Jordan Gant punched in a touchdown to put Akron up 7-0 at Central Michigan on Saturday, and then the Chippewas scored 28 unanswered points across the second and third quarters before Akron managed a field goal in reply. Brayden Roggow, making his second straight start, completed 15 of 32 passes for 180 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. His second consecutive multi-interception start after two picks against UNLV the week before. Central Michigan finished with six touchdowns in a 41-17 win that dropped Akron to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the MAC.
The quarterback room may finally get its starter back
Roggow was not supposed to be carrying this. Described by at least one outlet as Akron's third-string quarterback, he started and played the Central Michigan game.
Broughton is aiming to be back on the field for the Eastern Michigan game. That is the single development that changes how this Saturday feels. Broughton is not a proven answer either, he was accurate but shallow at Wake Forest before his four-touchdown game against Robert Morris, but he is the quarterback who has played Akron's best offensive football this season, and he has not thrown an interception as a starter. For a team that has handed the opponent five picks in two weeks, "protects the ball" is the bar, and clearing it is how a 16% home underdog stays in a MAC game into the fourth quarter.
Watch for his name in the pregame warmups and his mobility on early-down keepers. If Roggow takes the first snap instead, Akron's afternoon gets considerably harder.
What's around him is thinner than it was
Gant is the reason to feel anything good. He went for a career-high 102 rushing yards on 17 carries with a 9-yard touchdown, added a 27-yard catch and finished with 129 all-purpose yards. His best game of the year, in a blowout loss. A returning quarterback handing off to a back running 6.0 a carry is the most plausible version of a competitive Akron offense.
The help is scarce elsewhere. Receiver Cameron Monteiro is listed out, with Luke Sivon, J. Riggins and P. Davis questionable, so whoever plays quarterback may be throwing to a patched-together group. On defense, cornerback Catrell White and edge rusher Omari Abor both missed the Central Michigan game. Akron needs those two back, because Eastern Michigan is arriving at the worst possible moment. Its 38-14 win at Massachusetts pushed the Eagles to 2-0 in MAC play, their first such start since 2005.
This series does not usually blow out
The model gives Akron about a 16% chance, which is roughly what a 1-4 team with an unsettled quarterback should get against a team playing its best football. But the recent history of this matchup is not lopsided. The last meeting, at Akron in October 2024, saw Eastern Michigan erase an 18-point deficit and lead 21-18 in the fourth quarter behind Cole Snyder's 354 passing yards before Ben Finley found Adrian Norton for a 21-yard go-ahead touchdown with about four minutes left in a 25-21 Akron win. One possession, decided late.
So the reasonable thing to want out of Saturday is a game still alive at the two-minute warning. MAC coaches picked Akron 10th in the 13-team league in the preseason, and five games of evidence have mostly agreed with them. A home win would be the first genuine argument against that, and it would matter beyond this week. The Wagon Wheel trip to Kent State on October 24 is coming, and Akron does not want to carry an unanswered quarterback question into Dix Stadium after last year's 42-35 overtime loss there.
Full matchup details are in the interactive guide, and the forecast math is explained in the methodology.