The Nebraska Cornhuskers improved to 2-0 on the season after defeating the visiting Akron Zips 68-0. The victory was Nebraska’s first shutout since defeating Arizona in the Holiday Bowl 33-0 in 2009.
The Blackshirts held Akron to 175 total offense and 3.0 yards per play while holding the Zips to a stunning 1-of-14 on third down. Ben Finley was the leading Zips passer, finishing 7-of-21 for 54 yards. Sean Partrick led all Akron rushers with 64 yards on 12 carries. Marcel Williams had two receptions for 28 yards.
Akron falls to 0-2 on the year with the loss and has yet to score a point this season. They will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, and face the UAB Blazers next Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CT. Head Coach Joe Moorhead falls to 8-29 as the Zips head coach in the defeat. He spoke with the media after the game and expressed honest thoughts on the blowout loss.
“The first thing I take away is, that was an ass kicking of epic proportions in every facet of the game. We knew going in that Nebraska was very talented on all three phases of the game and extremely well coached. As Coach (Matt) Rhule has exhibited throughout his career. For an upset to occur the favorite has to do a little bit wrong and the underdog has to do everything right, and neither of those things happened. I learned that our kids will stay competitive. They continue fighting for four quarters. But there were two different levels of football being played out there today, and I think that was very obvious.”
The Huskers are now 2-0 against Akron in the all-time series. They are 8-1 all-time against members of the Mid-American Conference, with the lone loss a 21-17 defeat at Memorial Stadium against NIU in 2017.
Nebraska (2-0) will return to action next Saturday at 11 a.m. CT when they welcome Houston Christian (1-1) to Memorial Stadium. The game is expected to be the 405th consecutive home sellout.
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