Akron (1-6, 0-3 MAC) at Kent State (2-5, 1-2 MAC). Saturday, Oct. 24, 1 p.m. ET, Dix Stadium, Kent, Ohio, ESPN+. It's the Battle for the Wagon Wheel.
Your hosts are Hollister "Zip" Grubbs, a Rubber City polymer-science grad who measures football in tire tread, and Ozzie Brannigan, a Kent State pessimist who rates uniforms and fourth-down decisions.
Zip: Ozzie! Rivalry week! Best day of the year! BOING!
Ozzie: I expected you to say that. I'm wearing powder blue anyway.
Players to watch
Akron running back Jordan Gant has 452 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Brayden Roggow has 1,068 yards, seven touchdowns and eight interceptions. Wide receiver Marcel Williams has 31 catches for 332 yards. Linebacker Donelius Johnson has 67 tackles, sixth in FBS.
Kent State quarterback Dru DeShields has 1,145 yards, four touchdowns and six interceptions. Running back Mason King leads the Flashes with 202 rushing yards. Linebacker Hayden Dawahare has 33 tackles and two sacks. Wide receiver Wayne Harris leads in receiving with more than 380 yards.
Zip: Johnson's got sticky tread. Sixty-seven tackles is all-season radials.
What happened last week
Kent State lost 29-2 at South Florida. DeShields went 17 of 30 for 165 yards with no interceptions. Dawahare had nine tackles and a sack.
Akron lost 34-14 at Miami (OH). Roggow threw for 234 yards but was intercepted four times. Gant scored a touchdown, and Johnson made 10 tackles.
Ozzie: Two points. I expected it. No interceptions, though. I'm suspicious of progress.
Injuries and availability
No official conference availability report has been published for this game. No injury news has surfaced for either team, so check back closer to kickoff.
What the coaches are up to
Mark Carney is Kent State's 24th head coach. He was interim coach from April 2025, and the school removed the interim tag on Oct. 30, 2025. His defense has 15 sacks. Points are his project: Kent State scores 12 per game, 138th in FBS.
Joe Moorhead was hired at Akron on Dec. 4, 2021. He had been Mississippi State's head coach and Oregon's offensive coordinator. His offense is balanced, running on about 51% of its plays. Turnovers are the problem: Akron is minus-7 in turnover margin, and Kent State is minus-4.
Player storylines
Kent State's run game averages 2.93 yards per carry, but Akron allows 6.05 per carry and 200.4 rushing yards per game, 130th in FBS. That's the clearest opening for King. Akron has allowed 19 sacks, and Kent State has 15, so Dawahare and the pass rush could be the story.
Ozzie: If our run game is ever going to work, it's this week. I'm saying that out loud, which means it probably won't.
Zip: Positive pressure, Ozzie. That's how tires work.
What's happening on campus
It's Powder Blue Out and Military Appreciation Day at Dix. The first 1,500 fans get a free powder-blue soccer jersey. Kent State athletes will receive their letter jackets in an on-field ceremony. It's also Youth Football Day.
Anything else fun and true
The Wagon Wheel has been the trophy since 1946, and Kent State won the first nine. Kent State won last year's meeting, 42-35, and holds the Wheel. Akron won in 2024 and 2023. Akron leads the all-time series, and Zip says that's the best tread on the whole tire. The field is Zoeller Field at Dix Stadium.
Zip: Tread check: deep and grippy. Let's roll.
Ozzie: Close game. That's the scary part. I already ordered a second powder-blue jersey for the nerves.
The Cover Window
My call: Kent State Golden Flashes 26, Akron Zips 22.