The University of Akron’s football team travels south this weekend to take on the Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisiana in Lafayette. The Zips are looking to build upon last week’s 52-9 defeat of Savannah State last week at home.

In order for the Zips to be effective, Conor Hundley, who is the team’s leading rusher with 222 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries, will have to pick up where he left off last week. Hundley has 127 yards on 12 attempts and added 30 additional yards on 3 receptions out of the backfield.

Tra’von Chapman started last week against the Tigers and finished with his best stat line of the year by far as he completed 6 of 13 passes for 128 yards. He also had a touchdown and an early interception.

However, his performance was overshadowed by Thomas Woodson who took over during the first half while Chapman was struggling. Woodson connected on 12 of 20 passes for 207 yards and a touchdown.

Chapman completed three passes for 70 yards on the Zips’ first possession that ended with Cody Grice plowing into the end zone from a yard out, but was basically ineffective the rest of the way.

Woodson, who threw a pick into the end zone on his first drive, took the wheel of the offense with the Zips down 9-7 and about nine and a half minutes to go in the first half.

The sophomore quarterback proceeded to direct the offense down the field on drives of 8 plays-82 yards, 8 plays-46 yards, and 4 plays-61 yards, each resulting in a touchdown and a 28-9 halftime advantage.

As of the writing of this article, Coach Terry Bowden has not named a starter out of Chapman, Woodson, or Kyle Pohl, who missed last week’s game with a head injury.

Regardless of the starter, that person needs to step up a take control of the offense and move the ball with the mixture of Hundley’s running and the talent of receivers such as Amani Davis, Jerome Young, and Anthony Young.

On the defensive side, Jatavis Brown and Dylan Evans have to continue to have outstanding games. Brown has 4.5 sacks in three games for the Zips, and DeAndre Scott intercepted his second pass of the season last week.

On the whole, the defense held the Tigers to a total of 202 yards last weekend and needs an equal performance this Saturday against the Ragin’ Cajuns.

Louisiana, under the guidance of fifth-year head coach Mark Hudspeth, stands 1-1 after a 44-17 win over Northwestern State on Sept. 12. The Ragin’ Cajuns had a bye last week.

After two games, RB Elijah McGuire leads the rushers with 248 yards and five touchdowns on 41 carries. Quarterback, Brooks Haack, is 29-of-45 for 381 yards. Wide out Jamal Robinson is the top receiver with eight catches for 129 yards. Defensively, sophomore DB Tracy Walker has 13 tackles and an interception.

Louisiana leads the all-time series, 1-0, after the Cajuns beat Akron 35-30 at InfoCision Stadium in 2013. The Zips had a 24-21 lead early in the fourth quarter, but they could not hold onto the lead.

The Akron and Louisiana coaching staffs will be wearing Coach to Cure MD patches this week to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research. Fans are encouraged to donate online at www.CoachtoCureMD.org or donate $5 by texting CURE to 90999.

Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.