We’ve been trying to get the gentleman at Section Six to consider coming over to StateFansNation. His stuff is just wonderful and fits EXACTLY what we do here. We shall not give up our quest!! 🙂
In the meantime, the work done at Section Six and Red & White from State continue to complement our work perfectly. So today, Section Six prepares us for Akron with no need for us to do much else on the topic other than turn your attention to some interesting Akron bits from Ohio.com:
Running Back Performance
At first glance, Dennis Kennedy’s rushing statistics against Penn State weren’t that impressive. He had 59 yards in the University of Akron’s 34-16 loss to Penn State last Saturday.
But Zips coach J.D. Brookhart said Kennedy’s play was noteworthy, considering the 5-foot-11, 200-pound sophomore went up against a physical and athletic defensive unit that had four players back from last year’s Big Ten championship team.
Brookhart was most pleased that Kennedy showed durability. He carried 25 times and had a few plays where he needed power and strength by turning several would-be tackles for losses into positive yardage.
“Dennis was our offensive player of the game,” Brookhart said. “He played extremely well. He was good on pass protection, ran the ball well, caught the ball and just made some things happen. Overall, Dennis played a great game.”
Kennedy originally signed a national letter of intent with Ohio State but never played for the Buckeyes. He ended up at UA before the 2004 season and sat out the year. Last year, he played behind Brett Biggs but took advantage of his limited playing time. In the spring, he solidified himself as the starter.
* Kicking Game – “Zips kicker Matt Domonkos and punter John Stec made their collegiate debuts against the Nittany Lions, and the results were mixed. Domonkos kicked a 46-yard field goal late in the second quarter but missed a point-after attempt in the third quarter.
“I thought Matt came in and stepped up,” Brookhart said. “For him to hit a 46-yarder in those conditions, right off the bat, was awesome. I think he got overly excited on the (PAT) and just tried to kill it. He’ll learn from that.”
Stec had seven punts for an average of 33.3 yards in rainy conditions.
“John had no trouble fielding the ball all camp, and he has very good hands,” Brookhart said. “You couple 107,000 fans, 18 years old, and a wet ball with a rush coming at you… he didn’t play well, but he responded after getting hit a couple times and just kept going out there. He will get better.”
* Injury report – Senior left tackle Tim Crouch injured an ankle against Penn State and missed practice Tuesday, but Brookhart expects him to start Saturday at North Carolina State. “We’re just trying to figure out if we want him to practice or whether resting him will be the best thing.”
