All Activity

That wasn't a recipe for success last week. 5 wins would be a big step forward for Zips football. Hope we achieve it.

Sounds like the Zips need to get a lead and force Bowling Green into a position that they have to throw

Man, I love Zips football. I can't believe this is the last game for yet another year. 😩

Game Day Notes: Bowling Green is down to its fourth quarterback of the season in Washington State transfer Hunter Najm. He wasn’t asked to do much in his last outing, and when the game shifted to the fourth quarter, things started to unravel for him. Still, with ten days to prepare, the Falcons have had ample time to craft a game plan and try to get Najm settled for this matchup. The running back room remains the strength of the offense. They have multiple backs capable of producing chunk plays, and BG would love nothing more than to ride that group all evening. Mizzou transfer Austyn Dendy has taken the lead role of late and brings explosiveness every time he touches the ball. Cameron Pettaway and Chris McMillan rotate in and give the Falcons solid depth. The receiving corps, however, has been all over the place. Tight end Jyrin Johnson — more of a tweener than a traditional inline tight end — is the lone true playmaker. The wideouts have shown they can catch the ball, but outside of that, they rarely offer much in terms of creating after the catch or winning consistently. Up front, the offensive line is built to run the ball. Pass protection has been another story, as they’ve struggled with the rotation of quarterbacks and have surrendered 18 sacks in conference play alone. Defensively, the Falcons are fairly similar to Akron in points allowed and rush yards given up. The biggest gap comes in the pass game. Bowling Green’s secondary has been stingy, but the defensive front hasn’t consistently generated pressure. Akron, on the other hand, has given up plenty of passing yards but is one of the better teams in the MAC at creating pressure. The turnover battle also favors the Zips, as BG has struggled to force them while Akron has been one of the conference’s best in that department. Linebacker Gideon Lampron is one of the best defenders in the MAC, and edge rusher David Afogho provides a real threat off the edge. Defensive backs MJ Cannon and Kal-El Pascal round out a defensive core that can make things difficult for opponents. MAC Stats Only: Finley heads into his final game as the current MAC leader in passing yards and touchdowns. He’s also tied for second in interceptions. Gant leads the conference in rushing yards and needs 54 more to hit 1,000 on the year. Marcel Williams now leads the team in receiving yards and is second in conference action. Mason is ninth in receiving yards and tied for third in touchdowns. Polk is fifteenth in receiving yards and tied for second in touchdowns. Laventure is fourth in tackles for loss and tied for eighth in sacks.

I was very happy to see this. While it is VERY hard for one excellent team to beat another three times in one season, I think UConn has our number. I would be okay with an all Big East revenge final though! 😆

Significantly cheaper than a new arena. 🤔

My nephew played for Ripon the last 5 years but graduated this summer. I never got to see him play in high school as they lived in Wisconsin but a couple years ago Ripon played in a weekend tournament at the College of Wooster so my local family was all able to see him play.

Not going to happen. It doesn't work that way with minor (non big time revenue) sports. Nice idea tho'.

https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/soccer/2025/11/17/akron-zips-soccer-ncaa-tournament-seeds-michigan-notre-dame/87291121007/?tbref=hp

It would cost 8-10 million to replace all the seating and reconfigure the layout at the JAR.

Good idea. Plus, if they'd fill the arena with chair back seating I think that in and of itself would shrink the official capacity quite a bit. Just checked with Grok & was told chair back seating shrinks each individual row by 10-30% I know the JAR's lower bowl is already chair back, but I didn't want to spend all night on my Grok inquiry, so I asked "If a 5,000-seat bleacher arena renovated to chair back seating, what would the new capacity be?" Grok said capacity would be reduced to roughly 3,300 -to- 4,500 seats (depending on the exact type of chair back seat chosen - some are wider & cushier than others). We should put premium (wider, cushier) chair back seats in the lower bowl along with cheaper chair back seating in the upper stands.

I thought our guys came out of the gates pretty strong in this game. They were ready to go. If they can do that every time out I will be thrilled. And the maturity and composure of Eric as a freshman in that environment was quite amazing.

I don't know what the plans are for a future arena, whether it be a JAR renovation or a new arena entirely, but if it's the former they should absolutely put suites in the north and south ends to utilize those areas better.

I like this tournament also.

To pile on Kent's weak schedule, according to a UNCW fan on X, they were missing 2 of their top players vs Kent. It took a late run by the Golden Flushes to hold off UNCW at the MACC.

one game at a time........ Michigan has a win over #6 Indiana..... Michigan scored 3 goals against a very solid Creighton team I have not looked at Notre Dame record...... zips need a big, loud crowd on Sunday one game at a time...... worry about round of 16.....after winning the round of 32.......

Btw, I like how full the JAR looks since they retracted the Northside stands & made that a pregame Rowdies club, or something. Shrinking the capacity a bit has made the crowds look pretty good for our first few games. Even PSU-S was alright.

Good idea. And I'm also waiting for the Big East to throw us a bone & offer one or two games a year to our basketball Zips. Big East?.... Big East?... Hello, Big East?

Got to get through Princeton first. They beat Cornell twice, score 2-0 each time, in Ithaca in the regular season and at home in the Ivy final. They will be a serious challenge for the Zips.

CSU is #254 in Kenpom. I wouldn't exactly say they are decent. Someone on the MAC board said Kent was told they would be in the Mountain bracket while CSU would be in the River, which would make sense as they would avoid one another since they already scheduled one another. Regardless, that whole situation is just another reason to not want to bother with that tournament. I heard the games were broadcast on an obscure stream nobody has. I'm pleased our games in the Paradise Jam are on ESPN+.

Yes, ... absolutely a joke. But this time last season much the same was said about Akron ... and while pi$$ poor, Kent's schedule is still lightyears ahead of Miami. It's the cross good midmajor teams have to bear. MAC has benefitted from the Sun Belt Challenge. I would suggest adding another 'challenge' with C-USA or MVC. Good teams in all four conferences are struggling to get even quality mid-major games.

I totally agree Stank needs to learn the American game. Stank makes some really good passes and guys just can’t finish. But I have noticed he charges about once’s a game. Once he learned how to do a euro step he will be deadly.

Just for background ... my understanding is Kent and CSU got screwed in this as both were 'told' they would be playing ACC teams, but the ACC teams said they would back out of the tournament unless they were in an all P5 bracket. Look at the records for some of those teams and you can see why they wanted no part of decent mid-majors on a neutral court. Note: CSU and Kent already had a game scheduled (this Sat) so neither were pleased but could not back out due to $$$ penalty.

Just for the old-timers, here is the latest RPI (yes it's still around). Notice more (6) MAC teams in the Top 140, but also 3 MAC teams 297 or lower. https://www.teamrankings.com/ncb/rpi/ 1. Akron 68 2. Bowling Green 90 3. Miami 100 4. Kent 107 5. Ohio 123 6. Buffalo 140 7. Toledo 173 8. CMU 222 9. UMass 232 10. NIU 276 ---------------------------- Other teams of note: Youngstown State 33 Navy 34 Oakland 52 Kansas 151 Milwaukee 170