Midweek MACtion kicked off at InfoCision Stadium on Tuesday night, pitting the Akron Zips against the MAC’s newcomer, the UMass Minutemen. Akron (4-6, 3-3 MAC) dominated the winless Minutemen (0-9, 0-5 MAC) in a 44-10 affair. The 34-point victory marked Akron’s largest over an FBS opponent since defeating Kent State by 38 in the 2002 regular season finale.
While a box score watcher may have seen a typical blowout, the path to get to the 44-10 finish was quite adventurous. This game featured five total fumbles — four of which were lost for turnovers (three by UMass and one by Akron). The fumbles were hardly normal plays, so let’s rank the four lost fumbles in Tuesday night’s MACtion contest from bizarre to completely off-the-rails.
In the early fourth quarter of an already-decided game, Akron booted the ball away to UMass. The Zips’ Joseph Castle landed his punt inside the 20-yard line, but UMass could not field it cleanly. There is 13:19 remaining on the clock when the Minutemen muff the punt, yet 13:08 left when the play is officially blown dead. It appears five different players made contact with the ball during the recovery process. Akron landed on it and scored several plays later to establish a 44-10 lead — the final score of the game.
In the middle of the third quarter, Akron put the game away on a scoop-and-score. UMass quarterback AJ Hairston fumbled the ball on a backfield exchange, attempted to scoop it up but was disrupted by a hit from Jamari Somerville. Hairston remained upright after the hit and continued his pursuit, but while scooping up the ball again, he was completely dislodged by Akron inside linebacker Gage Summers. Summers then picked up the pigskin and dragged running back Brandon Hood to the end zone, handing the Zips their second defensive touchdown of the season and a commanding 34-10 third quarter advantage.
Well this is one way to start a game. On the first play from scrimmage, winless UMass was aiming for the home run shot. The Minutemen scripted up a flea-flicker out of 12 personnel, sending both wide receivers deep downfield. However, UMass’ offensive line didn’t provide proper protection to allow the play to develop. Running back Rocko Griffin slipped and fumbled his toss back to the quarterback on the flea-flicker and Akron inside linebacker Gage Summers recovered his first of two fumbles. The Zips scored three plays later to establish a 7-0 lead after UMass opened the game in ultimate disastrous fashion.
Akron only lost one fumble all game, and it was one for the highlight tape. This play actually involved two fumbles as quarterback Ben Finley lost the ball while pulling on a zone read. However, Finley spun around clockwise and the ball perfectly bounced back into his hands when he finished his 360 degree turn. It was incredibly smooth. The quarterback then looked on track for the end zone until UMass free safety Kendall Bournes delivered a devastating hit on the 1-yard line. And once again, the ball bounced in smooth fashion, landing directly into the hands of UMass strong safety Zeraun Daniel. Daniel broke several tackles during a 7-yard runback to his own 8-yard line, denying Akron a touchdown — although it wouldn’t matter significantly in the 44-10 result.
