Head to head: Army vs. Akron

The Army Black Knights open their 2007 football season on Saturday in Cleveland against Akron. Today ArmySports.com compares different critical team areas of Army and Akron and indicates which team has the edge.

Army	AREA	Akron	COMMENTS
E	Army rushing offense vs. Akron rushing defense	E	Even. Army runningback Wesley McMahand, who rushed for over 600 yards in 2006, returns for his senior season. Bruising Army fullback Mike Vito is exected to get more carries this season. Akron senior rover John Mackey is the man to watch on the Zip defense. He had 88 tackles last season. Zip linebackers Kevin Grant and Brion Stokes combined for almost 170 tackles.
	Army passing offense vs. Akron passing defense	X	David Pevoto struggled last season with interceptions but has been impressive during preseason drills. Black Knight senior wide receiver Jeremy Trimble caught 52 receptions for 534 yards in 2006. Zip cornerback Reggie Corner had four interceptions in 2006 for Akron. Army is untested under its new offensive coordinator so the edge goes to Akron but this is close.
	Akron rushing offense vs. Army rushing defense	X	Last season Zip junior running back Dennis rushed 914 yards and nine touchdowns. Army gave up almost 200 yards a game rushing in 2006. Advantage Akron.
X	Akron passing offense vs. Army passing defense		The Zips must replace record setting quarterback Luke Getsy who is now graduated. Akron will be quarterbacked by committee with sophomore Chris Jacquemain getting the starting knod and Carlton Jackson set to see action in the second quarter. Zip senior wide receiver Jabari Arthur had 45 catcheds for 730 yards and four touchdowns in 2006. Army gave up only 156.0 yards per game passing in 2006.
E	Special Teams	E	Even. Both teams will have new kickers. Army returns punter Owen Tolson who averaged 42 yards a punt in 2006. Adam DeMarco won the kicking job from Tolson. John Stec average 38 yards a punt for the Zips in 2006. Freshman kicker Igor Iveljic won the starting Zip kicking job during preseason drills.
	Coaching	X	Akron gets the edge here simply because this is Stan Brock's first game as Army head coach. J.D. Brookhart (18-18) is in his fourth season as head coach for the Zips. That gameday experience with the Zips will give him an edge over Brock who has no previous experience running the Army team from the sidelines.

Prediction:

Akron 17
Army 16