The Chippewas (4-4, 3-1 in MAC) have won seven straight and 10 of the last 11 games against the Zips. CMU is attempting to extend its winning streak to three games and enter the bye week with momentum.

Akron, meanwhile, did not play last week. The Zips will be the third team CMU has faced off a bye in four weeks.

"Sometimes it can help you and sometimes it can hurt you," said Head Coach John Bonamego. "I can't do anything about it. In the long run, everything balances out. This year it was our turn, next year it will be somebody else's. I know it wasn't done intentionally. It's just the way things worked out."

Both of Akron’s losses this season have come against the top two teams in the Mid-American Conference East Division — Bowling Green and Ohio. CMU has defeated 10 consecutive MAC East teams, the latest instance was Week 7’s 51-14 dubbing of Buffalo.

“We want to get a run going,” said senior defensive end Blake Serpa. “We really believe we just have to focus on being 1-0 this week and there is a lot of confidence out here we can do that.”

CMU’s secondary, which struggled in last week’s 23-21 defeat of Ball State, will be matched up against Akron sophomore quarterback Tommy Woodson, who is at the helm of an offense that ranks second-to-last in the MAC in pass offense.

What Woodson lacks in pass efficiency, he makes up for on the ground. Woodson has rushed for 311 yards and two touchdowns through seven games.

Serpa and Mitch Stanitzek will need to keep Woodson contained on the edge.

“You have to be a little more cautious with your inside moves,” Serpa said. “If you get pinned in there, there is not much room to recuperate. It’ll be a good challenge.”

In the days leading up to Saturday’s game, the Chippewas cited mental mistakes and undisciplined pre-snap errors as the reason last week’s win over BSU almost didn't happen.

CMU committed a season-high 10 penalties for 55 yards last week.

After the game, Bonamego said he and his staff are closely monitoring which players are committing which fouls and are considering taking playing time away from multiple offenders.

"You really have to look at the type of penalties they are," Bonamego said. "You are not going to eliminate penalties from the game. You see NFL players jump offsides. The ones you want to minimize are the concentration ones."

Bonamego chalked CMU's recurring issues in the discipline department up to inexperience.

"Sometimes you have to step back and look at the big picture," Bonamego said. "I believe it's a process. We really spend a lot of time talking about what you can do and can't do. Sometimes it is a product of lack of experience."

CMU’s veteran quarterback Cooper Rush is likely to continue his unprecedented statistical outpouring against Akron’s weak secondary, which has given up an average of 251 yards per game and 14 touchdowns total.

“The formula for winning never changes,” Bonamego said. “You have an opportunity after this game to rest your team a little bit. You’ll get a few days to get healthy and hopefully back to feeling right.”