Akron, meanwhile, is still figuring out who's taking snaps. Redshirt freshman Cibastian Broughton got the Week 1 nod over graduate transfer Reese Poffenbarger, who was held out of the Wake Forest opener while the NCAA sat on his eligibility waiver. Broughton was efficient in a limited role, completing 21 of 26 passes, but backup Brayden Roggow came in and threw 2 touchdown passes in the fourth quarter of a 38-16 loss — the kind of relief performance that tends to get a head coach talking about competition instead of a settled starter.
None of that answers itself before Saturday. If Poffenbarger's waiver clears, he steps into a room that already has some momentum behind the backup; if it doesn't, Joe Moorhead has to decide whether Roggow's fourth quarter earned him a longer look. Running back Jordan Gant, last year's preseason All-MAC pick after 1,032 rushing yards, is the one piece of the Akron offense nobody's arguing about, and he's the guy who can keep this from turning into a shootout while the passing game sorts itself out.
Robert Morris has done its damage against Wagner and West Virginia State, not exactly murderer's row, so there's a real gap between the box scores and what this offense looks like against a program built at the FBS level even in a rebuilding year. Akron's 41 new roster faces cut both ways — it's why the Zips looked overwhelmed for a half against Wake Forest, and it's also why anything from this group two games in should be treated as a rough draft.
Moorhead is 13-25 across four seasons in Akron, and a step forward at home against an FCS opponent is the kind of game that either steadies a shaky quarterback situation or turns it into a bigger story by halftime. For Robert Morris, there's nothing to lose and a signature win sitting right there if the offense that's carved up two overmatched defenses can do it again against a MAC roster.