Game Day Information
Date: November 15, 1997
Site: Toledo, Ohio
Stadium: Glass Bowl (26,248)
Kickoff: 1:00 ET
Team Records: UA is 2-8, 2-5 in the MAC; Kent is 8-1 (6-1 MAC).
Radio: Akron's broadcast will originate on WHLO-AM (640) and WTIG-AM (990).
Toledo's broadcast will originate on WSPD-AM (1370).
TV: UA highlights will be replayed November 17 as part of Zips Monday Night
Football on WAKC-TV Channel 23 at 8 p.m.
Series: 7-5, Akron
The Akron Zips were determined to establish themselves as a physical, running football team in 1997.
And while their schedule may have been somewhat prohibitive, now with 10 games complete, the Zips have achieved an identity. Akron ranks second in the Mid-American Conference in rushing offense at 224.9 yards per game.
Coach Lee Owens' ballclub has a final opportunity "to take this show on the road," playing at MAC West Division champ Toledo this Saturday at 1 o'clock in the Glass Bowl.
The Zips have been gangbusters at home, demolishing Kent (45-35) and Central Michigan (53-14) and dropping close games to Bowling Green (31-28) and Ohio (21-17). On the other hand, Akron is 0-6 on the road, with a 31-14 loss at Ball State being the closest game.
The Rockets, ranked 18th in last week's AP Top 25 poll, lost a 35-3 shocker at Ball State on Saturday. UT already had locked up the West Division title and a berth in the MAC Championship Game on December 5 in Huntington, W. Va. Toledo gets the winner of this week's Ohio-Marshall showdown for the East Division laurels.
"Toledo has the most diverse offense we've seen," says Owens. "They have the best balanced attack, being able to run the ball with (Dwayne) Harris and throw the ball with (Chris) Wallace."
For the Zips, No. 1 tailback Mike Lagasse (Hudson) will be sidelined Saturday with the aftereffects of a concussion sustained against Eastern Michigan (Oct. 18). Understudy Greg Lomax (Monongahela, Pa.) ripped off a 173-yard rushing game vs. Kent.
QUOTABLE: "Rich (Reliford) has played extremely well. Dwight (Smith) has an unlimited amount of ability and it's going to be tough to keep him off the field (next year)." -- Lee Owens after taliking about his two true freshman defensive backs.
SERIES: Zips lead the all-time series 7-5, but have only won once since a 13-7 victory in 1938. UT has won three straight MAC battles following a 23-20 setback to Akron in 1992. The two teams did not play in 1993.
LAST MEETING: September 14, 1996 at the Akron Rubber Bowl. After a toe-to-toe battle with 15th-ranked Virginia Tech, unfortunately the Zips of old reappeared against defending MAC champion Toledo -- minus tailback Wasean Tait -- and the Rockets cruised to a 27-10 win at the Rubber Bowl.
Tied a 3-all after one stanza, UT's Rasche Sumpter bolted 46 yards for a touchdown with an errant Willie Spencer toss. On the Zips' next series, Mark Herron picked off Mike Junko and brought it back to the UA 4, setting up Lem Reynolds' scoring run on the next play, making it 17-3 Toledo.
Junko heaved a 28-yard TD strike to Matt Thiry (his first career scoring grab, after 43 career receptions) with 7:29 to play and pulled the Zips to within 20-10. Toledo answered with its first sustained touchdown drive of the game, going 80 yards on 10 plays to ice it.
UA tight end Scott Francis suffered a season-ending knee injury after making a 27-yard grab in the third quarter. Free safety Andre McCray played big for the Zips with five bone-crunching tackles. True freshman LB Brad King, playing in place of injured Nate Johnson, registered six stops, including a sack of elusive UT quarterback Ryan Huzjak. Jamie Stidham's 48-yard field goal proved to be a season long.
AKRON'S MAC AWARD NOMINEES FOR NOVEMBER 8: Junior tailback Greg Lomax (Monongahela, Pa./Ringgold) is the Zips' Offensive Player of the Week. Lomax accumulated 218 all-purpose running yards on 20 touches, including a career-high 173 rushing yards and three TDs on 18 tries. Lomax popped an 87-yard scoring run (fifth longest in UA history) on the first scrimmage play of the third quarter.
Freshman cornerback Rich Reliford (Bolingbrook, Ill.) is the Zips' Defensive Player of the Week. Reliford registered four tackles, two pass breakups and one interception in helping the Zips slow Kent's vaunted air attack. He also returned two punts for 10 yards.
MEDICAL UPDATE: Sophomore tailback Mike Lagasse (Hudson) continues to feel the aftereffects of a concussion suffered at Eastern Michigan (Oct. 18) and will not dress for Toledo.
Sophomore strong safety Julius Lancaster (Canton) did not dress for Kent and is questionable for Saturday. He has had some problems with recurring "stingers" in his shoulder.
Sophomore fullback Tyrone Ryan (Wexford, Pa.) will undergo knee surgery in December and is out.
Junior LB Eric Small (Akron) separated his right shoulder at Eastern Michigan and has missed the last three games, but could return for Toledo.
Sophomore QB Greg Gromek (Chesterland) tore the ACL in his left knee (Oct. 11 at Marshall) and is lost for the rest of the season. He underwent surgery last week.
Redshirt freshman guard Chad Smith (Canton) has missed the last eight games with a shoulder strain.
HITTING THE BOOKS: Eight Zips have been nominated for the Academic All-MAC team -- OG Dan Wessman (Mayfield Heights), QB Greg Gromek (Chesterland), P Mike Hayes (Elyria), LB Bill Burke (Lancaster), C Bill Hildebrand (Louisville), TE Chad Zgonc (Mentor), WR Gregg Peugeot (Sandusky) and OL-KS Brock Knisely (New Philadelphia). A 3.00 GPA is required to be nominated. In addition, Gromek, Hayes, Peugeot and Knisely were nominated for the GTE Academic All-District team, which has a 3.2 minimum GPA. A year ago, CB Jon Eaton was named to both teams.
ALOHA: Zip senior fullback Jamie Reader (Monessen, Pa.) has been invited to the Hula Bowl, Jan. 18, 1998. Reader and Greg Lomax, two Monongahela Valley (Pa.) products, started in the Zips' backfield against Ball State.
IRON MAN: Junior quick tackle Kevin Kuntz (Steubenville/Edison) made his 32nd consecutive start against Kent. Originally a 210-pound, walk-on tight end, Kuntz (now 275) is under consideration for first-team All-MAC.
THE 400 CLUB: Akron will have seen plenty of offense this season, including seven of the nation's Top 20 units. In this week's NCAA Division I-A statistics: 1. Nebraska (510 yards per game), 7. Kent (457), 11. Marshall (444), 13. Toledo (441), 15. Miami RedHawks (439), 16. Eastern Michigan (437), 19. LSU (427). Central Michigan (400) also is highly rated at 32nd.
SMASH MOUTH: The Zips' rushing attack is 13th in the nation, just ahead of No. 14 Penn State, and second in the Mid-American Conference (224.9 yards/game). Akron rushed for a school mark (against Division I-A opponents) of 470 yards against Kent on 59 plays. Greg Lomax (Monongahela, Pa.) cranked up a career-high 173-yard game on 18 tries. Tailback Mike Lagasse (Hudson) and fullback Jamie Reader (Monessen, Pa.) added 97 yards each. On October 25, the Zips rushed for 306 yards against an Ohio defense ranked first in the MAC vs. the run, yielding an average of 80.7 yards per game.
RED ZONE: The Zips improved their red zone success against Kent and have now scored touchdowns on 17 of 29 trips inside the 20 for the season. The other times resulted in 4 of 7 on field-goal tries, one turnover and four out on downs (TD% is 59, score% is 72). Opponents have been inside Akron's 20-yard line on 47 occasions, scoring 37 touchdowns and kicking four field goals (TD% is 79, score% is 87).
AKRON'S NFL PERFORMERS: Former Zip star Jason Taylor was having a stellar rookie season for the Miami Dolphins until he broke a bone in his arm during practice in week 7. He returned to action Sunday against the New York Jets. In the Dolphins' 24-17 victory, Taylor had one tackle, a sack of Jets QB Glenn Foley for an 11-yard loss. On the play, Foley fumbled the ball, which Taylor recovered. The play set up a game-clinching field goal for Miami. A third-round draft pick (73rd overall), Taylor has racked up 30 tackles (23 solo), three QB sacks (for -27 yards), one fumble forced, one fumble recovered and two pass deflections through 7 games. In the preseason, he had four sacks for 35 yards in losses. The Dolphins (6-4) are in a three-way tie with the New York Jets and New England Patriots for first place in the AFC East. A first-team All-MAC DE last fall, Taylor had 18 tackles for loss, including 10 sacks.
Victor Green, a Zip letterman from 1990-92, led the NFL in tackles last year as a DB for the New York Jets. Green was a first-team All-MAC pick in '92 and had nine career interceptions for the Zips.
SCHEDULE MAKER: The way things have played out, the schedule maker wasn't kind to the Zips. Akron's slate has been rated in the top third of Division I-A's toughest schedules. Through five games, The Seattle Times ranked the Zips' list of opponents as the 16th toughest in the nation.
But in November, the schedule maker has actually done Akron a favor, leaving defending MAC champion Ball State, Wagon Wheel rival Kent and 18th-ranked Toledo for last -- three games in which there is plenty of incentive to play well.
AMONG NCAA LEADERS: This week, UA punter Mike Hayes is ranked 22nd nationally in punting (43.90), while kickoff return man Mike Lagasse is 37th at 23.94 yards per return (431 yards, 18 returns). Hayes is #1 in the MAC in punting. Lagasse is sixth in kickoff returns. Greg Lomax is eighth in all-purpose yards (120.5 yds/game) and 10th in rushing (77.8 yds/game).
BOYD CLOSING IN ON 100: Senior middle linebacker Nate Boyd (East Liverpool) is closing in on 100 tackles for the second straight year. Street & Smith's preseason MAC Defensive Player of the Year got off to a slow start, by his own admission, but has been coming on strong in recent weeks. Boyd has 96 stops (46 solo), seven tackles for loss, two interceptions and 2.5 sacks. A year ago, he racked up 140 tackles and earned honorable mention All-MAC. Boyd has 370 career tackles and five interceptions.
MAC FORMAT: The MAC will stage a Championship Game, pitting East and West champs, Dec. 5 in Huntington, W. Va. The winner will advance to face an at-large team in the first Ford Motor City Bowl, Dec. 26, at the Pontiac Silverdome.
RADIO COVERAGE: For the sixth straight year, Akron radio station WHLO 640-AM is the flagship station for University of Akron football. Massillon station WTIG 990-AM has reached agreement for a third season to form the Zips Football Radio Network. WHLO's 5,000-watt daytime signal covers 66 of Ohio's 80 counties in addition to western Pennsylvania and into West Virginia.
In his ninth season as the "Voice of the Zips" is Steve French. He is joined in the broadcast booth by Clint Scroggs, who last year served as UA's sideline reporter. The UA network is on the air 15 minutes before kickoff with the pre-game show, featuring Zip head coach Lee Owens.
AKRON ZIPS' MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL: Every Monday night throughout the season, Zip football fans will be able to see UA game highlights on WAKC-TV Channel 23 at 8 o'clock. The one-hour show, hosted by Joe Dunn, will feature head coach Lee Owens evaluating game highlights from the previous Saturday. The last show in this series will be November 17 following Toledo.