The University of Akron football team overcame a disastrous start to its home opener and prevailed 31-20 over Colgate on Saturday night at InfoCision Stadium.
Akron (1-2) entered the matchup heavily favored against Colgate (0-3) but fell behind 17-0 in the first quarter. The Zips rallied, gained control by halftime and held on for their first victory since Nov. 1, 2023, when they defeated rival Kent State 31-27 at home.
Here are our rankings for Akron's top three players and top three moments in its first win this season :
Top players
1. Akron Zips redshirt junior quarterback Ben Finley
New Akron starting quarterback Ben Finley went 28-of-43 passing for 358 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. His composure allowed the Zips to score 28 consecutive points after they had trailed by 17.
“He's playing like he practices,” Zips coach Joe Moorhead said. “He has a tremendous level of preparation, so he knows what we're doing. He's still relatively green in terms of game experience from [his time at] N.C. State and Cal. It's been really more spot duty. But now that he's the undisputed starter, he's a team captain and it's kind of his show, we're continuing to see on a weekly basis more and more flashes of explosiveness and consistency.”
Finley's TD passes were 7 yards to running back Charles Kellom with 1:48 left in the first quarter, 2 yards to tight end Jake Newell with 14:10 left in the second quarter, 56 yards to wide receiver Bobby Golden with 9:10 left in the second quarter and 18 yards to wide receiver Adrian Norton with 30 seconds left before halftime.
2. University of Akron redshirt junior cornerback Darrian Lewis
Akron native and Zips nickelback Darrian Lewis had a team-high 12 tackles, including seven solo and one for loss.
A St. Vincent-St. Mary High School graduate, Lewis also made the play of the game when he intercepted a pass thrown by Colgate quarterback Jake Stearney with 10:50 left in the second quarter. The degree of difficulty was high because Lewis had to secure the interception along Akron's sideline before falling out of bounds at the UA 31-yard line.
“In that moment, that was definitely big,” said UA linebacker Antavious Fish, who had five tackles. “[Lewis is] an athlete, man. He's always around the ball, a ballhawk, and I trust all my guys that I'm on the field with. I know we're all capable of making plays. So him getting that big interception right there, getting the foot down, it was a great catch, actually.”
More on Akron football's victory: Zips rally to triumph over Colgate. Here are highlights from UA's home opener
3. Akron junior wide receiver Bobby Golden
Golden caught five passes on nine targets for 119 yards and a touchdown. The Zips took their first lead and never trailed again after his 56-yard TD reception from Finley with 9:10 left in the first half. He also caught a 12-yard pass on fourth-and-7 at the Colgate 41 early in the fourth quarter. Five plays later, the Zips bolstered their cushion to 31-20 with Garrison Smith's 32-yard field goal with 12:07 remaining.
The Zips had two players eclipse 100 yards receiving — Golden and Norton (five catches on 12 targets for 125 yards and a TD). And Newell, UA's starting tight end, caught all seven of his targets for 41 yards and a TD.
“We've got dogs all over the field, and I trust them completely when I let that ball out of my hand,” Finley said. “The offense is designed to spread the ball around. And two 100-yard receivers, I don't think I've ever had that in my college career, so that feels good. There's nothing better than having the ability to provide someone else with a successful game and just be happy all around. I'm really happy for those guys.”
Top moments
1. Darrian Lewis' interception for Akron Zips football leads to Ben Finley's 56-yard TD pass to Bobby Golden
Colgate led 17-14 when Lewis recorded the second interception of his college career. Someone handed Lewis the Turnover Tire after the play, and his takeaway gave Akron an opportunity to show it can play complementary football.
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Four plays later, Golden separated just enough from Colgate cornerback Tymir Wynn to haul in the 56-yard touchdown pass from Finley.
“We had a double-post concept,” Finley said. “They were in quarters. The field safety drove the inside post, and I had to make a little pocket movement. I knew Bobby was going to be running across the field. You can't catch Bobby. Bobby's too fast. So I just knew I had to air it out, and he was going to run under it. It happened to be a great play.”
2. Sophomore wide receiver Adrian Norton's touchdown catch gives Akron command at halftime vs. Colgate
Another example of complementary football unfolded in UA's favor shortly before halftime.
Colgate went for it on fourth-and-2 at the UA 36, and Zips safety Paul Lewis III tackled quarterback Zach Osborne for a 4-yard loss and a turnover on downs with 3:18 left in the second quarter. Lewis III and linebacker Bryan McCoy had nine tackles apiece to tie for the second-most among Zips defenders.
Akron capped the ensuing 11-play, 60-yard drive when Finley connected with Norton for an 18-yard touchdown with 30 seconds left in the first half. Norton broke free from a defender on his route and caught the pass in the front right corner of the end zone. The Zips led 28-17 at halftime.
“That was a big part of the momentum, changing how the game went going into that second half,” Norton said. “I think it was a pretty good route, if I do say so myself. I'd been going across the field for the first part of the game and just gave him a little head nod going inside, and he happened to go that way when I went the opposite way. The rest is history.”
3. Akron Zips standout defensive end CJ Nunnally IV puts exclamation point on victory
A first-team All-Mid-American Conference selection last season, UA defensive end CJ Nunnally IV registered a quarterback hit on Darrian Lewis' game-changing interception.
Later, Nunnally created Akron's second takeaway of the game by strip-sacking Stearney on first-and-10 at the Colgate 23. Zips defensive tackle Nate Kapongo recovered the fumble to seal the win with 1:01 remaining.
After beginning this season with blowout losses to two Big Ten teams, 49-17 at Rutgers on Sept. 7 and 52-6 at Ohio State on Aug. 31, Akron took care of business in a game it should have won. For a program with just four victories in the past two seasons combined, nothing can be taken for granted.
“If you're looking for signs of progress, we got down big, we battled back and we held our own,” Moorhead said. “We won a college football game, which has been hard to do around here.”
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron football's win over Colgate: Ranking top 3 Zips players, moments in UA's home opener
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