By: Jackson Wolek / Staff Writer
While Lebron James will be in Miami preparing for his charity basketball event at FIU, the University football team will be in Lebron’s hometown of Akron, Ohio to take on the 1-4 Akron Zips on Oct. 8 at 2 p.m.
Homecoming was ruined last week with a 36-31 loss to Duke. Now FIU must try to return the favor against Akron, who is hosting their homecoming game against the Panthers this week. For sophomore running back Kedrick Rhodes, it does not matter what game it is for them, they just want to win.
“We just can’t let one team beat us twice; we’ve moved on and we critiqued our mistakes, so we’re ready to get some payback, take down Akron,” said Rhodes. “It doesn’t really matter. We have the same mindset going into every game no matter if it’s homecoming or not, we still have the same mindset, 1-0.”
The Zips offensive production this year has come mostly from freshman running back Jawon Chisholm, who has carried the ball for over 100 yards in each of his past three games.
However, the two other offenses that FIU has faced this year that relied heavily on the run, North Texas with running back Lance Dunbar and UCF’s quarterback Jeffrey Godfrey, had little success against the Panthers’ defense when they faced them.
“There’s a strong commitment to it, these guys have put in time, since January, to being more physical and it’s paid off,” head coach Mario Cristobal said. “The one we’re facing this week is just as good or better because he’s bigger and he has the same type of speed.”
Akron can run the ball well; it is stopping the run that has been the problem. They have given up an average of 204 yards on the ground per game. Rhodes, who had a career high 30 carries in the loss to Louisiana two weeks ago and is averaging 80 yards per game, expects the amount of touches he gets to depend on how the game goes
“I’m not really looking for a certain amount of carries, it’s just however the play calling goes,” Rhodes said. “It’s a game time decision, it’s up to coach.”
The other weapon on offense that the Zips have is wide receiver Keith Sconiers. With 24 catches for 420 yards and four touchdowns, he has 16 more catches and 343 more yards than their next leading receiver Marquelo Suel. Even though Sconiers is their biggest threat, Cristobal is not just concerned with him.
“There’s a focus on stopping and slowing down their offense across the board,” said Cristobal. “When there’s a player statistically like Sconiers, of course they always require the attention of your football team as you prepare.”
Injuries are still continuing to plague FIU with each passing week. Wide receiver Jacob Younger, who has had eight catches for a total of 79 yards this year, might have to sit out because of an injury to his shoulder.
He has been sitting out of practice since Sept. 28, and Cristobal says he is not positive if he if going to be able to play.
Offensive lineman Curtis Bryant, on the other hand, will be available Oct. 8 despite having a sprain in his thumb, and wide receiver Glenn Coleman (shoulder), as well as senior safety Chuck Grace (knee) will both be sitting out yet another week.
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