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I was able to attend today's scrimmage. It was offense (blue)/defense (white), just like last week. Below are some notes and pics - #15 Ben Finley continues to impress. Had a couple nice TD tosses. Zips fans will find this kid an absolute breath of fresh air. Unflappable...doesn't get rattled after a bad pass or a WR drop. Accurate. A different level of QB than we've seen in an Akron uniform for a while. You will all love him. Ben can run if needed...but we gotta keep this kid healthy. Ben zips one over the middle. Tahj started the scrimmage. Other than a couple spot appearances by Wassel and Ruggow towards the end of practice, he and Ben split the reps. In the right situations, Tahj is dangerous. He was wearing the "can't hit me" green jersey today, so rushing attempts aren't all that informative...but he obviously is a handful for a defense when he decides to use his feet. Steele got only a series or two, but did toss a TD. Ruggow got one series. He'll definitely benefit from a redshirt. Not a knock on him...he's just got a lot to learn. #22 Charles Kellom had a great day. He looks like he will definitely contribute this year. Two receiving TD's! (this one off a Finley swing pass). Nice TD celebration by Charles & Co. #22 pulled in a 35 yard TD on a 3rd and 18 from Ben Finley. This was Steele's 5 yard TD toss to Adrian Norton. At the 5 yard line, lined up behind redshirt Fr. TE Aiden Diaz, Hester scampered around the left tackle for a rushing TD. Hester had 2 TDs today, and the OL lifted the diminutive RB to the sky. #17 Justin Campbell, a Ball State transfer, had a couple nice grabs, including this one over the middle from Tahj. The defense made some big plays today. Here, #11 Davonte Golden-Nelson jars the ball loose for a turnover. Here you go, @taylormade28 🦾 Big Ben meets with Soph. WR Paul Davis and Charles Kellom after Kellom's long TD reception. Steele Wasel had the "best hair award" last week. Hester nabs the honor this week. Great day for Blake. He got a lot of opportunities, and delivered the goods with a couple TDs. This OL sat out todays scrimmage. A familiar face is again prowling the Akron sideline. The scrimmage concluded with a pick six of Tahj Bullock by #13 Freshman Rodrick Hunter! Joe was as positive as I've ever heard an Akron coach after the practice. He emphasized he felt they got better today. He told the team they should be very pleased with how they executed. Pleased, but not satisfied.

To the people on here complaining about the amount of money raised by MBB on the day of giving, I will say the following. You can be part of the problem or you can be part of the solution. Every donation, no matter how big or small will help further the program. Put your money where your mouth is.

I'm hearing that the president of the Memphis NIL collective, Wilson was instrumental in landing the FedEx investment. He is well known for being a passionate fan of beach volleyball and swimming.

Offense and defense both made big plays. Best the Zips have looked in recent memory. Finally showing some depth, experience and talent.

Two things. First, I don't enjoy going to games as much either. They are too long and too much dead time. Second, and worst of all, the people who run college athletics don't care if I go or not or not as long as more commercials are sold catering to degenerate gamblers and drunks. My question is this. Do the people at universities know they are killing the sport? There was a time in the past 80 years when professional boxing was the number one sport in the USA. Then it became a gross representation of a sport and is an afterthought. Is that where college athletics are going?

How was the weather? I was in Ames this morning to watch the Cyclones, and I was reminded that 40* with 20MPH wind is COLD. Your pics and brief info can go a long way generating some interest in the Zips. I hope there is a good turnout next week for the spring "game".

I have been a HUGE Zips football fan for about 30 years but I don't enjoy attending the games nearly as much as I used to. A 1-hour game shouldn't take 3&1/2 hours to complete. Of course winning would probably help more than anything. lol

Yes. 🙂

I watched an earlier game that Ali Ali played in. The video stream was not very clear and it looked to be an AAU game. I was proud to see him (them) out there.

Ali's team won the game 86-80 but Freeman had a very impressive showing. Freeman: 11 pts on 5-6 FG and 1-1 3P; 5 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 TO; 28 minutes; +4 +/- Ali: 6 pts on 2-4 FG and 2-3 3P; 1 TO, 1 Block; 25 min; -1 +/-

Tim Campbell hasn't been the strength coach for MBB for several years no matter what his outdated bio says. Also, please don't feed the trolls.

Having the 7'1" Big East Defensive POTY is certainly going to help give you an advantage on the boards. Strength & conditioning had nothing to do with Kalkbrenner's height. Want to know what helps more? Defensive rebounding opportunities. Akron had 9 offensive rebounds to Creighton's 5. Akron had 17 defensive rebounds to Creighton's 33. When Creighton doesn't miss, there are going to be fewer opportunities. When we miss a ton, Creighton is gonna have more opportunities. The only thing exposed that game was us sucking eggs shooting wise, and Creighton had an all-time shooting game. Had Creighton shot a solid 40% from 3 (above national average), Akron would've had a good chance at winning that game.

😂

thought that this might interest a few people.... https://www.soccerwire.com/news/substitution-rule-changes-approved-for-ncaa-division-i-mens-soccer/

We just need to hire a coach who is interested in building a team here. Heck one who actually shows up for work is nice. Not just get a paycheck until something better comes along. Building a program, not padding a resume. Maybe we're there. I'm not expecting miracles. Winning record in the MAC and be competitive against one or power conference foes. See also football.

Not a strength and conditioning issue, but I also don't think we had much of an answer for Kalkbrenner. It's easy to see why he won Big East DPOY. He only was credited with 3 blocks, but he disrupted every shot within 5 feet of the basket.

Not one Zip is out of shape. under 15% body fat. And I don't think Campbell has been working with the basketball team for last few years.

The trend is that universities in a small-town setting like Kent, Bowling Green and others are indeed holding on to students and in some cases increasing their enrollment. Urban centers like Akron and Toledo (but not Cincinnati) are losing students. Talking to parents in my town (Columbus suburbs) many are simply afraid of the crime in Akron and the perception that it is not safe. My son is a freshman at UA; he liked the university and UA was very nice and supportive in the recruiting process. Out of his graduating class of almost 450 kids, he is the only one to enroll at UA. UA recruiting has to go deeper into these outerbelt central Ohio school districts where there are many college-viable students and quite a bit of hesitancy to go to Ohio State due to its size. Also, OSU is so big now and selective that a kid like mine with a good ACT score and a 3.6 GPA could not get onto main campus for his preferred major. UA and other Ohio universities have to exploit this.

I have a friend who works in higher ed transfers, formerly at Akron but now at one of those nine colleges. He said Akron is accepting those kids, but they never take the time to be proactive enough to get onto those press releases. That is an issue in its own right.