Leaderboard

While getting the two OL back is nice, I'd like to give a shoutout to Kyle Ritz. I thought he played well as a replacement. Encouraging to see from a freshman.

MAC offensive and defensive numbers Rushing #1 Defense – Akron #13 Offense – CMU You would think the Zips can completely shut down CMU’s running game? It’s interesting that CMU leads the MAC in Time of Possession, despite being last in the league in rushing? Defensive Sacks #2 Akron #13 CMU Will Woodson have all day to throw, especially considering we return 2 starting OL’s and Williams this week? Passing Offense Akron #12 Passing Defense CMU #1 If passing against BG was tough...passing against these guys might be even tougher. 4th Down Conversions CMU #1 Akron #12 BG’s 4th down conversions 2 weeks ago were backbreakers. It would be nice to move up for the #12 spot after this week. We’ll need to convert a couple to beat CMU. Red Zone Offense #1 – CMU #11 – Akron I don’t like that one bit. CMU’s Cooper Rush is the #2 rated QB in the MAC behind Matt Johnson. But he’s a distant 2nd. Hopefully facing the #1 QB so recently makes facing the #2 this week a little easier. We can only hope...at least CMU doesn't have a "Lewis" at WR.

Creighton drops to 15-1-0 Xavier 2 Creighton 1 1-1 at half...Xavier scored the winner at 88:47 Creighton led 7-1 in shots in first half. 2nd half was wide open...Xavier led 13-10 in shots

No one is suggesting de-emphasizing the local/regional connection. The local students who want to go to Akron for whatever reason will still do that. They won't mind having more classmates from Lima or Dayton or Lancaster, would they? The most interesting thing about discussions on this board is the two extreme mentality. When I bring up the crappiness of our home BBall schedule, the argument is that Duke will never come to the JAR. Now that we're talking about elevating the school's reputation and attractiveness, you're throwing Harvard and Yale in my face? President Scarborough was tasked by the board of trustees to elevate Akron to the level of OSU, Cincy, and Miami. NOT HARVARD! By the way, even with the recent tuition hikes, Akron is still cheaper than all three schools mentioned above. Yet, they attract more (non-local) in state students than we do. I agree with Balsy, It is common to see NEO students going to OU, BG, UC, Miami, OSU, etc. The reciprocal is not of the same magnitude. Why shouldn't we attract students from BG, and Athens? We're affordable, and we have great programs, why not promote them to those outside of Akron?

I suspect that donors are mostly all within the region, alumni who still retain some sense of connection with the university. I will accept the arguments that Scar was made responsible for a situation involving declines in enrollment and that the university was potentially overextended with infrastructural committments. However, his solutions and initiatives fail to convince me in any way. His mannerisms, poor communication style and failure to connect with the community are off-putting. Anyone paying attention should be able to see why donations would be declining. I would love to see the university return to open enrollment and a focus on local and regional students. The people who appreciate UA and need it are not anywhere else but there. Don't try to sell a kid from another region, that's an incredible uphill battle. Within that context, focus on the faculty you put in front of students and emphasize education for working adults. Be a vital part of the local and regional scene. Weave the university into the daily fabric of life there. It's about the people, the city and the region. You could spend many millions of dollars advertising the university nationally but I believe those dollars would be wasted. Lastly, when I lived there from 2005-2011 I greatly appreciated that Proenza was spending on capital improvements but wondered aloud about the $$ spent on Infocision and didn't really understand the massive private dorms on Exchange and downtown. They're ugly and I don't see how they do anything but line the pockets of developers. Still though, the soul of the school seemed what I remembered and I happily bought tickets and donated money to UA on multiple occasions. At this point and with the direction of this administration I am very hesitant to support the university.