Week 2 – Akron at Florida International

Week 2 CFN Fearless Prediction – Akron at Florida International

- CFN Fearless Predictions

Akron (0-1) at Florida International (0-1) Sept. 8, 6:00, ESPN3

Here’s The Deal: It was a disappointing start to the season for both teams, but the expectations were a bit different. Many believed FIU was going to give Duke a run in the season opener, but instead the pass defense fell flat. Akron wasn’t supposed to beat UCF in the home game under Terry Bowden, but there was hope for doing more than lose 56-14. The Zips will get a win against Morgan State, but it would be nice to come up with a strong game against a team planning on contending or the Sun Belt title.

Why Akron Might Win: Can the Zips get the passing game going? In an attempt to get back in the game against UCF there wasn’t any luck, but there were 256 yards with the O moving a little bit. The FIU secondary was a total disaster against Duke allowing 301 yards in the blowout, and this week Akron has to keep on bombing.

Why Florida International Might Win: This should be a better Golden Panther team. Mario Cristobal’s defense is supposed to be far, far better than it was last week, and it should be far better against an Akron offense that won’t get moving on the ground and shouldn’t be able to move the ball consistently. The Golden Panther passing game worked in the loss, and it should be able to riddle the Zip secondary.

What To Watch Out For: While FIU’s offense was good at moving the ball through the air, the running game worked too with Kedrick Rhodes rumbling for 130 yards and a score while catching seven passes for 115 yards and a touchdown. UCF was able to run at will, and so should Rhodes to take the pressure off the passing attack.

What Will Happen: FIU will do an about-face after last week. Akron won’t have any answers in any of the three phases as the Golden Panthers play like they were expected to against the Blue Devils.

CFN Prediction: Florida International 52 … Akron 14
ATS Consultants Line (Click for more lines and picks) FIU -23.5 O/U: 54
Must Watch Rating (5 – Phineas & Ferb, 1 – Steve Harvey): 1.5