uofmbrad

Akron wide receiver is among the best Hixon saved the Zips in MAC championship game By Jim Masilak Contact December 20, 2005 As someone who rides motorcycles in order to "loosen up," Domenik Hixon isn't very good at standing still. During the second half of the recent Mid-American Conference championship game against Northern Illinois, Akron's standout senior receiver could hardly stand at all. Suffering from severe stomach cramps as a result of dehydration in the controlled climate of Detroit's Ford Field, and unable to play in the biggest game of his life, Hixon felt miserable and useless. "I was hurting," he said. "The last two games we played it was like negative-2 degrees. Now (we were in a dome and) it was 72. I didn't hydrate myself properly, and during halftime I felt it. I drank a lot of Gatorade, but it was too late. "It felt like my balance was off. It was like I had four or five charley horses in my stomach. I couldn't bend over, I couldn't stretch. It was terrible." Then, Hixon thought, "If I'm going to be in pain, it might as well be with the ball in my hands in the end zone." Seeking its first conference title of any kind in 90 years of football, Akron trailed the Huskies by six points with about 20 seconds left when Hixon decided to give it one more try. "I was looking at the clock, and it's my senior year ticking away," he said. "I had confidence in my teammates, but I thought I could help them. "It was a one-shot deal. I had to run at full speed. I asked God for one play, and he gave it to me." Struggling to stay upright moments earlier, Hixon somehow managed to run a post pattern behind the Huskies' defense. Akron quarterback Luke Getsy saw the 6-2, 192-pound former defensive back break open and let fly. A sliding Hixon hauled in Getsy's pass in the end zone for a 36-yard touchdown. Jason Swiger made the extra point, and Akron took a 31-30 lead. There were but 10 seconds left. Akron, the only bowl-eligible team not invited to play in a postseason game last season, could soon begin celebrating arguably the biggest victory in school history. "The play we ran wasn't even one of our plays that week. We hadn't run it in a while, but (assistant coach Joe Moorhead) called it anyway," Hixon said. "I saw the safety bite, but I didn't think it was gonna be that wide open. "It's something you dream about when you're a kid, making a catch like that and winning a game." As a result of that catch, Akron (7-5) earned a return trip to Ford Field on Dec. 26 to play the University of Memphis in the Motor City Bowl. None of the Zips were surprised it was Hixon who helped secure the school's first Division 1 bowl berth. "He's a playmaker for us," running back Brett Biggs said. "He's our home-run threat." The son of a 21-year Army veteran-turned-police officer, Hixon was born in Germany and moved frequently as a child. As a freshman at Akron, Hixon played in all 12 games, starting eight at safety. The next year, he led the team with 111 tackles. Then came a switch to offense. Hixon caught a team-best 66 passes as a junior. This season, he has 68 receptions for 1,147 yards and seven touchdowns. "Domenik is one of our more indispensable players," coach J.D. Brookhart said. "He's versatile and very intelligent when it comes to understanding our receiver positions and our special-teams schemes. He's also a player who leads by example, and the young guys look up to him a great deal." When Hixon joined the huddle before the decisive play against Northern Illinois, Biggs sensed something good was about to happen. "I was excited. I knew he was coming in to make a play," Biggs said. "You could see it in his eyes. He was hungry for it. He's been here four years, and he wanted it more than anybody." Extra points UofM senior linebacker Tim Goodwell has accepted an invitation to play in the 2006 All-American Classic Jan. 14 in Las Vegas. The game showcases approximately 105 seniors from across the country. -- Jim Masilak: 529-2311 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Motor City Bowl Matchup: Memphis (6-5) vs. Akron (7-5) When, where: Dec. 26, 3 p.m. CST, at Ford Field, Detroit TV: ESPN

Long-suffering Akron is thrilled Zips were only bowl eligible team in nation left out of the fun last season By Jim Masilak Contact December 19, 2005 No one back in Bartow, Fla., knew what Brett Biggs was talking about when he said he was transferring to Akron. "They were like, 'Akron? What's Akron?' They thought I said I was going to Alcorn State," said Biggs, the Zips' star senior running back, with the slightest hint of incredulity. When the Zips went 6-5 in 2004, but were the only eligible team in America not selected for a bowl game, long-suffering Zips fans and players alike were left asking, "Why Akron?" "It was real difficult last year," senior receiver Domenik Hixon said. "We came into this season feeling disrespected because we got left out." After a 90-year wait, the Zips at long last have something to crow about. By rallying to beat Northern Illinois in the Mid-American Conference championship game, 31-30, Akron not only won its first conference football title of any kind, the Zips also earned their first Division 1 bowl bid, a Dec. 26 Motor City Bowl matchup against the University of Memphis in Detroit. A city of over 215,000 located 40 miles south of Cleveland, Akron is perhaps best known in the sports world as the hometown of Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James. But if Zips fever hasn't exactly gripped the city quite yet, it certainly seems to be spreading. It didn't hurt that, on the same weekend the Zips won the MAC with a last-minute touchdown, former Akron quarterback Charlie Frye made his first NFL start with the Cleveland Browns. "It means everything. It validates the message we have been sending out there. We think this is a great place and only going to get better," second-year Akron coach J.D. Brookhart said of the team's success. "It is the best time ever to be a Zip, and we are just validating some points that we knew all along. We are just enjoying the success a little earlier than people thought we would." Earlier? "I had one lady come up to me and say she was a ticket-holder since 1976 and she had been waiting her whole life for this opportunity," Hixon said. "The city has been waiting for this. There's a buzz on campus. Everyone's happy we got a bowl bid." Quarterback Luke Getsy, a junior transfer from Pittsburgh, said the Zips are eager to spread the word on Akron. "We're trying to get people more aware of what we're doing over here," said Getsy, who has helped the Zips to a 7-5 record in his first season as the starter. "There's definitely a buzz that's starting to pick up around here." The Zips look at Memphis as a model of sorts. Having not been to a bowl game for 32 years, the Tigers (6-5) are now preparing for their third straight postseason appearance. That's something the Zips would love to emulate. "Playing Memphis, they're known," Hixon said. "Recruits come in, and they're talking about Memphis and DeAngelo Williams. "We know it's gonna be a tough game, but we're excited, and we have a great feeling about it." The 5-9, 195-pound Biggs, a senior who came to Akron from Fort Scott Community College in Kansas and has rushed for 1,184 yards this season, said the city's affection for the Zips is growing every day. "We get a lot of love now," he said. "This is a big deal for us. Everybody's real excited -- the fans, the students. "It's great here at Akron now." -- Jim Masilak: 529-2311 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Motor City Bowl Matchup: Memphis (6-5) vs. Akron (7-5) When, where: Dec. 26, 3 p.m. CST, at Ford Field, Detroit TV: ESPN

As a Mississippian myself, I am pretty sure that your "Alabama philosopher" was born in Mississippi. Pascagoula, to be exact. But I won't give away the answer...

Which is exactly why you'll hear a lot of Memphis fans say that Tommy West should at least be mentioned as a finalist. We went 6-5 this year with a team that lost its first starting quarterback three plays into the season, its second starting qb three games into the season, and played the last half of the season with a converted WR (former HS QB) playing QB. At one point this year, we were in the midst of a four game stretch where our two starting QBs and our All American running back had broken their right legs in the same place (if you count last year's GMAC bowl). I think our final tally of starters lost to injury during or just prior to the season was 8. That's 36% of our starting lineup lost at some point during the year. We basically had to scrap our playbook three games into the season and start fresh. We still managed to 6-5, with two of our losses coming by four points each to SEC schools. To show you just how much we had to change, our WR-turned-QB completed 1 pass for -3 yards in our win over Marshall, and we still won by three touchdowns. Coaches of 6-5 teams don't get mentioned for COY awards, but I guarantee you there wasn't a team in Div I football that dealt with more adversity than we did.

That's the beautiful thing about DW...there is no such thing as "too big a load" on him. The kid's gone for 200+ in four games this year, and 198 in a fifth. I'm not guaranteeing a win here, but if DW goes for 270 and 2 tds on 42 carries like Garrett Wolfe did for NIU, and we play ball control like we have during the latter part of the season, I like our chances.