We’re just a few more days away before the start of the NCAA’s college football season, and the boys from Norman are seeing red already. The No. 19 Oklahoma Sooners will be eager to bounce back from the deflating conclusion to their 8-5 2014 season, and will look to take it out on the seemingly hapless Akron Zips.
Can Oklahoma make a resounding statement by steamrolling over the Zips? Or can Akron land enough blows to pull off an upset? Read on as we tap further into this intriguing opening week matchup. Afterwards, check out how the rest of the Sooners’ conference rivals will do this 2015 season with our complete preview of the Big 12, as well as our in-depth look at heavyweights Baylor and TCU.
[sc:NCAAFArticles ]Akron Zips vs. Oklahoma Sooners Preview
Where: Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman
When: Saturday, September 5, 7:00 PM ET
Line: Akron Zips (+30.5) vs. Oklahoma Sooners (-30.5) – view all NCAA Football lines
Betting on the Akron Zips
Head coach Terry Bowden must be feeling the heat now as his Akron Zips failed to register yet another winning record in his third year with the program. The 2014 season started out rather well for the Zips with a 4-2 slate after six weeks, only for them to come crashing down to yet another 5-7 record for the second season in a row.
[sc:NCAA240banner ]Bowden’s offense may still be in flux, though, as Akron has no dependable playmaker under center heading into the new season. Kyle Pohl remains a wild card as the team’s default starting quarterback. Pohl had over 2,000 yards passing and nine touchdowns last season, but he also threw eight interceptions – half of those coming from Akron’s crucial trips to the red zone.
If the passing game doesn’t pan out well for the Zips, they could still rely on what looks to be an improved running game. Senior running backs Conor Hundley (540 yards and four TDs at 5.2 yards per carry last season) and Colorado State transfer Donnell Alexander (six yards per carry in 2013) will likely find some opportune cracks in the trenches from Akron’s offensive line that’s bringing back four of five starters from last year’s squad.
Even though the offense does not look all too daunting on paper, the Zips can still take pride in the fact that their defense is very much resilient. Akron was the top team in the Mid-American Conference in points allowed per game (23.1), and also managed to just give up 148.6 yards on the ground and 222.5 yards in the air per contest.
Expect the team’s standout linebacker Jatavis Brown to do all the heavy lifting once again in his senior season. The two-time All-MAC bruiser racked up 99 tackles with 14 and a half of those for losses together with four sacks. Brown and the rest of the Zips D will need to step up big time against the Sooners on September 5, and all the more for the entire season on a consistent basis if they are to defy the +1,000 odds stacked against them at winning the MAC crown this 2015.
Betting on the Oklahoma Sooners
The Oklahoma Sooners began last season as the fourth-best team in the nation in the preseason rankings. But after hobbling and scouring for wins towards the end of their 2014 campaign en route to a subpar 8-5 finish, it should be no surprise then as to why the Sooners plummeted down to 19th place in the AP Poll this year.
During this offseason, head coach Bob Stoops sought out the services of new offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley from East Carolina to fix Oklahoma’s passing game. Baker Mayfield, who has won the starting quarterback job, is familiar with the Air Raid offense Riley will bring to the Sooners, but there are still has question marks about his ability to live up to the hype at Oklahoma.
As such, the Sooners will likely continue to lean heavily on their bread-and-butter: the running game. Second-year phenom Samaje Perine broke out in his freshman season last year, rushing for 1,713 yards and 21 touchdowns with an amazing average of 6.5 yards per carry.
Perine will also be accompanied in the backfield by Joe Mixon, who will finally play his first game in Norman after dealing with a misdemeanor assault charge last year. Mixon, the 2014 U.S. Army All-American Bowl MVP, ran for over 1,700 yards and amassed 23 TDs in his last full season of football prior to joining Oklahoma.
And who could forget about that daunting defensive unit? The Sooners’ D was the eighth-best in the nation last year, largely in part of its stifling run defense that surrendered just 3.2 yards per carry to opposing rushers. Expect the immovable Oklahoma front seven – led by stud All-Big 12 linebacker Eric Striker (nine sacks, 17 TFLs in 2014) – to render Akron’s middling offense to a complete standstill in the opener.
Writer’s Prediction
The Sooners make quick work of the Zips, 38-6.
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