TODAY’S GAME

At 1-7 overall and 0-4 in the Mid-American Conference, the Akron Zips wouldn’t seem to pose much of a challenge for Miami today.

At 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the conference, the RedHawks are in no position to take any game for granted.

Akron has lost seven consecutive games since needing overtime to pull out a 30-23 win at home over Football Championship Subdivision St. Francis (Pa.) in the Zips’ season opener, but three of their four MAC losses have been one-score outcomes.

What concerns ninth-year Miami coach Chuck Martin is the unusual dual threat posed by Akron’s 6-foot-6, 205-pound redshirt-junior quarterbac kDJ Irons. The Georgia native leads the Zips in rushing with 224 net yards, but Martin points out that Irons has gained close to 500 yards while seeing his net yardage suffer because of 43 sacks.

Irons also has completed 67.2% of his passes (212 of 314) for 2,199 yards.

Miami at Akron, Noon, ESPN+, 980, 1450

“They have a lot of quarterback-designed runs,” Martin said. “He also has a high completion percentage.

“Formationally, they have movement all over the place. They have two really good backs. Their defense has been better lately. They are a totally different challenge on the defensive side of the ball.”

The Zips netted 109 yards on the ground against Kent State, which lost, 27-24, at Miami on Oct. 8.

“Certainly, I thought we took a little step forward with our run game and when you include the quarterback runs in there. I thought that was a positive,” said first-year coach Joe Moorhead, who previously coached at Fordham and Mississippi