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QB: Finley made some really nice throws and generally had plenty of time in the pocket. Some of the longer developing routes were open against a UMass defense that struggled to generate pressure. Outside of the fumble at the goal line, Finley protected the football all evening. That hit on the fumble seemed to rattle him a bit, and honestly, I was surprised he came back in the game. He could’ve easily finished with more passing yards, but it wasn’t necessary with how well the run game was rolling. RB: Gant is tracking toward a first-team All-MAC selection. His patience and timing when hitting the hole are excellent, and he has that rare knack for moving in a way that makes it tough for defenders to square him up cleanly. Patrick is certainly the more explosive back, but Gant has settled into his rhythm and is playing at a high level. He finished with 153 yards and two touchdowns, leaving him exactly 150 yards shy of a 1,000-yard season. WR: The receivers spent most of the night blocking, as the offense ran the ball 46 times compared to just 22 pass attempts. Mason made another highlight-reel touchdown grab, while Ma. Williams has clearly become Finley’s go-to target of late. TE: Another week, another solid showing from Cravaack. He did have one drop, but aside from that, he threw some crushing blocks in the run game and added a nifty 15-yard reception with solid yards after the catch. Whisner, backing him up, had his best game to date as well. OL: The offensive line dominated UMass’ front. They consistently opened up run lanes and gave Finley plenty of time to throw. They were credited with allowing only six pressures the entire game — easily one of their best collective performances of the year. DL: You have to feel for Laventure, who had back-to-back sacks wiped out — one by a teammate’s unnecessary penalty and another due to the staff accepting a holding call instead. Regardless, he absolutely mauled his matchup all game. Dall came close to a few sacks himself but just couldn’t finish. The defense as a whole held UMass to only 169 total yards, which says it all. LB: I’m a Shammond Cooper fan, but at this point Melvin Spriggs needs to be starting and taking the majority of snaps. Spriggs has really turned it on the past two games and has become a dynamic player. Summers may not have the same athletic upside, but he’s been in the right spot at the right time lately and continues to make key plays. DB: DeWalt, Reed, and Kamara may have taken all the corner snaps, and all three played well. The nickel backs didn’t see as much playing time as they usually do because the defense often went to a five man defensive front. Hunter and Somerville got the starts at safety and played well enough for a night, but they’ll need to elevate their play moving forward. ST: The only blemish came on the missed extra point. Otherwise, Wiley placed his kickoffs well, Schramm hit a 42-yarder, and Castle had a solid day punting. The return units didn’t generate much, but there were no major miscues either. Coaching: It was clear the team was locked in across all three phases. Outside of one big play allowed by the defense, they controlled things start to finish. The offense piled up 467 yards — an impressive total. Credit to the staff for having the group ready to handle business against a UMass team that simply shouldn’t be able to compete with the Zips in 2025. Next Tuesday night is another winnable matchup for the Wagon Wheel. * Some of the walk-ons that got in on the last play or two are not listed below. QB: Finley Roggow Johnson RB: Gant Patrick Curry WR: Ma. Williams Grear WR: Mason Louis Broughton WR: Polk Monteiro Hills TE: Cravaack Whisner LT: Morris D. Johnson Motley-Simmons Ndaiga LG: Archer McManus Stopiak C Lyons Mobley RG: K. Davis Fox RT: King Jones Mann DE: Durham D. Frazier DE: Dall J. Frazier Cheatom DT: Hull Murphy DT: Laventure Mixon LB: Cooper Spriggs Benenge LB: Summers Boswell NB: Aa. Branch T. Thomas CB: DeWalt Kamara CB: Reed Kamara S: Somerville Flowers S: Hunter Di. Johnson Top Rated Offense (20 snap min.): QB - Finley RB - Gant WR - Ma. Williams RG - K. Davis C - Lyons Top Rated Defense (20 snap min.) LB - Spriggs LB - Summers DT - Laventure DE - Dall CB - Kamara

I believe I read somewhere - can't now remember where so I cannot reference it - that this was our largest margin of victory over an FBS opponent in 23 years? I know it's been a while but that stat still surprised me.

https://gozips.com/calendar Just take a look at this past calendar week's results. Starting last wednesday, Zips womens soccer wins 3-0 Last friday, volleyball and swim both beat EMU Last saturday, Mens soccer, volleyball, and rifle all win Monday, mens basketball wins (WBB takes a tough loss) And yesterday, Football wins LETS GO ZIPS

THE AKRON ZIPS ARE PLAYING THE SECOND STRING IN A WIN THIS IS NOT A DRILL THE AKRON ZIPS ARE PLAYING THE SECOND STRING IN A WIN

We may need to relocate the Brass sign. 🤣

The promotion of soccer has been pathetic in recent years. I hoped it would change between Guthrie and Goodrich but it seems to be the same. It is disappointing and the team of the past 2 years, deserves much better. Borneo not playing is a question mark, but it looked like Zips only had 7 subs yesterday and he was in zips attire not dressed to play. My assumption would be injury. Zips miss his skill. It was a must win game, and this team got it done without a bunch of key pieces available. Credit where is due.

Just for fun I was looking back at recent Akron successes in the MAC tournament. Akron was first eligible for the MAC tournament in 1993, it didn't even qualify for the tournament at all until 1998 and won only three games total until 2007 when it made the final (although the previous year the Zips were seeded third and their one win put them into the semifinal a streak that would continue for 12 years, then two years of not making the semifinal, then making at least the semis every year since it has been played). Despite the Zips never making a championship until 2007, and not winning one until 2009, they are 6-6 overall now (only one behind the three all-time leaders Ball St, Ohio and Kent (all of whom have made at least 32 appearances). Zips have 17. Despite the Zips having won only three games by 2007, they have the highest winning percentage in MAC tournament history at .607. Zips have as many wins as they have missed championship appearances since 2007. Just wanted to put in a little thanks to Keith Dambrot and John Groce for making these last 20 years so enjoyable. Now go win an NCAA tournament game (for us!). 🤣

Last night Mississippi Valley State, usually ranked last in Kenpom annually, played the mens basketball team from "Mississippi University for Women". MVSU won 97-61 After some research, Mississippi University for Women has been admitting men since 1982, and the name of the school when it was founded in 1884 was "Industrial Institute and College for the Education of White Girls of Mississippi"

That's pretty cool, even more amazing you have to go back to Oct 23rd to find the last Zips single game loss (women's soccer lost to Western Michigan). Since then it's been wins from volleyball, rifle, football, men's soccer, volleyball, women's soccer (tie), volleyball and then the string you just rattled off. Heck of a couple of weeks.

If Wyoming and UAB would have been in UMASS kind of form...

I would never wish anything bad on him and appreciate everything he did for us but seeing him in that uniform still makes me a little ill.

Game Day Notes: Redshirt freshman AJ Hairston remains the starter at quarterback, throwing for 812 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions on the season. He drew significant P4 attention early in his prep career before it became evident the G5 level would be his path. UMass has struggled to find consistent production from the backfield, partly due to injuries that have limited their key players. Colorado transfer Brandon Hood and UTSA transfer Rocko Griffin have combined for 519 yards and four touchdowns. At receiver, Jacquon Gibson has been the most reliable option throughout the year with 358 yards, though it was redshirt freshmen Kenyon Massey — a player we once offered — and Kezion Dia-Johnson who saw the bulk of the targets last game. Dia-Johnson, like Hairston, also had plenty of P4 interest coming out of high school. Up front, the offensive line has been a major problem, giving up 16 sacks in MAC play — the most in the conference. They’ve also surrendered 127 pressures on the year. For comparison, Akron’s allowed 83. Defensively, UMass has held up reasonably well against the run in conference play, but the overall picture hasn’t been nearly as encouraging. The Zips offense should have a chance to put together its best passing performance of the season against a struggling UMass secondary. The Minutemen have surrendered the most total yards and points in the MAC and sit second-to-last in passing yards allowed. To make matters worse, they’re tied for forcing the fewest turnovers in league play. Injuries have taken a major toll on what was supposed to be a revamped defense, though one bright spot has been Dartmouth transfer edge rusher Marques White, who’s been a steady presence up front with five sacks on the year. On the other side, Akron’s defense has quietly become one of the better pass-rushing groups in the MAC, second in the conference in sacks — and honestly, I’m not sure when the last time that could be said. On paper, Akron is a bad matchup for UMass, as the Zips’ strengths line up directly with the Minutemen’s weaknesses. Akron should win this one comfortably. Then again, things rarely come easy for this program, so we’ll see how it all shakes out. Notable MAC only Stats: Finley is third in passing yards and second in touchdowns thrown. Gant is second in rushing yards. Mason is eighth in receiving yards and tied for third in touchdown receptions. Laventure is tied for sixth in tackles for loss and tied for seventh in sacks. DeWalt is tied for fourth in passes defended. Summers is tied for first in interceptions.

The worst thing about BG’s collapse is - they’re going to beat us to Tim Tyrrell.

Thank you, glad to do them! I’m not sure the last FBS team we played was as bad as this 2025 UMass squad. We beat NIU 44-12 in Moorhead’s first season, but that NIU team was better than its record indicated and a lot of things broke our way that day. The UMass team we faced Tuesday night was both talent-deficient and injury-riddled. I agree—the Burns-led Kent teams probably would’ve beaten the Tuesday night version of UMass, although it might’ve been close. All that said, there’s a scenario where UMass leapfrogs us in the near future. They’re set to be one of the highest NIL bidders in the MAC, and their coaching staff will be among the best-compensated in the conference. If they use those resources wisely, NIL will help them retain their top players, while we’ll keep losing ours until something changes financially.

Creighton started their season with 3 matches on the road. Since starting the season 0-2-2, the Blue Jays are 8-1-2 in their last 11 games. Creighton has not lost a game this year at home. Their home record is 5-0-2. Over the last 11 games, Creighton has played like a top 20 team.

The opponent quality is also true. However, to be fair, in at least one of those games, we beat ourselves with turnovers, penalties, and other self-induced chaos. The final margins of victory for our opponents were small enough that not beating ourselves would have enabled different outcomes.

Getting to go to a bowl game and experience that for the players may be something to keep more of them here if the alternative is meager NIL money somewhere else. Yes, I'd rather have the bowl game.

I just read that g league players make $40,000 a year unless they are on a 2 way contract like Freeman who makes around $500,000, half the NBA minimum. Therefore, Nate is now making the most money he will probably ever make in his career. In other words, his salary will peak as a college player. I hate that he transferred but I cannot blame him for making this move. This is college athletics. Akron is the G league for major conferences.

I really think last years team got an unfair shake with injuries they were always competitive the first 2/3s of the game then would just run out of gas. Really hope this can be a breakout year and they can make the mac tourney.

I was worried about the post Defense when I heard MMK was backing up Lyles in at the 5. He really impressed me. I think MMK can be a solid back up big for about 80% of our games. Only problem I see is we have offense guys and Defense guys. Right now I think there are 4 guys who are both. Tavari, Scott, young, Lyles. the hope is as the season goes on more become both. Or Groce will have to be a wizard with rotation.

I have a white board in my office at work and I have the entire zip opponent list written out and I’ll update it everytime I’m in the office. (Format is record and Kenpom) We know the MAC did extremely well with a 9-4 day but our OOC did great also. They went 4-0 (other than JMU ofc) Zips jump up to 87 in KenPom also

Fall 2026 Zip commit Londen Sears selected to play in the High School All American game https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/high-school-soccer-article/boys-high-school-all-american-game-rosters_aid55290 Fall 2026 Zip commit Kam Warnke will be in action Wed. night Nov. 5th at Tallmadge High School as his high School team (Aurora) will play CVCA in the Division 3 State semifinals.

Some quick thoughts: - Lyles was our best and most important player tonight, and may be the entire season. We were a different team when he was on/off the floor. - I am surprised Barre only played 2 minutes against YSU and didn't play tonight. I expected him to be an important contributor behind Lyles. I hope he just needs more time to feel comfortable, because I think we will need him against teams with size. - Young is the heart of this team. He plays with such intensity...I absolutely love it. If he stays here his entire career, I think he's a MAC POY candidate by the time he's a senior. - Eric Mahaffey looked tentative in the first half and seemed to relax in the 2nd. You can tell the athleticism is off the charts. - Evan Mahaffey is an elite defender and excellent rebounder. Not much offensive game, though. At least I didn't see much tonight. - MMK played really well. He's undersized as a big, but makes up for it with his motor. - I think Stankovic becomes an important part of this offense by conference play.

A good point made by our radio guys. Eric Mahaffey might be a redshirt freshman, but this was his very first college game ever. I will add that this was a high level game for a season opener and he looked quite comfortable out there.

By being in it? 🤔

I think Evan playing the 5 can only work situationally. Like if we're playing Purdue definitely not. If we're playing against an undersized frontcourt and want to pick up the tempo it could work, but not something you'd want to see 10-15 minutes a game. More like 2-4 minutes at best. We really need to get 10-15 solid minutes of Barre/Briscoe.

Zips up to #11 in the RPI - the highest RPI in the Big East.

Not the type of play that will advance us in the playoffs, but it was enough to beat Marquette. This is a curious team. They have the talent to play at the highest level, yet they have not put it all together. Where was Remi? Ferguson cannot play FWD at the level we need. He would be better converted to D so he could get playing time in the future. I also echo another poster: where is Borneo? Is he back in the doghouse? Regardless our MF doesn't have it. They were all world against St L. U. and then fell off the face of the earth. Stefan and Jack Roman are consistent and bring quality. The rest have to show up sometime. As we are playing now we cannot go deep in the tourney. We'll get in, but I'm not expecting a lot.

Tuesday night always brings out the best in college football players!

YSU just wanted it more

Bumping a new thread for the fresh season. So pumped for tomorrow

Congratulations to DeAndre. At least 2 more years in MLS. 🙌🙌🙌

Akron up to #18 in the College Soccer News poll and are finally ranked again in the Top Drawer poll at #24. https://collegesoccernews.com/college-soccer-news-mens-week-11-top-25-coaches-poll-stanford-drops-while-vermont-maryland-and-virginia-stand-out-as-clear-top-3/ https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-national-rankings/men

I think we'll see the same starting 5 that we saw against YSU- Tavari, Evan, Eric, Sharron and Amari. Shammah Scott has certainly worthy of a starting role but he's just so darn good as the 6th man and he'll still play most of the game. He was the Zips best player in the YSU game. The Zips also seem committed to MMK and this may well take minutes that might have otherwise in part gone to Brisco. I suspect we'll see more of Barre tonight than we saw at YSU. Barre was appealing to the Zips because he can get up and down the floor and as such can play in their up tempo system. Maybe tonight we also get to see Cody Head.

Honestly, I don't think that loss was as bad as some make it out to be. With 4 new starters I already expected us to not be firing on all cylinders at the start of the year. At least now with YSU Groce has a teaching moment to breakdown ways they need to improve.

After watching us struggle vs. YSU w/ Evan M. & MMK playing so many minutes together, I'd tighten up our rotation & relegate MMK to ~2-3 minutes tonight. Can't afford to just have a warm body out there on offense vs. JMU. I'm projecting tonight's starters to be: PG: Tavari... Young G: Bowen... Shammah (MVP) W: Eric... Stankovic W: Evan... P: Amani... Barre Barre will only get ~10 minutes as I'm betting Groce tries to play Evan in the post when Amani is resting. Ultimately I don't think this will work as Evan just isn't big enough. Lineup to close out the game: Tavari Shammah Young Evan Amani I think Stankovic's minutes will increase and Bowen's minutes decrease as the season progresses. I want to see Stankovic & Eric take a couple 3's tonight. If those two start making the defense honest from behind the 3-point line we're gonna be a buzzsaw.

I am quite nervous for our defense tomorrow night. Hopefully we are hot from 3 and take care of business. who is everyone’s prediction for mvp of the game. I am rolling with Sharron Young

Zips open up as a 10pt favorite

I missed Malik in attendance tonight, would've liked to have seen him! He's making great strides with Toronto.

Nice win with what seemed to be several players unavailable. Great to see Malik Henry in attendance tonight.

Attendance of 1,242 that is very disappointing last regular season home game the zips are number 20 in the coaches rankings the zips are number 12 in RPI. The Zips are competing for a Big East division title. why is attendance so poor?

The University isn't spending ~30 million a year just to provide life lessons to ~400 student athletes (if you even want to call them that anymore). That would be absurd. That might have been its intended purpose 100 years ago, but we've long moved past that. Now it's about enhancing the college experience, keeping alumni engaged, getting your name out there, and building good will in the community.

Cleveland State 2-1 win over IU Indy Ohio State got a very rare win this year…1-0 over the Nittany’s Milwaukee 2-1 over Northern Kentucky in a game not listed above, Western Michigan got a 2-1 win over Drake.

The good news is that Chad Welker will be the announcer. Chad is very knowledgeable about the players and is very passionate about the Zips. Chad always does a good job.

We'll pay them back in the Final Four.

It will be interesting to watch this team grow over the course of the year and see the rotations develop. You're replacing about 37 PPG from last year's rotation (Nate, Gray, Seth, Okonkwo) that is going to have to come from some internal growth from returning players and/or the combo of the Mahaffeys, Head, Stankovic, and Barre. Eric Mahaffey was apparently going to start as a true freshman last year, so that certainly suggests Groce viewing him very highly. I think Evan probably gives you modest offensive production along with elite defense. I know very little of Cody, but @clarkwgriswold mentioned the coaches really like him. He may be an important scorer off the bench. I've heard enough good things about Barre to believe he can be an energy big who chips in a few points around the rim. Stankovic is kind of the wild card to me. His size and skill suggests he could be an offensive mismatch against many teams. I'm excited to see it all unfold. The journey of the season is the most enjoyable part of being a fan, seeing where we start vs where we finish.

I was telling my son on the way home from the Tipoff event how lucky we have been as Zips fans. Most MAC schools would love to have had just one of KD or Groce, and we have been fortunate to have had both. Probably two of best coaches in MAC history.

Bummer, no more Head