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I don't think there is specifically a football rivalry between the two schools. But there is definitely an overall sports rivalry. OSWho HATES the idea of losing to Akron in anything. And the way their fans react towards us when we go down there for a football game is evidence of that. I've been to a lot of Akron road football games over the years, and the behavior of OSWho fans towards us is monumentally more hostile than anywhere else. In fact, I would define my experiences in other places as "incredibly friendly" compared to my experiences in Cowlumbus. So, maybe someone needs to ask the OSWho fans that question......Why do they hate Akron people so much? Is it maybe that THEY are the ones that are making this seem like a rivalry between the two school more than we are?

Actually NIU and Illinois are rivals. They absolutely hate each other. Is little brother vs. big brother a rivalry? I have scars that say it is. Little brother never has a chance for years, until the one day he finally gets one over on big brother or becomes better than big brother at something. So yes. We are rivals with OSU. Is it the Can't rivalry, no. Is it a competetive rivalry, in football no, who knows about basketball as they constantly duck us. In Soccer? No we own them. But do we get up to play them, do we care about those games a little more than vs. EMU or vs. Tennessee? Hell yes we do, because we know what a win over them means. As far as the doubts by some that it's not a rivalry because it has to be acknowledged by the other side... OSWho brought two busloads of kids up here for this soccer game. They HATE that we keep kicking their butts, their coach excuses dirty play, and there are documented cases now of fans getting nailed with balls behind the net during warmups last night. If that's not achnowledgement from the other side....I don't know what is.

That's exactly what I was thinking about when I read the story. At least he would have had a chance to build relationships with a school, and maybe create a good foundation in his life if he had stayed with his original commitment. But, does it really surprise anyone that Tressel was likely thinking about himself?

I was waiting to see if anyone else noticed this. The people I was with all thought the same thing.

I wouldn't expect to ever see that happen either. It's been a long time, and it's not our player.

Keith showed so much promise two years ago. Had some really outstanding games throwing the ball. But, I'm not sad to see that he is faltering. Surprised to see that Dysert from Miami is so far down the list. Maybe these guys will all start showing better numbers now that some of the wicked non-conference games are off of the schedules.

Great news!! I didn't want a heavy rain to put a damper on our Suckeye bashing party!!!!

Buck John Fluem!!! You know, I was born and raised a buckey fan. Once I came to Akron that fell to the way side to make room for MY Alma Mater. Recently I was thinking about getting back into following the bucks casually as a secondary school to team to my Akron Zips, then this was posted and it slapped sense back into me. Thank you Jacob. Funny you say that. I too grew up a OSU fan. Last year was my sophomore year and I was just starting to really embrace my school and not follow the Bucks that much anymore. That game and this play in particular really tipped me over the edge and made me go all in with the Zips. It's got it's highs (soccer & basketball) and lows (*cough* football team *cough*) but I wouldn't have it any other way. Go Zips! I commend both of you guys for seeing the light, and realizing what OSWho is all about. Now...if you really want to impress us...I want to hear that you are still a Zips fans 20,30, or 40 years from now too. For some reason, being away from school for awhile starts to turn people into Suckeye fans again.

I saw this kind of crap versus Fullerton and it was not a pretty sight. I only heard the audio of the Fullerton match. However bad that was, expect worse from OSU. From the coach on down, OSU hates that Akron is better. This is our biggest rivalry, Bisbee. And don't let any of the brainwashed OSWho fans tell you that it's not true. They wouldn't bring two busloads of fans up here if they were not desperately trying to avoid allowing the state of Ohio to know that Akron is superior to the athletic program that spends tons of money to try to BUY titles. This raises a pretty good question for me. I don't know too much about other college sports, and I don't know a ton about the athletic programs of the other schools in Ohio, but lets be honest, Ohio State is either great or just really good at almost everything. Could someone answer this for me: Do you think our soccer team is the only athletic program from Ohio that is better than Ohio State at the same sport? I was just wondering if like Bowling Green had a killer women's golf team or something. If not, it's no wonder this makes them mad. I know, being someone who grew up in central Ohio surrounded by the people who worship Ohio State without having set foot on their campus, that being better than them at a sport feels good. It probably sucks for them and I love that. Just wondering if we were the only Ohio school that has that distinction. Miami hockey program is better....but the gap is not as big as the soccer programs at UofA and OSU. And doesn't OSWho covet football the most? Cincinnati would stomp them if they played this year.

It's not that hard when.... I think we're something like 8-2 against them in the last 10 years? They haven't had a winning season in something like 20 years? They haven't been to a bowl since 1973? Why do you find it so strange to see people making fun of their pathetic history? They've kicked the crap out of us several times in recent years in basketball, and we still make fun of their basketball team too. So, making fun of their football program is pretty much a no brainer.

I hope those wearing red will not be boisterous or uncouth, before, during, or after the match. Such indiscretion would be very foolish! OSWho fans? Nooo. They are usually the picture of class

Did anyone else read the Beacon sports page today? It looks like the Golden Felons will be getting the pee yellow "K" logo pasted all over their helmets for accomplishing things. So, they will soon look even uglier than ever. Note to Ken+'s new coach: Bring all the Suckeye traditions you want into the Ken+ State program, and it won't change the fact that you are coaching a bunch of losers. Reward stickers might be good for 1st graders when they do well on a spelling test, but they won't turn these jokers into good football players.

I saw this kind of crap versus Fullerton and it was not a pretty sight. I only heard the audio of the Fullerton match. However bad that was, expect worse from OSU. From the coach on down, OSU hates that Akron is better. This is our biggest rivalry, Bisbee. And don't let any of the brainwashed OSWho fans tell you that it's not true. They wouldn't bring two busloads of fans up here if they were not desperately trying to avoid allowing the state of Ohio to know that Akron is superior to the athletic program that spends tons of money to try to BUY titles.

No, that can't be true. They are so much "above" us. They don't care.

As I've said before, if this so-called "phantom attendance" was an acceptable practice, EMU wouldn't be reporting 5,000 average attendance for football. Were you there? Maybe they double not triple their real numbers. It is pretty slim up in Michigan as well. Because stating that they have 5,000 instead of 4,000 or 3,000 makes them look better? Or gets them any closer to meeting their minimum? The point is, I'm sure ticket sales are not a "made up" number. If so, eveyrone would do it. And they are audited. How could you show X number of tickets sold, but not have the dollars to match it? If someone truly has more additional inside info. on how the actual process works, please let us know. It would end some of this speculation that schools juet make up a number.

I have to believe that no single regular season soccer game has ever had as much hype as this one. I think the self-proclaimed "Godly" status that OSWho carries around has a lot to do with that. It's easy to see their hatred towards us, and I think it's the most evident in this sport. What happened with Nagbe last year, and their coaches reaction, only adds to that. It really is starting to be reminiscent of the kind of excitement we have going into a Ken+ football or basketball game. I love it. It really gives Akron sports fans something else to get excited about while we wait for football to come around again. Now I'll sit back and wait for the "Ohio State doesn't compete against Akron" posters to arrive.

The point spread aside,this is the second part of the 'test' for the Zips this season. They flunked the first against Temple. Now they are playing another 'bottom feeder' in the MAC. EMU is a team that is playing at the same level as Akron. Everybodies 'excuse' for losing the first 3 games was that they were playing superior teams. Can't use that excuse this week. It ain't about covering the spread. If you can't beat a team like EMU then your program hasn't made much progress. There may only be 1 or 2 'possible wins' on the schedule after this week. Better win. I hope I am just reading this wrong. Are you saying that Temple is a bottom feeder?

Impressive? Nah. I could buy "tolerable" or even maybe even"hopeful", but considering the competition, "impressive" is not the a word I was use to describe any phase of the Zips game I watched on Saturday. ESPECIALLY on those kickoffs. I sure hope Suel's injury is not serious, our passing game is better with him in there IMO. It was a 148 rating, and he was our first QB with a 200+ yard passing game in quite a long time, and he was missing a key receiver. I'm well aware of the competition. See my previous comments about how the bar has been lowered. The kickoffs? Good grief. Can anyone figure out why even our "deep kicks" early in the game were only reaching about the 20 yard line?

I don't know how we are to figure how good EMU is at this point, because of who they've played. Maybe you can say the same for us. But, their recent history suggests that this is a very winnable game. So, it surprises me that they are a heavy favorite. I hope alot of that is simply home field advantage. Although I am not sure how much of advantage you have when we're talking about a school that might have a few thousand people at the game. Still, I think an 8 point spread against a team like that is another reminder that we're definitely still at the bottom, and will have to fight our way upward, as far as people's impression of our football program right now.

Here is my "beyond statistical judgment" of the day. The passes that I witnessed Saturday that were not close to being catchable were the ones thrown to the sideline. If it was 10 yard comeback, or a 30 yard fly, the results were the same. The catchable balls were thrown to the middle of the field. Price dropped one of those. Next time somebody is at the game watch where LR8 is making his completions. He needs to work hard at being able to spread the field with his completions because if I were creating a defensive scheme against him, it would be on that premise. I would like to see some halfback and wide receiver screens to help him with this too. Where was his best receiver Saturday? That's funny. If I read certain posts on here, I might be persuaded to believe that only Nicely's passes are dropped, if I wasn't watching the games myself. At least the drops were not on the epidemic level that they were against Temple. I was hoping we couldn't get any worse than that. I had forgotten all about Suel being out. That makes our passing game results on Saturday even a little more impressive. I just hope it's the beginning of a move forward, and not a pinnacle.

I've already stated many times that I would absolutely PASS on Winters, and have stated why. And I was pretty much done with the topic again until I saw this. So, because Keith was an "Akron Guy" and has done very well with the basketball program, we could predict Winters future success because he is an "Akron Guy" too? First, there is no comparison between Keith and Winters, in many, many ways, including that one was a previous D-1A MAC head coach, and the other has D-II as his highest level of head coaching experience. Secondly, I am completely puzzled as to why some people continue to use "He's an Akron Guy" as his big qualifying criteria. We've had this discussion many times among long-time friends and supporters. And I can tell you, the overwhelming consensus among the people I know is that we would want the best coach....period....whether he hails from Akron or from Alaska. Maybe we should have passed on Caleb since he wasn't an "Akron Guy" There is a difference. Soccer was already an elite program when Caleb took over. He took it to the next level. 1. Basketball was a program in decline and not winning. Easy risk to take by hiring an "Akron" guy. 2. Baseball is a program in decline and not winning. Easy risk to take by hiring an "Akron" guy. 3. Let's assume ICoach fails and must be replaced. I am all in favor of getting the best guy to do the job. But Bowden is a D1AA guy...so he does not impress me. Unless you can get a Solich type (Tressel??) than I am in favor of giving Paul Winters a shot before some untried assistant. But this is NOT going to happen...ICoach will succeed!!!! The power of positive thinking This is confusing, but I am just trying to understand why you'd state that you wouldn't take one guy because he is only a D-1AA coach, but you are in favor of the other guy who is coaching at a lower level than that? And, since Bowden's name is not frequently mentioned, you may not know that he actually coached here at one time earlier in his career.

That's what I'm hoping for. That we have at least improved ourselves enough to win some of the games that we can win. That would be a good start, even if some of the better teams still remind us that we are far from a title contender.

This isn't true for the entire US; California, Oregon, and Washington would be exceptions as far as professional sports go. A winning Seattle Sounders team will easily outdraw a losing Seattle Seahawks team. Last report I've seen shows MLS attendance and soccer interest up for this year. But that's another story. As far as this topic goes, fan support for UA football is depressing. I miss the day when I would get excited to go to a Zips football game. Attending the Motor City Bowl to watch Akron was one of my best experiences as a UA student. I have to agree with you on that

I noticed it too. And I probably would have complained about it, if it wasn't for the fact that, regardless of the "not-so-hot" percentage, his stat line produces a fantastic 148 QB rating. Maybe he's living up to the previews that he's a playmaker, but may lack consistency. We'll see how that plays out over the course of the season. This all made me think about how the bar really has been lowered. Does anyone realize that we didn't have a passer with a game over 200 yards all of last year? And that our starter last year ended up with a 95 rating for the season? And that, despite the 3 tough games to open, and all of the new personnel, that Moore still has a 110 QB rating at this point? Syracuse, Kentucky, Indiana and Gardner Webb doesn't come close to what we faced in that same stretch this year. You're right Dave. I think I will let my complaining go for a week, and enjoy the win a litle bit longer. It certainly doesn't get me over-excited, but it puts us ahead of where we were at this point last year, with a much harder schedule.

As I've said before, if this so-called "phantom attendance" was an acceptable practice, EMU wouldn't be reporting 5,000 average attendance for football.