Akron is bringing a Turnover Tire to Kroger Field

Miami set the college football world on fire when they debuted the “Turnover Chain” in 2017 to reward defensive players with props after making a big play. The gimmicks have only gotten more outlandish since then. This week one of the silliest props the sport has seen will be on the sideline at Kroger Field when Akron comes to town for a 7:30 pm EST kickoff on ESPNU.

Last week Akron squeaked by FCS Morgan State with a 24-21 win, in large part thanks to timely turnovers. Trailing with less than a minute to play, the Zips’ Bryan McCoy returned a fumble 13 yards for a touchdown to deliver a decisive blow and secure the first win of the season for Akron.

The game-winning scoop-and-score was the third turnover forced by Akron against Morgan State and the Zips’ second defensive touchdown. Akron’s Devonte Golden-Nelson picked off a pair of passes and returned one for a 50-yard touchdown to give Akron a third quarter lead. After the score, he received a reward on the sideline, the Turnover Tire.

MACTI🛞N pic.twitter.com/Vzv6tJ0WEV

— #MACtion (@MACSports) September 9, 2023

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The Turnover Tire is a salute to the city’s biggest industry. Akron is the home of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, lovingly known as the ‘Rubber City.’ The previously played their home games at the ‘Rubber Bowl,’ not to be confused with their MAC rivals’ ‘Glass Bowl’ in Toledo.

Akron Dealing with Turnover, QB Problems

Even though Akron has a Turnover Tire for the defense, they need to find a padlock to secure the ball on offense. Last week the Zips coughed the ball of five times. Three different quarterbacks played. Jeff Undercuffler Jr. was the primary passer, but he threw three interceptions. The team also lost two fumbles. Through two weeks only five college football teams have committed more turnovers than Akron.

“It looks inconsistent to me,” head coach Joe Moorhead described the quarterback play. “What we gotta do is find a guy who’s going to be able to get out there behind center, operate our system with efficiency and explosiveness, move the chains, get first downs and put the ball in the end zone.

“We’re working through some kinks there. Once again, quarterback is like being a head coach, you get too much credit when things go well and too much blame when things go poorly. That’s the nature of the position. You don’t want that scrutiny, go do something else. A lot of it has to do with other positions too and 11 working in concert with each other. But at the end of the day, it’s a quarterback-driven game and a quarterback-driven league. So we gotta make sure we’re doing a good job there.”