 The Akron Zips are more than happy to put the 2010 season behind them, and look forward to the 2011 season opener Saturday afternoon when they travel to Columbus to battle the Ohio State Buckeyes at high noon.
UA suffered through a 1-11 campaign and came within one game of becoming the first Akron team since 1942 to not register a victory. However a 22-14 win in the season finale over Buffalo gave Rob Ianello his first win as a head coach.
“We can’t wait to get started.” Ianello said. “We practiced hard and have prepared for the challenge in meeting Ohio State on Saturday.”
As year two of the Ianello era begins, it will commence with a new quarterback. Sophomore Clayton Moore won the job from incumbent Patrick Nicely during summer camp and will get the starting call Saturday against OSU.
Moore originally signed with Ole Miss (University of Mississippi) but then decided to play at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, where he completed 60.3 percent of his passes (155-of-257) for 2,395 yards and 23 touchdowns in leading his team to a 10-2 record and the JUCO Championship. He also was named the Mississippi Bowl Most Valuable Player.
“The main thing I do is try to be myself.” Moore said. “I think people are born leaders. I don’t think it’s something you can just go do. I wake up every day with something to prove. It just so happens some of the guys see me as a leader. At the end of the day, we’re all on the same team, fighting for that same goal.”
With graduation, the offense lost all of its skilled position firepower, so sophomore Broderick Alexander and true freshman Nick Rossi will be in the backfield behind Moore. Junior Anthony Merriweather and sophomore Keith Sconiers will start at wide receiver, with junior Rhyne Ledrach starting at tight end.
The strength on the offensive line is on the right side with seniors Jake Anderson and Zac Kasparek, while junior Adam Bice is at center.
The defense gets a new look with Kevin Cosgrove as the new defensive coordinator, taking over for Curt Mallory, who went to Michigan to be part of Brady Hoke’s staff with the Wolverines.
The defense begins with linebacker Brian Wagner. The junior has collected 242 tackles in his 24 career games wearing the Akron Blue and Gold and is considered one of the best linebackers in the MAC.
The strength of the defensive line is in a pair of seniors end: Hasan Hazime and tackle Dan Marcoux. However, look for sophomore Nico Caponi to make a name for himself this season.
The secondary is led by senior cornerback Manley Waller. The son of former Olympic Gold Medalist Gwen Torrance had 52 tackles a season ago (43 solo), along with two interceptions and five pass breakups. He will be the leader of a young secondary that includes junior Josh Richmond along with red shirt freshman L. T. Smith.
The only position that still has to be decided, according to Ianello is placekicker Junior A.J, Price and sophomore Dylan Potts were battling for the job. Ianello indicated he will not make that decision until the team is ready to leave for Columbus.
The Buckeyes, on the other hand, are glad to get the season started. The Scarlet and Gray were 12-1 a season ago, including a Sugar Bowl win over Arkansas. But that is now only in the minds of the OSU faithful as the school vacated all its wins last season due to violations of NCAA rules regarding improper benefits.
Developments eventually cost head coach Jim Tressel his job after 10 seasons, and interim head coach Luke Fickell stepped in. OSU has announced it will begin a national search for a head coach after the 2011 season.
Even without the suspended players, which include seniors Dan Herron and DeVier Posey, Ohio State in still one of the most talented teams in the country. Many of the predictions have OSU battling Wisconsin in the new Legends Division of the Big Ten Conference for a chance to play in league’s first ever championship game in Indianapolis.
One of the Buckeyes biggest questions will be at quarterback. With Terelle Pryor leaving for the NFL (selected and signed by the Oakland Raiders in the supplemental draft), fifth-year senior Joe Bauserman and freshman Braxton Miller have been battling all of summer camp. Fickell said that Bauserman would get the start against UA, but look for Miller to get some snaps as well.
Defensively the Bucks were fourth in the entire Football Bowl Subdivision, but they lost a lot to graduation. The most notable is defensive end Cameron Hayward. OSU brings back four returning starters including two seniors in end Nathan Williams and linebacker Andrew Sweat.
When asked about the Zips, Fickell said “If you look at them throughout last year, they obviously had a lot of growing. If you look at their last three games (Ball State, Miami, Buffalo) they probably performed a lot better. There is an excitement behind them. There is an excitement behind that program.”
NOTES: The game is the eighth lifetime meeting between the two schools, with Ohio State leading 6-1 (including their last meeting in 2007 in Columbus 20-2)…UA’s lone win in the series was in 1894 12-6 with the game being played at the Ohio State Fair…The win is UA’s only win against the current Big Ten schools (1-22) and Akron is the only MAC school to register a win over Ohio State…Akron has lost its last three season openers (last win in 2007 over Army at Cleveland Browns Stadium 22-14)..Akron is looking to break a 14-game road losing streak (last road win came October 18, 2009 at Eastern Michigan)…Ohio State has not lost a season opener at home since 1978 (Penn State 19-0) and are 104-12-4 in season openers…The last 20 Ohio State coaches are 19-01 in their debuts…OSU interim head coach Luke Fickell was an assistant at UA under Lee Owens in 2000-2001…The game will be nationally televised on ESPN
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