Where: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
TV/Radio: CBS/1410
Series history: Ohio State leads 8-1 with five straight victories over the Zips. Akron’s lone win is a 12-6 decision in a game played at the Ohio State Fairgrounds in 1894. The school was then known as Buchtel College. That is the only win for a MAC school against the Buckeyes.
Last meeting: No. 10 Ohio State topped Akron 59-7 in 2021. With C.J. Stroud resting a sore shoulder, true freshman Kyle McCord completed 13 of 19 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns.
Coaches: Ohio State’s Ryan Day is 56-8 in five seasons, including a 5-0 in season openers. Joe Moorhead is 4-20 in three seasons at Akron and 56-45 overall as a head coach.
Ohio State notes: The Buckeyes return six starters on offense and eight on defense… They are 36-1 all-time against teams currently in the MAC, and they are 48-0-1 against teams from Ohio in Ohio Stadium, which opened in 1922… The Buckeyes are 194-50-1 against in-state foes, including 45 straight wins. The last loss was 7-6 to Oberlin at Ohio Field in 1921… Ohio State last lost its season-opener in 1999 at the Meadowlands in New Jersey against Miami (Fla.) 23-12… Ohio State has one player whose listed hometown is Akron: walk-on receiver Shawn Lodge, who attended St. Vincent-St. Mary… Ohio State enters the season tied with Michigan for the highest winning percentage of all Power 4 conference schools (.734).
Akron notes: The Zips were 2-10 last season with one win over an FBS team (Kent State). They ranked 130th in points per game and 81st in points allowed per game… Akron ranked 30th in yards per game allowed (329.6)… They return five starters on offense and eight on defense, including All-MAC defensive lineman CJ Nunnally IV and linebacker Bryan McCoy… Akron is No. 133 of 134 teams in the preseason projections of advanced metric SP+, which measures play-by-play efficiency and explosiveness among other numbers… Akron has two players from local high schools: Junior defensive lineman Andre Proffitt of Lakota West and sophomore receiver Adrian Norton Stebbins.
Quoted: Moorhead on Ohio State fans thinking they could have a national championship-caliber team: “Yeah, they’re thinking right. Obviously Coach Day has done a fantastic job. Chip Kelly, Jim Knowles. They’re talented, they’re deep. They’re well-coached and people talking about them being a legitimate contender to win the national championship and they’re right. It’s going to be a huge, huge challenge.”
Next week: Ohio State will be home again for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff against Western Michigan. Akron will play another Big Ten squad on the road, traveling to Rutgers.
Prediction: Ohio State 55, Akron 0
About the Author
