Courtesy: Jeff Harwell-Zips Sports Photography

Akron - University of Akron head football coach J.D. Brookhart addressed the local media Monday, recapping the win at Eastern Michigan and talking about having two weekends off before closing the 2008 season.

J.D. Brookhart’s Opening Statement:

I am excited to hit this bye week with a victory. It was a critical win for us. I am not happy with how we had to win. We had chances to put it away and we did not do that. There are some things we need to improve on and that is what we plan to do on our bye week. Wins are always hard to come by, so we are going to take it and move on into the bye week. We are going to improve ourselves over the next two weeks and move into a new season. The game was a challenge for our players and we made enough plays to get the win.

Question: What is the current state of the Zips?

Offensively, we are a much-improved team over last year. I think you see a team that still makes mistakes that hurt, but across the board they are much improved. Defensively, we have our ups and downs and this last game was really a down. We have the capabilities to do good things. We just have to get better and play much better than we did against Eastern Michigan. We are looking for consistency. You see players do the right things and play well one play and do something completely different later in the same situation. Special teams also have had its ups and downs. I would like to see some bigger game changing plays from them. They have consistently been decent though. We need to improve so we can win that phase of the game each week.

Question: Can you win with this defense?

Yes we can. If you look at the season we have played well enough to win. You just can not give teams short fields, especially late, and think the defense will be able to stop an opponent when they only have to go 10-30 yards to score. We have to improve during the bye week.

Question: Evaluate Dennis Kennedy’s play.

Dennis is playing extremely well. The offensive linemen are doing great things to help. Dennis is finishing runs the way he is capable of doing. I am happy for him after the long road he has had here at Akron with his injuries. He is currently shouldering a lot of carries that we did not plan on him having to do (prior to injuries to Alex Allen and Andrew Johnson).

Question: Is the bye week at a good time for you?

Yes. The guys have gone through four weeks of camp and eight straight games. They might need a break from us. This is a demanding sport for these young men and they have a lot on their plates when you consider class work, study halls and all the preparation for Saturdays. I told them I would treat them right and fair, but they need to spend the time to improve as well.

Question: Are you hoping to get guys back from injury during the time off?

Yes, I hope we do. It is a long time off and I hope we can get a few guys back, namely Aaron Williams and Evan Laube.

Question: What is your schedule over the next two weeks?

Monday- Off

Tuesday- Condition

Wednesday- Practice

Thursday-Practice with a scrimmage for the young guys and conditioning

Friday- Off

Saturday- Off

Sunday- Practice

Monday-Off

Tuesday- Practice

Wednesday- Practice

Thursday- Start Toledo Preparation

Quotes from Senior Running Back Dennis Kennedy:

Question: What has been the biggest change over the past two weeks?

The attitude of the team; we know where we want to go at the end of the season and what we have to do to get there. We have been more focused during the week in practice.

Question: Are you happy with the offensive line play?

They are doing a great job blocking and the receivers are blocking downfield as well. That is making it much easier for the backs to run hard.

Question: What are going to do with this time off?

Rest and ice my body.

Quotes from Junior Offensive Lineman Zack Anderson:

Question: How does it feel for Dennis Kennedy to rush for 277 yards?

I love it. It shows that the coaching staff is putting faith in the offensive line and our ability to run the ball. I feel the game goes with how the offensive line plays. I love to run block.