Scouting the Zips

Last Season
Akron won its last game of the season, going 1-11 for the season. It was the first year for head coach Rob Ianello.

Offense
This will be the first game for QB Clayton Moore. Moore is a junior-college recruit, who originally was committed to Ole Miss before his troubles led his high school team to remove him from the team during a Mississippi state high school semifinal game. Moore is a shorter, athletic, and mobile QB in comparison to last year's QB Nicely. Patrick Nicely  is available as a back-up. Nicely threw for 49%, 1753 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions last year. Gone from the team are the leading running back and top three receivers from last season. At fullback will be true freshman Nick Rossi and sophomore Broderick Alexander is slotted as the the running back. At receiver are Keith Sconiers, Anthony Meriwether, and Jerrod Dillard. Marquelo Suel, a junior college transfer that originally committed to Indiana in 2008, will get some minutes at receiver.

Defense
The defense returns more starters than the offense, including strong safety Josh Richmond, linebacker SheldDon Miller, cornerback Anthony Holmes, cornerback Manley Waller, linebacker Brian Wagner, defensive tackle Hasan Hazime, and defensive end Dan Marcoux. Brian Wagner led the team last year with 130 tackles. Defensive tackle Oren Wilson is a transfer from Michigan State, and he is expected to be a starter. Hasan Hazime and Dan Marcoux bring a lot of experience to the defensive line. Look for CB Manley Waller to be the shutdown corner on OSU's main receiver.

The Coaches

Luke Fickell
Luke Fickell is 0-0 in his first year as a head coach. Luke Fickell has been an assistant coach for 13 years. He was a graduate assistant at OSU under John Cooper in 1999. He was a defensive line coach at Akron from 2000-2001. Early in Jim Tressel's tenure at OSU, he hired Fickell as the special teams coordinator. He eventually coached the linebackers and was a co-defensive coordinator. Going into this season he was the assistant head coach, and was promoted in May to head coach, after Jim Tressel retired. Prior to coaching, Fickell was a four year starter for OSU, from 1992-1996. During his career, OSU was 41-8-1, won two Big Ten Championships and won the 1997 Rose Bowl. He started a school record 50 consecutive games. After graduation he spent one year on the injured reserve team for the New Orleans Saints.




Rob Ianello
He is 1-11 in his second season. This is his first head coach position. Prior to Akron he worked on the coaching staff at Alabama, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Notre Dame. At Notre Dame he was the wide receivers coach, recruit coordinator, and eventually the assistant head coach for offense under Charlie Weis. At Notre Dame he had a reputation as one of the best recruiters in the country.