University of Akron Zips Fallen to South Carolina Gamecocks
Saturday’s Encounter
On a cool Saturday evening on the 21st of September in Columbia, South Carolina, the University of Akron Zips fell hard to the South Carolina Gamecocks in a lopsided football match, closing at a whopping 50-7. The host team, South Carolina amped their record to 3-1 for the season while the Zips took a minor setback falling to 1-3.
Game’s Standout Performers
Despite the disappointing conclusion, the Zips displayed some meritorious performances. Redshirt junior Ben Finley led the Zips’ offense with 110 passing yards and a noteworthy 42-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Adrian Norton. Norton seized the spotlight out of the receiving corps with 56 yards across four catches. Additional contributions came from redshirt sophomore Jake Newell with three catches making 24 yards, as well as from redshirt sophomore Charles Kellom with four passes for 16 yards and an extra 18 yards on the ground.
Defense Highlights
The defensive front was taken up by senior Antavious Fish and junior Bryan McCoy, bringing in a combined total of 16 tackles, appending eight each to their record. Complementing them were redshirt juniors Justin Anderson and Darrian Lewis who contributed an overall 12 tackles with six each. Notably, Fish, senior CJ Nunnally IV and senior Bennett Adler all bagged a sack each against South Carolina.
The Akron defense force put on a commendable display, recording a season-high total of 75 tackles in the face of defeat.
The Game’s Progression
The Gamecocks started with a fierce attack, building a blistering lead of 22-0. However, the Zips broke through the South Carolina defense with just 1:53 left on the clock in the second quarter as Finley connected with Norton for a 42-yard touchdown to cut down the Gamecock’s lead to 22-7. Despite this move, the Zips failed to score again throughout the match, and South Carolina catapulted their score by an additional 28 points to finalize the scoring.
Noteworthy Stat-lines
- The Zips made their season-high 75 tackles in South Carolina.
- The Akron team has managed to bring in 60 or more tackles in three straight games.
- Senior Avery Book recorded his longest punt of the season, kicking 61-yards, surpassing his previous high of 60 yards at Ohio State.
- Book, with an average punt of 49.8 yards, punted nine times for the Zips, producing five kicks of 50 or more yards.
Looking Ahead
The University of Akron Zips is set to commence Mid-American Conference play when they hit the road towards Athens, Ohio, to face-off the Ohio Bobcats on Saturday, the 28th of September.