The Akron Zips visit the Kentucky Wildcats at Commonwealth Stadium tonight at 7:00pm. The game is being aired on ESPNU and of course, Nation of Blue will be looking for a live stream to bring you along with our live chat. In the meantime, we have the complete set of game note for your to peruse. You can’t ever rule out any opponent, but the Akron Zips are clearly over-matched on paper.
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[B]Offensive keys – Continue to take care of the football:[/B] “It’s always the key. If you take care of the football, your percentages and chances to win go up tremendously. That’s the reason we’ve been as successful as we have. We haven’t given up any opportunities offensively. When you fumble, that’s more plays you could have run.”
[B] Defensive keys – Tackling better, getting DeQuin Evans involved:[/B] “We defended the pass well because teams haven’t passed it. That’s a statement that people have made about us. We’ve got to get people in the box, and we have been. Once we get there, we’ve got to tackle. We’ve got to show up and then gang tackle. We had a full-speed live period tackling for the defense for about 10 minutes (earlier in the week). We want those guys to come up and wrap up. I think we’ve gotten away from putting our face on people and trying to arm tackle too much. We wanted to make sure we were getting in really good position and exploding through people. … I think DeQuin, he’s not playing horrible. He’s not playing great either, but he’s not a guy that’s freelancing, too. He just hasn’t made as many plays as he or we would have liked. I just want DeQuin to play within the defense and not start pressing.”
[B]Akron’s strength – Another solid run team: [/B] “It concerns you when they are able to run off the ball like they have with a team like they have. I’ve worked with their line coach before. He does an unbelievable job with the guys up front and they understand how to run the football. They take advantage of numbers. Sometimes you’re outnumbered, but you’ve still got to get people to rally to the ball and make plays. They also do a good job of when they don’t have the numbers, that back makes that extra guy miss. We cannot allow that. If we’ve got a free hat, a free safety that comes down and is unblocked, he’s got to make the play. … That’s going to be the difference in this game – who controls the line of scrimmage on that side of the ball. I really like our offensive line’s chance. They’ll win the majority of the battles there. Our defensive line has got to win the majority of battles on their side.”
[B]Matchup to watch for – UK’s special teams coverage:[/B] “I like our personnel. One thing we tried to do was focus on getting our best personnel on the field. I like where we are personnel-wise. We’ve still got some guys that are beat up that we couldn’t put on there, but I like what we have available. We’re trying to hold (Martavius) Neloms and (Randall) Burden and those guys because they’ve been beat up a little bit, but we do get a couple of guys back like Dakotah Tyler and guys like that, defensive guys who are familiar with tackling. On one return (last week), we had seven offensive guys, wide receivers and running backs.”
[B] Akron player to watch for – tailback Alex Allen:[/B] “Their running back is a really good player, No. 10. He does a really good job for them. We’ve just got to keep them contained.”
[B]Kentucky players to watch for – Trevathan, Cobb, Locke and Matthews:[/B] “Danny Trevathan shows up a lot on defense. Those two dynamic guys (Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke) on offense. And I look for Chris Matthews to have a big game also. He’s had a really good week, and so have our tight ends.”
[B]Final injury report:[/B] Tight end Nick Melillo and strong safety Taiedo Smith are both out. Free safety Dakotah Tyler is expected to see his first action of the season.
After posting a 63-28 victory over in-state rival Western Kentucky University in the first home game of the Joker Phillips Era, Kentucky welcomes a first-time opponent, Akron, to Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday.
Kentucky has been impressive offensively this season, leading the Southeastern Conference and ranking 20th nationally in scoring with 43.0 points per game. UK is led offensively by senior quarterback Mike Hartline, who is completing 71.7 percent of his passes and is No. 13 in the nation in passing efficiency. Against WKU on Saturday, Hartline threw for three touchdown passes and was named honorable mention as National Quarterback of the Week by the College Football Performance Awards.
Cobb and senior tailback Derrick Locke have also been impressive, helping UK score nine touchdowns against the Hilltoppers. Cobb, who was named National Punt Returner of the Week by College Football Performance Awards, accounted for three scores by throwing a TD pass, receiving a TD pass and returning a punt for a TD. Locke has rushed for 206 yards and three TDs this season.
The Wildcat defense is paced by junior linebacker Danny Trevathan. The SEC Defensive Player of the Week in the season-opening win at Louisville, Trevathan leads the Cats with 17 tackles. He is also tied for the SEC lead in tackles for loss with five. Safety Mychal Bailey is next with 11 tackles and an interception. Defensive tackles Ricky Lumpkin and Luke McDermott each have 2.5 TFL.
Akron travels to Lexington after a heartbreaking loss in overtime to Gardner-Webb at home.
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