University of Akron vs. Buffalo football game | 5 things to know

Quarterback DJ Irons and the University of Akron football team return to InfoCision Stadium on Saturday for a noon kickoff against Buffalo.

The Zips (1-3) and the Bulls (0-4) enter Mid-American Conference play looking to turn around their respective seasons.

Akron opened its season with a 24-21 loss to host Temple, a 24-21 win over visiting Morgan State, a 35-3 loss to host Kentucky and a 29-27 loss in four overtimes at Indiana.

Buffalo has lost at Wisconsin (38-17), at home to Fordham (40-37) and to Liberty (55-27) and at Louisiana (45-38).

Here are five things to know about the matchup:

DJ Irons is the reigning MAC East Offensive Player of the Week

Irons was named MAC East Division Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after his spectacular performance at Indiana last Saturday.

Irons generated 335 of 474 yards of total offense for Akron in a four-overtime loss. He paced the Zips rushing attack with 141 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries (7.8 average). He also completed 22 of 35 passes for 194 yards.

"That loss versus a Big Ten team is going to give us the momentum going into this Buffalo game to start MAC play 1-0," Irons said Thursday. "It feels good to get an honor, but I couldn't do it without all of my other teammates. It would feel better with a W."

Irons gave Akron a 10-7 lead with a 14-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter after returning to the game following an injury. He added a 10-yard touchdown run in the first overtime period as the Zips took a 24-17 lead.

"DJ was coming off of two different surgeries in the offseason," Akron coach Joe Moorhead said Thursday. "He worked extremely hard to get back in order to play in the opener. I think he was still knocking off some of the rust in the Temple and Morgan State games. I think he started hitting his stride against Kentucky and then obviously put a complete game together against Indiana and gave us a chance to knock off a Big Ten opponent."

Akron's last win over a Big Ten team came in 2018 when the Zips beat Northwestern, which went on to win the Big Ten West that season.

Can Akron bounce back from the tough loss at Indiana?

Akron was a 32-yard field goal away from defeating Indiana as time expired in the fourth quarter, but Dante Jackson missed. Jackson converted his other two field goal opportunities from 25 yards in the second quarter and from 23 yards in the second overtime.

Indiana quarterback Tayven Jackson converted a mandatory 2-point conversion attempt in the fourth overtime with a scoring pass to DeQuece Carter. Akron’s conversion pass on the ensuing possession fell incomplete.

The Zips defense played well against Indiana with the exception of a TD reception by Cam Camper and a TD run by Christian Turner. The other touchdown for the Hoosiers (2-2) came on Louis Moore's interception return of a pass by UA quarterback Jeff Undercuffler Jr. when Irons was out.

Akron's Lorenzo Lingard ran 13 times for 141 yards, including a 71-yard TD run that made it 17-17 with 3:34 left in regulation.

"There is an old coaching adage, 'You can't let the same game beat you twice,'" Moorhead said. "Obviously, our kids were devastated by the result. All we needed to do was make the field goal at the end of the regulation and the game is over. Then, we score in the first overtime and gave up a touchdown and ended up losing it in four [overtimes]. There are equal parts of disappointment.

"... It is certainly encouraging that we were able to have more total yards (474-282), more rushing yards (263-92), more passing yards (211-190), more first downs (24-14) and be better on third down (5-3 in conversions), but unfortunately not win the game."

Akron averaged 6.6 yards per rush to Indiana's 2.7 yards per rush.

"The team is perfectly fine," Irons said. "I feel like we are in the exact spot we are supposed to be in. I feel like we needed the close win, the close losses and the big loss. How we finish and how we play games competitively, I feel like we needed all of that and we are in a great spot going into MAC play."

Joe Moorhead addresses the state of Akron football entering MAC play

Moorhead said Irons, Lingard, Brian McCoy and KJ Martin have been strong leaders in practice this week.

"We are very optimistic in the sense that we are 1-3, but you could make the argument that we could be 3-1 and you probably could make the argument that we could be 2-2," Moorhead said. "At the end of the day, we lost by three points to a good group five school [Temple], we eked one out against a quality FCS team [Morgan State], we got beat soundly by a top 25 SEC program [Kentucky] where it was a close game heading to the fourth quarter and we missed a field goal to have our first major upset and signature win [against Indiana].

"I am definitely not pleased with the record because ultimately at the end of the day it is a bottom-line sport, but I think when we are able to play with effort and consistent execution we are very good. When the execution dips, we are not very good. The kids are not happy that we are 1-3. They understand that the margin of error is small, but by the same token it would be remiss to say that we are not aware of how well we have played at times."

Joe Moorhead sizes up Akron's Week 5 opponent, the Buffalo Bulls

Buffalo quarterback Cole Snyder has completed 96 of 156 passes for 933 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions.

Marlyn Johnson is Buffalo's top receiver with 15 catches for 175 yards and four touchdowns. Darrell Harding Jr. and Cole Harrity have two TD receptions apiece and Nik McMillan and Ron Cook Jr. each have one TD catch.

The Bulls' leading rushers are Mike Washington Jr. (49 carries, 234 yards, two TDs) and Cook (41 carries, 168 yards, two TDs). Linebackers Shaun Dolac and Joe Andreesen, safeties Marcus Fuqua and Devin Grant, cornerback Charles McCartherens and end Max Michel lead the defense.

"Coach [Maurice] Linguist has done a fantastic job building that program," Moorhead said. "He evaluates talent well, develops players and got to a bowl game last year. I think their 0-4 record is a probably little bit misleading, hopefully the same way our 1-3 record is. I think the combined record of the four teams they have played is 13-3. A couple of them have been one score games. They are going to be talented, they are going to be physical, they are going to be well coached and they are going to be confident."

Hoban graduate Lamar Sperling returns to Akron in a Buffalo uniform

Ohio's reigning Mr. Football, Lamar Sperling, a 2023 Archbishop Hoban graduate, returns to Akron in a Buffalo Bulls uniform.

Sperling has seen limited action as a freshman with Buffalo with just one carry for 5 yards against Liberty.

Sperling set an OHSAA state record as a Knights senior for rushing touchdowns in a single season (58) and total touchdowns in a single season (59) in 2022.

Sperling ended his senior season with 417 carries for 3,867 yards and 12 receptions for 182 yards in 16 games for Hoban, the Division II state runner-up for the second consecutive year. He also played as a sophomore reserve on Hoban's Division II state championship football team in 2020 and was a senior reserve guard on Hoban's Division I state championship boys basketball team in 2023.

"I saw him play in the game here at InfoCision against St. Vincent-St. Mary in the playoffs," Moorhead said. "He is a very talented player. Obviously, a ton of production in high school at Hoban and a guy that has got a very bright future."

Sperling finished his career at Hoban with 7,434 rushing yards and 110 total TDs. He was also named the Akron Beacon Journal Offensive Football Player of the Year and the USA Today National Offensive Football Player of the Year.

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: University of Akron vs. Buffalo football game | 5 things to know