“The University of Akron football team opened MAC Conference play by losing to the Central Michigan University Chippewas 48-21. With the loss, the Zips fell to 1-3 on the season and 0-1 in the MAC, while the Chippewas improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the MAC.”
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The University of Akron football team opened MAC Conference play by losing to the Central Michigan University Chippewas 48-21.

With the loss, the Zips fell to 1-3 on the season and 0-1 in the MAC, while the Chippewas improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the MAC.

The Chippewas opened the game with 20 unanswered points and went into halftime with a 34-7 lead.

I was disgusted with the start of the game, Zips head coach J.D. Brookhart said. We got a huge kickoff return that gave us a chance to get on the board early, but the offense did nothing with it.

We held Central to a missed field goal and we pressured CMU on a punt. Simply put, we have to take advantage of those opportunities.

The Chippewas took advantage of the opportunities the Zips gave them, and were lead by senior quarterback Dan LeFevour.

LeFevour completed 23 of 31 passes for 197 yards, four touchdowns and one interception, but also caused havoc with his feet.

LeFevour rushed for a team-leading 140 yards and scored two touchdowns.

I didn’t break too many tackles today, so you have to credit those guys up front for creating big holes for us to run through, LeFevour said. We’re moving the ball as an offense and that’s great.

It starts with the offensive line. They’re playing great and that allows us to do some things.

It is very difficult to handle the plays that they have, but then you throw in a quarterback who runs 20 times per game, Brookhart said. That guy is a brick wall and he gets up after every hit he takes.

LeFevour’s number one target on Sept. 26 was junior wide receiver Antonio Brown who had 89 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Junior Kito Poblah and freshman Cody Wilson also caught LeFevour touchdown passes.

The Zips offense sputtered all day behind sophomore quarterback Matt Rodgers, who made his career start against the Chippewas.

Rodgers completed 12 of 19 passes for just 127 yards and was sacked five times. Rodgers was able to rush for two touchdowns against the Chippewas.

The Zips were led on the ground by senior running back Joe Tuzze, who rushed for 62 yards and one touchdown averaging 5.2 yards per carry.

The Zips offense struggled on third and fourth down against the Chippewas going 1-12 on third down conversions and 0-2 on fourth down conversion.

It was ridiculous that we could not convert on third downs, especially in short yardage situations, Brookhart said. I promise that is going to change.

I know we are a little thin at some positions, but that is no excuse. We have four great wide receivers, but we didn’t give our quarterback a chance to get them the ball.

The Zips will be inactive this week and will resume play Saturday Oct. 10 when the Ohio University Bobcats come to InfoCision Stadium-Summa Field for the Homecoming game.

The Bobcats are 2-2 on the season and will begin MAC play Oct. 3 against the Bowling Green State University Falcons before coming to Akron.

The kickoff for the game is scheduled for 6 p.m.

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