Great win tonite!

[Hilltopper]

Finally a game where we looked like a football team. Nice balance of run and pass. Great individual play by Hixon(246yds all-purpose),Biggs(165yds rushing) kept buffalo on their heels all night. #5 was in complete control tonite(202yrds passing,2td). Good amount of blitzing and aggresive defense tonite. Maybe we can make a game of it with the remainder of the schedule after all.

[Guest Lee Corso]

Nice win on Saturday Zippies. The running game is the key and Biggs delivered against Buffalo. Take some pressure off of Frye and good things will happen. No running game = no chance for victory.

On to Orlando where the Golden Knights play a little tougher than when they are one the road. Buffalo beat UCF in Buffalo. UCF came within 18 seconds of beating Northern Illinois in Orlando. So before you get all hyped about beating a team that just got whacked by a team that Akron whacked think again my friends.

UCF can deliver a passing game which is something Akron has shown no ability to stop, especially on long 3rd down situations. UCF QB Moffett finished the NIU game 25-for-33with 272 yards passing and two touchdown passes. Moffett’s two TD passes, 25 completions and 272 yards were all career-highs.

Akron's defensive unit looked bad in the first series of both halves. You may be able to give Buffalo 14 points but you cannot do that with many other teams. And since Akron has not been a real BULL on the road for the last 4 years (5-15 , with 2 wins at Buffalo, 2 wins at Can't State and 1 at EMU) the expectations for a big road win against a now-desparate UCF team would appear to be at best a 50/50 proposition.

Be excited over a win, but remember the team has got to put together a 60 minute effort.

[2005PANTHER]

That was an awesome win! Wish I could've been at the game. Were any of the seniors from last years basketball team a part of the alum weekend?

[zipboy]

Agreed, a nice win. 3 key areas where the Zips struggled played well, the running game, special teams, and pass protection. Frye might have got touched once maybe twice all night. The O Line stepped up.

The play for me that summed the game up was on Hixon's kickoff return for a TD. Dixon is still running interference at the 5 yard line for Dominic. Good execution, playing hard, and playing smart. Big one on Saturday. How about a brass knuckle exit out of the MAC?

[Zipsrifle]

Great win! I was worried about this one. If you were to ask me how bad we'd beat UB at the beginning of the year, I'd say by at least 20. Now I would have also said that we would have beat MTSU, given PSU, NIU, a run and at least scored 21 against UVA. That didn't happen. Though we won by the margin I would have expected at the beginning of the season, I still don't think the team is quite to the point where it needs to be. Buffalo really helped us out this week with timely fumbles and penalties. It would have been a lot closer if they would have avoided those mistakes.

I had a pretty good feeling that their run D would be pretty soft since UB opponents had run all over them the entire season. Lets hope that this experience give the OL an idea of what it means to open a hole for Biggs to run. We'll need it against UCF. Also glad to see more than 25, 3 yard pass out of Frye this week. I did notice that Frye was bailing out of the pocket probably a little too early. He had plenty of time this week and would start running anyway. He also missed some passes that he really should have nailed. I'm assuming that his finger is still giving him problems. Lets hope!

On the defensive side of the ball I would like to see us come out at the beginning of the game and after halftime and not let the opposing team march down the field. I know that at the beginning we're feeling the other team out but after halftime we should know what to expect. We can't give up quick scores to UCF next weekend! The tackling appeared to be getting better but there were still quite a few times where we needed to wrap up. On the pass coverage at least we were turning around and finding the ball. Oh, and we've GOT to catch the INT when it hits you in the numbers! Glad to see the pocket collapsing around the opposing QB and outside of a few runs, we were doing a decent job of shutting down their run game. We at least held them to an average running day.

I'm having a hard time believing there were less than 8,000 people at the game last night. I guessed about 12,000. I also didn't expect UCF to give NIU that much trouble! I have a feeling that there was probably a little overlooking of Buffalo to concentrate on the NIU game and it bit them. We're going to have our hands full next weekend. Lets hope that they implode for us like they did against UB. If not, could be another long day listening on web Radio.

[Zipsrifle]

HOLY CRAP.....THE ABJ PROVIDED SOME INSIGHT!!!!! :blink: Was that a PIG just flying out of My ?

Injured Frye makes big throws for Zips

Akron QB passes for 202 yards, a pair of TDs

By Terry Pluto

The little finger on Charlie Frye's right hand doesn't look so little.

Not with the swelling below his knuckle and the pinkie looking painful as it's bent awkwardly to the far right.

``It's been like that since the first play of the Can't game two weeks ago,'' said the University of Akron's star quarterback. ``I'm playing in a splint. It's not that bad, but once in a while, I throw a wobbler.''

Frye was superb in the Zips' decisive 44-21 victory over Buffalo before 7,123 at the Rubber Bowl on Saturday night.

The final numbers show him with 13-of-23 passing for 202 yards and two touchdowns.

It was even more.

He completed passes of 21, 24, 30 and 51 yards to set up touchdowns. He rolled to his right on an option, taking a teeth-rattling hit, then pitched the ball back to Brett Biggs for one of the tailback's three touchdowns.

He set up a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dennis Basch with an excellent fake handoff to a running back. He delivered a dart in the corner of the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown pass to Jason Montgomery.

From watching the senior, you'd never guess that he didn't even practice until Thursday.

``The finger is still a little sore, and my shoulder got banged up last week at Northern (Illinois) so I rested a bit,'' he said.

Getting sacked seven times in a physically punishing 49-19 loss will make a quarterback ache, and not just physically.

``There have been times when I've been frustrated,'' he said. ``But I've never second-guessed myself for coming back for my senior year. I still really want to play for Akron.''

Frye means what he says.

``He's steady, efficient, productive and accountable,'' Zips coach J.D. Brookhart said. ``He's a great decision-maker, and he's having a great season.''

So far this season, Frye has completed 66 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns and six interceptions. Until Biggs broke loose for 165 yards Saturday, Frye had been doing it mostly without a consistent running attack and facing defenses determined to knock him out of the game with a variety of blitzes.

Understand Frye is an NFL prospect. He was projected as a third-round pick if he had turned pro last spring. Instead, he returned to Akron knowing his top running back and four best receivers were gone.

``I've had people tell me that I was crazy to come back,'' he said. ``Now, I've had them tell me now that I should take a week or two off and really heal.''

Don't want to really get hurt and damage your draft status, right?

``That's not me,'' he said. ``Not for my senior year. I'm gonna play. I came back because I really love the guys on this team, and I want to be out there with them.''

It has not been easy.

He has had to adjust to a new coach, as Brookhart took over for the fired Lee Owens. Add in a grueling early season schedule taking the Zips to Penn State, No. 12 Virginia and Mid-American Conference power Northern Illinois, and it's amazing Frye can walk without a cane.

But he doesn't complain. He praises Brookhart and believes the coach is helping him grow. He talks about about how the offensive line is improving, adding, ``I'm taking all those guys to dinner.''

He see Biggs helping the running game. He's optimistic about his new receivers, especially Montgomery and Domenik Hixon. He raves about Jabari Arthur, a backup quarterback who also is a receiver.

Arthur caught a 51-yard bomb from Frye early in the third quarter.

``He took all the snaps at practice this week because I was out,'' Frye said. ``Then he makes a play like that. He's really special. And he's a great guy. He has the fire. He's a lot like me.''

The Zips are 2-4 overall, but 2-1 in the MAC. Buffalo has lost 23 consecutive MAC road games, but the Bulls (1-5,1-3) did knock off Central Florida, 48-20, a week ago.

Akron plays at Central Florida next Saturday.

``We can turn this around,'' he said. ``The schedule is breaking in our favor. I like how we're starting to play. I think we're going to be OK.''

When you hear those words from Frye, you know he really believes it.