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(Pretend this is a zero)

No, that's a good thing. They will have to pay us.

They were too busy trying to run cover for their precious P4 Suckeyes. As the game wore on, the realization that Akron is a more dominant soccer program than Ohio State really became evident in their tone and commentary. It was Louvre worthy.

Highlights

For me, Caleb Borneo was MOM. Scoring twice is (obviously) huge, but Borneo was also instrumental in the linking play through our midfield. What a comeback story for this guy! Hopefully, he continues his current trajectory. Remi Agunbiade completely changed the match when he entered late in the 1st half. Buckeyes could not contain him. Toward the end, OSU Defense began to look fearful. As previously mentioned, Jose Pedro was fantastic in both defending the flank and contributing passing into Offense. He needs to keep shooting, as unlikely as that sounds when referring to a Fullback. Judging from the room they afford him, opposing Defenses evidently do not believe Jose can score. He should prove them wrong. Ashton Kamdem was a monster on our left flank. Somebody check me on this, but I think Kamdem drew 3 OSU yellow cards. He is probably really sore today. Side note: Kamdem is the only truly ambidextrous field player we have. Mitch Budler also appears to be ambidextrous. What can I say that has not already been said? Five matches; Zer0 goals allowed. None will be surprised when Budler's name goes up on Stu Parry's wall.

What a great win. Revenge for last year. Absolute domination that 2nd half. Ohio State looks good but not how good they were hyped to start the season. But I think they’ll end up being a better win than we think. This is a good rivalry keep it going!

My biggest question is how we handle Young, Scott and Tavari. What lineups do you run? Can Sharron and Tavari play at the same time together. I’m very interested to see what they do

Borneo goal!

Great home game and crowd for a Saturday afternoon in Athens for the Bobcats against WVU, and it is a competitive game. Wish we had such things!

Pretend? It has been, is now, and will forever be a ZERO! 😃 (Love this by the way! Well-played!)

This team may just end up being special.

Tonight was a fun night for Akron soccer. The OSU Buckeyes were a good opponent, but not a great one. We were the better team. Nonetheless I hope we continue playing them and build a rivalry. What struck me about the Zips was that, despite not playing our best, we got better tonight. We found we have good depth and the staff came closer to finding who are the players who need to be on the field in crunch time. Remember this season saw 8 players needed to be replaced. The coaches deserve credit for finding the players, building chemistry and continuing the Akron style of play. That is what brings players to Akron despite offers of NIL money that has been in the $30,000 range. This is a team to enjoy.

I give tremendous credit to Coach Embick and Chad Welker.....for doing this video clip for the zips fans. This was a huge road win for the Zips....and I know that myself and other zips fans wanted to hear Coach Embick's comments on the game. Thank you again for taking the time to do this video. Congratulations on a great win and thank you for the thoughtfulness to take the time to shoot and post this video. Great job, Zips

Valiant effort. Incredible atmosphere. Decisive W. What a night!!

I believe two PGs can play together with no problem.

YESSIRRRR its so nice when an Akron team answers the call

Sept 5 pick: Nebraska 34 Zips 7 Bend but don't brake defensive effort with one defensive score. Patrick or not, we average 1 yard/carry. Finley completes less than 50% for under 100 yards and 2 int's. Back up QB's : no passes--5 runs for -10 yards. I had called earlier for this to be a throw away game. Let at least 2 back up QB's and plenty of others get some meaning full snaps. (That could make it 80 to 7). At least this time we leave Lincoln with a check. Ham and bride will have a great time pre game tailgating in down town Lincoln. Go Zips

Reading the preview of Hawaii's game tomorrow versus the Sam Houston State Bearkats, the Honolulu Star Advertiser writer is gushing and flowing in his praise of Antavious Fish. There are two long paragraphs dedicated to A Fish loaded with stories and clichés about his strength and his nautical name going back to using couch cushions as a tackling dummy at age-3. It doesn't specify, but I'm guessing he leads TSU in tackles so far. Apparently he was prepared to look to the NFL after 2024, until he learned his season at Coffeyville CC allowed him an extra season as a grad student in NCAA football. Partial text: "In the 3-3 or 4-2 front, Fish is a downhill run-gap filler, perimeter setter or 8-yard blitzer. With upper body strength (23 bench reps of 225 lbs.) Fish is a 'corner-turner' who can circle around a blockers punch."

I found a code. If you use GAMEON at checkout you get a month of BIG+ free. Just gotta remember to cancel

2024 Rewind: Nebraska finished 7–6 after starting the season 5–1. Their wins came against UTEP, Colorado, Northern Iowa, Purdue, Rutgers, Wisconsin, and Boston College in the bowl game. Four of Nebraska’s losses came by seven points or less. Matt Rhule is now in his third season guiding the Huskers, and at his previous stops—Temple and Baylor—year three was when his teams made the leap into the upper tier of their respective conferences. The same could easily be true this season, as Nebraska appears to have a manageable schedule. Recruiting under Rhule: 2023: On3 - 5th in Big Ten 247 - 5th in Big Ten 2024: On3 - 7th in Big Ten 247 - 6th in Big Ten 2025: On3 - 6th in Big Ten 247 - 6th in Big Ten Huskers on Offense: Dylan Raiola is a name known across the college football landscape thanks to last year’s NIL hoopla. The true sophomore completed 67% of his passes for 2,819 yards, 13 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions in 2024. He’s the undisputed starter for Nebraska. Emmett Johnson returns at running back after racking up 607 yards and 9 touchdowns on the ground. He also added value in the passing game with 39 receptions for 289 yards and 2 touchdowns. Despite losing two starting wide receivers and an NFL-drafted tight end, Nebraska should be substantially improved in the passing game with the additions of Kentucky’s Dane Key and Cal’s Nyziah Hunter. Those two bring the kind of playmaking ability the Cornhusker offense lacked last year. Nebraska should be improved along the offensive line with the additions of Notre Dame transfer Rocco Spindler and Alabama transfer Elijah Pritchett. Mainstays Justin Evans, Henry Lutovsky, and Gunnar Gottula also return, giving the Cornhuskers plenty of experience up front. Huskers on Defense: Nebraska lost their defensive coordinator and most of their production along the defensive line. Matt Rhule has said he’d like to keep the 3-3-5 in place, so it remains to be seen what the Cornhuskers ultimately settle on. Sophomore Vincent Shavers and senior Javin Wright step into starting roles at linebacker after the duo combined for 59 total tackles as backups in 2024. In the secondary, Malcolm Hartzog returns at nickel after collecting 45 total tackles and 4 interceptions. Ceyair Wright is back at one cornerback spot after recording 39 total tackles and 2 interceptions, while Idaho transfer Andrew Marshall is expected to fill the opposite corner. DeShon Singleton reprises his role at one safety following up a solid season that included 71 total tackles. The other safety spot will be filled by former backup Marques Buford. Nebraska struggled on special teams last year. Sophomore John Hohl is back at kicker after connecting on 67% of his field goal attempts, and freshman Archie Wilson will likely handle punting duties. Position Advantage: Nebraska holds the edge in almost every category. The Zips’ proven production at tight end gives Akron the advantage there, and with Nebraska being one of the poorest performing special teams units in 2024, I’m giving Akron the edge in that phase as well. QB - Nebraska RB - Nebraska WR - Nebraska TE - Akron OL - Nebraska DL - Nebraska LB - Nebraska DB - Nebraska ST - Akron Way too Early Prediction: Even though I expect Nebraska’s defense to be a bit worse than it was last year, they’re still going to be a formidable opponent for us. I also expect the Cornhusker offense to be substantially better than it was in 2024. I don’t have much to say about this game—it’s the one payday on our schedule. Once again, we’re catching a Power Five opponent on its way up. My best hope is we get out injury free and hang close for a while. Final score prediction: 42–10 Cornhuskers.

They're going to have to let him throw if they want it to work

I've never seen someone so bad with timeouts than Joe Crazy how many early timeouts we blow every game

Coaching staff doesn't appear to be on the same page

Ohio beats WVU 17-10 in front of a sold out crowd in Athens. It really makes me wonder if we had hired Frank Solich then the fates of our program and Ohio's would be reversed.

It makes OSU fans feel good though, and to that end, it doesn't matter if if the competition off the field before the game even started was unequal. I find it to be insanely pointless and boring, but there will never be a shortage of people wanting to buy 100k+ tickets to watch a gridiron sacrifice. It's just good business, nothing more. The real game of equals was last night, and OSU lost 2-0.

Sitting here watching the Worthless Nuts run up 70 on Grambling State and Nine different players crossing the goal line. Let’s see if we can hold them to, maybe, 60? Grab a pick six? who cares, it’s payday. Right?

UAB/Navy on a delay, but UAB’s offense looks legit. Their defense… not so much.

The Virginia stadium is sitting empty today whereas both stadiums could be relatively full. Ticket revenue lost. You're not thinking like a patriotic capitalist.

Thanks for providing these charts Catdaddy. I find them very interesting. Like you said they are as objective as you can get in this day and age. It I'll be fun to compare them as the season goes on. While I feel we had a dismal start, there are many more games ahead of us and many more chances to develop this team. As I look at it we will be as good as Finley goes. So far we are lousy.

thanks i wasn't sure where it was from. it's very easy to read. i like it. this was the first time i looked at PFF. i was confused at first because i did not know about the snap minimum count. i like being able to see what a completely independent rating system scores them as.

nailed it other than the offside goal by Wexner U.

well played!

Thursday Sept. 4 DePaul and Illinois Chicago played to a 1-1 tie (DePaul now has a 1-0-4 recrod) UConn got a 1-0 home win over Central Connecticut State Friday September 5th Some huge matches tonight for Zips opponents... St. Johns hosted number 2 Marshall. the 2 teams battled to a 1-1 tie When you look at stats, St. John's led 11-7 in shots ; St. John's led 4-3 in shots on goal ; St. John's led 9-2 in corner kicks Georgetown hosted number 9 Duke final score was 2-2 Number 13 High Point went on the road and got a 3-1 win at VCU Seton Hall hosted Penn and it was a scoreless tie. Harvard got a 2-0 road win at Providence in a battle of 2 future opponents, Butler hosted Western Michigan. Butler 2-1 win Columbia hosted Villanova and the final score was 0-0 Remaining games tonight Number 21 Denver is playing at Creighton - 8:45 start Cornell will play at Cal Santa Barbara - 10 pm start

Remind me again. How many goals have the Zips allowed this season?? 🤭

GOALLLLLL

The announcer said "Ohio State calling for a penalty", when Akron had the ball in the Buckeyes defensive half! 😆

GOALLLLLLL

How we were not able to take advantage of that talent and awareness?

Remi and O'Rourke both played well when they came into the game.

The information above is too good to fade away to page 2. I will try to make the @catdaddyp season predictions and previews the official game day threads from here-on-out.

Returning Minutes: Sharron Young - what leap can he take as a Sophomore? Returning Redshirt: Rich Brisco - does he have the ability and athleticism to go with the 6'8" 240 lbs frame? Newcomer: Big Stank - how does his game transition to the US?

Why would you do that to your free minor league?

That would be cool if the Akron players could have found the end zone

4-2-3-1 is our base system, and has been so throughout Embick’s tenure. Over the years, Zips increasingly switch on the fly to a more offensive 4-3-3. The ability to switch formations while in game is the hallmark of a professional squad. Not many collegiate teams are coached to do that. Zips switch formations in more than half their matches, usually when substituting personnel, so as to not draw the opposition’s attention. Now, a 4-4-2 is a new (outdated formation) wrinkle. I would like to see us try it again, with same personnel. It’s like an NBA team running The Weave or NFL team running the Wing T. Ha!

Believe it or not the over under is 47/5 or 48 depending.... Maybe the Zips offense will break out... Honestly, I hope that something positive can come out of the game for them to build on. If the Zips can go 2-2 the first four games then I would still consider that a success heading into conference play.

The long snapper and punter should lead the MAC in special teams plays this season.