“You might think an 18-day break would make a team a little rusty. It wasn’t the case with the University of Akron football team. After being off nearly three weeks, the offense that put up 42 points against Eastern Michigan picked up right where they left off Wednesday against the Toledo Rockets.”
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You might think an 18-day break would make a team a little rusty.
It wasn’t the case with the University of Akron football team.
After being off nearly three weeks, the offense that put up 42 points against Eastern Michigan picked up right where they left off Wednesday against the Toledo Rockets.
Only 11:39 into the contest, Zips quarterback Chris Jacquemain found wide receiver Jeremy Bruce in the back of the end zone to give the Zips a 7-0 lead.
Less than two minutes later, defensive back Jalil Carter blocked a Toledo punt that was recovered by linebacker Aaron Williams for another Akron score.
Five minutes later Jacquemain found senior captain Merce Poindexter for yet another UA touchdown.
In the first fifteen minutes, Jacquemain threw for 95 yards with the two touchdowns, four receivers caught passes of at least 15 yards and senior running back Dennis Kennedy had amassed 44 yards on only eight carries.
Jacquemain said that the lay-off had a positive effect on the entire team.
The time off gave us a chance to heal up, the junior quarterback said. It gave our offense and defense time to make adjustments.
Those adjustments included getting several different players involved early as Dashan Miller caught his longest ball of the season, a 37-yard strike, and Bruce’s touchdown reception, the first of his collegiate career.
We have so many weapons offensively, Jacquemain said. We wanted to keep the defense guessing.
The passing was only part of the Zips first quarter assault.
Kennedy, who put up 277 yards on the ground against Eastern Michigan, had nine touches in the first quarter for a total of 60 yards.
We knew coming into the game we had to get the ground game going, Kennedy said.
Kennedy was so effective that the Zips really weren’t able to utilize the services of fellow senior running back Andrew Johnson, who was back from an injury, as much as they would have liked.
Regardless of who carried the load, the Zips finished a stellar first quarter with 139 total yards on only fourteen plays, while putting up 21 points.
Kennedy said that Johnson’s return could have a huge impact on the Zips in the coming weeks, even though he was held just one carry in the first quarter and seven for the game.
Having him back helped a lot, Kennedy said of his backfield mate. Now the defense has to worry about two of us involved in the running game.

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” #1.1360741:3011779442.JPG:6D9O0090.JPG:Merce Poindexter lands in the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Chris Jacquemain after beating Toledo safety Chris Faison in the first quarter Wednesday. :Gary Kreuger / The Buchtelite”