GP2

Article about this in the Athletic One lucky Akron football season-ticket holder will get to call plays for the opening drive of a college football game. Really. Sort of. Which is a nice reminder of why we love this dumb sport. It’s a pure publicity stunt. Old-school, huckster carnival barking. On Aug. 4, the Akron Zips football program announced a promotion in which every season-ticket holder is entered into a raffle; the top prize is the chance to script play calls for the first offensive possession of Akron’s home opener against Robert Morris on Sept. 12. The winner, announced on Aug. 19, will get to spend two days hanging around practice and team meetings ahead of the game and consult head coach Joe Moorhead on the first 10-15 plays. The school dubbed it “Offensive Coordinator of the Game.” Akron’s athletic director hatched the idea. A briefly reluctant Moorhead — once an SEC head coach at Mississippi State and offensive coordinator at Oregon — warmed up to and ultimately encouraged it. Brainstorming ways to generate excitement and ticket sales for a traditionally disappointing football program will turn a Zips fan’s armchair quarterback dreams into reality. Or it might not even be a Zips fan. The promotion’s spawned enough broader interest that the winner could be a Robert Morris troll or podcast host. Either way, it worked. It’s early August, only weeks away from kicking off the season, and college football diehards are talking about Akron. It’s why college football is special. Athletic director Andrew Goodrich had the idea to have a fan script the team's opening offensive plays. It's led to a historic ticket surge. For such a buzzy promotion, it’s pretty low stakes. Robert Morris is an FCS opponent, and Akron itself is a humble Mid-American Conference squad, one most fans only watch in midweek MACtion or blowout losses against the Big Ten. Moorhead promised he won’t “let the circus roll into town” and will retain final say over the actual play calls. Akron is simply selling the experience. The sizzle. But it’s not zero stakes, either. The Zips have one of the smallest annual football budgets in FBS, yet it is still about $8 million. While that may pale in comparison to Ohio State pouring more than $100 million into football this season just two hours down the road, it’s a significant line item for a public university. Plenty of jobs and livelihoods are at stake within the Akron football program, and it’s still electing to pass the sticks to Joe Sports Fan for a few plays. That quirky fanaticism could only exist in this sport. The NFL and its professional counterparts would never allow it. Minor league baseball does it all the time, but no one actually cares about the wins and losses. College football is wonky enough to go for it and prominent enough for it to resonate. The Zips haven’t been to a bowl game in 10 years. They had a winless season more recently than a winning one. It had to try something different to get butts in seats. Still, a week after the Robert Morris game, the same Zips will play at Minnesota, a Big Ten squad with College Football Playoff sleeper potential. The sport really does contain multitudes. “Once the shock value wore away and we discussed some benefits, now you see (the promotion) spoke for itself,” Moorhead told The Athletic. It also comes at a welcome moment in the sport’s trajectory, when a bunch of not-so-fun nonsense is dragging things down. So much attention on college football is fixated off the field, or on an increasingly uncertain future. Congressional legislation and eligibility lawsuits. Transfer portal tampering. A head coach leaving his team in the midst of a Playoff run. Needless CFP expansion debates and Super League chatter. Then suddenly, the very same sport that takes itself too seriously reminds us that the fun, dumb stuff is what we love about it. An anthropomorphic Pop-Tart toasting itself. A winning coach getting dunked with a tub of Duke’s mayo. Pitbull partnering with FIU. Turnover chainsaws in Corvallis, the Sooner Schooner in Norman and Jump Around in Madison. Akron gave us a nice pop of flavor to cut through the glut of court battles. A one-off Akron football promotion won’t solve all of college football’s issues. The sport’s future remains murky. But at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Sept. 12, the Zips play the Colonials on ESPN+. I’ll be watching.

I am merely you from the future after you’ve been properly medicated so you don’t feel compelled to spew an insane and/or pessimistic take on every single thread on this website.

Art is what attracts businesses and rich professionals to come to the area. Why would they choose to live in Akron, OH if they could live anywhere else that has shodilly made corporate slop offices? Every revitalization starts with good art to attract investment to the area. As for Quaker, this is an extremely unique building, and if someone with money wants to invest in it, why not? Beggars can't be choosers. Places that retain their history and art (including architecture) are the places people want to visit. I've never gone to Europe and thought it would be much better if they had a bunch of boring rectangular office buildings with huge surface parking lots instead of all their beautiful old architecture. Akron has some "good bones" along with some not good bones. Spartanburg was never a large(ish) town like Akron and simply seems to be riding the wave of momentum in Greenville and Charlotte. Good for them, but Akron does not have that luxury. Get rid of the art, and Akron has nothing much left to attract anyone. Let's spruce up the good bones into something productive and demo/redevelop the bad bones when there are attracted investors. This news should be very welcome to anyone who cares about UA and the city. If this art project fails, then so be it, but at least they're trying something to fill an empty building in the heart of the city.

Ah yes, the disease that killed over 1.2 million Americans was proven to be a farce.

I wish UA could just get an estimate of what a decent renovation to the seating at the JAR would cost, then ask for donations. I’m sure most of this forum would be willing to chip in a little, at the very least. If we ever get want to look like a bigger program, we’ve gotta get rid of those wooden bleachers.

Very nice, thank you!

Anyone know if the Fear the Roo Collective gear fits true to size or if the sweatshirt shrinks much in the wash? I’m about to have a whole new wardrobe.

Well, we wanted some P5 opponents and we finally got one. Personally, I would have preferred a more mortal one, but beggars can't be choosers. If we can be semi-competitive in this game, it may very well be good for our KenPom and Net rankings as the season progresses and the strength of schedule is taken into account. Not that we would be in line for an at-large bid, but I would love to get a higher seed in the NCAA tournament if we can make it again.

Really felt like we should have won that one but couldn’t buy the back of the net. Hopefully we don’t drop too much in the rankings.

Let’s hope Nebraska has built a proper amount of hotels this time and doesn’t try to screw us over again.

Can’t blame them. I would too if I wasn’t cursed like the rest of you.

How is the crowd looking there? The tv camera isn’t showing it at all. Horrible camera angle.

I am excited to watch this team! I wish we could just skip football season and go straight into basketball season.

I’ll be at the game! Fun stadium, if you’ve never been.