Memphis Commercial Appeal article

[uofmbrad]

Long-suffering Akron is thrilled

Zips were only bowl eligible team in nation left out of the fun last season

By Jim Masilak

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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

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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