Week 6 Preview: Miami (OH) @ Akron

It's homecoming time in Northeast Ohio as the RedHawks of Miami (1-4) travel to the Rubber Capital of the World to take on our Akron Zips (2-1). Miami is coming off a heartbreaking collapse at home to Western Michigan, while the Zips enjoyed their bye week. The all-time series is 17-9-1 in favor of Miami, while Akron has taken 4 out of the last 5, owning a 4-2 record in the Bowden Era. How will this Saturday's matchup look? Let's take a look.

Miami Quick Hits

• Miami is coming off a disheartening loss at home to Western Michigan. The 'Hawks led 27-14 at half before the Broncos would explode in the 2nd half to take the contest 40-39. Miami's defense gave up 562 yards of total offense and got dominated in time of possession.

• Senior QB Gus Ragland has had a good start to the season, throwing for 1,017 yards and 8 touchdowns on a 58.4% completion percentage. Miami's passing offense ranks 83rd in the nation.

• The rushing game for the 'Hawks has been pedestrian. The top 2 backs combine for 392 yards through 5 contests. This lackluster effort puts Miami's rushing attack at 108th in the nation.

Akron Quick Hits

• The key for an Akron victory has to be stopping the air attack of Miami. Lucky for us, the Zips have plenty of defense to go around. The Zips rank 14th in the country for passing defense. Akron has given up 4 TD's through the air, but has picked the ball off 4 times as well, 2 of those going to the house. Don't think that the rush defense will let Miami get anything going on the ground, we rank 3rd in Run Defense.

• QB Kato Nelson is no doubt looking to avenge the loss last year to Miami in his 1st collegiate start. The Zips offense has benefited greatly from Nelson's play-making ability, and look to take advantage of a Miami defense that has given up about 250 yards per game and has surrendered 14 TD's so far this season.

Where To Watch

Kickoff is at 3:30 Saturday from Infocision Stadium. The game is being streamed live on ESPN+

That's it for this weeks preview. If you have any comments or concerns about the game, tweet us @Zips_United. From all of us here at Just a Blog from Akron, I'm Chris Stahler reminding you that the real Miami is in Florida, and GO ZIPS!