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The crowd was great yesterday; and when the boys looked up into the stands all they saw were people that wanted to show support. They had no idea or cared what the count was; and it was enough for them.

Last 3 college cups 2015 - Akron, Stanford, Clemson and Syracuse 2016 - Wake Forest, Denver, Stanford, N. Carolina 2017 - Akron, Stanford, N. Carolina, Indiana 3 programs only...that have been to at least 2 college cups in the last 3 years...Akron, Stanford and N. Carolina. Akron soccer is truly special....an elite program. President Matthew Wilson better be doing a video this week....since he did one for the football team that got destroyed in a conference championship game This is an NCAA title......that the zips are going for.... There was a heck of a send off party...for the football team.... there better be a send off party to raise the roof....for this group of student athletes buses galore for the football team.....there better be buses available for the AK rowdies to support the "futbol" team

I love it that no conference has more than one team... one from the mighty MAC, one from the Pac 12 , one from the big ten...and one from some league that had 9 teams in the tourney

With any luck, Kiffin gets hired to coach Tennessee some time next week.

Montgomery Camelia Bowl vs Arkansas State

I don't know Kato personally, but I'm not sure bashing of him is warranted based on what we know or don't know. I don't see him posting or saying the things his father says. Unfortunately (and naturally) that is the perception you will get when his father acts as a mouth piece. My thoughts: I had a good time. Not too bad of a drive to Detroit at all and we are lucky to have the MAC Championship for football (and basketball) in short driving distance at such great facilities. I would consider going there annually even if the Zips aren't there. I've never really spent time in Detroit and it reminds me quite a bit of Cleveland. It was a nice atmosphere and felt.....like an actual real college football environment for once. I didn't hate the pregame party, but it most definitely was not worth $35 for a so-so breakfast buffet and cheers. I would not do it again. Regarding the game, I'll start with coaching. Can't say I'm too pleased with the offense or defensive coaching yesterday, more so the offense. I do not agree with benching Kato mid-way through the first quarter. The O wasn't effective (not all his fault), but its not like the game was getting away from us either at that point. Woody wasn't effective either. Yeah he had the TD call back but anyone on the roster should have been able to execute that play to a wide open TE. It was one of the most disappointing halves of offense I can recall during the Bowden era. What was it, 88 yards? Then I knew Gasser's kick was going to get blocked. I still am not sure he is better than O'leary, (even though that isn't saying much). I believe that is 3 straight weeks now where a kick has been blocked. Then we bench Tommy for Kato. That's something Hue Jackson would do and that isn't a compliment, even though it worked out. The whole QB carousel definitely did not cost us the game, though. The defense did a good job forcing turnovers, but it doesn't seem like any adjustments were made from game 1 to game 2. Maybe Toledo is just that good though (and they probably are). Just a ton of talent on offense and I think both of the Johnson WRs will be back next season. I did like how the team never gave up. It would have been the easy thing to do. Even though the game was over, we fought back, made it look respectable, and actually ended up beating the spread. Made some nice plays in the 4th. Kato took maybe one of the hardest hits I've ever seen a QB take. You could tell he was really hurting, but he looked able to go back in if the coaches want. Kelley led a nice drive as well. Even though we got spanked, great programs like Miami, Auburn, and TCU actually ended up losing by more than us yesterday. Funny thing is, Auburn spanked Georgia just a few weeks ago! It happens. Point is to hold off on the ridiculous knee jerk reactions that losing to by far the best team in the league has somehow undone everything that has happened the past month of the season. Progress was made this year. We obviously aren't striking gold overnight with the Bowden regime, but there is no question that the program is still trending upward under him. Let's regroup and get ready to go out and try and win this bowl game. I don't recall any serious injuries yesterday.Alvin's looked bad, but he went back in IIRC. I also hope our wait to go to Detroit again comes a lot sooner than the 12 years it was this time.

And that's different from what other teams do....how?

We already know that.

That's what it really comes down to for me. Penn State was in the same position last year, and it didn't matter. But I bet it matters now that it's the Suckeyes. And Penn State also had the following factors in their favor too: 1) Penn State's "bad loss" was a nail biter, and not a 31 point blowout. 2) Penn State's "bad loss" was way back on September 10th, not in November. 3) They also had a head-to-head win over the Suckeyes. The morning chat on ESPN was quite interesting. The panel rightfully took the conversation down to "who is better", and they all nearly laughed and said Alabama. So, I wonder why there is even a debate, outside the fact that the committee has done some strange things before. In addition, a poll of 25 ESPN writers chose Alabama by more than a 2 to 1 margin. But, things will be a little different in that selection room when the NCAA has their pocketbooks at stake.

What Kato and his father need to realize is that this team is on the rise with or without them. If they want to be a part of it then awesome. If not then good luck playing in the FCS.

If someone is going to do Bowl Projections, maybe they ought to pay attention to what's going on. This one is updated TODAY - 12/3/17. It shows Toledo going to the Bahamas. OU going to Mobile. Hilarious. http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/football/bowl-projections

It is not as though things were going to get easier. Contrasting styles will be even more pronounced and obvious than in the last match. Stanford is much more direct than even Louisville, who were quite noticeably reliant upon the counter attack for offense. Expect frequent vertical long balls over the top, sometimes from the Midfield, often straight out of the back. This is the Soccer equivalent to running the Power I formation in Gridiron. Stanford will make Akron prove that our Center Backs can match the athleticism of their Forwards, primarily Foster Langsdorf http://www.gostanford.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=11632 . Stanford Defense is anchored, held down, by Center Back Thomas Hilliard-Arce http://www.gostanford.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=11628 , arguably the best player in the land. Stanford has not allowed a NCAA Tournament goal since late in the second half of the 2015 Quarterfinal vs. Wake Forest. As a point of reference, that is the match before Stanford met Akron in the 2015 College Cup. Hilliard-Arce is big, strong, skilled, and mean. I expect that anyone reading this knows that Stanford are the 2-time defending champion going for a 3-peat. It will take Zips' very best game to send home the champion. We can beat them, but we must be very sharp to do it.

Two things I learned watching the MACC on TV. 1. It’s tough for 4th or 5th string announcers to tell the difference between Toledo and Akron. This was exasperating. However, my favorite part occurred when one of these dipshits explained that Akron had just defeated Bowling Green last week to win the Wagon Wheel trophy. 2. Refereeing can be confusing. My favorite call where there was a double foul (1 against each team) and you could see from the preliminary hand signals the ref gave that he had the calls ass backwards. It wasn’t until he was on mike and finishing the last sentence of his explanation of the infractions that he realized he had it all screwed up. I appreciated the levity to help ease the pain of the spanking we were taking.

Whats the point of playing Woodson?-- give Kato the valuable experience that will help him progress

Amen to that.

Fixed

And the basketball team will get ESPN coverage from Dec 22-25 At the Diamond Head Classic. President Wilson will be on the move!

Did one of our star players just get arrested for drug dealing? I actually like this bowl a lot. There is going to be a lot of media coverage with Kiffin being involved, and a good showing should help with recruiting since Bowden loves recruiting Florida. I just hope we come better prepared and more ready to play, since this will be our 2nd football game on THE ESPN, and hopefully 4th Akron showing on an ESPN network in 3.5 weeks.

What the heck just happened??

From Wikipedia: Field size at First Energy Stadium-Cub Cadet Field: Field size 120 yd. long x 77 yd. wide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FirstEnergy_Stadium–Cub_Cadet_Field Field size at Dr. Mark & Cindy Lynn Stadium (Louisville): Field size 109.73 x 68.58 m (120 x 75 yards) 2 yards narrower than our pitch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Mark_%26_Cindy_Lynn_Stadium Field size at Talen Energy Stadium: Field size 120 × 75 yards (same as Louisville) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talen_Energy_Stadium

A-State's twitter account leaked it about an hour ago... Wasn't sure if that was 100% confirmed though.

I think it's more of an indictment against the University and its marketing department. Soccer is the #1 sport in the world and is rapidly growing in the US (look at the MLS expansion in the last 5-10 years). The game on Friday is on ESPNU, with the Championship Game airing on ESPN2; this isn't a low end tournament/sport. The football team just laid a major egg on ESPN yesterday, but that can easily be forgotten with good showings on Friday & hopefully Sunday. TennZip isn't the only one frustrated with the lack of attention given to the soccer program in recent weeks. There has been virtually ZERO mentioning of their NCAA tournament matches at Zips basketball games, while the football team has had fanfare daily. The football team should absolutely get attention, but there's plenty of room for Akron soccer, too. We are the Alabama/OSU/Clemson/Duke/Kansas/UNC of Men's Soccer. Regarding the game, the only question I have is how wide is the pitch in Philadelphia? Someone mentioned that Louisville plays on a narrower pitch, hence the reason Akron found finding space difficult on the offensive end. Stanford's experience scares me more than their game does. Akron is the best team in this tournament from a pure soccer skill and technical ability standpoint; I hope it isn't automatically neutralized like it was on Friday with the narrower pitch.

The funny thing is that he is assuming that 16k is real and there were not tickets given away that weren't used.

Why do we keep beating this dead horse? Is there ANYONEon this form that ever...EVER... argues that it’s real? Sheesh...

I know that UAzipster campaigned in the Louisville thread for more playing time for David Egbo and Ezana Kahsay. We will need Sam and Stuart for the full 90 against Stanford. David Egbo and Marcel Zajac will make a great combo at the 3rd forward. Stanford is a very disciplined, well coached, compact defensive team. It will take a special player with skill and speed to help the zips be effective. I am a huge Nick Hinds fan. Manel, Pau, and Skye have done a super job this year in the midfield. It is going to take a gigantic team effort to defeat Stanford. I firmly believe in Nick Hinds, the person and the soccer player. I think that Nick is a special player and person and I think that he will be a great mid game to late game insertion and will make a very positive difference against the Cardinal.

I think it was Kato who came in late in the Iowa State game, got chippy, and earned penalties. That was my first impression of him. Usually the backup QB is the most popular guy on the team. But that day, fans of both teams were upset with him.

I feel good about our Zips' chances in the College Cup. I hope the Beacon gives it good coverage and no matter what tells the story from a positive angle. The Zips are among 4 of 205 D1 Men's Soccer Programs who are still playing. Getting to the College Cup is special in itself. Let's make some more Akron magic and history and bring home the Championship Trophy. Go Zips. We are... 's

4 elite...top of the line programs

And now we're down to an announcement show later today. 1 Clemson (Won Decisively 12-1) 2 Auburn (Lost to Georgia 10-3) 3 Oklahoma (Won Decisively) 4 Wisconsin (Lost to Ohio State) 5 Alabama (11-1) 6 Georgia (Beat Auburn (12-1) 7 Miami (Lost to Clemson) 8 Ohio State (Won vs Wisconsin) IMHO: It should be Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama. They're preparing the excuses now (allowing the first 2-loss team in...Ohio State...) of "Championship win means more" (even though it didn't for Penn State) and everyone has been mentioning SOS, but NEVER the level of the losses: "Ohio State lost to Oklahoma...and they're in the top 4!" "(no mention of Iowa State BLOWOUT LOSS near the end of the season)". If the committee resembles anything "fair or objective" they will not select Ohio State. I don't think that they will be. Hopefully I will be eating crow later today.

The problem parents have moved up from youth sports to high school sports to college sports. Damn, there's even one in the NBA now.

Honestly, I'm excited about seeing Alex Ramart in the spring!

Poke just made a basketball move. Nice up-&-under for a basket. First time I've seen that in-game.

Getting killed in the paint

Second road game for a young team. Our 3 point shooting has been awful. Getting open looks and just not hitting. When Utomi is cold this team is going to suffer. Maybe the second half will show some improvement.

I think we are trending a lot like the the lovable Chicago Cubs. Despite the loss, I'm proud of our lovable Zips and think we are looking good. Go Zips!

We forced 5 turnovers and still gave up 45 points. At least we fought the entire game.

Fear the Roo, Vegas !

Get it in the end zone and ruin that 18 point spread!

Nelson holds the ball too long. He'll learn eventually. Aw well, at least we're not getting shut out.

Will really miss Austin Wolf as a receiver.

He did start. Anyhow it's obvious the Zips had to play a near perfect game to match Toledo.

We're much more likely to regress with a new coach than to continue improving. This is one game against a team that's on another level from the rest of the conference, and we still have an opportunity to win another bowl game.

That post was made back in September, when the 1-3 Zips struggled to beat BGSU.

Overall, this game and the outcome is what I expected. Toledo simply has more talent than we do. I like the direction of the progrum and think we will get to Toledo's level in the next two seasons or so. The building has been slow, but the winning small has begun and the MACC was a wonderful next step (and finally beating BUGS and the BoobKitties to get there). The seniors have a lot to be proud of. I liked that even though down big, the team was still playing hard and believing. Equally important, it looked like our guys were still having fun in spite of the score. That's a dramatic change from the iCoach era when it looked as if most players wanted to be anywhere other than on the field. I can't help but wonder how keeping the TD on the board in the first quarter rather than having it called back due to penalty would have changed the game. The turnover right after the UA TD and the recovered fumble with about ten minutes left in the fourth really hurt too. I thought we may had been in the midst of an epic comeback, but then Toledo took the next play to the endzone. Good teams can turn it on to close out a game. Toledo is a good team. In spite of all the points, the defense still forced Toledo to turn the ball over a lot. I think they would have fared much better had our offense not had so many 3-and-outs in the first three quarters. Why did we not open up the offensive playbook until the fourth quarter?...Way too conservative for a championship game! Woodson is a statue at times and Nelson holds the ball too long. Was great to see Kelley getting some time at the end. For a third stringer in the MAC, he ran the offense well and was confident and accurate. The future at QB is bright with Nelson and Kelley. They bring very different abilities to the offense, so it wouldn't surprise me to see them both getting time next year. I think we'll get an interesting venue and opponent for our bowl game. I also think if we tidy things up a bit from today that we'll have our second bowl victory in three years.