The Akron Zips put up a hell of a fight today on the road at Penn State, but ultimately they just didn't have enough to overcome the challenge of being on the road, against a good B1g Ten team, to get the win. Akron fell 21-3, slipping to 1-1 on the season.
The Zips put up a fantastic fight for much of the first 45 minutes of the game, and entered halftime down just 7-0. With under three minutes to go, Penn State scored on a Christian Hackenberg touchdown pass, his second of three in the game, to go up 14-3, and it was clear from that point on Akron was facing an uphill challenge. Penn State scored again with 8:58 to go, on a 44-yard bomb from Hackenberg to Jesse James.
Akron had an opportunity to score late in the fourth quarter, but failed to convert a 4th and 10 in the redzone, and Penn State wore down the clock to secure the win.
Akron's defense gave up 425 total yards, but many of those came late in the game. For most of the game Akron's defense was attacking, and picked off Hackenberg twice, and caused three total turnovers. Penn State struggled to move the ball on the ground all day, averaging just 3.4 yards per carry on 31 carries.
Conversely, Akron was worse on the ground. for the second straight game, Kyle Pohl was required to carry the offense through the air as the Zips managed just 69 rushing yards on 25 carries. Early drops by Akron receivers didn't help Pohl either, who finished the game 24-for-46 with 208 yards and no touchdowns.