quarter and his 34-yard interception return in the third quarter
SPECIAL TEAMS: CHANDLER JONES & MIKE HOLMES-SYRACUSE. In the third quarter Jones, a junior from Endicott, New York, blocked a 40- yard field goal attempt by the Zips Igor Iveljic and Holmes, the senior from Jacksonville, Florida returned it 57 yards for a touchdown to make the score 23-3.
NOTES: This is the third lifetime meeting between the two schools with the Orange winning the last two (Akron won 42-28 in 2008)…Akron is 3-14 lifetime against the Big East Conference…First time Akron has opened the season at home since 2003 (Kent State at the Rubber Bowl 41-38 L)….Akron is now 3-5 lifetime at InfoCision Stadium…Syracuse is the seventh different opponent and first Big East team to face the Zips in the facility that opened last year…SU is 77-40-4 in season openers and 47-36-1 lifetime against the Mid-American Conference..Former Syracuse running back and 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame Inductee Floyd Little was in attendance
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