2020 Akron Zips football team

2020 Akron Zips football
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	East Division
Record	1–5 (1–5 MAC)
Head coach	Tom Arth (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Tommy Zagorski (2nd season)
Co-offensive coordinator	Bryan Gasser (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Pro-style
Defensive coordinator	Matt Feeney (2nd season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	InfoCision Stadium–Summa Field
Seasons ←  2019 2021  →

2020 Mid-American Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 25 Buffalo xy		5	–	0					6	–	1
Kent State		3	–	1					3	–	1
Ohio		2	–	1					2	–	1
Miami (OH)		2	–	1					2	–	1
Akron		1	–	5					1	–	5
Bowling Green		0	–	5					0	–	5
West Division
No. 23 Ball State xy$		5	–	1					7	–	1
Western Michigan		4	–	2					4	–	2
Toledo		4	–	2					4	–	2
Central Michigan		3	–	3					3	–	3
Eastern Michigan		2	–	4					2	–	4
Northern Illinois		0	–	6					0	–	6
Championship: Ball State 38, Buffalo 28
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Note: Due to COVID-19, the Mid-American suspended the season on August 8, but later decided to begin play on November 4. [1] Rankings from AP Poll.

The 2020 Akron Zips football team represented the University of Akron during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Zips were led by second-year head coach Tom Arth and played their home games at InfoCision Stadium in Akron, Ohio. They competed as members of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). In their fifth game, the Zips defeated Bowling Green, 31–3, to break their 21-game losing streak dating back to the 2018 season. ^[2]

Schedule

Akron had non-conference games scheduled against Clemson, Youngstown State, New Mexico State, and UMass, which all were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[3]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 4	6:00 p.m.	Western Michigan	InfoCision Stadium Akron, OH	ESPN3	L 13–58	490
November 10	7:00 p.m.	at Ohio	Peden Stadium Athens, OH	CBSSN	L 10–24	1,182
November 17	8:00 p.m.	at Kent State	Dix Stadium Kent, OH (Wagon Wheel)	ESPN	L 35–69	0
November 28	1:00 p.m.	Miami (OH)	InfoCision Stadium Akron, OH	ESPN3	L 7–38	0
December 5	2:00 p.m.	Bowling Green	InfoCision Stadium Akron, OH	ESPN3	W 31–3	0
December 12	2:30 p.m.	at No. 24 Buffalo	UB Stadium Buffalo, NY	CBSSN	L 7–56	0
Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 24) released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

^[4]

Game summaries

vs Western Michigan

See also: 2020 Western Michigan Broncos football team

Western Michigan Broncos (0–0) vs Akron Zips (0–0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	16	14	21	7	58
Zips	7	6	0	0	13

at InfoCision Stadium–Summa Field • Akron, Ohio

• Date: November 4
• Game time: 6:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Clear skies • Temperature: 64 °F (18 °C) • Wind: N at 9 miles per hour (14 km/h)
• Game attendance: 490
• Referee: Greg Sujack
• TV announcers (ESPN3): Michael Reghi (play-by-play) and Dustin Fox (analyst)
• Box score, Recap

Game information

First quarter (10:33) WMU – Thiago Kapps 48-yard field goal (Drive: 8 plays, 24 yards, 4:27; Western Michigan 3–0) (7:32) AKR – Michael Mathison 14-yard pass from Zach Gibson, Cory Smigel kick (Drive: 6 plays, 73 yards, 2:56; Akron 7–3) (3:48) WMU – D'Wayne Eskridge 5-yard pass from Kaleb Eleby, Thiago Kapps kick (Drive: 7 plays, 60 yards, 3:33; Western Michigan 10–7) (1:52) WMU – A. J. Thomas 38-yard interception return, Thiago Kapps kick failed (Western Michigan 16–7) Second quarter (13:04) AKR – Cory Smigel 41-yard field goal (Drive: 10 plays, 51 yards, 3:48; Western Michigan 16–10) (7:33) WMU – Sean Tyler 12-yard run, Thiago Kapps kick (Drive: 10 plays, 76 yards, 5:25; Western Michigan 23–10) (3:41) AKR – Cory Smigel 28-yard field goal (Drive: 11 plays, 64 yards, 3:52; Western Michigan 23–13) (1:34) WMU – Jaylen Hall 68-yard pass from Kaleb Eleby, Thiago Kapps kick (Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards, 2:01; Western Michigan 30–13) Third quarter (13:09) WMU – D'Wayne Eskridge 76-yard pass from Kaleb Eleby, Thiago Kapps kick (Drive: 2 plays, 83 yards, 0:53; Western Michigan 37–13) (9:14) WMU – Jaxson Kincaide 14-yard run, Thiago Kapps kick (Drive: 4 plays, 53 yards, 1:23; Western Michigan 44–13) (0:32) WMU – La'Darius Jefferson 1-yard run, Thiago Kapps kick (Drive: 9 plays, 67 yards, 4:51; Western Michigan 51–13) Fourth quarter (6:14) WMU – Christian Singleton 5-yard run, Thiago Kapps kick (Drive: 4 plays, 17 yards, 2:40; Western Michigan 58–13)

Statistics	WMU	AKR
First downs	21	15
Plays–yards	58–484	64–256
Rushes–yards	39–218	32–130
Passing yards	266	126
Passing: comp–att–int	13–19–0	19–32–1
Time of possession	30:53	29:07

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Western Michigan	Passing	Kaleb Eleby	12/16, 262 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	La'Darius Jefferson	9 carries, 70 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	D'Wayne Eskridge	3 receptions, 114 yards, 2 TD
Akron	Passing	Zach Gibson	18/30, 125 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
	Rushing	Jeremiah Knight	11 carries, 74 yards
	Receiving	Michael Mathison	6 receptions, 44 yards, 1 TD

at Ohio

See also: 2020 Ohio Bobcats football team

Akron Zips (0–1) at Ohio Bobcats (0–1) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Zips	0	7	3	0	10
Bobcats	7	7	3	7	24

at Peden Stadium • Athens, Ohio

• Date: November 10
• Game time: 7:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Clear • Temperature: 68 °F (20 °C) • Wind: 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h)
• Game attendance: 1,182
• Referee: Tim O'Dey
• TV announcers (CBSSN): Dave Ryan (play-by-play) and Corey Chavous (analyst)
• Box score, Recap

Game information

First quarter (12:10) OHIO – De'Montre Tuggle 9-yard run, Tristian Vandenberg kick (Drive: 6 plays, 62 yards, 2:50; Ohio 7–0) Second quarter (12:27) OHIO – Armani Rogers 1-yard run, Tristian Vandenberg kick (Drive: 3 plays, 41 yards, 1:13; Ohio 14–0) (4:25) AKR – Nate Stewart 14-yard pass from Zach Gibson, Cory Smigel kick (Drive: 9 plays, 97 yards, 4:22; Ohio 14–7) Third quarter (9:47) AKR – Cory Smigel 35-yard field goal (Drive: 10 plays, 58 yards, 5:13; Ohio 14–10) (6:27) OHIO – Tristian Vandenberg 44-yard field goal (Drive: 7 plays, 21 yards, 3:14; Ohio 17–10) Fourth quarter (2:02) OHIO – De'Montre Tuggle 1-yard run, Jonah Fortkamp kick (Drive: 9 plays, 70 yards, 4:23; Ohio 24–10)

Statistics	AKR	OHIO
First downs	20	15
Plays–yards	72–434	50–307
Rushes–yards	42–216	33–185
Passing yards	218	122
Passing: comp–att–int	18–30–2	10–17–0
Time of possession	34:53	25:07

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Akron	Passing	Zach Gibson	18/30, 218 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Teon Dollard	22 carries, 165 yards
	Receiving	George Qualls Jr.	3 receptions, 64 yards
Ohio	Passing	Kurtis Rourke	8/14, 92 yards
	Rushing	De'Montre Tuggle	22 carries, 139 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Shane Hooks	4 receptions, 73 yards

at Kent State (Wagon Wheel)

See also: 2020 Kent State Golden Flashes football team and Wagon Wheel (trophy)

Akron Zips (0–2) at Kent State Golden Flashes (2–0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Zips	7	21	0	7	35
Golden Flashes	14	21	20	14	69

at Dix Stadium • Kent, Ohio

• Date: November 17
• Game time: 8:00 p.m. EST
• Game weather: Wintry mix • Temperature: 34 °F (1 °C) • Wind: 17 miles per hour (27 km/h)
• Game attendance: 0
• Referee: Bryan Banks
• TV announcers (ESPN): Courtney Lyle (play-by-play) and Dustin Fox (analyst)
• Box score, Recap

Game information

First quarter (12:05) KENT – Marquez Cooper 3-yard run, Matthew Trickett kick (Drive: 5 plays, 46 yards, 1:18; Kent State 7–0) (7:51) AKR – Xavior Gray 0-yard fumble return, Cory Smigel kick (Tied 7–7) (4:49) KENT – Dustin Crum 15-yard run, Matthew Trickett kick (Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 3:02; Kent State 14–7) Second quarter (10:08) AKR – Teon Dollard 28-yard run, Cory Smigel kick (Drive: 8 plays, 86 yards, 3:42; Tied 14–14) (9:56) KENT – Isaiah McKoy 75-yard pass from Dustin Crum, Matthew Trickett kick (Drive: 1 play, 75 yards, 0:12; Kent State 21–14) (9:38) AKR – Teon Dollard 59-yard run, Cory Smigel kick (Drive: 1 play, 59 yards, 0:10; Tied 21–21) (5:42) KENT – Marquez Cooper 19-yard run, Matthew Trickett kick (Drive: 9 plays, 79 yards, 3:52; Kent State 28–21) (0:58) AKR – Teon Dollard 13-yard run, Cory Smigel kick (Drive: 9 plays, 64 yards, 4:44; Tied 28–28) (0:15) KENT – Ja'Shaun Poke 11-yard pass from Dustin Crum, Matthew Trickett kick (Drive: 6 plays, 58 yards, 0:37; Kent State 35–28) Third quarter (13:08) KENT – Dustin Crum 9-yard run, Matthew Trickett kick (Drive: 7 plays, 78 yards, 1:46; Kent State 42–28) (9:14) KENT – Marquez Cooper 1-yard run, Matthew Trickett kick (Drive: 5 plays, 36 yards, 1:35; Kent State 49–28) (0:20) KENT – Bryan Bradford 13-yard pass from Dustin Crum, two-point pass failed (Drive: 12 plays, 87 yards, 4:54; Kent State 55–28) Fourth quarter (12:50) AKR – Teon Dollard 8-yard run, Cory Smigel kick (Drive: 6 plays, 61 yards, 2:23; Kent State 55–35) (10:00) KENT – Xavier Williams 49-yard run, Matthew Trickett kick (Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards, 2:50; Kent State 62–35) (2:49) KENT – Javaughn Williams 1-yard pass from Collin Schlee, Matthew Trickett kick (Drive: 7 plays, 27 yards, 4:43; Kent State 69–35)

Statistics	AKR	KENT
First downs	21	37
Plays–yards	56–366	78–750
Rushes–yards	41–212	51–390
Passing yards	154	360
Passing: comp–att–int	9–15–1	24–27–0
Time of possession	29:21	30:39

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Akron	Passing	Zach Gibson	9/15, 154 yards, 1 INT
	Rushing	Teon Dollard	28 carries, 202 yards, 4 TD
	Receiving	Nate Stewart	2 receptions, 68 yards
Kent State	Passing	Dustin Crum	22/25, 348 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Marquez Cooper	14 carries, 107 yards, 3 TD
	Receiving	Isaiah McKoy	6 receptions, 140 yards, 1 TD

vs Miami (OH)

See also: 2020 Miami RedHawks football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
RedHawks	7	17	7	7	38
Zips	0	0	0	7	7

vs Bowling Green

See also: 2020 Bowling Green Falcons football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Falcons	3	0	0	0	3
Zips	3	14	7	7	31

at No. 24 Buffalo

See also: 2020 Buffalo Bulls football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Zips	0	0	0	7	7
No. 24 Bulls	14	21	14	7	56

Roster

2020 Akron Zips football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB 34 Jaylen Ball Fr OL 66 Ryan Beckman  Fr WR 30 Gavin Blunt  So TE 25 Tristian Brank Fr RB 36 Michiah Burton So OL 74 Ronan Chambers Fr RB 26 Isiah Childs Fr OL 75 Jordan Daniels  Fr QB 12 T. J. DeShields  So RB 7 Teon Dollard Jr TE 83 Nick Dottore Fr OL 62 Vincent Fonte Jr.  So OL 79 Joe Gavriloff Fr OL 65 Tony Georges Fr RB 20 Cole Gest  Sr QB 15 Zach Gibson  Fr OL 77 Xavior Gray  Fr WR 16 Tony Grimes Jr. Fr QB 9 Brayden Hawkins  So OL 70 Caleb Herring  Fr WR 48 Blake Hester Fr WR 0 Julian Hicks  Jr RB 27 Jamason Jodway Fr WR 31 Ethan Johnson  Fr WR 11 Jalen Knight  Fr WR 5 Jeremiah Knight  Jr WR 37 Nolan Labuda Fr TE 85 Zackary Leininger  Jr QB 14 Joey Marousek Fr WR 3 Michael Mathison So OL 71 Shawn Muldowney II  Jr OL 73 Owen Murphy  Fr WR 81 Shawn Naim  Fr QB 1 Kato Nelson  Sr RB 6 Jonzell Norrils Fr OL 53 Bryce Petersen Sr WR 21 Bryce Profitt Fr WR 4 George Qualls Jr.  Jr OL 63 Alex Robarge  Fr WR 88 Timothy Scippio Jr TE 80 Jacob Shaffer  Fr TE 84 Kenyon Sholty  Fr WR 35 Nathan Simon Fr WR 2 Nate Stewart  Sr WR 13 Kevin Walls  Fr WR 86 Marquis Whitmire  Jr OL 76 Nate Williams Fr WR 82 Jameel Williamson Fr TE 24 Maverick Wolfley  So TE 87 Brycen Yarmo  So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 48 Kavari Adams  So DL 68 Deacon Allen Fr DB 12 Charles Amankwaa  So LB 27 Bubba Arslanian  Jr LB 59 Beau Bachie Fr DL 99 Eric Bentley  So LB 22 Brandon Bischof Jr LB 40 Kyle Bischof Fr OLB 55 Collier Brown Fr CB 1 Randy Cochran Jr. So S 44 Sean Conroy  So LB 21 Reggie Corner Jr.  So S 24 Adetutu Daranijo So LB 52 Zach DiLauro  So LB 58 Marco Donatelli  Fr ATH 34 Tyson Durant Fr S 32 Owen Faulkner Fr CB 28 A. J. Felton  So LB 57 Connor Francz Fr LB 3 DeMarkus Glover  Sr S 4 Woobendy Guerrier  Jr DL 96 Darrius Harris  Jr DL 14 Julius Hawkins Fr DL 67 Logan Hawkins  So S 19 MyJaden Horton Fr DL 90 Angelo Howze  Jr CB 23 Ronald Jackson Jr. Fr LB 17 Juan Jarrett Fr S 39 DiMarco Johnson Fr S 8 Jaylen Kelly-Powell  Sr OLB 10 Quevan Lawson  Fr LB 50 Kendal Marshall Fr OLB 53 Nicholas Mayle Fr OLB 45 Ryan McClain Jr LB 56 Jake Miller Fr DL 94 John Mitchell Sr DL 69 Eseosa Obas  Fr CB 13 Chu Ogbonna  Jr CB 42 Gamari Peterson Fr DL 64 Kirk Popelas  Fr OLB 60 Dean Ramicone  Sr DL 61 Ed Reely Fr OLB 7 Julian Richardson So CB 6 Jordyn Riley  Jr S 38 Joseph Sarpong  Fr OLB 5 Michael Scott  Jr DL 95 Brendan Smith  Fr LB 20 Michael Snowden Fr DL 11 Nazir Sy  So S 43 Tobias Thomas Pitts Fr S 2 Corey Thomas Jr.  Fr DL 97 Janirr Wade Fr CB 18 A. J. Watts So LB 9 Demetrick Watts  Sr DL 0 Bryce Wilson So CB 29 Quentin Woodall  So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class LS 65 Kyle Bauman  So PK 47 Jerry Fitschen  Sr LS 54 Cameron Lyons  Jr P 42 Kyle Romenick  Fr PK 46 Ethan Slike  So PK 41 Cory Smigel  So	Head coach Tom Arth Coordinators/assistant coaches Matt Feeney – Defensive coordinator/safeties Bryan Gasser – Co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers Tommy Zagorski – Offensive coordinator/offensive line Brian Cochran – Defensive line Chris Cook – Tight ends/offensive tackles Jayden Everett – Running backs Deonte Gibson – Outside linebackers/defensive ends Chris Hurd – Special teams coordinator Jamael Lett – Secondary Oscar Rodriguez Jr. – Inside linebackers Ben Murphy – Director of football perations Alex Kline – Director of player personnel Deonte Mack – Director of athletic performance/strength & conditioning Rich Worsell – Director of football research & analytics Claire Crosby – Assistant director of football operations Conner Bogard – Defensive quality control Tony Caljean – Special teams quality control Devin Jordan – Offensive quality control Greg Wood – Special teams quality control Anthony Cicione – Graduate assistant (defense) Sam Kukura – Graduate assistant (offense) LaTroy Lewis – Graduate assistant (defense) Ray Brewster – Football assistant Jake Schaefer – Football assistant Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

References

1. Wells, Adam (September 25, 2020). "MAC Approves 6-Game College Football Schedule Beginning November 4". Bleacher Report. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
2. Justice, Camryn (December 5, 2020). "Akron Zips snap 21-game losing streak with big win over Bowling Green Falcons". News 5 Cleveland. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
3. "ACC Announces Plans for Football and Fall Olympic Sports". TheACC.com. July 29, 2020. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
4. "2020 Akron Football Schedule". University of Akron. Retrieved December 5, 2020.