Kent State looks to continue mastery of rival Akron: Five talking points
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
It goes without saying, but let’s say it anyway.
The Kent State football team will face a must-win situation on Saturday, when arch-rival Akron rolls into Dix Stadium to compete for the coveted Wagon Wheel trophy. Kickoff is set for noon.
After starting the season 2-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play, the Golden Flashes must defeat the Zips (1-6, 0-3) to keep their dreams of repeating as Mid-American Conference East Division champions alive. They must win to maintain realistic hopes of ultimately earning a bowl bid, and to increase their school-record home winning streak to 12 games.
Most importantly, Kent State must win on Saturday simply because the opponent is Akron. The Flashes have trounced the Zips by a combined count of 133-38 over the past three years, and shutout ‘The School Down The Road’ for the first time since 1949 last fall (38-0).
Dominating Akron is a pillar of the program fifth-year head coach Sean Lewis is building at Kent State.
“Back in 2019 there was only one person in our organization who had ever touched the Wheel,” said Lewis. “Now we’ve made it a point that no one takes this for granted. The Wheel just doesn't hang in our locker room. At noon that thing’s going to get put down in neutral territory, and until that final whistle blows it's up for grabs. With everything we do this week with preparation we have to have a sense of urgency, especially with this game. We can’t take anything for granted. We can’t cheat that day-to-day process in any sort of sense. Everybody has to fight and claw and do a little extra this week to make sure that thing is back in our locker room when all is said and done.”
Here are five talking points heading into Saturday’s backyard battle in Kent.
Sean Lewis faces new Akron leader, Joe Moorhead
Lewis had his way with former Zips head coach Tom Arth, winning all three head-to-head matchups with ease. On Saturday he’ll face a new Akron leader in Joe Moorhead, whose football background is all tied to offense just like Lewis.
Moorhead left a job as offensive coordinator at Oregon that paid him $1.1 million annually to take over the Zips, who have not had a winning season since 2015. Lewis obviously respects Moorhead, who won 52 games in six seasons as a head coach at Fordham and Mississippi State and was highly successful leading offenses at Oregon and Penn State.
Moorhead has actually implemented the same basic philosophies Lewis has used to invigorate Kent State’s offensive attack at Akron. The Zips like to play up-tempo football and let their quarterback, junior DJ Irons, make decisions and plays often times on the fly.
Lewis has the more successful and stable program at the moment, and knows he needs to take advantage of that on Saturday.
“There’s a lot on the line. There's a new staff over there that’s taking the rivalry the right way,” said Lewis. “This is not a normal week. This one’s different. This one’s important for Kent State, important for all of Northeast Ohio.”
What's different about the Zips?
Moorhead has initiated dramatic changes in Akron’s program since taking over in early December of 2021. Those moves haven’t produced instant results in the win column, but they have made the Zips a much more competitive and dangerous foe than they’ve been in recent years.
“They've got a lot of new people,” said Lewis. “They hit the transfer portal hard. Their defensive front across the board is a transfer from Buffalo, transfer from Wyoming, and transfer from Syracuse to go along with another transfer from Syracuse that they had last year. The two starting safeties, one’s a transfer from Duke and one’s a transfer from West Virginia. Their top two wide receivers, one’s a transfer from Penn State and one’s a transfer from Pitt.”
Akron has also scrapped the conservative style of play preferred by former head coach Arth.
“Schematically they’re a little bit different,” said Lewis. “They’re more multiple defensively than what they’ve been in years past. Their D-line is very active. We’re going to see a lot of different structures from them. They want to come up and press you and challenge you on the edge. They’re a little bit more wide open offensively than they’ve been in the past. They’re playing through their quarterback, who is doing a good job and getting a level of comfort with how they’ve grown and how they’ve adapted to him and his skill set. They’re throwing it around the yard, and when that doesn’t work he’s able to extend plays with his feet.
“They’re growing confidence. They're in ballgames. If not for a miscue at the end last week against Central Michigan it’s 21-21. They’re learning how to compete. I know we’re going to get their best shot as they come in here. We're ready for it, welcoming it. Let's do it.”
Quarterback battle: Collin Schlee of Kent State vs. DJ Irons of Akron
Two dangerous dual-threat quarterbacks will square off on Saturday.
Kent State first-year starter Collin Schlee has been brilliant at times while also struggling through stretches during the first seven games of the 2022 season. He ranks third in the MAC in total offense (269.6 yards per game) and has accounted for 11 touchdowns, but is completing just under 60% of his passes. That number is significantly higher when the Flashes offense is clicking, with an effective ground game and deep passing threat opening things up for high-percentage underneath routes.
“[Schlee] is a first-year starter. There are going to be some growing pains,” said Lewis. “He grows and gets better week in and week out. There are things that he continues to stack and build upon, and things that he’s got to continue to get more and more pictures with so he knows exactly where the answers are and he can think fast, know fast, do fast and play confidently within the system. That’s where he’s going to grow and flourish, when he knows where his answers are and he’s able to operate and get to them consistently.”
Irons, who stands 6-foot-6, made some noise last year while starting three games before dealing with injury issues and has taken his play to another level this season. He ranks second in the MAC in total offense (286.1 ypg), and is completing 66.4% of his passes with seven touchdowns and three interceptions while also leading the Zips in rushing with 187 yards.
Kent State’s defense has faced similar dual-threat signal-callers in virtually every game this season. In the past two games, both losses, Miami’s Aveon Smith and Toledo’s Dequan Finn have succeeded on a combined 69.4% of their attempts and averaged 17.7 yards per completed pass while adding 158 yards rushing on just 24 attempts.
“Another talented dual-threat kid who is able to hurt you with his arm and feet,” said Lewis of Irons. “We've got to do a great job containing him. It's a challenge that we need to rise up to, which we haven’t done consistently enough the past couple of weeks. We’ve got to do a great job containing him with our front, keeping eyes on him, then getting multiple hats to bring him to the ground.”
While focused on Irons, the Flashes can't let a struggling Zips rushing attack that's only eclipsed 100 yards once this season find its footing. Kent State has given up well over 200 yards on the ground in three of its last four games, all losses.
Injuries piling up for Kent State
After playing No. 1 Georgia tough in the final game of September, the Flashes seemed to have emerged from the most brutal non-conference schedule imaginable – at Washington, at Oklahoma at Georgia – in relatively solid shape both physically and mentally.
But that September grind has taken its toll on Kent State.
The Flashes lost their best linebacker, grad student Khalib Johns, to a season-ending knee injury against the Bulldogs. The wear and tear from September likely played a role in the loss of several other key defensive players to injury since the season began. Opening game starters who have missed action this season include cornerback Capone Blue, linemen Saivon Taylor-Davis and CJ West, linebacker Marvin Pierre, and safeties Antwaine Richardson and JoJo Evans – along with key subs CJ Harris (linebacker), Shane Slattery (linebacker) and Matt Harmon (end) among others.
These injuries have obviously played a role on the defense’s inability to build upon promising early-season performances. But Lewis knows the Zips certainly aren’t going to feel sorry for the Flashes on Saturday, so other players simply must step up.
“Nobody wants to hear the excuses. It is what it is,” said Lewis. “I feel for the guys that can’t play. But at the end of the day, at the end of this week, the Wheel needs to come home. Point blank, period. That goal ain’t changing. We've got to earn everything that we get, and what we’ve been doing hasn’t been enough the past couple weeks so we’ve all got to be better within the organization so we can earn the right to bring the Wheel back to our locker room this week.
“We've got a lot of great kids and great coaches who are going to work really hard this week so we can keep our Wheel at home and keep our home winning streak intact.”
Cleanup required in all three phases for Kent State
Since MAC play began, mistakes have kept the Flashes from reaching their full potential in all three phases of the game.
Offensively, Kent State has been unable to get its rushing and passing attacks going together for any extended period of time due to penalties, turnovers, missed opportunities on deep balls, and other untimely breakdowns.
“When you have balance because you’re able to go create a rush attack early, and you’re able to generate those 1-on-1s [for receivers] because teams have to load up the box to stop your run, you're successful,” said Lewis. “We’ve got to show that we’re willing and able to throw them out of that heavy box so we can get back to our run game, and have the complimentary back and forth of our run and pass offensive attack.”
Defensively, big plays have plagued the Flashes. Last week Finn threw six touchdown passes, with four of them covering 27 yards or more, and he also scored on a 27-yard run.
“Our guys are in good position,” said Lewis, when asked specifically about the deep balls given up against Finn. “We’re going to work with the guys to track, lean and locate the ball and make a play. Obviously that’s a skill we need to refine."
Penalties have also been an issue on special teams along with sophomore kicker Andrew Glass, who has made just 3-of-7 field goals in MAC play.
If the Flashes play relatively clean football on Saturday, they will be extremely difficult for the struggling Zips to beat. But if Kent State stumbles, and Akron can gain some confidence by taking advantage of mistakes, the home team could be in for a dogfight at Dix Stadium.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Kent State football hosts rival Akron: Five talking points
