Akron Zips vs Michigan Wolverines Match Player Stats On Sep 14, 2013

No. 12 Michigan 28, Akron 24: Fitzgerald Toussaint scored the go-ahead touchdown with 2:49 left and the Wolverines stopped the Zips near the goal line as time expired to win their 17th straight home game.

After Toussaint capped a four-play, 70-yard drive with a 2-yard score to put Michigan ahead, Akron used 11 plays to march down the field. The Zips drove as far as the Wolverines 2-yard line, but Jawon Chisholm was stopped for a two-yard loss on a third-down play and Kyle Pohl’s fourth-down pass sailed over the head of Zach D'Orazio in the end zone.

Toussaint rushed for 71 yards while Devin Gardner accounted for 351 total yards and three touchdowns for Michigan (3-0), which held on despite four turnovers from Gardner. Pohl threw for 311 yards and two scores for Akron (1-2), which has lost 28 consecutive road contests.

The Wolverines jumped in front on Gardner’s 48-yard touchdown pass to Devin Funchess on their first possession, but three second-quarter turnovers by the junior quarterback kept Akron in the game. Although the Zips missed a pair of field goals at the end of the half, Pohl gave Akron a 10-7 lead with 9:56 left in the third quarter when he connected with D'Orazio on a 28-yard score.

Gardner led Michigan on two straight touchdown drives in the third, but Justin March stepped in front of a screen pass to Toussaint and ran it back 27 yards to pull Akron within four points 14 seconds into the fourth quarter. Pohl wasted an opportunity minutes later when he was intercepted in the end zone, but vindicated himself on the next drive with the go-ahead score to Tyrell Goodman, ultimately falling short of the victory.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Michigan improved to 33-1 against Mid-American Conference opponents. … Akron fell to 1-23 against ranked opponents since 1987. … The Wolverines had scored on every one of their red-zone possessions this season prior to Gardner’s first interception midway through the second quarter.