Football

I never would have guessed it after how the team has played this season, but the Zippers are in first place in the MAC East after beating Bowling Green 24-14.

Sure, BG was without its star quarterback Omar Jacobs (separated non-throwing shoulder), but Akron still played a solid game. Our football reporter Adam Ferrise, who was at the game at BG, says the game would have been much closer if Jacobs played. (Jacobs, by the way, was the first-overall pick in my fantasy college football draft.)

The Zips will finish the season with three winable games against Ball State, Ohio and Kent State. Win two and they are bowl eligible. Win three and they lock up the division.

Linebacker Jay Rohr (10 tackles and forced fumble at goalline) and running back Brett Biggs (159 yards, two touchdowns) get the game balls.

Just when we thought the men’s soccer team had stolen the show, the football team steps it up. Congrats on a big win, Zips.

Football (kinda)

I pose a question: Do you care about Homecoming?

Here’s why I ask. A student came into the Buchtelite office upset that we did not give Homecoming more coverage. She was Homecoming queen, by the way. A couple added points… She was the first-ever African-American Homecoming queen at Akron. We were unaware of that fact until last weekend.

As a journalist, we try to cover what people care about. So did we screw up by not giving Homecoming more ink? And mostly, do you care about Homecoming?

Football

As promised, here is the Rasor’s Edge for Tuesday, Oct. 25…

It was a Browns game that turned into an episode of The O’Reilly Factor at my friend’s house Sunday.

Each interception thrown by Browns quarterback Trent Dilfer spilled gasoline on the fire. I, the ever-opinionated columnist, stayed relatively silent.

Coming into this weekend, I considered myself a quarterback traditionalist - a person who believes you should spare QBs from physical and mental danger in their rookie season.

Now I’m not so sure.

Dilfer performed dismally Sunday. He threw for only 73 yards. He completed 10 passes to fellow Cleveland Browns. He completed three passes to Detroit Lions defensive backs. Three interceptions, no touchdowns.

The week prior wasn’t much better. Dilfer threw for 147 yards with one interception, no touchdowns.

Lately, the Browns defense has kept the team in the game while Dilfer does his best to keep the team off the scoreboard.

As you know, the Browns drafted the University of Akron’s Charlie Frye in the third round of last year’s draft. Frye played great during preseason, but would wait to start. Dilfer is a Super Bowl champion, so the job was not open for competition. Until this weekend, I agreed with that decision.

Football analysts say quarterbacks should wait until their second or third year to start. They warn that you don’t want to "ruin a young quarterback" with mental pressure and physical harm.

The physical harm does not apply for Frye. He is much more mobile than Dilfer. At Akron, he eluded sacks like Michael Moore avoids salads. If Dilfer can remain healthy, Frye should be able to stay off the injured list, too.

Mental pressure, I believe, is a faulty argument. Look at young quarterbacks who have crumbled due to mental pressure, such as former San Diego Charger Ryan Leaf. If Leaf was so mentally unstable that he cracked his rookie year, he had little chance to be a clutch performer anyway.

In short, any quarterback who is "ruin-able" has very little chance to succeed in the first place.

Frye is humble and tough. He won’t alienate his teammates with cockiness. And he won’t break down as soon as the boos inevitably rain inside Cleveland Browns Stadium.

Am I saying that Frye’s preseason performances certainly mean he will be a star? No. But Frye did show he could be a serviceable quarterback in 2005.

Moreover, Dilfer has done little the past two weeks to show Browns fans that he deserves to keep his job over anyone.

The Browns should also want to avoid a quarterback controversy. So I favor giving Dilfer one last start to show he’s not washed up.

The Browns play the winless Houston Texans, who are the worst defensive team in the conference.

If Dilfer fails to move the team in the first half, give Frye the ball after halftime.

Hopefully, that will lead to peace around the television next Sunday.

By winning 2-0 against Western Michigan, Akron clinched the MAC regular season title. It will play all its tournament games at home, which is really important based on what the players say they draw from the home crowd.

For fans, it will be at least one more home game during this magical season.

I will be at a journalism convention all week and weekend. So don’t expect too much blogging until late Sunday or Monday. I will post my Buchtelite column here tomorrow.

It will tell you why it’s time for the Browns to start Charlie Frye instead of Trent Dilfer.

Football

As promised, here are my thoughts on the Zips 20-0 loss to Army…

I think my expectations were too high coming into the season. An inside source told me the team is so young that it could win eight games, or it could win two. I disagreed. We have the best coach in the MAC. We have the best receiver in the MAC (arguably). I failed to realize we have a defense that lost its linebackers. We have an offense that lost its linemen. Most importantly, we lost the best player in Akron history, Charlie Frye.

That said, this season is not over. Akron’s final games are @ Bowling Green, @ Ball State and home versus Ohio and Kent State. The way Bowling Green is playing, that game is almost winable, regardless of Omar Jacobs being the best QB in the MAC. Ohio is better this year, but not necessarily better than Akron. Kent and Ball State are terrible.

Akron has three wins. It takes six wins to be bowl eligible. If the Zips can win three of their last four, they could (miraculously) find themselves playing in a December bowl game.

So despite the horrific play against Army, Akron’s season is not dead. Chin up.

Also, go to the Kent and Ohio games. The turnout for the Army game was pathetic. Sure, it was cold and rainy. But it was also homecoming against a big-name team.

I just hope Coach Brookhart didn’t bring any recruits to watch the game. They might as well put on their Big-10 jersey now.

I have been too busy since the game ended to give my take on Akron’s catastrophic 20-0 loss to Army. Check back later today.

I had an argument with a friend the other day that I thought I should share. My friend Nick said Indians fans should root for the White Sox because they represent the Indians’ league and division. I say exactly the opposite. You ALWAYS root against your rivals. What’s good for them is bad for you.

I’ll connect this to the Zips. If Kent State is playing in the MAC Tourney in basketball, Zips fans should enthusiastically support the other team. This afternoon, as I watched the bottom line on ESPN2, I smiled when I saw Kent was being trampled in football by Northern Illinois.

Maybe it’s me being sadistic. Maybe it’s me being a good sports fan. What do you think?

Out of my never-ending curiousity comes the question: How many people are reading this blog? Also, What do they think of it? Also, How would they improve it?

Please comment below, or send me an e-mail.

Men’s soccer

I hate to admit this, but tonight was my first-ever Akron men’s soccer game. In fact, this was my first soccer game of any type.

That being said, I want to apologize to everyone in my high school who played soccer. I ridiculed you for playing an un-American sport, and maybe even called you a soccer fairy.

The truth is, soccer is an exciting sport in person if you have a team to root for. Akron demolished Northern Illinois tonight, 5-1. It was a lot of fun. With my accomplice Kiel Fleming, we heckled the other team’s players to a tasteful extent. Being in the media, I came across a listing of NIU players’ hometowns. That was useful in telling "Kevin," who was wearing mittens, that he is the disgrace of a certain Illinois town.

Besides the shenanigans, there was a large crowd and, dare I say it, soccer is an exciting spectator sport.

While there, I picked up on why Akron is the best men’s soccer team in the nation. The Zips are tremendous at controlling the ball. They also pass well. I didn’t do any math, but I think the Zips soccer team had fewer turnovers tonight than the football team had last week (6).

Ross McKenzie (senior forward), Evan Bush (freshman goal keeper) and Sinisia Ubiparipovic (junior forward) especially stood out to me as being playmakers. As a gentleman told me in my apartment’s elevator, this team is very skilled.

That is not to say that Akron will definitely win the national championship. Its players have performed well as the No. 1 team, but none of them have been tested in a final-four situation. And until I am proven otherwise, any team for which I cheer is cursed (see Indians, Browns, Cavaliers, Zips football, Zips basketball).

It was a bit of a strange game. Ross McKenzie had a hat trick. Also, the first three goals were scored off penalty kicks.

Regardless, I strongly suggest attending a game.

In case you only follow the main sports, take a look at the Buchtelite’s special soccer section. If you didn’t know about the players, coach or team history, this is a chance to catch up. Click on the link above to read my column associated with it.

The bottom line is, it’s never too late to jump on a soccer bandwagon. It’s different than other sports.