The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
0-2 , 0-0
Rutgers
2-0 , 0-0
Zips Come Up Short Against Rutgers
September 07 | Football
PISCATAWAY, New Jersey -- Akron fell 49-17 to Rutgers on the road Saturday afternoon.
Redshirt Jordon Simmons totaled 109 yards to lead the Zips' ground attack and added one touchdown in the game, picking up 12.1 yards per carry along the way. Simmons broke loose for a 73-yard TD run which stands as th longest run from the line of scrimmage since 2021 (Jonzell Norrils vs Buffalo, 10/23/21).
Redshirt junior Ben Finley led the passing game with 138 yards (14 of 31), including a 32-yard TD pass to sophomore Adrian Norton. Finley tacked on 29 yards on the ground, picking up 7.2 yards per carry.
Norton reeled in three catches for 55 yards, including the Zips first touchdown of the season.
Junior Bryan McCoy led the defensive efforts with 11 total tackles while senior Antavious Fish was close behind with 10. In addition, redshirt junior Daymon David registered the Zips first takeaway and appearance of the turnover tire with an interception deep in Rutgers territory on the Scarlet Knights first drive.
The Akron offense did a good job extending drives, converting on 50 percent of third-down attempts.
The Scarlet Knights improved to 2-0 on the season while the Zips dropped to 0-2.
Rutgers took a 7-0 lead, but Akron scored with 6:06 left in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 7-3 on a 41-yard kick from redshirt junior Garrison Smith. After Rutgers scored to increase its lead to 21-3, the Zips got on the scoreboard again to make it a 21-10 game on a 32-yard strike from Finley to Norton.
After Rutgers scored to increase its lead to 49-10, Akron got on the scoreboard again with 10:11 remaining in the fourth quarter on a 73-yard rush from Simons to narrow the advantage and make it a 49-17 game. Both teams played the rest of the game without scoring.
Game Notes» Akron converted 7 of 14 third downs while Rutgers was successful on 6 of 9.
» The Zips had two players with more than eight tackles in the ballgame led by McCoy, who had 11.
» Senior Avery Book punted five times for the Zips with an average of 47.6 yards per punt while pinning the Scarlet Knights inside their own 20 one time.
What's Next?
The Akron Zips host the Colgate Raiders at InfoCision Stadium on September 14Â for the home opener. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
Team Stats
AKR 0, RU 7
RU - Monangai,Kyle 3 yd run (Patel,Jai kick), 6 plays, 76 yards, TOP 02:48
AKR 3, RU 7
AKR - Smith,Garrison 41 yd field goal 8 plays, 37 yards, TOP 04:03
AKR 3, RU 14
RU - Duff,KJ 6 yd pass from Kaliakmanis,Athan (Patel,Jai kick) 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:12
AKR 3, RU 21
RU - Monangai,Kyle 1 yd run (Patel,Jai kick), 9 plays, 80 yards, TOP 01:10
AKR 10, RU 21
AKR - Norton,Adrian 32 yd pass from Finley,Ben (Smith,Garrison kick) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:15
AKR 10, RU 28
RU - Monangai,Kyle 2 yd run (Patel,Jai kick), 12 plays, 75 yards, TOP 06:49
AKR 10, RU 35
RU - Long,Chris 58 yd pass from Kaliakmanis,Athan (Patel,Jai kick) 2 plays, 62 yards, TOP 00:46
AKR 10, RU 42
RU - Fletcher,Kenny 9 yd pass from Kaliakmanis,Athan (Patel,Jai kick) 6 plays, 74 yards, TOP 03:45
AKR 10, RU 49
RU - Raymond,Antwan 1 yd run (Patel,Jai kick), 2 plays, 4 yards, TOP 00:06
AKR 17, RU 49
AKR - Simmons,Jordon 73 yd run (Smith,Garrison kick), 3 plays, 78 yards, TOP 00:42
