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Ball lives are being recuperated at the women’s game as well. It seems the survival of soccer balls is a point of emphasis for both men and women’s soccer this season. There has to be one student that played HS soccer and aspires to be a TV announcer that’s better that this kid. He is painful to listen to.

My comments weren't pertaining to MBB or Olympic sports. It was specifically about FBS football. We were never capable of competing with the OSU or Alabama's of the world in football. I have no idea why you're trying to take my words out of context. Of course we could compete in MBB. I never stated otherwise. There is always a Cinderella in the tournament. Roster sizes are much smaller in basketball and basketball is a global game so it's harder for bigger schools to hoard all the talent. Also, 1 or 2 guys having a career night from 3 is a great David vs Goliath equalizer. Football is more challenging because even if you do have some skilled players, you won't have the depth or size in the trenches. As for soccer we won a national championship so that's self explanatory. I've long stated we should focus on basketball and soccer as our dollars would go further there since everyone else is prioritizing football. It's not nearly as much of an uphill battle.

Kenni Burns and I both had Merrimack plus the points.

The soccer Zips have a pretty consistent tradition of success for a pretty long time. The football Zips have been at best not good for a while. Also, ties in soccer are considered ok. Go back and look at the posts when the soccer Zips were 1-3-3after losses to IU Indy and Temple last year….. I don’t think we need to canabalize Zips fandom.

We were at the match last night and enjoyed the evening, the atmosphere, the crowd and the Rowdies. I just want to add "Thank you!" to all who post here on the Soccer Forum for being informative, insightful and civil in your posts. I'm sure all of us wanted to see the Zips pull out a 1-0 win at the end, against a ranked team, but when we didn't you're not "never buying a ticket again!!!!!!" Over on the "Football" forum they're going nuclear and want to not only fire the coach, the assistant coaches, the AD, the cheerleaders, the band (I know, a little hypocritical of me, I wanted to see Women's coach gone last season, but over there they want to not just fire him, but string him up!) drop football altogether, leave the MAC, and even drop sports altogether, after a loss to a name school. Thanks for your cool heads....

another fabulous article....about Richie..... Richie was a fiery competitor at Akron.....Toronto is fortunate to have a "Warrior" on their team https://www.thestar.com/sports/tfc/no-matter-what-position-he-plays-richie-laryea-a-driving-force-for-toronto-fc/article_1b8f151d-750e-5186-aa75-a76a21a323c2.html

The quotes in this article....about Richie Laryea...are absolutely glowing there are so many quotes that I am not allowed to post all of them.... please click on the article....and read about former Zip Richie https://wakingthered.com/2025/08/31/20909/osorio-was-the-goal-hero-but-laryea-vilsaint-play-big-hand-in-toronto-fc-draw-with-cf-montreal/ CanMNT and TFC veteran Richie Laryea occupied the role of a center-back, instead of his usual role at full-back. However, Laryea was everywhere, making deep runs all the way to the CFMTL box, and sometimes controlling possession as an advanced No. 8. “Richie has become, for us, wherever we need somebody, for whatever reason, he just goes there, and he’s excelled in everything I’ve asked him to do,” (head coach) Fraser said. “And I’ve asked him to do probably six or seven different things this year.” Goalscorer and the man of the moment, Osorio, was also full of praise for Laryea, acknowledging that people might already know how good he is, but Laryea may not be getting the proper respect he deserves. “I can’t speak highly enough about that guy,” Osorio said. “He is an unbelievable competitor, an unbelievable footballer. He plays where he’s told to play, and he does the job. I think a lot of people know how good he is, but actually, I think even he deserves even more respect than he actually gets. Because that guy is a top-level player.”

Offensive guru puts up a donut against….Wyoming?

Probably just want to do it while the weather is nice so the players' families can enjoy it.

October 1st

There are an infinite number of ways to do college football better than NIL for MAC-level programs. I provided one. You suggested another. They all have merit. As for the prior season not impacting the next, this happens due to rankings whether we like it or not, and that's not determined by anything on the field but rather mere opinion. My suggestion at least let's all schools participate in a meaningful post-season and let's next season jockeying be determined by results on the field.

Today’s game is senior night? In August? What’s up with that?

DeAndre Yedlin (you know, the Zips RB who played in the English Premier League and for the USMNT, including a few World Cup Appearances as well as Turkey and MLS) bobblehead ...

Off the top of my head, I remember our center completely whiffing on a defensive lineman twice—pretty sure both were by Lyons. I also don’t blame Finley for the 3rd and longs when Wyoming brought more than we could block. In those situations, the best-case scenario is usually a short completion where the receiver picks up some YAC. Outside of that, it just wasn’t a good day for our QB1. I kept waiting for him to get hot—he can be a streaky player at times—but it never happened. According to PFF, Wyoming blitzed 14 times, and Finley went 6 of 14 on those plays. Out of his 38 total attempts, he was supposedly kept clean on 24 of them. The brutal part is he only completed 11 passes for 93 yards in those clean pockets and even threw an interception. That won’t cut it against anyone on our schedule. For what it’s worth, PFF graded the OL fairly well overall, with the exception of both centers. Also of note, looks like they went through and updated some stats. True freshman Kenneth McManus was our highest rated lineman and 2nd highest rated player on offense.

Is there a single coach in the country that has "adapted to the changing landscapes of college athletics" post-NIL? I mean seriously, what mid-major has raised its profile to compete with the big boys since then?! NONE. It's not possible when any decent player that might be discovered or developed by a school like Akron can be bought by the OSU's of the world the very next season? Jason Taylor's and Dwight Smith's are a thing of the past for schools like Akron. I am not a fan of Moorhead, but I think he just recognizes the reality of the situation. Also, the gap between the haves and have-nots is so large that OSU's financial success is allowing the Buckeyes to buy players in other sports like men's soccer. Never in its history has OSU men's soccer been so strong and never enough to arguably be consistently better than the Zips. That's what money can do. As another example, consider this past NCAA men's basketball tournament. There were no Cinderellas, and the SEC and the "Big Ten" dominated because their football money allows them to buy basketball players. NIL has killed everything that was romantic about college sports, and schools like Akron are less likely to be successful than ever. It amazes me that our men's basketball and soccer programs remain as good as they are given the circumstances. Good coaches and strong traditions are carrying the momentum, but I do not know how long that can last in the face of a paycheck for many athletes who grew up with little resources at home. You can't sell good coaching and tradition to athletes whose families need financial stability to thrive.

Yup - he wasn't perfect but night and day better than anyone we've had since.

We did. Under Terry Bowden. We had an 8-5 and 7-6 seasons with him, and then fired him the year he pulled off the first BIG-10 victory in Akron's history, for a no-nothing loser from John Carroll.

Wyoming is not a "name" school, they are a g5 team that was 3-9 last season and fans are not freaking out after one game, they are freaking out after well over a decade of pure futility from a program that is funneling money into a pit. Please do not be disingenuous in your comments. If the football team had put up a tying effort against a ranked team, this whole board would be doing cartwheels of joy.

Finley was bad from the jump. Puzzled me as I watched. The O line didn't seem THAT BAD. something else going on there.

That's a great question. I don't know what their financials are. Maybe someone at the MAC could look at it. Our basketball program is a great MAC program. Does everyone realize moving to the MVC would greatly increase the competition?

I just went back to watch the replay, holy crap this announcer..... One minute in, what a quote "WVU started off hot with a 3-5-2 formation where they defeated in morgantown against manhattan 5-2"

I am really impressed by the excellent article....that Real Salt Lake did on DeAndre RSL has gained a very good player. https://www.rsl.com/news/getting-to-know-deandre-yedlin