The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Ohio
Zips End Season With 9-3 Loss at MAC East Champ Ohio
November 22 | Football
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POSTGAME NOTES
ATHENS, Ohio – With bowl eligibility and a MAC East title on the line, it all came down to the last play. The Akron Zips ended their 2016 season with a 9-3 loss at Ohio in Mid-American Conference action at Peden Stadium on Tuesday night.
With 22 seconds remaining in the game, UA redshirt senior Tyrell Goodman (Yonkers, N.Y.) threw a 25-yard pass to senior WR JoJo Natson (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) in the end zone to tie the game, but the pass fell incomplete. Goodman had one more shot on a fourth-and-11 but the pass to WR Austin Wolf (Lebanon, Ohio) was broken up, ending the Zips' hopes for another bowl bid.
The Zips finished the season at 5-7 overall and 3-5 in MAC play, while Ohio clinched the MAC East championship with an 8-4 overall mark and 6-2 record in MAC action.
In his first collegiate start at quarterback, Goodman went 12-of-27 for 136 yards while rushing for 25 yards.
Junior RB Manny Morgan (Naples, Fla.) led the efforts on the ground, rushing eight times for 47 yards.
Junior WR Jerome Lane (Akron, Ohio) was the top receiver with four receptions for 60 yards.
Defensively, junior LB Andrew Hauser (Mason, Ohio) and freshman CB Alvin Davis (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) led the Zips with six tackles each.
UA committed no turnovers in the game.
In a scoreless first quarter, Ohio had the game's first turnover, fumbling the ball on the 40. Senior CB DeAndre Scott (Frederick, Md.) recovered the ball. The drive ended with redshirt sophomore PK Tom O'Leary (Tucker, Ga.) attempting a 43-yard field goal that bounced off the upright, his first miss all season.
Ohio opened the second quarter with an eight-play, 54-yard drive for a 37-yard field goal by freshman Louie Zervos to jump on the scoreboard first, 3-0.
Zervos added a 49-yard field goal with 2:54 to go in the stanza to give Ohio a 6-0 lead heading into the locker room at intermission.
The Zips scored on their opening drive of the third quarter. Starting on their own 29, Goodman hit WR A.J. Coney with a nine-yard pass for a first down. He added receptions to junior Austin Wolf (Lebanon, Ohio), senior Jerome Lane (Akron, Ohio), and junior TE Mykel Traylor-Bennett (Columbus, Ohio). O'Leary capped off the 11-play, 53-yard drive with a 35-yard field goal to pull the Zips within three, 6-3.
To open the fourth quarter, Ohio drove the ball down to the red zone. Facing a fourth-and-two, the Bobcats went for it, and the Zips held them scoreless. UA took over on the four with 10 minutes to go in the game.
On their final drive of the game, the Bobcats tacked on another field goal, a 23-yard by Zervos to go ahead 9-3.
The Zips didn't give up. On their final drive, Goodman marched UA 49 yards down field but couldn't score, ending the game.
