Zaping the Zips: The Spectrum's Scouting Report

The football team (3-6, 1-4 Mid-American Conference) takes on Akron (4-5, 2-3 MAC) Tuesday in its second to last home game of the season. Buffalo became ineligible for a bowl game with its 37-14 loss to Ohio Wednesday night. The Bulls defeated the Zips 51-10 Nov. 19, 2011 in last year’s matchup.

Kyle Pohl, junior quarterback

Pohl returned to the Akron lineup last game after missing two games with a head injury. Akron fell 27-10 to Bowling Green and Pohl threw no touchdowns and three interceptions in the loss.

The Zips junior quarterback led the team to a three-game winning-streak before the injury, but Akron has now lost three in a row. But Pohl has struggled throughout the season. After throwing for more than 300 yards and four touchdowns in Akron’s season-opening 41-0 victory over Howard, Pohl has thrown just three touchdowns compared to six interceptions. He is also completing just 55.1 percent of his passes this season.

Jatavis Brown, junior linebacker

Brown picked up where he left off last season when he broke out as an All-MAC First Team player, leading the Zips in tackles (107). He leads the No. 1 scoring defense in the MAC with 78 tackles and three forced fumbles. Brown is second on the team in sacks with four and had a season-high 16 tackles and two forced fumbles in Akron’s 27-10 loss to the Falcons.

Brown is on the smaller side (5-foot-11, 217 pounds), but the linebacker will be key for Akron’s attempt to be the third straight opponent to shutdown Buffalo’s offense.

Running backs Conor Hudley and Jawon Chisholm

The duo has run for 773 yards and seven touchdowns so far this season. Hudley backed up Chisholm the past two seasons, but the junior running back has 17 more carries and 137 more rushing yards than Chisholm this year.

While Chisolm is a cutback kind of runner, Hudley is an inside power back. The pair will look to have success Tuesday on a Buffalo defense that has allowed two players to run for least 49 yards in all but two games this season.

Buffalo’s offense vs. Akron’s defense

The Bulls scored at least 21 points in every game under former head coach Jeff Quinn this season, but have scored just 14 points in both of their two games under interim head coach Alex Wood. Junior quarterback Joe Licata and junior running back Anthone Taylor have struggled in that stretch, and they’ll try to get on track against the No. 1 scoring defense and No. 2 total defense in the MAC.

Licata has thrown six interceptions his last four games and Taylor has ran for just 62 yards in his past two games. The Zips get good penetration at the line, which could lead to limited running room for Taylor and force Licata into making mistakes. Akron leads the MAC with 24 sacks.

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