CDMac

Nice article, Cap'n. Thanks!

I got mine late last year (first time having them) and they just came as individual tickets in an envelope with the parking passes for lot 9, some wrist bands for pregame field access, and some concessions vouchers. I'm not sure if this "booklet" is new or if they've been like that in years past. One of the longer tenured fans will have to chime in on that.

Just saw this on Twitter. Looks like season tix holders will have a UGIII memento.

AZ quickly becoming Akron South. Nice! Hope those guys can stick. It'll be tough for Wolf this year coming in so later but, if he doesn't make the 53, maybe he gets a practice squad slot and is able to go through a full camp with them next year while gaining all the advantages of practicing with an NFL team all season.

@Blue & Gold and @Dr Z - I was just about to post a link to this article. It was a good read. Based on what I've seen so far, that DL looks to be a very valuable piece to this year's team. Bunch of maulers! As far as techniques go, looks like he's trying to round out their skill sets and not just rely on brute force: So some dips and rips, maybe a spin or two. Maybe the ol' Deacon Jones head slap?

=== Funny story from the scrimmage === There was a play in which #12 and #35 were on the field together and #11 was the RB. They run a RPO and #12 sees #35 break open behind the LBs so he tries to pull the ball to fire it over the middle to a wide open Williams. Story goes that Williams tells the QB, "man I was wide open...." and QB replies, "I saw you man, I just couldn't get the ball back from Key" (or something to that effect)

Indeed, and I think he's the best option right now. It's good to see the younger guys doing well, too, and hopefully the TE position will be more of a focal point in the offense.

My thoughts from the scrimmage on 11 August 2018 I don't have much to add on the QB position/competition as it’s been fully covered by others’ comments, the article by George Thomas in the ABJ, and comments by Coach Bowden himself. I will say that the QB room has a different energy than last year. They are enjoying the competition and each other, and are pushing each other to get better. They held several guys out of the scrimmage; I’m assuming that’s just precautionary. (Mykel Traylor-Bennett, Dustin Burkhart, Bubba Arslanian, Nick Johns, and Abraham Alce were some that I noted though I’m sure there were others). Bubba told me he has some turf burn under the gauze bandage that Captain Kangaroo mentioned so I think they’re just wanting that to heal. As has been mentioned, Justin Sampson really popped – He’s put on some good size and he’s got a great first step. I hear he plays the power read very well because he’s so fast/quick. Captain Kangaroo mentioned the kicking woes. I wonder if they are working on mechanics/trying different things. Some kicks had plenty of leg but went wide right or left. Others looked great but didn’t have the length. I was very excited to see Keyondre White run the rock and he did not disappoint. Most notably, they brought him in for several short yardage plays, among others he was in the lineup for, and he was able to move the pile. The ABJ article suggested that the running game hit a brick wall of a defense but I felt like they were rather productive collectively regardless of the total yards accumulated. Specifically, both 1st team and 2nd teams were gaining good yards on early downs. It wasn’t exclusive and the defense definitely blew up a few plays but generally speaking I was impressed with the running backs and the OLs in front of them. The tight end position appears to be one they are really trying to integrate into the offense. It’s been reported that Darryl Long suffered an injury and losing his dynamic playmaking ability with his height advantage and huge catch radius will be a negative but Junk and Wolfley look prepared to add depth with Newman Williams and Nick Johns rounding out the room. Not sure who will be the day one started but they all have some ability. Personally, I like Maverick’s “nasty” but Newman appears to be a more polished blocker at this point. It’s good to have options. It was great to see them utilize Brandon Mitchell in the red zone on a jump ball fade. Everyone in the stadium, including one of the refs, thought the ball from Ramart was a TD. They somehow ruled it was incomplete but I don’t know if that was a “bobbling the ball”, “not securing it through contact with the ground”, or some other nonsensical NFL application of the pass catch rule. Regardless of the outcome, having that option is nice as it will force defenses to play him differently and we can take advantage of the mismatch on the goal-line. Additionally, I hear he’s a great kid and is working hard. TB mentioned “competition” at various positions and I think there are real battles going on for the following: QB TE RB WR The defense is pretty much locked down but with so many new/young faces on offense, these battles will continue to be a focus for the remainder of camp. In TB’s interview with Joe Dunn the other day, he mentioned that by the end of this week, they’d be getting into game prep. I assume that Saturday’s scrimmage may reflect the outcome of some of those battles based on who gets the bulk of #1 reps.

Burkhart was dressed out but didn't play in the scrimmage. He's coming off a small tweak so I guess they're just being cautious with anyone who's a little banged up. I finally got a day without rain yesterday and took advantage by mixing and pouring concrete for the pillars for a deck for our house. Because of that, I have not gotten around to posting my thoughts from scrimmage. I'll try to get that done later today.

I know you root for us when we're not playing the Cyclones, but I though you might be just trying to get a good seat on the bandwagon as the RooCrew kicks it into high gear! We'll be traveling to Ames for the game, so I'll be looking at your very informative and much appreciated posts with all the parking/tailgating info as the game gets a little closer.

me too, on the extra point unit!

Coach Bowden told Joe Dunn that they'll have another scrimmage Saturday the 18th. I don't know a time yet but today's started at 9:30 and it was a beautiful day at the INFO.

2018 Akron Football Camp Update with Terry Bowden - 8/11/2018

2018 Akron Football Camp Update with Alvin Davis - 8/11/2018

2018 Akron Football Camp Update with Kyle Ritz - 8/11/2018

ABJ's commentary on the scrimmage I just got home from Akron and will post my thoughts later.

If anyone’s looking at this, scrimmage is outdoors and open. Team warming up now. It’s 9:30 AM Saturday, August 11 2018...

No time info (even for this weekend) yet. I'll be out of town the 18th but I think that's picture/family day.

Not sure if officially OPEN to the public but I plan on being on campus on Saturday...

@LZIp - This is awesome, again. Thanks for keeping track of this. Two notes on formatting: If you Left Align the cells with the years that have the drop-downs, you can see the years rather than having them hidden by the dropdown arrows to sort the column data. Additionally, if you select cell A5 and then click Window > Freeze Panes, it will freeze the row above so the Name, Pos., Scholarship, etc. remain visible as you scroll through the rows.

@Cykron - I saw some scuttlebutt on Twitter yesterday suggesting that MC would be the lead candidate for the job but I don't know how credible those sources are.

The team had meetings yesterday. The team is on the field today to start Fall camp today. 29 days 'til Nebraska. It's 10:12 AM...

But strong as a team of oxen and a great young man. Last I heard he had over 600 on his back during squat testing. They’re testing again this week so we’ll see what freakish numbers he puts up.

They have been training hard. I know they are having their "squat party" today where they'll be getting after it trying to set PRs for their squat. There were some PRs set yesterday for sure on bench and power cleans. If the small sample size of the numbers I heard is any indication of the overall development of the team, it bodes well for the Zips.

Will look real nice on matte navy full Roo helmets!!