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QB: Finley had his best game of the season, and if he’d played like that against Wyoming, we’d probably be sitting here with another win. Granted, CMU’s defense wasn’t anything special — I thought the number of turnovers they’d created (or been gifted) coming in masked some of their flaws. Still, it was great to finally see the kind of performance we know Finley is capable of. Hopefully, that’s something he can build on moving forward. On the lone interception, it looked like there was some sort of miscommunication, with the receiver running a different route than what Finley expected. RB: I don’t have enough positive things to say about Gant. He was excellent and once again looked like the FCS All-American from a few years back. He seemed a little gassed in the fourth quarter — which is understandable given he carried the ball 32 times and was on the field for all but six offensive snaps. It would’ve been nice to have another playmaker like Patrick available to give him a breather, but that wasn’t an option. Curry saw his first action, and while he’s a bigger back, he didn’t have much of a chance to show what he can do in limited touches. WR: Mason finally had the breakout game I’ve been waiting for. His performance looked a lot like what he showed during the spring game — the flashes that had me raving about him during the offseason. Outside of one glaring drop that would’ve moved the chains, this group was solid, and that miscue didn’t end up costing us. We just need this unit to keep developing. If they do, we’ll be talking about one of the better wide receiver corps in the MAC by the end of the season. TE: All three tight ends caught passes today and chipped in with some key blocks as well. I’m not sure why PFF graded the group as low as they did — I actually thought they played a sound game all-around. OL: This was one of the offensive line’s best games of the season — especially in the run game. It wasn’t perfect by any means, but they did enough to give the offense a chance to be effective in both phases. I believe K. Davis played every snap at right guard, which says a lot about his reliability and consistency up front. DL: I’m not sure when the last time our defense had five sacks, with four of them coming from the defensive line. Laventure was credited with six total pressures and two sacks, while Durham had two sacks, and Dall had three pressures. I also want to give credit to the DL for holding their ground and blowing up running lanes so often. LB: Summers played a whale of a game. I’m not sure what the refs thought they heard when he was flagged for mimicking calls again, but from my view, it looked like he was just trying to get everyone lined up correctly on a play where several defenders seemed unsure of their assignments. I’ll lump the secondary into this as well — it’s tough to always be in the right spot and still make open-field tackles against an offense like CMU’s, one that relies heavily on misdirection and gets its linemen to the second level. There were more busts than anyone would like to see, but overall the defense did enough to slow CMU down when it mattered most. DB: The secondary was asked to play the run more in this game than any other so far this season — as alluded to above. In coverage, they were generally solid, holding CMU to just 136 yards through the air. No individual stood out in a negative way, which is definitely a positive sign. ST: Special teams were very good overall, outside of the long missed field goal — which came from a tough angle — and Hills overestimating his ability by bringing out kicks several yards deep in the end zone. I like Hills and still think he’s going to break one this year, but there’s just no reason to bring those out from that deep. Coaching: Give credit where credit is due — great gameplans on both sides of the ball. Offensively, we were stubborn running the football while also taking timely shots downfield. The defense looked well prepared and didn’t hang their heads after giving up some explosive plays. Overall, I thought the staff came close to maximizing what they could in this game. The only downside was a handful of penalties that were 100% self-inflicted. QB: Finley Johnson RB: Gant Curry WR: Walker Masom WR: Mar. Williams Grear WR: Polk Monteiro TE: Newell Cravaack Whisner LT: Dar. Johnson Motley-Simmons LG: McManus Archer C Lyons Morris RG: K. Davis RT: King A. Jones DE: Durham D. Frazier DE: Dall J. Frazier DT: Hull Murphy Musika DT: Laventure Mixon Madden LB: Summers Boswell LB: Cooper Spriggs NB: Al. Branch CB: Reed Kamara CB: DeWalt Thomas S: Flowers Hunter S: Di. Johnson Stepney Top Rated on Offense (20 snap min.) WR - Mason C - Lyons QB - Finley RG - K. Davis RB - Gant Top Rated on Defense (20 snap min.) LB - Summers S - Flowers LB - Spriggs CB - DeWalt CB - Reed

Today's scrimmage was by invite only. All I can say is Groce has a big problem on his hands. Too many good players and not enough minutes per game. Perkins and Henderson both look like they could play this year. Head and Evan Mahaffey looked solid. The Serb is going to be a matchup nightmare for our opponents. Scott buried at least 6 NBA range 3's. Overall a good showcase.

I didn't copy the link from the post but I saw on Twitter earlier that Enrique has made the opening night roster for the T-Wolves as one of their 3 two-way players. And he's wearing the #25 jersey.

Can the Zips give me a reason to give my wife a freaking high five at some point during the game. That's all I ask. Zips games have been like a Nick Saban VRBO commercial for years... I can envision President Nemer looking at the Zips player: "As your President I have some rules. No post game showers longer than 2 minutes, we have a budget...the locker room isn't a spa." "The digits underneath "Akron" on the scoreboard...don't use them. We cut the scoreboard operator from the budget and can't change them from 0" "To the fans...no high fives, no fun...the kids aren't allowed on the endzone grass." "There's a great loge and food spread upstairs...don't touch that." "To anyone that wants Zips gear - the team shop opens at 3pm." Fans: "But it's 2:45 and I want to buy some hoodies". Nemer: "I know."

Hello!

That third goal just felt different. It seems in the last couple of seasons in that kind of scenario we can never seem to find a goal. Huge score there from Freddy

Amen. Wins like this on days like this makes me happy for those who can, and do, attend games. It's what college football should be. Today benefited the athletes students alumni fans and general community around Akron. This is what a public university should do.

On the spur of the moment I decided to attend the game since the weather was perfect. It is one of the best games by Akron in a long time. They had a nice balence of runs and passing and the receivers were open most of the afternoon. The defense made some great plays right before the half. Just wish we could have more games like today. I thought Finely was the best. On the interception it was a bad pass but the defender made a nice play on the ball. Makes me look forward to next week.

I don't know how to share it here because it was an IG story not a post, but I saw Enrique has the #25 jersey for the T-Wolves!

Zips win 1-0!

Akron 31 Buffalo 24 I will go out on the mother of all limbs and predict the Zips go 3-1 to finish the season.

My guess is Groce and Tod K. I can't see Tod giving Groce much credit for anything. Their post-game hand shakes are quite brief.

They've tried with Ianello...and Brookhart...and Bowden...and Arth...and Motorhead....yet here we are. Maybe it's not all about the head coach?

Or possibly just had their eligibility expire.

The through ball by the Cornell player was one of the prettiest passes I've ever seen in a soccer match. Chest-high bullet volley that split the Akron defenders to give the Cornell attacker the advantage. What a save by Mitch to prevent that from being the highlight of the year for Cornell.

I've only lived in two states, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Naturally I have grown to DESPISE both OSU and PSU. Probably more excited about Penn State losing to both Oregon and UCLA, than I am about the Zips win today. All these cocky and arrogant people who have never attended those schools are insufferable. I always say I'd rather watch Akron lose every single game than be a bandwagon fan of a school I have no connection to.

All these guesses at the starting lineup are fun. Just remember that Eric Mahaffey was penciled into the starting lineup last year until a knee injury sidelined him for the season. Under Groce, whoever plays the best during practice gets playing time. Every minute of every practice is graded by the coaching staff. Outside of the point guard we have a team full of multidimensional players. It's going to be a fun season.

I'm really starting to get excited about the upcoming season. I assume Tavari and Amani are locked into the starting lineup. I suspect we may see Stankovic in the starting lineup (just like I expected Taylor Currie!). I've also heard he's closer to 6'6" than 6'8." That leaves spots for 2 guards/wings. I could see either Mahaffey in one of those roles. Does Sharon move into the starting lineup or does Shammah? This is much more fun than trying to figure out who's going to play with Malcolm Duvivier and Jimond. How far we've come.

James Madison comes into the 2025-26 season after posting a 20-12 record last season with a loss in the Sun Belt Final to Troy. From looking at their roster, they have a ton of new faces. Included in these transfers are the following: · Paul Jones, a 6’4” sophomore guard who averaged 7.6 ppg and 3 rpg last year at Winthrop where he was named to the Big South Conference. · Bradley Douglas, a 6’4” senior guard transfer from Geogia Southern where he averaged 12.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg and 2.2 apg. He’s on his 5th school in 5 years. · Cliff Davis- 6’2” senior guard transfer from Rio Grande where he averaged 12.1 ppg and 4.5 rpg. · Paul Lewis, a 6’2” guard who started at Vanderbilt then transferred to UTSA where he missed nearly all of last season due to injury. · Justin McBride, a 6’7 junior forward transfer from Nevada (Previously Okla. St.) where he averaged 7.8 ppg and 4/1 rpg. · Ike Cornish, a 6’6” senior guard transfer from Nicholls who averaged 7.7. ppg and 2.2 rpg. He started in Maryland and spent a season at Ohio U. · Eli Wilborn, a 6’8” junior forward who was a teammate of Barre at Duquesne where he averaged 5 ppg and 3.5 rpg last year. · Gabe Newhof, a 6’9” senior forward who was an NAIA All-American at Spring Arbor last season, averaging 21.5 ppg and 7.2 rpg. From looking at the roster JMU appears deep and experienced and will again be towards the top of the Sun Belt standings. They’ll also likely still be in transition mode with so many new faces. I'll keep updating as more info and previews become available.

And Bassitt has an excellent inning of relief in the 8th in game 7 of the ALCS.

At the moment Akron would not be one of the four teams to make the Big East tournament, but they do control their ability to do so. At the moment they sit tied for sixth place with St John's and Butler. St John's holds the tie breaker over the Zips but the Zips hold it over Butler. Standings are as follows (although the East and Midwest division leaders will each get a slot regardless of point totals). Georgetown 13 Creighton 10 UConn, Seton Hall, Providence 9 St John's, Zips, Butler 7 Villanova 6 Xavier 5 DePaul 1 Marquette 0 The "easy" way for the Zips to get in is win their last three. Then it won't matter what Creighton does in their other two games because the best they could do would be to tie the Zips and the Zips would hold the tiebreaker. But barring passing Creighton, they need to sneak ahead of three of the four of Uconn, Seton Hall, Providence and St. John's. The good news is all of them play each other at least once and some twice, so we probably want to root for a lot of ties. 😂 And the Zips really need to take advantage of playing two of the three bottom teams before they get to Creighton. If they can pull off two wins and at least a tie against Creighton, I think they're in. Going to be an interesting last few weeks.

Is there an unwritten rule that if the opponents offense gives you five yards on a false start you have to jump off side and give it right back to them?

JMU appears to have only one returner of any consequence, Eddie Ricks, a 6'7" junior forward who averaged 6.7 ppg and 4.7 rpg last season. This type of situation makes me realize how blessed we are to have a program that can hold onto kids from season to season.

I would have killed to see Lemmy coaching the Zips.

Any one who thinks simply paying close to $1 million to buyout our coach to bring in someone new will magically solve our problems is insane. We've gone down that route with how many coaches in a row? We have much deeper issues that need to be worked on. At this point it's probably way too late unless 2-3 deep pocketed boosters step up to carry the program like Bud has done with basketball. I say 2-3 because the costs to compete in FBS is several times that of hoops.

Those four are a good class. The best 4-year class in a while. They did not always play well, but they always stuck together. They were good soldiers. And they looked after each other. These men will succeed.

I think this is BG's year. Somebody had to say it! 🤣

Great PK save by Mitch Budler...late in the 2nd half.

Jordan Gant > Jordon Simmons (9 carries for 33 yards on the season...Georgia State is 1-4)

It's nice to look at the MAC standings and not see Akron in the heap of crap at the bottom. It does my heart good to see NIU flailing in their last year in the conference. Good riddance. If they think it's bad now, just wait.

This is how it should be. Hopefully the football team can keep this going. A competitive football season into a NCAA tourney run for soccer, into one of the most anticipated Zips basketball seasons could really be the momentum athletically the University needs to get back on track.

Ben is back https://x.com/Brett_McMurphy/status/1974504534606270629

I get that. I was referencing Joe's consistently good attitude and ability to forge forward regardless of the situation. Joe's the best.

35 days until Zips basketball!

Don't throw your shoulder out patting yourself on the back there GP1. LOL.

Somebody else posted this on Facebook. I agree with all.the conclusions. Akron Football: When Exposure Becomes an Auction Block For decades, the Mid-American Conference (MAC) built its football brand on one thing: exposure. Midweek “MACtion” meant that on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in November, when most of college football was idle, the MAC had the national stage. Even if stadiums were half empty, Akron, Kent State, and their peers could say: “We’re on ESPN.” That pitch worked for a while. Players got national airtime, coaches got recruiting leverage, and universities got their names mentioned on broadcasts that reached millions of households. But in the Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) era, exposure has flipped from asset to liability. Exposure, Then and Now Before 2021, a Tuesday night breakout could put a MAC athlete on the NFL radar. Coaches could sell recruits on the guarantee of national TV games. For universities like Akron, whose football profile lagged far behind Ohio State, the ESPN window was a rare equalizer. Now? That same highlight package on ESPN is an advertisement for Power 4 programs to swoop in and recruit Akron’s best players away—with six-figure NIL packages. The math is brutal: • MAC collectives average roughly $0.5 million annually. Akron’s is closer to $341,000.¹ • Power 4 schools now routinely spend millions per year per athlete. • A MAC player who shines on national TV is no longer a point of pride—it’s a scouting reel for someone else’s roster. Exposure without the financial power to retain talent just accelerates the talent drain. The Optics Problem Even when players shine, the pictures ESPN broadcasts are damaging. Attendance across the MAC collapses for midweek games: Saturday contests averaged 16,738 fans in 2018, while midweek games averaged just 12,255—a 27% drop.² At Akron, the numbers are even worse. In 2022, fewer than 3,000 fans attended a sunny, 80-degree home game against Miami (OH). For context, in 2005—a Thanksgiving morning blizzard game with –6° wind chill—more than 7,000 showed up. What ESPN cameras show now isn’t “passionate fans” or “hidden gems.” It’s empty stands, lifeless atmospheres, and lopsided scores from overloaded buy games. That hurts Akron’s brand far more than it helps. The Enrollment Squeeze Akron’s enrollment collapse compounds the problem. In 2011, the university had 25,190 students.³ By 2024, it had dropped nearly 40% to 14,813.⁴ That decline affects everything: tuition revenue, student fees that help fund athletics, and the size of the potential fan base. With fewer students and shrinking resources, Akron can’t afford to prop up an FBS football program at the level the system demands. A Conference in Decline The larger MAC picture isn’t rosy either. The league’s national perception has declined sharply since the early 2000s, when it produced NFL names like Ben Roethlisberger, Julian Edelman, Charlie Frye, and Josh Cribbs. In the past 20 years, the quarterback output has been thin: • Keith Wenning (Ball State, 2014) — limited to practice squads • Dan LeFevour (Central Michigan, 2010) — never started in an NFL game • Kurtis Rourke (Ohio → Indiana, 2025) — drafted but unproven The league that once marketed itself as a talent incubator now serves as a farm system for wealthier schools. The Core Problem: Exposure Without Retention For Akron, the ESPN window no longer sells. National visibility doesn’t build fan support, it doesn’t stabilize enrollment, and it doesn’t retain talent. Instead, it broadcasts the program’s weakness: low crowds, heavy losses, and players destined to leave once they succeed. The very tool meant to elevate the MAC now underscores its irrelevance. Exposure without retention is brand erosion. The Path Forward Akron faces a stark choice. Staying in the FBS MAC means continuing to cash the occasional $1 million “buy game” check and enjoying ESPN visibility—while enduring blowout losses, talent drain, and empty seats. Dropping to the FCS would lower costs and restore competitive balance, but at the expense of national profile and big payouts. Neither option is glamorous. But pretending that exposure alone is still a benefit in 2025 is self-deception. The NIL era has changed the rules. Without new resources or a strategic reset, Akron’s midweek ESPN appearances don’t build the brand—they auction it off. ⸻ Sources 1. NIL reporting: MAC collectives average ~$536,000 annually; Akron’s closer to $341,000. 2. The Ringer: 2018 MAC attendance — 16,738 (Saturday) vs. 12,255 (midweek), –26.8%. 3. University of Akron Institutional Research: enrollment peaked at ~25,190 in 2011. 4. Ideastream: Akron’s fall 2024 enrollment at 14,813.

Tremendous result tonight for VCU At home, VCU battled Marshall to a 2-2 tie as of 10:30 tonight, Zips are #11 in Gaucho Dan RPI VCU is #25 now in RPI

Homecoming was fantastic. Great day throughout the University. The fall fest was an amazing setup.

Akron needed a win at home in the MAC on a Saturday in the worst way. Nice job.

If Florida Atlantic, Syracuse, and Penn State couldn't prepare Johnson to be a starting QB, it's asking a lot for Joe to do it. 😁 Ruggow is a redshirt freshman, so one week of prep isn't going to give him a fighting chance of beating a team like Toledo. We ride or die with Finley. Assuming he's healthy I expect a win this weekend. If he isn't, we'll punt a lot and lose by 24.

Akron back into the coaches top 25 poll at #19 this week. Next week's opponent Cornell is essentially #27 as they're 2nd in the receiving votes section. https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-di-men/

Extra credit to Zip_ME87 for the umlauts in Emil Jääskeläinen. That's the Finnish Product! 😄

I'll list those that I recall. Others, please feel free to add any I may have missed (or make other corrections as needed). These are current as of this post MLS Columbus Crew - Evan Bush, Darlington Nagbe Minnesota United - Wil Trapp Nashville - Teal Bunbury Real Salt Lake - DeAndre Yedlin St Louis City SC - Ben Lundt Toronto - Malik Henry, Richie Laryea MLS NEXT Pro Chicago Fire II - Jason Shokalook Orlando City B - Dyson Clapier St Louis City 2 - Emil Jääskeläinen USL Championship Pittsburgh Riverhounds - Beto Ydrach Colorado Springs Swicthbacks - Marco Micaletto Indy Eleven - Aodhan Quinn San Antonio FC - Diogo Pacheco Loudoun United FC - Robby Dambrot Detroit City - Shane Wiedt Rhode Island FC - Will Meyer USL League One Union Omaha - Marco Milanese Chattanooga - Declan Watters Europe Lech Poznań (Poland) - João Moutinho Fylkir Reyjavik (Iceland) - Mani Austmann Oct 1 edit - Added Teal Bunbury, MLS, Nashville whom I forgot. 😑 Oct 8 edit - Added Will Meyer, USL Championship, Rhode Island FC and Mani Austmann, Europe, Fylkir Reyjavik Oct 18 edit - Added Declan Watters, USL League One, Chattanooga Red Wolves

Why would it have to be a consistent multi-bid conference that Akron would have to go to? I would think everyone would agree that the MVC is better than the MAC for hoops. The MVC teams are typically seeded better in the tournament, win more games in the tournament, and on occasion get a 2nd bid. That would probably be more Akron's level for hoops. MAC hoops have drastically declined since covid and there are no signs of it improving anytime soon. The other schools are too busy checking the couch cushions searching for every last nickel and dime to throw at FBS football.

A back heel goal on a corner from Remi!

Last night I went to the VB match against Miami with a friend. We had a good time. The ladies have a team we can be proud of. Despite Miami being 10-1 we took it to them. Our only weakness was serving. We gave up too many points when hitting it into the net or hitting it too long. That was the difference in the game. Our ladies play with power and are athletic. They blocked or return some spikes by Miami that were incredible. The vibe on this team is contagious. It appears they love playing the game and each other. One thing that impressed me was that there were big team contingents from swimming & diving, baseball, track & field and lacrosse. Nice to see our programs supporting each other. If you are thinking of attending a VB match, do it. You won't be disappointed.

Board activity seems to be exponentially higher the week after a loss than a blowout win?😃