Akron Football: Can Zips show progress in critical 2021 season?

An aggressive scheme hopes to turn around Akron’s defense in 2021

Akron’s defensive coordinator Matt Feeney brings an ultra aggressive scheme in the hopes of creating havoc plays and forcing turnovers.

Akron ranked 38th in in blitzes per dropback and I expect that number to be around the same or potentially even higher. The only thing about being aggressive defensively is that if it does not work, you can give up explosive plays and that was something that was a problem for the Zips the past couple of seasons.

Up front, Eric Bentley and Bryce Wilson will lead the defensive line and they will be pivotal to helping turn around the 120th ranked rushing defense.

The two biggest impact players on the defensive side of the ball are at linebacker, with Bubba Arslanian and Brandon Bischoff leading the way for Akron. Arslanian was the leading tackler for the Zips by a pretty wide margin and is one of the better pass rushers on the team.

The secondary is led by Randy Cochran Jr and the DB’s have some experience and were the most consistent unit on the defense last season and Akron finished with the 38th ranked passing defense (though they only played six games).

Overall this is a unit that was pretty underwhelming last season, but return most of its experience and production. I think there is room for growth and when you have an aggressive defense like this, things can turn around quickly if the Zips can force more turnovers.