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Akron Preview with Rivals writer Perry McCarty

Zips will host #13 VCU (according to coaches' poll) tomorrow. Does anyone even realize this? Akron Hosts No. 13 VCU - University of Akron Athletics (gozips.com) If Zips MSOC plays a match, and no one comes to watch, does the inevitable draw still count as one point?

thanks, good preview. dude really knows the program. here's a direct youtube link:

There's a reason people call Steve French "The Minister of Culture"

Not surprising. Finley looked like it was painful just to breath last Saturday.

You mean these shoes? Ask the rest of the MAC admin and ADs what their view is of this man's shoes...you'd be amazed at how little he is respected.

Every so often someone will post on the drain the football team is on the athletic department. Just doing some basic math on the 2024 season - 1.8 million for Ohio State 1.0 million for Rutgers 1.5 million for South Carolina $750,000 for the Kentucky buyout $670,000 ESPN contract Total revenue: $5,720,000 (plus whatever donations, ticket sales etc. are generated) While pulling in all that cash for UA, football lost their training table and have had severe limitations put on the recruiting budget. Grad assistants are another cut someone'd mentioned earlier. How are we supposed to compete?

There's a reason people call Keels "The Voice of God"

How do you know if Tahj can’t throw down the field it’s only week 1 😂 give the kid a shot to show what he can do Especially vs Rutgers Tahj basically dominated every Jersey Kid on that Rutgers team when he was in HS and will vs them now I like the Finley kid but his body is not built to take hits especially on RPOs Tahj body is built for hits even tho no QB wanna get hit at the end of the day

OSU has the best announcers in college football: Paul Keels, doing play by play , and Jim LaShay, doing color. They are the best.

I’ve talked up Finley a lot based upon his performance in the two summer scrimmages. It stinks that he got pummeled in the OSU game and didn’t get a chance to go much beyond “2 Mississippi” before he got snowed under. He didn’t get a chance to show what he can do, which is move the chains and stretch the field. I hope he gets that chance on Saturday, but I’m not super-confident. I was a little disappointed in Norton’s effort on the ball that hit his back shoulder and got picked off. The DB wanted the ball more than he did. He needs to be more dialed-in this week. Can the OL make some holes for Simmons and Kellom? That would go a long way in helping our passing game. Our D will show up. Can our offense give them a breather before they get gassed? It’s all in the hands of the OL. And, a reasonably healthy Finley.

From Greg Schiano’s presser: (All quotes about Akron) Defensively Akron presents issues. Scheme is a little different. Reminds me of when Jim Leonard was at Wisconsin. Stout up front. Inside they are big. 300+ lbs. Nunnally is active off the edge. McCoy is a good player and very active. DBs are pretty good. (P.)Lewis is an active player - long, good looking kid. Golden-Nelson showed up. The Nickelback (D.)Lewis is a ball hawk. They gave Ohio State some problems up front. Finley was doing some good things and then got injured. We’re familiar with Tahj Bullock. (Schiano recruited Bullock out of HS before he committed to VT.) He’s a very athletic guy that presents problems both running and throwing, so we’re going to have our hands full there. Newell is a big kid that does some good things. You can see Golden has speed. He’s their speed guy. Offensive line is big, 300lbs across the board. Now the center might not be as big depending on who plays, but the guards and tackles are big. Joe Moorhead is an accomplished coach. Competed with him when Moorhead was at UCONN and then again at Penn State. He’s an excellent coach and his teams are well coached. They always have some wrinkles you’re not ready for. More on Bullock: I have a lot of respect for him. He’s very tough. Tough hard worker. I got to see his dad at the 7 on 7 this summer. I have a lot of respect for Tahj the way he carries himself and the way he approaches the game. I’m not sure who’s gonna be the quarterback, but we’ll be ready for both.

Also wanted to give credit to the announcers from the OSUcks game. They were extremely complimentary toward the Zippers & didn't really try to make any excuses for OSU. As the teams were going into their tunnels at halftime the announcers said, "Akron has come to play. Akron fans should be proud of their team," or words to that effect. Coming into the 2nd half they mentioned things they were impressed with during the first half. The first thing they mentioned was Akron's D.

OFFICIAL 2024 Akron Zips Look Alike Thread

Honestly, I feel that's tough to judge at this stage. We likely won't face another pass rush remotely as talented as OSU the rest of the season. We couldn't really judge the downfield passing because frankly Finley was getting lit up while waiting for the play to develop. If we see the same struggle against a good, but not great, Rutgers squad then I'll agree.

Despite what our AD thinks, the track and field and xc programs are in total disarray. They like to hang their hat on the fact they won the MAC titles, but that's taking credit for winning a conference that completely sucks and has only 4 or 5 schools on the mens side, depending on whether you count Miami's distance runners as a complete team. The Greatest Coach EVAH has lost a throws coach, a PV coach and a distance coach in just 2 years, not to mention the runners and throwers who have left. You can blame the SID for lack of correct info, but it stinks what this program has devolved to. But hey, we'll probably win another 4-team MAC indoors this year. Can't figure out why Garretson stayed here.

It's great for recruiting. My daughter wouldn't have chosen Akron if it wasn't for the lacrosse team and the awesome stadium the girls share with the football team. And if you look at the athletes gpas at akron they are very impressive. The football program is good for student life, recruiting, and while not top 20 in the nation exceptional student athletes that reflect well on the college.

It would be nice if they could go to a football game against a D1 team on a Saturday when the weather is nice.

I grew up in Erie, PA and a few dozen of us ended up going to UA. We loved the campus and were willing to pay extra (I still am lol) for out-of-state tuition. It seemed like every year there was a huge chunk of gradating seniors heading to UA from our area. But now? There's almost none. I just don't get why the University isn't seen in the same light anymore. I feel like it's way better than any school NW Pennsylvania. But for some reason kids here just aren't even considering it anymore.

OSU main campus is already very selective in both general admissions and for specific colleges. My son had a 3.7 GPA and good ACT and OSU-main admitted him, but he could not get into the College of Engineering. He also didn't care for the whole OSU environment/culture (he is not interested in athletics or the Greek system, etc.). He chose The Univerity of Akron for many great reasons. I just wish more kids would look to UA as a destination.

I dare you to spend even 1 day in Guthrie's shoes. There is huge pressure on Athletics to reduce expenses or increase revenue. Most of these money games have been scheduled years in advance. The OSU game represented an opportunity to make some cash. With the realignment going on, these games are going to disappear. A more sane schedule starts next year.