[joepa66]

4) AKRON - The Zips will lean heavily on their defense this year with just 5 offensive starters returning from last season's 5-7/3-5 team. That's alot of pressure for a scoring defense ranked 9th (23.4ppg) in the conference and 6th in total defense @ 323.2ypg, but a must since the Zips lost QB Luke Getsy who threw for 2662 of his team's 3725 total yards has graduated. And, UA will run an early gauntlet playing Army in Cleveland, then travel to Ohio State & Indiana, come home to arch-rival and MAC East favorite Kent State, and then go on the road to Storrs, CT to face UConn before getting a double dose of "breathers" versus Temple and Buffalo.
The good news on offense is that RB Dennis Kennedy, a bruiser who gained 999 yards and scored 9 TDs is back in the fold along with WR Jabari Arthur who caught 45 passes for 730 yards. Arthur came back despite being a 1st round pick in the CFL by the Calgary Stampede as the 6th overall pick. The problem is...who will get Arthur the ball, and is there enough blocking up front to spring Kennedy since they lost both starting guards, their center, left tackle, QB, and WR David Harvey who had 10 TDs and 914 yards in receptions. Arthur will have lots of company downfield since Harvey is not around to draw any attention.
Coach JD Brookhart is also looking for help in the kicking game. Last year the Zips were just 6/14 on field goals, made 22/28 PATs, and averaged 36.7 yards per punt. He has assumed control of the special teams and visited with a former KC Chiefs special teams coach in the off season looking for help. The Zips will also need to improve on their status as the MAC's most penalized team with an average of 9.3 flags per game for 74 yards....boy that probably killed many an Akron drive and extended a few of their opponents. But the Zips return their top 6 tacklers and has 5 seniors returning in the secondary. Middle of the game lapses also hurt them last year as they were outscored 177-107 in middle two quarter of games.