by The University of Akron Zips are looking to get their long-awaited revenge against the Colgate University Raiders on Saturday night at 6PM EST. It was a historic night in Hamilton, NY on September 28th, 1940, when the Colgate, then Red Raiders, defeated the Akron Zippers 44-0. That is marked as the only official matchup between the two squads.
Akron Zips
Despite missing most of the Zips’ Week 1 loss to Ohio State due to a shoulder injury, redshirt Junior QB Ben Finley is looking to lead Akron to their first victory of the early season. Finley has had a rough start to the campaign as he has thrown for just 191 yards and 1 touchdown. The 1 touchdown came in last week’s 49-17 loss to Rutgers.
The Zips may look to their run game more often than not as RB Jordon Simmons has looked good on the ground early in the season. The redshirt Junior is averaging just shy of 7 yards per carry as he has run the ball for 111 yards and 1 touchdown. It is difficult to gague how well the Akron defense can play this year as they have endured two difficult opponents to open their season.
Coach Joe Moorhead and the Zips will look to pick up some momentum this week as conference play begins in just 2 weeks.
Colgate Raiders
The Colgate Raiders of the Patriot League Conference in the FCS, come into play with a 0-2 record. Following losses to the University of Maine and Villanova University, the Raiders are looking to get into the win column. The Raiders will be led out by their Senior Quarterback Michael Brescia. Brescia, the 2021 Patriot League Rookie of the Year, is leading Colgate in both passing and rushing yards as a dual-threat QB.
For the Colgate offense to get much of anything going, Brescia must be on his game. In their 17-14 loss to Maine, he was 17-27 passing for 174 yards compared to just 16-32 for 140 yards in the Raiders’ 28-3 loss to Villanova.
Prediction
Look for Akron to come out of the gates early and keep their foot on the gas. The experts in Vegas have favored the Akron Zips at (-14.5). If you are into betting, I would put my money on the Zips to cover the spread and take care of business at InfoCision Stadium on Saturday night.
