For a variety of reasons, teams can struggle in their first year with a new coach, and such is the case with the Akron Zips as they go through some early growing pains under Tom Arth.
After scoring just three points in their season opener at Illinois, the Zips have averaged over 20 points and 300 yards in total . . .
This Saturday, the Zips look to end a three-game losing streak dating back to last season as they face the Troy Trojans from the Sun Belt Conference at InfoCision Stadium. Troy, also playing under a new head coach, is 1-1 in this young season.
Saturday September 21, 2019
Infocision Stadium/Summa Field – Akron, Ohio
ESPN+
Series: Troy leads 1-0
TROY TROJANS (1-1)
-- The Trojans saw their record fall to 1-1 last Saturday as they were defeated by the Golden Eagles of Southern Mississippi at home 47-42.
It was a game that saw 1,154 yards of total offense (1,018 of them coming through the air). The Trojans came back from a 14-0 deficit to take a 21-14 lead in the third quarter, only to see the visitors from Conference USA come back and take the lead for good.
-- Troy began the season with a 43-14 home win over FCS member Campbell University
-- The Trojans are under the command of Chip Lindsey who is in his first season as a college head coach
-- Lindsey spent the last two seasons at Auburn as the offensive coordinatior under Gus Malzahn. Prior to that he was an offensive coordinator at Arizona State and Southern Miss.
He was the quarterbacks coach for the Trojans in 2010 and a long time assistant coach and head coach at the high school level in Alabama.
-- Senior QB Kaleb Barber leads the offense. Over the first two games, he has completed 65.3 percent of his passes for 786 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. In the loss to USM he passed for 504 yards and four touchdowns
-- The running game is led by sophomore D.K. Billingsley, who has 127 yards with three touchdowns
-- Junior Kaylon Geiger leads receivers with 11 catches for 222 yards and a touchdown. He surpassed the 100-yard mark in each of the first two games.
-- The defense is led by sophomore Carlton Marital, who has 29 total tackles in the first two games (16 solo). He had 16 total stops last Saturday against USM.
-- Troy has a 4-3 lifetime record against the MAC’
-- It is the only school in the Football Bowl Subdivision to hire a new head coach in football (Lindsey), men’s basketball (Scott Cross) and a new Athletic Director (Brent Jones) since January.
-- The Trojans open Sun Belt Conference play next Saturday when they host the Red Devils of Arkansas State
-- The game is the second lifetime meeting between the two schools and the first at InfoCision Stadium. The other meeting was in 2017, with the Trojans scoring a late touchdown for a 22-17 victory
UA battled back from a 16-3 deficit to gain a 17-16 lead when Warren Ball scored from four-yards out with 5:37 remaining only to see the home team take the ball 97 yards in nine plays for the winning touchdown with only 66 seconds remaining in regulation.
AKRON ZIPS (0-3, 0-1)
-- UA opened the Mid-American Conference portion of their schedule last Saturday at Central Michigan, falling to the Chippewas 45-24
CMU scored 24 points in the second quarter, which proved to be the Zips undoing.
-- QB Kato Nelson completed 26-of-42 passes for 241 yards and three touchdowns -- one each to TE Maverick Wolfley, TE Brandon Junk, and WR Nate Stewart. For Wolfley, it was his second career touchdown, while Junk and Stewart collected their first as collegians
-- Over the past two games (against UAB and CMU) Nelson has completed 51 of 86 passes for 600 yards, with five touchdowns and just one interception
-- LB John Lako led the defense with 11 total tackles (eight solo), along with a fumble recovery
-- PK Jerry Fritschen kicked a 40-yard field goal in the second quarter to put UA on the scoreboard.
-- The Zips are 2-4 lifetime against teams from the SunBelt Conference. Their last matchup against the conference was the loss to Troy in 2017.
-- UA finishes the non-conference portion of its schedule next Saturday when the Zips travel to Massachusetts to battle the Minutemen