Central Michigan Chippewas vs. Akron Zips football recap: Blake Serpa unloads on the Zips, win 14-6

Who says #MACtion has to be all offense? The Akron Zips had a bye week coming into today's contest with Central Michigan. They certainly used it to their advantage by coming up with an excellent game plan that throttled CMU's high powered offense.The Zip's front seven were so dominant that they limited CMU to just 78 total yards in the first half. In the meantime, Akron ' s young quarterback, Tommy Woodson, was having arguably the best game of his career by leading his team to 175 total yards on offense and a sparkling 57 yard touchdown pass to Jerome Lane. A muffed extra point left the game 7-6 with CMU leading at the half.

It looked like Cooper Rush returned to his normal form to start the second half. Rush led CMU on a 75 yard touchdown drive out of the gate. Rush hit an open Anthony Rice on a 16 yard touchdown pass to push CMU's lead out to 14-6. That was all of the scoring.

What followed was the Blake Serpa highlight reel. A sack of Tommy Woodson forced an Akron punt in its next possession. That was followed by a knocked down pass by Serpa that forced another Akron three and out. And that was followed by another Akron three and out as a result of Serpa pressuring Tommy Woodson.

By midway thru the fourth quarter, Serpa had five solo hits on the quarterback, four tackles for losses, a forced fumble and two quarterback sacks. There was simply no place for Woodson & Company to hide.

The Chips offense was making just enough plays to keep the clock moving and the ball out oof the hands of Akron ' s swarming defense. It was a winning strategy as time and again Akron was willing to settle for fourth down punts and field position instead of badly needed points. One has to question Akron ' s strategy as the Zips elected to punt too many times in CMU territory. It just didn't make any sense for Akron not to go on fourth down at least  a couple of times.

Finally, with time enough for one more drive, Akron folded. Blake Serpa hit Woodson hard again and on the next play, Woodson was sacked by a blitzing Tyree Waller. Zack Paul boomed yet another magnificent punt, but the Chips ran off most of the remaining 3:30 with again just enough offense. Akron was given a meaningless final possession on its own four yard line and the game ended 14-6 with the Chips on top.