Bowden, Zips embracing uphill climb against Nittany Lions

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Terry Bowden's assessment of his Akron team's chances of coming into Beaver Stadium ON Saturday afternoon for the Nittany Lions' season opener and pulling off an upset was about as honest as it gets.

"Their talent level is above ours," Bowden said Monday afternoon on a teleconference. "If the best player on Penn State's team is the offensive guard he may kill our defensive lineman -- and the best player may be the offensive guard -- but when your quarterback and tailback are Heisman candidates and the ball is gonna be in their hands a lot, they can beat you themselves because of their ability to make big plays."

There's no denying the talent level differential as it holds more often than not when a team from the MAC gets in line for their marquee game, and a chance to spoil someone else's season. Add in the road environment, one where Beaver Stadium will likely be packed as fans get a first look at these 2017 Nittany Lions, Penn State's preseason ranking as the No. 6 team in the country and what's expected to be one of the most electrifying offenses in the nation, and it's certainly an uphill climb for the Zips -- and then some.



Bowden, the son of legendary former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, said his team will have to play nearly perfectly at every position and not turn the ball over to keep pace with James Franklin's team. The Zips' margin for error is small and, with the Lions having more depth at just about every spot than they had in years past, seeing just how long Akron can try to hang with them is always part of these early season non-conference games.

Maybe it's for a quarter, maybe it's a half, but mismatches across the board still won't spoil the opportunity that Akron's players are excited about.

"That's been a great motivator," Bowden said. "They're going to play a sixth-ranked team and they're going to play in front of 100,000 and they're going to be on ABC. We do it every year. Last year we played Wisconsin in the second game. We almost beat Michigan the year before, almost beat Tennessee. We got killed by Oklahoma three years ago I think, but every year it's so exciting for our players because most of our players wanted to get recruited by the SEC or by the Big Ten and didn't get to so it's a great motivator for our players.

"You gotta go out and play the game and, I think I said this earlier, somebody in the Big Ten is going to lose to somebody in the MAC on Saturday. It might not be Penn State, but every year somebody does. Last year Northwestern and Illinois did. There'll be some teams upset teams that they're not supposed to beat."

QUICK HITS

• Once a Pitt signee who was dismissed from the team by Paul Chryst in 2013, Tra'Von Chapman has settled in as a wide receiver for the Zips. At the time of his signing with the Panthers, he was a four-star quarterback and highly-touted athlete, but Chapman was arrested in April 2013 in Kent, Ohio, and pled guilty to an assault charge against an ex-girlfriend and spent three days in jail.

After his dismissal from Pitt, the Cincinnati native then attended Division II Ashland University before signing with the Zips. He switched from quarterback to wide receiver during spring ball and the fifth-year senior is a starting wide receiver.

"He's an outstanding team player and he's going to be a factor in our offense this year," Bowden said. "He's one of our receivers and we're looking forward to him, he's done a great job and he'll graduate here shortly and I'm hoping he'll have a fine year because he's worked very hard for the opportunity."

• What's the difference with this Akron team compared to the one that went 5-7 last season, losing four of its final five games?

"Probably defense," Bowden said. "We had to have so many new starters that we went from the No. 1 defense in our conference two years ago when we won eight games for the first time in school history as a Division I team, won our first bowl and then last year we replaced a lot of players and had nine new starters and it was really, our defense has to slowly build up. This year we've got most of our starters returning and after the preseason is winding down and heading into game week, I think that's where we're most improved. ... If you're going to win championships it's all about defense."

The Zips return four of five starters on the offensive line, all three of their running backs and their quarterback. They also return a more experienced receiving corps.

"I love offense and I love exciting offense," Bowden said. "But, when you have big wins it's usually because that defense keeps you in the game."

•  The Zips' 71-year-old defensive coordinator and associate head coach, Chuck Amato, hails from Pennsylvania. He got his start in coaching back in 1969 when he was an assistant coach at Easton (Pa.) High School.

As Amato climbed through the ranks he ended up coaching with Bobby Bowden at Florida State from 1982 to 1999. He returned to Florida State in 2007 as an executive head coach, a role he held until 2009.

"He was with my dad 20 years maybe," Terry said of Amato. "He was always my dad's right-hand man, kind of an assistant head coach, and was the guy that did a lot of the things my dad didn't like to do and (Amato) was always a great defensive coach.

"When my dad retired most of my dad's coaches were older and it's not easy to jump on somebody's else's staff. When you've been a head coach it's not easy to jump on somebody else's staff, but because he had been so close to our family and been so close to me I needed him for the same purpose my dad did because he's an outstanding coach. He can run that defense because I like to play around and fiddle with the offense. It's been a great relationship."

• Franklin meets with the media at 12:25 p.m. Tuesday for his weekly news conference.

The Nittany Lions' Week 1 depth chart will likely be released at that time. I wouldn't expect there to be many changes with the only starting spot really up for grabs in camp being safety, which by the sounds of it Troy Apke has secured.