Sept. 23, 2008
(1:38 p.m.): Another week, another football press conference. Although there were a few questions regarding Tony Pike and Jake Rogers, the focus has shifted off them a little bit. Which is nice, especially after two weeks of wall-to-wall quarterback/place-kicker discussion.
Instead, we played host to linebacker Ryan Manalac and center Chris Jurek on the eighth floor of the Lindner Center, so a big topic for me was the play of the offensive line so far (which I’ll get into later this week, I think) and the defense (and why it’s having a hard time getting off the field on third downs – again, I’ll have more on this later, so mark it on your calendars. Of course, if you bookmarked Katzonthecats.com and checked it twice-daily, you wouldn’t have to make a special effort to remember. It would just be there.).
Of course, when I asked him later why it was confusing, he said this.
“I don’t think it’s confusing,” said BK, who I enjoy ribbing (which is why I’m pointing out the apparent disparity). “It’d be like going against the split-back veer option (offense) right now. You don’t see it a lot. You have to spend some time in recognition. The defense for us won’t be confusing. It’s just a mater of practicing against it. The thing that’s most noticeable is they have very good speed. They have a premium for speed on defense.”
Akron, according to BK, runs a 3-5-3, meaning five linebackers are out there running around. But it’s not as if the Bearcats never have seen something like this. West Virginia runs the same scheme, and UC also saw it last year in the Pizza Bowl against Southern Mississippi.
Others also haven’t had a problem figuring out how to score on the Zips defense. Against Wisconsin to open the season, they allowed 38 points. Versus Syracuse, they gave up four touchdowns, and while losing to Ball State, the final score was 41-24.
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But against Army – which actually runs the split veer you hardly ever see – it allowed 223 yards and just three points. Akron also is sixth in the nation in turnovers with 12 (eight fumbles, four INTs), so that’s something.
“Last week the defense was the best thing we got out of it,” Zips coach J.D. Brookhart said. “They played a more disciplined game. You have to against that offense. We really attended to our keys and our reads.”
The Zips should feel more comfortable this week while facing UC’s spread offense.
“That’s what we’re used to going against,” Brookhart said. “The MAC is a spread league. We’re more accustomed to that. That doesn’t make it any easier, but you have a better comfort level with it.”
“We know he can play at this level,” BK said. “Now, he has to show a level of consistency and do that week after week. That was key to the football game.”
