The University of Akron Athletics
University of Akron
Central Michigan
Football Downed 35-14 at Central Michigan
October 27 | Football
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MT. PLEASANT, Mich. – Despite posting 492 yards of total offense, The University of Akron football team lost 35-14 to Central Michigan in a Mid-American Conference cross-divisional matchup on Saturday at Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
Akron (1-8, 0-5 MAC) had a chance to pull to within a touchdown with about nine minutes to play but its 10-play, 76-yard drive fell short. On fourth and goal from the 4-yard line quarterback Dalton Williams faced a heavy Central Michigan (3-5, 1-3 MAC) blitz and overthrew the endzone.
The Zips made the margin 28-14 with 14:30 left when Jerrod Dillard caught a 10-yard pass from Williams to complete an eight-play, 76-yard drive, but the squad's scoring ended there and the Chippewas posted an insurance TD when Zurlon Tipton rushed six yards to the endzone with 1:26 remaining.
Tipton, who finished with 243 yards rushing on 37 carries and three TDs, scored from five yards out on the ground with 13:04 in the third quarter to give CMU a 21-7 advantage. A 36-yard pass from Ryan Radcliff to Titus Davis gave the home side a 28-7 edge with 10:51 left in the third period.
Williams completed 31-of-51 passes for 329 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions for UA. His favorite target for the day was Dee Frieson, who had eight catches for 65 yards. Frieson had one of the Zips' TD grabs as did Dillard, who finished with seven catches for 91 yards.
Radcliff ended the day 15-for-25 passing with 180 yards and two TDs. Davis had four catches for 112 yards.
CMU led 14-7 at intermission, with all of the scoring coming in the first quarter. The Chippewas found the endzone on the second play of the game when Tipton rushed 72 yards to the goal line. The Zips evened things as Williams found Frieson on the end of a nine-yard TD pass with 7:01 left, before Radcliff hit Davis with a 27-yard TD pass with 3:28 remaining.
Kurt Mangum led the Zips' defense with 12 tackles and Cody Grice followed him with nine stops. Two of Grice's tackles were for a loss.
Akron outgained CMU 492-444 in total offense.
Akron conludes a two-game road swing at neighborhood rival Kent State on Nov. 3 at 2 p.m. ET. The 42nd-annual meeting as part of the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge will be televised by SportsTime Ohio and ESPN3.
Zips Notebook: The Zips' 25 passing touchdowns this season (two today) set a school record, surpassing the mark of 24 established in 2005 ... Dalton Williams has 2,691 passing yards this season, which ranks him fifth on the school's single season passing chart ... he passed Charlie Frye's 2,623 and Luke Getsy's 2,662 today.
