 They say that in the game of football, your most improvement as a team often comes from your first game to your second. The Akron Zips sure hope that holds true Saturday as they look for their first win under new head coach Rob Ianello.
UA gets that opportunity at noon when it squares off against the Bulldogs from Gardner Webb at InfoCision Stadium.
The Zips (0-1) lost their season opener for the fourth consecutive year last Saturday as Syracuse registered a 29-3 victory. The visitors from the Big East Conference dominated the contest in every phase of the game, and UA looks for significant improvement this week.
“We should make our most improvement from our first game to our second” Ianello said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “The good news coming out of the Syracuse game was when I looked into our players eyes after the game, and I can see the disappointment (in) how poorly they played … that game.”
To say UA play poorly is an understatement, especially on offense. The Zips did not get their initial first down of the contest until the final play of the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Zips defense forced an SU turnover on their own 18 yard line. But three incomplete passes and a five-yard illegal procedure penalty resulted in their only score in the contest - a 40-yard field goal.
The offense had just 50 yards total in the first half and finished with 166 for the game. “I thought we played much better in the second half than the first half.” Ianello said. “But we made way too many errors on offense to have a performance you can win with.”
One occasional UA bright spot in the game offensively was the running of Nate Burney. The senior from Youngstown led the UA rushing attack with 38 yards on 12 carries. Burney, a transfer from Ashland University, saw his most extensive playing time since last season’s home opener against Morgan State. “I thought he gave us a spark at times.” Ianello said.
The defense had its moments – among many opportunities. Zip defenders were on the field for 72 plays. Senior linebacker Mike Thomas led the Zips with 14 tackles (nine solo). His teammate at linebacker, sophomore Bryan Wagner, had an outstanding game with 13 tackles (eight solo). It was Wagner who forced fumble in the second quarter that led to the UA field goal. He also intercepted a pass and returned it 34 yards.
According to Ianello, big plays by Syracuse led to big problems for his squad. “I thought we played well most of the time defensively, but we gave up seven big plays for 217 yards.” Ianello said. “We gave up almost half of their yards on seven plays and that is something you have to eliminate.”
Ianello also indicated he was disappointed in his special teams after the staff put considerable time and effort into them. When asked about the third quarter field goal attempt that was blocked and returned by Syracuse for a touchdown, Ianello said “We had slow operation time. We had a low kick, and we had penetration on the left side.”
Saturday’s opponent comes from the Big South Conference. “They are a well-coached team, and they did the things in a game well that you want a team to do and win” Ianello said.
Gardner Webb enters this week’s contest coming off a 28-14 win over Division II Brevard College, who ran a option offense, throwing the football just three times.
This is the third time in the last four years that GW will be playing a Mid-American Conference opponent. The Bulldogs are 0-2, losing in 2007 at Ohio and last year at Buffalo. In addition, they have played at Mississippi State, Georgia Tech, and North Carolina State over the past three seasons.
“They will be a difficult opponent for us, and we certainly have to play better than we did last week,” Ianello said. A win would be especially good considering UA has road games at Kentucky and Indiana before the Zips return home to open MAC play October 2nd against MAC Western Division preseason favorite Northern Illinois.
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