Ohio State football is back.
0 – 0
August 31, 2024 – 3:30 p.m. ET
Ohio Stadium
Columbus, Ohio
Those five words sum up all the reasons Buckeye fans can be excited this week, because OSU’s Week 1 opponent won’t be on the front row of any team anytime soon.
The Buckeyes open their 2024 schedule with a cupcake in every sense of the word, and anything short of total annihilation of in-state Akron would be beneath expectations for Ohio State. It’s the first of three Group of Five schools — all of which were under .500 in 2023 — that OSU will open its season with, followed by Western Michigan and Marshall in the second and third games of the season.
Still, Ohio State will look to hone some of its focus areas and finally compete against others on Saturday.
Worst opponent on paper
Joe Moorhead is 2-10 in each of his first two seasons as Akron’s head coach, and the Zips don’t inspire much confidence that they will compete for a MAC title in 2024.
None of the returning players on last year’s team rushed for more than 14 yards. No player returns who rushed for more than 188 yards. And that’s from a team that ranked 130th in scoring and 129th in yards per game out of 133 teams in college football in 2023. These offensive failures are especially frustrating for Akron considering Moorhead’s background as a successful offensive coordinator at Penn State and Oregon.
Akron’s only two wins last year were against FCS Morgan State (24-21) and Kent State, the Zips’ only FBS win, by a final score of 31-27. They were outscored by a total of 141 points on the season, with the average result of their games being a 7.8-point loss. The team came within two points of pulling off an upset in the Big Ten, but lost narrowly to Indiana in Week 4, 29-27.
The massive lead that the bookmakers are giving to Ohio State is likely to come true in every respect.
A very special quarterback battle
Akron ended its own quarterback competition on Wednesday, similar to how Ohio State decided its own QB battle on Aug. 15.
Transfer quarterback Ben Finley beat out fellow redshirt junior Tahj Bullock to earn the first snaps of the season. Finley came to Akron this offseason after spending a season at Cal, where he was a backstop to freshman Fernando Mendoza but made the starting lineup a few times. Finley completed 57.4% of his throws for 572 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions with the Golden Bears.
Prior to that, Finley spent three seasons at NC State, only rising above backup status in 2022 when injuries affected his position. In three games as a starter, he completed 52.8% of his passes for 741 yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions. With a redshirt and a COVID-19 waiver, Finley is a fifth-year player with two years of eligibility remaining.
It’s hard to imagine a more difficult first test for Finley in Akron than facing the best pass defense in the country come 2023.
Defense is better than attack
Again, Moorhead was known for his offensive performances at his previous stops, but the Zips’ defense has been the team’s stronger side of the ball in 2023 and the unit is more productive than its offensive counterparts.
Akron finished 81st in points allowed, still in the bottom half of college football, but its offense bears some of the blame for that ranking. A lack of consistency in moving the ball left the Zips’ opponents with short fields, reflected in Akron finishing 32nd in total defense, 22nd in pass defense and 58th against the run.
Antavious Fish and Bryan McCoy, who led the Zips with 95 and 94 tackles, are both back to lead a linebacker corps that is probably the strongest position on the team. Devonte Golden-Nelson intercepted two passes last year and should lead the cornerback rotation.
What is a postal code anyway?
PHIL MASTURZO/USA TODAY NETWORK
If you’re like me, as a native Ohioan, you’ve often heard of the Akron Zips, seen the kangaroo at some point, and wondered, “What exactly is a zip? And what does that have to do with kangaroos?”
Akron’s nickname has more to do with rubber than any animal, which isn’t surprising since the city was once known as the rubber capital of the world. The school held a contest to name its track and field teams in 1927, which a student named Margaret Hamilton won with the suggestion “Zippers.” The name is actually a reference to a shoe cover sold by the famous rubber company BF Goodrich, based in Akron and whose name is synonymous with tires.
Overshoes are a pair of rubber shoes worn over another pair of shoes for protection. To be clear, Akron’s sports teams are named after rubber overshoes. The nickname “Zippers” was shortened to “Zips” in 1950.
Zippy the Kangaroo was chosen as the team’s mascot in 1953 at the suggestion of student Dick Hansford. Kangaroos are native only to Australia and New Guinea. Because a zippered pouch was added to the mascot, and only female kangaroos have pouches, Zippy is one of the few mascots in college football that is officially female.
103 years
Akron is the only way Ohio State can lose to another Ohio school this year, unless another Buckeye State team makes a surprise appearance in the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes have not lost to another in-state school since 1921, when Oberlin College defeated OSU 7-6.
Some interesting facts about the period in which Ohio State dominated the 44,825 square miles within Ohio’s borders:
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Man’s first moon landing took place in 1969, 48 years after Oberlin’s victory, and even more time has passed between Neil Armstrong’s giant leap for mankind and today (55 years).
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Warren G. Harding, the 29th president of the United States and the youngest of Ohio’s eight leaders, was in office when the Yeomen defeated the Buckeyes. Since then, there have been 27 presidents, six of whom are still living. The oldest, Jimmy Carter, turns 100 in October, has never seen Ohio State lose to an Ohio team on the football field.
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Players from Ohio State University and Oberlin University who wanted to continue their football careers as professionals would have had limited opportunities to do so since the NFL was not founded until 1920.
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The first electronic television was demonstrated in 1927, the same year that the Zips received their nickname.
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It’s unclear what, if anything, the teams and spectators did to honor America the day OSU and Oberlin met. But perhaps they didn’t sing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” since the United States anthem has only been officially the national anthem for 93 years.
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McDonald’s was founded in 1940.
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Alaska and Hawaii became states in 1959.
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The Buckeyes have a 51-0-1 record against Ohio teams since losing to Oberlin 103 years ago and have won each of their last 46 games since tying Wooster in 1924.
Ohio State will make sure it remains undefeated against an Ohio team for another year on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CBS will broadcast the Buckeyes’ season opener.
