The 2025 season will be a key one for the Akron Zips. It’s the fourth year of the Joe Moorhead administration, and at this point, Moorhead has an 8-26 record, with two of those wins against the paperweight Kent State program and three wins against FCS opposition.
While Akron’s one of the most difficult and unforgiving jobs in the NCAA, something has to give eventually. The Zips have lose their last 13 season openers against FBS competition, and will put one of their few positive streaks on the line:
Akron is 1-0 vs. Mountain West opposition, with a win over Utah State in 2017.
They’ll have a great chance to establish a new direction this season, with no FCS tune-ups and some potentially winnable out-of-conference games to help push their record along with opportune performances.
The first of those games is this week against the Wyoming Cowboys, the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
Game notes
- Time and date: Thursday, August 28th, 2025 at 7 p.m. Eastern time
- Location: Summa Field at InfoCision Stadium in Akron, Ohio
- TV network options: The game will be aired exclusively via streaming on ESPN+; a valid subscription is required for viewing. Coverage by Michael Reghi (play-by-play) and Ryan Cavanaugh (color analyst.)
- Radio options: David Scoczen (play-by-play) and Joe Dunn (color) will provide the Akron call for 640 WHLO-AM; Keith Kelley (play-by-play) and Kevin McKinney (color) will provide the Wyoming call for 1240 KFBC-AM.
- Gambling considerations: Wyoming favored by 5.5 points, with an over/under of 48.5, per DraftKings.
- All-Time Series: First-ever meeting
About the Wyoming Cowboys
Wyoming has had an eventful three seasons, with a massive transfer exodus after 2022 before Craig Bohl’s last dance in 2023, where the team finished 9-4 with a bowl victory. Bohl’s former defensive coordinator Jay Sawvell was promoted to the head coach position, and hoped to carry that momentum from the prior season and compete for the Mountain West Conference title in 2024.
Instead, the Cowboys spiraled to a reversal of their previous record, finishing 3-9 in the regular season with a highlight win over Washington State in the season closer.
The Cowboys regressed brutally on both sides of the ball, scoring six less points per game (from 25.3 to 19.3) while allowing six more points per game (from 22.3 to 28.3), while also falling in turnover margin by sixteen points, going from +11 to -5. Their completion percentage on offense fell 10 percent to a paltry 52 percent, while giving up 6.5 yards per play and letting 61.7 percent of passes through.
The good news for Sawvell and crew is that 2025 sees the offense largely intact, with nine returning starters. Kaden Anderson won the quarterback job midseason over Evan Svoboda (who has since converted to tight end), completing 58 percent of his passes for 955 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions over nine games (three starts.) It was an unceremonious transition, as Svoboda had a 49 percent completion rating and more interceptions (eight) than touchdowns (five) over 12 games.
Anderson will have both his leading passcatchers back, with wide receiver Jaylen Sargent (23 receptions, 480 yards, two touchdowns) and tight end John Michael Gyllenborg (30 catches, 425 yards, three touchdowns) returning, as well as true sophomore Chris Durr, who led the Cowboys in receptions (31) while contributing 348 yards and a touchdown. Durr figures to be a larger part of the offense in 2025. Opposite Durr on the outside looks to be the six-foot-six, 210 lb. D-II Central Missouri transfer Michael Fitzgerald, who had 309 yards and three scores in 2024 after transferring in from UMass.
Leading rusher Sam Scott is listed with an OR designation on the depth chart after compiling 435 rushing yards and three touchdowns in 2024. Alongside him will be Terron Kellman, who picked up 242 yards in nine games with Charlotte last season. Development at the running back position will be vital for Wyoming to be able to inject variety in their attack.
Luckily for Wyoming, four of their five offensive linemen come back to Laramie, including three (OL Carden Barnett, OC Jack Walsh, OG Wes King) who were named to preseason all-MWC teams by various magazines. OG Rex Johnsen (five starts and 10 game appearances in ‘24) should also figure into the line. Another year as a unit should reap benefits for the team.
Defense is a complete restart, with just three returning defenders. Seven of their top 10 tacklers departed during the offseason, with defensive end Tyce Westland (eighth-best 41 tackles, three sacks in ‘24) as the returnee with the most tackles and sacks.
Staying on the defensive line is edge rusher Ben Florentine, who had 25 tackles in 11 starts last season. He’ll be joined by defensive tackles Lucas Samsula (double redshirt) and Jayden Williams (28 tackles), as well as defensive end Brayden Wilson (138 tackles, 30 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks at FCS Weber State.)
Evan Eller (106 total tackles for VMI in ‘23, redshirt at Wyoming in ‘24) has won out the MIKE backer battle over Lindenwood transfer Ethan Stuhlsatz (20 tackles, sack in ‘24), while Brayden Johnson (145 tackles, 14 TFLs, two sacks, one interception, three fumble recoveries in three seasons for D-II Oklahoma Baptist) is in line for starting snaps at the WILL backer.
Ian Bell (12 games, four starts in ’24) and redshirt freshman Tyrese Boss have won the starting outside cornerback roles, while Wisconsin transfer Justin Taylor and redshirt freshman Markie Grant will back up. At nickelback, Desmon Hearns (85 tackles, three picks, two fumble recoveries at FCS Southern Illinois) will man the position after two good seasons with the Salukis.
Specials teams sees a reset at placekicker and punter. Redshirt sophomore Erik Sandvik assumes placekicking duties, while junior Bart Edmiston takes punting duties. Neither have FBS statistics.
About the Akron Zips
Akron suffered the attrition one would expect for a struggling MAC club, but they do return several key pieces on both sides of the ball which could help steady their performance.
The most important of those pieces is quarterback Ben Finley, who finished the 2024 campaign with 2,604 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions, while gaining 271 yards on the ground (before sacks.) His accuracy was a concern, as he finished towards the bottom of the MAC in completion percentage (54.8) last season, but his experience with the offense and another year to get reps should be helpful there.
Alex Adams and Israel Polk (24 catches, 201 yards) return to the receiving corps and are expected to start right away, while Jake Newell (35 catches, 254 yards, two touchdowns) and Connor Cravaack (13 catches, 147 yards) both return to the tight end spots as some of the MAC’s better receiving ends. Adams in particular is an interesting name to watch; the former LSU Tiger blew up in 2022, with 63 catches for 850 receiving yards and a team-leading nine touchdowns and was set to be an all-MAC performer the next season. However, his progress was sidetracked in 2023 by injury, one which forced Adams into a medical redshirt last year. Now he returns, hoping to resume where he left off. They’ll need him badly; four of Akron’s top five receivers all left the program this offseason.
The running backs, who are mostly new additions, will have to navigate finding gaps through a basically-new offensive line, which returns only two starters. There’s intrigue as to who will carry the ball for the Zips, with former Minnesota transfer Marquese Williams (who appeared in six games last season for Akron) fighting newly-arrived transfers in Jordan Gant (896 yards, 11 touchdowns in two seasons at FCS Tennessee State) and Cam Macon (954 yards, 10 touchdowns in two seasons at D-II Walsh.)
On defense, the Zips bring back 12 combined starts in the secondary with the returns of cornerback Elijah Reed (32 tackles, four pass break-ups, interception) and safety Justin Anderson (44 tackles), with a battle at nickelback between Alex Branch (21 tackles and four starts at Kent State in ‘24) and DeJavion Stephney (65 tackles in 11 starts in 2022-23 for Central Michigan.) Other than that… it’s a lot of new faces for a defense which already saw a lot of regression in 2024. To wit, nine of Akron’s 11 starters left the program over the offseason via graduation or transfer.
That said, there’s a lot of optimism in their projected starting linebackers. Gage Summers was a late-season contributor in 2024, finishing the year with six starts and 35 tackles— including a startling 19 tackles in the season-ending win over Toledo. Shammond Cooper (53 tackles, 7.5 TFLs in ‘23) returns after rehabbing an injury last season and brings a lot of experience with him.
Special teams is also a complete clean slate, with Michigan transfer Adam Samaha and last year’s holder Joseph Castle likely to assume punting duties.
Final Thoughts
Getting off on the right foot is imperative towards proving the vision is moving in the right direction. Both teams feature relative stability on offense and a completely re-configured defense, allowing for a sort of yardstick measure of where each program stands after camps.
These sorts of matchups, in my opinion, are the epitome of early-season non-Autnomous fare. All the hype and energy from spring and fall camps coalesce into a perfect storm, and the pressure can either create diamonds or force a break. Hypotheticals make way for reality, and that reality can either fuel hope over the rest of the season, or deliver a hard dose of perspective.
Wyoming is a 5.5-point favorite, which is fair given Akron’s recent performances when compared to Wyoming, whose 3-9 mark last year was mostly due to navigating a sea change. There’s more faith in the Cowboys simply because they have a history of living up to their expectations in the past.
Akron will continue to be doubted until they prove otherwise; even then, they’ll need to stack those results to be taken seriously.
