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Cibastian Broughton wore #11. He played a bit early-on, but the bulk of the QB time was allotted to Johnson and Finley. Expect to see Broughton on the field somewhere in 2025. If not QB, then WR...returns...he's too athletic to redshirt. Mike Johnson Jr. had a nondescript day. He played a lot. But didn't show much. He's a big kid. But looked either rusty, or unpolished. We'll see how he improves, and how Joe decides to utilize him, as the weeks progress. As Ben Finley goes in 2025, so do the Zips. He exhibited his typical deft touch on deep balls over the middle, hitting Alex Adams and Myles Walker for long TD's. He also tossed a couple of picks. Based on what I saw yesterday, Owen Wiley seems to have a leg up on the competition with Matt Schramm for the kicker position. Wiley was perfect on the day. Schramm would have been too, but missed from 43 yards out. Matt Schramm hits a 32 yarder. Justin Anderson, a Washington State transfer, pulled in an INT on an overthrown ball by Mike Johnson. Too bad it happened a stride or two out of by camera's view. 🤬 Isreal Polk has a quiet day. Here, he pulled one in from Mike Johnson. Marcel Williams, a Marshall transfer, couldn't get credit for this nice catch, as his foot landed on the sideline. Williams did have a legit 30 yard TD catch from Finley earlier in the day. First time I'd ever seen Johnny Brookhart on the playing field? No sign of Brayden Ruggow today. Not sure if he was injured? Cam Macon (Walsh transfer) took the next handoff into the endzone. It was his only carry of the game. The bulk of today's running game was handled by Jordan Gant, the Tennessee State transfer. Gant looks like a strong, serviceable back. #13 Sean Patrick also saw a fair amount of action. The scrimmage ended with Myles Walker snaring a 15 yard TD courtesy of a Ben Finley toss. #99 Owen Wiley puts pressure on Cibastian Broughton. Just kidding...that's something the Beacon Journal would do. 😁 THIS #99 is Jaiden Brown-Demery, a 6' 4", 310 pound true freshman from West Mifflin Pa. Big kid. Played with the 2nd unit. #4 Justin Anderson snagged an errant Finley pass and made a nifty return. A few photos above, he also picked Johnson. #21 Catrell White (DB) also had a nice day in the secondary. He had a couple break ups in addition to a Finley pick. General observations - Good energy today. For an 8 am start, all the guys were whooping it up and having a good time. After the scrimmage Joe gathered the team as midfield, and immediately stressed the importance of the guys getting their schoolwork done. One odd occurrence - #34 Braydon Johnson is a Grad transfer punter from Indiana State. He absolutely skyed a 42-ish yard punt, which hit the turf and jumped another 20 yards down field. I have to assume the 2025 punter job is Castle's, but he does appear to have some strong-legged competition. Wyoming is 2 1/2 weeks away!

Talk about letting a prime opportunity go to waste. QB: I think we all knew this offense would go as Finley went, and unfortunately he picked a bad night to have one of his worst games. I honestly expected a lot more from both teams and came away disappointed. Granted, it’s Week 1 and there’s plenty of time to improve, but the offense won’t get much better if Finley doesn’t take a big step forward. He consistently missed throws that we saw him make with ease last year. The most concerning part is Wyoming isn’t a good team and probably won’t win many more games this season. RB: Patrick was as dynamic as expected. I don’t have the stats to back it up, but I’m almost certain our yards after contact dropped significantly after he went down. He’s a true playmaker, and we need him on the field. Gant looked dinged up to me. His vision and elusiveness were there, but he didn’t show much burst or explosiveness. M. Williams did fine with the opportunities he got, though he’s not on the same level as the first two backs. WR: The one good deep ball Finley threw was dropped by Adams, and that pretty much set the tone for the passing game. I don’t recall Adams getting many, if any, targets after that drop. I was also left wondering why Mason didn’t see many targets earlier—he made a few catches late, and it’s clear he brings something the other receivers don’t. There’s definitely talent in this group, and they’ll need to come down with some tough catches, but there weren’t many quality balls to work with. TE: Outside of some decent blocks in the run game, we got very little from this position. Newell did not suit up and our other tight ends did not make much of an impact. OL: Coming into the season I felt good about the IOL and had more concerns with the OTs. As it turned out, the tackles held up fine while the interior had issues in pass protection. There were also several times when the pocket was there for Finley to step into, but he bailed and scrambled into trouble—very reminiscent of early 2024. Overall, the OL was serviceable in the run game and created some holes. I’m not calling this a top-half MAC unit by any stretch, but they did enough to give the offense a chance. I think our two OTs (Johnson and King) played the entire game. DL: JUCO transfer DT Julien Laventure was a terror against Wyoming’s All-MWC linemen. Defensive ends Dall and Durham had their moments too. The rest of the DL may not have stood out individually, but they did a solid job holding their ground and making life tough on the OL. Credit to our new defensive line coach for landing Laventure. Now the focus has to be on developing some depth for when he comes off the field. LB: I’ll be honest, I didn’t see any drop-off in our linebacker play from last year. Multiple guys rotated in, and from what I could tell, they were rarely out of position or missing tackles. Summers and Cooper took the majority of snaps. True freshman Markus Boswell managed to come up with an interception in limited play. CB: I thought our cornerbacks were excellent in both coverage and run support. Granted, Wyoming really only had one true playmaker at receiver, but as a group the corners held up well. DeWalt, White (before injury), and Reed especially stood out. NB: I could be wrong here, but I’m fairly confident saying I counted several missed tackles that turned into big plays in the run game, plus a key reception in the 4th quarter by a receiver who wasn’t anything special. We definitely missed Darrian Lewis. Hopefully play at this spot improves quickly. S: Anderson picked up right where he left off last year, and his running mate was mostly DiMarco Johnson. Both stepped up at different times and looked well prepared. ST: Outside of a long missed 49(?) yard field goal, special teams were excellent. The lone kickoff was deep, punting and coverage were fantastic—no major mistakes in any area. Coaching: Offensively, I thought the game plan was fine, but the execution left a lot to be desired. I liked how often we ran the ball in the first half and tried to get it our best playmaker, Patrick. Normally, that’s a formula for success. But throwing the ball in the end zone after punishing Wyoming’s defense with the run on that drive was inexcusable. The sad part? I even said out loud, “we better not throw the ball here,” and sure enough… In no universe should this team be getting shut out by a not-so-good (to be polite) Wyoming team. Defensively, we gave up too many yards, but the unit made big stops repeatedly. Can’t fault the defense for this loss. Rotation: QB: Finley Johnson RB: Patrick Gant M. Williams WR: Adams Polk Louis Mason Grear Walker Monterio TE: Cravaack Whisner LT D. Johnson LG McManus A. Jones C Lyons Morris RG Davis Archer RT King DE: Durham D. Frazier Dall Cheatom Duncan DT: Laventure Mixon Hull Murphy LB: Cooper Boswell Summers Spriggs CB: White DeWalt Reed Kamara NB: Al. Branch Thomas Aa. Branch S: Johnson Al. Branch Anderson Al. Branch ST: KO - Wiley K - Wiley P - Castle Johnson I checked PFF against what I thought I saw and they have some players listed that I don’t remember seeing: Hunter Madden Vega Benenge J. Frazier Top Rated on Offense (At least 20 snaps): (RB) Patrick (RT) King (LG) A. Jones (LT) D. Johnson (RB) Gant Top Rated on Defense (At least 20 snaps): (LB) Summers (LB) Cooper (DT) Laventure (CB) DeWalt (S) J. Anderson

I want to thank the Zip fans for their hospitality and kindness during our game. We found parking across from the stadium on a dirt field. The Akron fans there assured us it was OK and subjected us to some friendly ribbing about the game. I apologize for not getting over to the tailgates as we were late getting to the stadium and made it to our seats as the Zips kicked off. I was amused by comments of the Zips fans about their team's performance because the Wyoming fans were saying essentially the same things about the Cowboy's performance on their board. To me, it was a contest between two closely matched teams and the Pokes were lucky to pull it out. Eliminate the one interception, make the missed field goal and a couple more made plays and Akron would have won. So thanks again for your hospitality and here's hoping the Zipx win the rest of their games.

I got hired in the IT department at Akron and since then the men’s soccer team is 2-0. I bought season tickets for football soccer and basketball. Hope I can keep the streak live tomorrow 🙏. Gotta love week 1 optimism

Mitch Budler had a little hiccup at the start of the game but he was All American level for the last 87 minutes. Very happy that he is the Zips GK.... Wishing a speedy health recovery for Daragh Reilly.... That being said, Matthew Paiva had an outstanding first game ever for the zips. Ashton Kamdem and Matt Dreas are leaders for this team in the run of play. Good veteran presence on the Field Great Hustle play by Farrell....that resulted in the Morck goal. Farrell Ngongang was my man of the match. Always good to start the season 1-0.

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.

Asking around, here is the general consensus of the Zips status as we roll into Game #1 - The Zips will be "alright" this year. The offense should be in the top 1/3 of the MAC. This should be the best Zips OL in Joe's tenure. There are 7 or 8 guys playing really well right now. Last season there might have been 3 or 4. Finley is a top 3 MAC QB. His accuracy has improved. He's bulked up a bit. He's a team captain. Gant and Gee are dinged up. Redshirt Freshman Sean Patrick is a quick kid with good running instincts and will see a lot of PT on Thursday. The WR group is thought to be better and deeper than last year, even with the loss of Norton. Mason may turn out to be the best of the bunch. Marcel Williams (Marshall) has fit in very well. Alex Adams, Polk, Walker, Monteiro (Pitt) and Grear (Fresno State) will all see appreciable PT. If fully healthy, Grear could be a big addition. Ruggow has also been dinged up. He'll be the 2nd or 3rd QB depending upon the situation. Johnson has good legs and size, and a little better arm than the now-departed Bullock. He'll probably be slotted for a similar role as Tahj this season. Cibastion Broughton could show up anywhere, at any time. Ronald Hull stands out as the most capable DL. There are a slew of other big bodies that really haven't distinguished themselves. They'll rotate until there's some separation. LB is a similar situation. We have a lot of bodies, but no one is really standing out. PT is there for the taking to whomever shows well. Markus Boswell could turn out to be a surprise impact player as the season progresses. The secondary is the strength of the defense. White, Reed (Kentucky), Anderson (Washington State), Branch (Sr. and former Kent team captain) all had excellent camps. Not sure who will be the kicker on Thursday. It's a positional battle that remains up for grabs. The Zips were able to get their training table returned, but at the expense of some recruiting tools. Our budget is what it is... Wyoming has won 5 of their last 6 games against MAC opponents for a reason. They've played in a slightly better conference and had slightly better players. Deeper budgets, bigger staff, etc. On paper they should beat the Zips. Are they a little jet lagged from the long trip from Laramie? Are they overconfident in facing a Zips team that's been a regular in the Bottom 10 for seemingly forever? Or, can Finley light it up...the Zips secondary generate a few turnovers...and the Zips start the season 1-0? Gimme a 41-40 Zips victory. Finley gets the Gatorade bath. Can we get a Wallenda to tightrope from high above the Infocision faithful at halftime?

What a great day at First Energy Stadium! First trip back North in a while, and we timed it so we could see the women/men double-header. Not sure why the two matches couldn't have been scheduled closer so more people might have come early to watch the women, but at least gave us time to hit our Fave Swenson's - and WOW! Who knew? There's a Swensons now by the funeral home on Exchange!! Anyway, a pretty sizeable crowd for the women's game, and we got to meet some of the players at the autograph session afterwards. A nice bunch of women, and so many are YOUNG! lots of freshmen and sophs. As for the match itself, pretty good action! Adison Hall, a freshman scored first on a very solid goal. The second goal was a PK, and it was warranted, by another freshman Fineen Creegan, and she didn't mess around. Emma King's goal was a slow roller past a charging GK out of position, but it was still a heads up play by King. The defense was a little porous, but the women didn't quit or hang their heads when the opponent scored. Nice tempo, nice pace, some spacing needs to be addressed, and a little worried about the GK position, but a win is a win and Coach Kuhns was into it the entire match. I'm sure she knows she's being judged, but I found her approach and management refreshing. I'll leave the men's game analysis to the others to discuss.

Very sorry to learn of Stu Parry's passing. Tribute to Stu Parry It is with a heavy heart that I share the passing of Stu Parry — a man who meant so much to all of us. Stu wasn't just a great coach; he was a deeply kind and generous soul, a loving father and grandfather, and a true role model whose impact reached far beyond the soccer field. His unwavering dedication helped bring varsity soccer to the University of Akron, and his vision laid the foundation for one of the most storied programs in college soccer. The legacy he built continues to grow through the efforts of former players and coaches who carry his spirit forward. Even at 92, Stu remained a vibrant part of our community. He was always eager to meet for breakfast, send an email, or make a call - just to talk Akron soccer. He loved hearing about the incredible young men in our program and was genuinely excited about what each new season could bring. Through the highs and lows, Stu was a constant source of encouragement and support. His love for the game and for this program never wavered. He was a Zip in every sense of the word. To honor Stu's memory, our team will wear a patch on our home jerseys that simply says "Stu." It's a small gesture to recognize a man whose influence was anything but small. We now carry the torch - for Stu and for Akron Soccer - and we will continue to share our passion and pride for one of the premier college soccer programs in the country. . Sincerely, Jared Embick Head Men's Soccer Coach University of Akron

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.

The Beacon Journal has done an outstanding job of honoring the incomparable Stu Parry. https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2025/08/22/akron-zips-soccer-caleb-porter-stu-parry-mls-new-england-revolution-portland-timbers-columbus-crew/85745054007/ "Stu Parry is the godfather of the Akron men's soccer program," Caleb Porter told the Akron Beacon Journal on Aug. 19 regarding Parry, who died Aug. 15 at the age of 92. "He is the founder. I had a great relationship with him. I had a close relationship with him. He was one of the first people that called me when I got the job [at the age of 31] and we were having lunch maybe two days later. "He was a mentor to me," Porter said. "I really made a point every season to have him talk to the team because I wanted the current players to understand the founder and who he was. It is very important when you have a tradition of excellence that the current players understand they are a part of something a lot bigger than themselves. I felt it was important that they understood the man that started the program because Akron soccer didn't just fall out of the sky and become a national contender. He is the one that started it and paved the way.

My first year as a Zip was 1962. We played Baldwin-Wallace with 36,000 Acme Zip fans in attendance. Since our marching band needed to form their A single file, I think it was Alliquipa(?) HS band that was brought in to perform. When we came out to warm up, we had to wait for the soccer match to end. They were not playing B-W. I don't think B-W even had a soccer team then. I think soccer played Michigan State (College cup semi-finalist in '62). I looked back , but I couldn't find season results that old. I do remember soccer playing at the highest level with all of the rest of us playing at the college division. A great tradition was started that has been carried on!

So he's used to the pay scale.

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.

I get it. He's underfunded. How about giving the school and the Akron sports fans some reason to provide you with more funding? Awful football and making zero effort to engage the community, while alienating donors, won't bring you more money. John Groce is 53 years old. Joe Morehead is 51. I see a hell of a lot more energy and efforts at engagement out of Groce. As a result, his program gets my money, not the losing program that acts like it couldn't care less about my fandom.

In today's age of the "haves and have nots" and the continued misery brought on by this program, I think I've heard enough of the "we can't be in the MAC if we don't play FBS football" explanation. Maybe it's time to just blow this damn thing up and figure it out, with an emphasis on concentrating what we're good at (basketball; soccer).

Should’ve built a new basketball arena in 2009 instead.

The last time I've seen 11 guys struggle this badly to score was back in college when I took my fraternity brothers to 69 Taps

Of all the things to bitch about with streaming, Akron being on ESPN+ is the most unworthy. ESPN+ houses most Akron football, men's soccer, and men's & women's basketball games. $12 per month gets you all that plus more. If you have kids or grandkids, the Disney+ bundle is one of the best deals in streaming. Now, in 2-3 years, I fully expect these services to be $80+ per month like YouTubeTV and other top streaming services have become, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. We have a party of 5 going to the game tonight. It'll be both my daughters' first night game at the Info, and my first night game in quite some time. Hopefully once the rain ends, it's done for the night, because this has the chance to be a very fun season opener for the Zips. This game will be won in the trenches. Does our OLine give Finley time to get the ball in the hands of our plethora of playmakers and open holes for our stable of RBs? Does our DLine get pressure on Wyoming's QB? Do we see a continuation of pre-snap penalties on both sides of the ball that have hindered this program under JoeMo? Looking forward to this one. Go Zips!

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone AT the game tomorrow.

Usually around 20,000 give or take a couple of thousand either way. When Wyoming hosted Texas and Nebraska a few years back they added 10,00 temporary seats to handle the Longhorn and Cornhusker faithful. War Memorial Stadium's capacity has been reduced to 25,000 something, down from 29,000 with the recent renovations. "The War", as we call it, had a peak of 32,000 seats 20 years ago or so, but the number has steadily been reduced with each renovation. Given that the State of Wyoming's population is listed at 576,851 according to the 2020 Census, I think they've right sized the War. UW is the only 4-year institution of higher education in the state so it's facilities are top notch because they don''t have to compete with another state sponsored university. The latest renovations to the "War"

Did she trip over a green dildo?

https://dxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net/sidearm.nextgen.sites/akron.sidearmsports.com/stats/msoc/2025/pdf/20250824084656-akr-nku-msoc-8-24-25.pdf PDF box score....shows tonight's attendance at 1,487 Shots in the 2nd half were 8-0 for Akron. Caleb Borneo and Jack Sullivan and Remi Agunbiade , to me, were the bright spots in tonight's game. Borneo always seemed to be around the ball in the 2nd half.

"What did he do to encourage attendance?" is another valid question.

Sloppy start to the first game / road game of the season but nice turn around since Stefan scored the PK. looking forward to NKU at home Sunday. GO ZIPS!!!

short update on Emil https://www.stlcitysc.com/news/match-report-st-louis-city2-defeats-north-texas-sc-3-1-to-earn-fifteenth-win-of-the-season Emil Jääskeläinen tallied his team-leading seventh assist of the season and has now recorded assists in back-to-back matches Five players have scored six or more goals for CITY2 this season: Miguel Perez, Emil Jääskeläinen, Matteo Kidd, Brendan McSorley, and Mykhi Joyner Interim head coach John Hackworth now holds an 11-match unbeaten streak since taking over CITY2 on June 4

https://www.summitcountyshof.org/1974 Stu Parry Coach 1974 The man generally regarded as bringing the sport of soccer to Akron U, Parry went on to compile a record of 118 victories and only 43 losses and 4 ties. His teams defeated some of the best in the country, winning nine Ohio College Soccer Association titles and four times entered the NCAA Playoffs. He learned the sport at Western Reserve Academy where he captained the soccer team. Later he gained further honors by being named President of the National Soccer Coaches Association. When he came to Akron U there were only six recognized college teams playing soccer in Ohio. Twice he was chosen Ohio Coach of the Year, in 1966 and '68 and eight of his players made All-America a total of 13 times!

A great man has passed. Everyone who is reading this has been touched by Stu Parry, whether directly or indirectly.

What an absolutely sensational debut for Malik Henry so very happy for the young man what a great pass

If Connor is moving on to play somewhere else, we owe him big time for opening this roster spot. John: "Son, you know I love you right?" Connor: "Yes dad. I love you, too." John: "Awesome. Now get the hell out of here. I have a 6'8" Serbian sniper - basically the next Nikola Jokic - ready to commit and need the roster spot." (how that conversation went - probably)

The article states: "Reed comes to ODU after spending the 2024 season at Akron coaching the corners. Reed helped the Zips to their best season in seven years." That's really polishing the old turd.

The precedent was set today that the actions of previous regimes should not penalize the current roster. Whatever moral high horse you want to stand on is your choice, but I don't view accepting an inconsistent and undeserving punishment for the current staff & roster as morally just - especially from the morally bankrupt NCAA. The amount of times they've screwed over the University... F em. Auburn and NMSU weren't penalized for failing APRs in the same time frame as Akron, and the APR doesn't even work with the current model and landscape for college athletics. Akron has had YOY improvements under JoeMo that haven't been enough to pull us out of the hole Arth dug, so they've clearly been working towards correcting the problem. I also don't think Akron loses this case if they choose to fight it, especially if they were able to get the NCAA killer Dave Yost's assistance in the fight. A win vs the NCAA would be great publicity. Show me 7 automatic losses on this schedule. It's the most winnable schedule we've had in a long long time, and 6-6 should be the minimum threshold for success this year. Akron is known for having a losing football program - the PR can't get worse. Might as well try to get rid of the cloud hanging over the season. Joe Mo and player(s) have liked tweets today mentioning their BS punishment and suggesting that Akron should fight it. Coaching and playing with this looming over the program can't be fun or easy. Having a spine and standing up to the NCAA could give the program a jolt.

obviosly we werent available, since were playing in the Jack Jones classic in Las Vegas that day. Its actually quite a day of hoops. 4 games. UC San diego, Tulane, Arizona St, UNLV, Santa Clara, Tennessee St, Murray State and Akron.

This article has no rankings...but top drawer soccer (TDS) ...did a Big East preview https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/article/?categoryId=21&articleId=54910&articleTitle=mens-a10-big-east-ivy-league-preview Big East Akron joining has done wonders for the strength of the Big East, adding another storied team to a conference full of legacy programs. The Zips and Georgetown will likely fight for supremacy, while Providence looks to continue its rise as an elite program. St. John’s and Connecticut, two programs desperate to reach the highs of the late 90s and early 2000s, are among the others to look out for this season. Top Players to Watch: Mitch Budler, Akron(m) (Goalkeeper of the Year) Top Freshmen to Watch: Braxton Hayes, Akron(m) (No. 116 Ranked TDS Class of 2025)

Starting DL was- Dall Hull Laventure Durham

It seems odd that they lost their tallest player (Okonkwo) and got bigger, but it works out that way.

They lost the MAC POY and improved, at least on paper.

Don't count your chicken's just yet. Still a bunch of paperwork to be approved.

Ognjen Stankovic, 6'8" wing. Represented Serbia in 16u, 17u and 20u FIBA games. Has played 50 games on the Adriatic League over the last 2 seasons I haven't been this excited since Taylor Currie.

What in the world?

This is really a shady thing for this coach and ODU to do. If an employee doesn't want to be around, don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split you.

Its what happens when you have the lowest budget in FBS.

Not a great look getting our coaches poached by a G5 program that has had 1 winning season in their 10+ years being FBS.

Happy as a 🐷 in 💩 🤣🤣

Beto was the highest rated riverhound in the game...despite being clobbered by a Rhode Island vicious elbow during the game. https://pittsburghsoccernow.com/2025/08/03/takeaways-and-player-grades-riverhounds-forwards-awaken-with-quality-goals-to-turn-proper-heavyweight-bout-with-rhode-island-fc-into-decisive-win/ Jacquesson was on the end of an exquisite diagonal ball from Beto Ydrach. “It was a very good ball from Beto (Ydrach),” Jacquesson said. In a moment that was emblematic of physical nature of the match, Rhode Island’s JJ Williams was sent off in the 68th minute for delivering a vicious elbow, which floored Hounds’ defender Beto Ydrach right on the sideline by the bench. 16Beto Ydrach DF – 8.5 — brilliant assist but equally strong defensively throughout the night, especially in getting into good positions to thwart or limit RIFC’s counters

First recruit for 2027. Plays club at Cleveland Force and played with several current Zips at Akron City FC this summer. https://www.instagram.com/p/DM2md5TsUY9/?igsh=MXgyYnJvazg3cHVmZA==