Akron Zips at Miami Redhawks 10/16/21 - College Football Picks & Predictions

The Akron Zips will hope to build off a conference win last week when they travel on the road to Yager Stadium to take on the Miami-Ohio Redhawks. Akron went on the road to beat Bowling Green last week winning 35-20, to get back to 2-4 (1-1 conference). Miami-Ohio is also 2-4 (1-1 conference) but played a much more difficult non-conference schedule, they lost a defensive battle with a 13-12 loss to Eastern Michigan. 

Miami-Ohio failed to score a touchdown in the loss to Eastern Michigan, kicking four field goals, but have been a solid offense for most of the season averaging 378.8 yards and 22 points per game. Miami-Ohio has a nice balance between run and pass, led by sophomore Brett Gabbert who is completing 736 yards for 7 touchdowns to 2 interceptions. Freshman Kenyon Mozee leads the team in rushing with 237 yards and a touchdown.

Miami-Ohio showed their defensive prowess off with a nice performance against Eastern Michigan, they continue to be one of the best defenses in the MAC. The Redhawks are allowing just 352.7 yards per game and holding opponents to 352.7 yards per game, they’ve looked even better in conference play.

Akron continues to be one of the worst programs in college football, the offense has struggled, scoring just 21.3 points and 334.2 yards per GAME. Sophomore DJ Irons is a guy Akron can get excited about, he’s a threat with his arm - completing 69.2% of his passes for 824 yards and eight touchdowns. And also leads the Zips with 240 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns.

Akron’s defense has allowed over 200 yards rushing per game and they’ve really struggled this season on the defensive end. Akron is allowing 439.2 yards per game and are allowing 38.7 points per contest this season. They were able to force five turnovers against Bowling Green, a large reason for their decisive win where they scored 35 unanswered points after trailing 13-0.