“J.D. Brookhart articulated every Zips fans’ feelings Saturday when he said he felt like he had a pit in his stomach because of what his team should have done. The University of Akron football team was impressive at many points in its 17-15 loss to Cincinnati at the Rubber Bowl.”
“
J.D. Brookhart articulated every Zips fans’ feelings Saturday when he said he felt like he had a pit in his stomach because of what his team should have done.
The University of Akron football team was impressive at many points in its 17-15 loss to Cincinnati at the Rubber Bowl. They looked the most impressive on both sides of the ball against a quality opponent as they have in two years.
Big plays were made by the Zips’ offense; even bigger plays were made by the defense. Chris Jacquemain made plays and his receivers didn’t drop as many passes as they have in previous game. The defense continued to force turnovers at an alarming rate – the Zips rank fourth in the country in takeaways with 14 – and held a team that was averaging 37 points per game, to 17.
But the kicking situation, something that hasn’t been a problem since Igor Iveljic took over last season, derailed the Zips.
The Bearcats were operating with back up quarterback Tony Pike, who has nothing short of starter talent. Pike picked the Zips apart. The defense still found a way.
In the second quarter, the defensive front stuffed running back John Goebel on a fourth-and-one on the Zips one-yard line. Safety Bryan Williams made the tackle at the two after the Bearcats had embarked on an 18-play, 90-yard drive to get to that point. The stop shifted momentum.
The Zips punted on their next possession, then stopped UC on another fourth-and-one scenario, this time the Bearcats elected to pass instead. It still didn’t work.
Quarterback Chris Jacquemain made sure the defense’s stops weren’t for nothing.
With two minutes and 21 seconds remaining, Jacquemain drove UA 75 yards for a touchdown with nine seconds left in the half.
The junior quarterback completed 8 of 10 passes for 79 yards. Before the Zips found the end zone on a seven-yard pass to Deryn Bowser, who leapt over the UC defender to real in the pass, a penalty for too many men in the huddle was called on the Zips.
Usually, that would be enough to derail the Zips concentration. It didn’t.
But there’s where things started to unravel. Kicker Igor Iveljic’s extra-point was blocked and the Zips took a 9-7 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter, the Zips’ Evan Laube recovered a fumble forced by Al-Teric Balaam on the UC 24-yard line, which the offense turned into a touchdown and a 15-14 lead.
Again Jacquemain made a key play, this time a 13-yard scramble that set up a Dennis Kennedy 1-yard touchdown.
Since the Zips previous extra-point was blocked, they tried for a two-point conversion that failed. The score showed 15-14, when it easily could have been 17-14.
On the next drive, the Zips forced and recovered another fumble.
Then Iveljic missed a 44-yard field goal, which is usually a given for the normally reliable kicker. Iveljic was 15-of-18 on field goals last season, including 3-of-4 on attempts between 40 and 49 yards.
Should have been 20-14, then 20-17 after Jake Rogers’ field goal.
Should have been the second win against a Bowl Championship team.
That’s enough to make anyone nauseous.
“