The Defenses Shine

It was a perfect warm and sunny day for some MAC football. The Zips and Bulls faced off in a very defensive game that sent them to overtime here at Infocision Stadium. Quarterback DJ Irons went to the medical tent late in the 4th quarter after giving up a fumble and did not return. DJ’s ability to run with his speed makes him a dangerous double threat that head coach Joe Moorhead revolves his offense around.  If I were Kent State I’d be scared about losing that Wagon Wheel because Akron looks good. Coming off an overtime loss to Indiana on the road Akron had a heartbreaking loss in overtime to a blocked field goal with a final score of 13-10. The Zips offense was running unique QB draw RPO plays that you don’t see every day. This just shows how much faith coach Moorhead has in DJ Irons and his abilities.

First Half

It was a slow start to the game but led to back-to-back long drives by both teams. Akron went 97 yards in 5:42 resulting in a touchdown thrown by DJ Irons. Buffalo responded with an 18-play drive that went 79 yards eating up just over 9 minutes of the clock resulting in a touchdown thrown by  Cole Snyder. Akron’s defense was aggressive putting the pressure on Cole Snyder sacking him 3 times in the 1st half. Adding onto the struggle, Buffalo had some penalty killers that made it hard to move the chains but the defense held up going into the half down 10-7.

Second Half

Buffalo’s defense needed to keep it up and lock in on containing DJ Irons. In the 2nd half, Buffalo’s defense held the Zips to no points and 4 punts. The Bulls opened up the 4th quarter stuck on their own 1-yard line but Cole Snyder stepped up and threw a dot for 29 yards on 3rd down to give the offense some room to operate. Throughout the 2nd half, Buffalo’s defense continued to shine with a key fumble recovery with 5:47 left in the 4th quarter. The offense took this opportunity to grab the lead but couldn’t capitalize. Buffalo went for it on 4th down but just fell short. DJ Irons exited the game limping off the field after his fumble and was in the medical tent for the remainder of the game. The Bulls got the ball back on their own 27 with 1:15 left to go but the Zips defense had Irons back and held Buffalo on their game-winning drive.

Overtime

Akron won the coin toss and elected to go on defense first. It was a 3 and out, holding Buffalo to a field goal. Now it was time for Akron to win the game with a touchdown but got sacked deep on 2nd down. Akron then attempted a field goal to tie the game but got blocked! Buffalo’s defense won them the game by limiting DJ Irons but the injury to DJ felt like Akron lost hope towards the end.

Stats

Akron (1-4 and 0-1 in conference)

QB: DJ Irons went 19/26 throwing for 136 yards and 1 touchdown

(He also had 16 carries for 77 yards and a fumble)

RB: Lorenzo Lingard ran 8 times for 46 yards

WR: Myles Walker had 4 receptions for 46 yards

Defensive Standouts: Bryan McCoy who had 14 total tackles and CJ Nunnally IV had 3 sacks on the day

Buffalo (1-4 and 1-0 in conference)

QB: Cole Snyder went 19/34 throwing for 142 yards and 1 touchdown

RB: Ron Cook Jr. ran 17 times for 62 yards

WR: Chance Morrow had 2 receptions for 45 yards

Defensive Standout: Devin Grant had 11 total tackles and Red Murdock had 2 sacks