The University of Akron Athletics
Nine Down; Zips at #8 Penn State in 23 Days
August 13 | Football
The University of Akron football team is nine practices into the 2009 season but has only 23 days left before facing eighth-ranked Penn State on Sept. 5.
The Zips-Nittany Lions game, played at PSU's Beaver Stadium, will start at noon and telecast on the Big Ten Network. Akron will then turn around seven days later - or 30 days from today (Aug. 13) - to open InfoCision Stadium-Summa Field by hosting Morgan State at 2 pm.
The sense of urgency to the coming days has not been lost at practice. After having their first two-a-day session on Wednesday, the Zips came out Thursday morning in full gear with the same energy and enthusiasm as they did on day one.
"It is tough dealing with the normal nicks and bruises and people missing time on the field here and there," said sixth-year head coach J.D. Brookhart. "However, we are using this time to really evaluate the younger guys."
As was the case in the spring, the defense is continuing to come out each day with a new focus.
"I am really happy with the groups' attitude, execution, ability to re-learn and recall the schemes from the spring," said defensive coordinator Jim Fleming. "I am also very pleased with the speed on the field and the teams' energy. What really gets me excited, though, is when the whistle blows for team scrimmage situations, the energy level goes up another notch or two.
"Everyone has been productive so far. Miguel Graham is having a really good camp so far and the battle at the safety spots between Jalil Carter, Wayne Cobham and Tyler Campbell has been really cool to watch. To no surprise, Mike Thomas has been really solid and Brian Wagner has made some really impressive plays.
"I like the depth at defensive line and our ability to roll players in at different positions along the front three. Almondo Sewell is Almondo. Dan Marcoux is really tough and James Harvey is really having a good camp. Our depth, when healthy, will allow us to platoon guys and keep our legs fresh up front, which is critical in keeping the pressure on the offense.
"As camp continues, tackling will be a main focus. We have avoided a lot of hitting early to keep from injury so I will be excited to see how things go down the line as we start to scrimmage more.
"For the first week, everything has been fantastic."
As a reminder, Akron's contest Friday, Nov. 13, at home versus Temple will now start at 8:30 pm.
