Men’s basketball

In an attempt to cleanse your pallets, I’ll forward you to an article about Zips recruit Ronnie Steward.

As Ray Mernagh of Hoopfactor.com first reported, the best point guard in Ohio committed to Akron last week.

For those of you without Rivals.com access, I’ll sum up a recent article about him for you. Steward chose Akron because of Keith Dambrot’s up-tempo style of play. It also helps that Dambrot’s dream job is with the Zips. He’s not like Jim Christian, who will take the first plane, train or automobile out of Kent State.

Marshall and Akron dueled for the 5-foot-10 player’s commitment. With a 3.8 GPA, academics also factored into the decision for Steward, who plans to study business.

How are the Zips able to reel in such big-time prospects? Dambrot works harder, and more importantly, starts earlier in recruiting, his assistant Jeff Boals told me.

p.s. Kent State wanted Steward, too. Does that help your heartache?

Men’s soccer

Maybe all the Zips needed was a cupcake to stop their nauseating setbacks.

Akron beat Western Michigan 2-0, but next is Penn State at Happy Valley Friday night.

Women’s soccer

The women continued their slide in MAC play by losing 3-1 to Western Michigan.

The Zips are now 0-3 in the MAC, but 7-0 in non-conference games.

Unfortunately for coach Catherine Byrne, the former are more important.

Akron will host Northern Illinois Sunday afternoon at 1.

Volleyball

Akron was close in all three games, but lost 3-0 to Toledo Saturday night at Rhodes Arena.

One bright spot for the 7-10 team: Senior Kim Horn recorded her 1,000th career dig.

The Zips will travel to Bowling Green and Miami this week to improve on their 1-3 conference record.

Football

Never did I think Kent State would blow out Akron, 37-15.

But it happened, and it was ugly…

• Akron’s run defense was OK. In fact, that was the team’s strongest asset today.
• The secondary and linebackers were atrocious at stopping the pass. (I hesitate to blame the players, because they were always out of position.) Two scenarios consistantly stung Akron. First, receivers would be wide open near the line of scrimmage. KSU quarterback Julian Edelman had this option anytime he wanted. Second, Edelman threw deep jump balls and Akron’s cornerbacks just watched them sail into his receivers’ hands.
• Luke Getsy must start making plays when the Zips need them. Run blocking was lacking. Dennis Kennedy earned every yard he accumulated.
• Someone on the defense must step up on crucial downs.

The Flashes are now 3-0 in the MAC while Akron falls to 0-2.

At this point in the season, Akron is about where many thought it would be: 2-3. Still, the Zips chances at a bowl game are decent.

The Zips need to be 7-5 for bowl eligibility. Here are the likely outcomes (from a slightly pessimistic point of view)…

• At Cincinnati. Probably a loss.
• Miami. Win.
• At Toledo. Loss.
• Bowling Green. Win.
• Buffalo. Win.
• At Ohio. Toss up.
• Western Michigan. Win.

To sum up, Akron must knock off Cincinnati or Ohio. Those will be the most pivotal games the rest of the season.

Football

It really gets me pumped up to read stories like the one in today’s ABJ.

In it, several Zips talk about the importance of this game.

There is no doubt in my mind that Akron will be just as prepared for this game as the team was for the MAC Championship.

• J.D. Brookhart will script the first dozen or so plays, the PD reports.
• The Wagon Wheel’s history is pretty interesting, if you believe it, that is.
• USA Today’s Danny Sheridan gives the Zips a 1.5-point advantage.

As I stated earlier in the week, my prediction is Akron 28, Kent State 14.

Football

The ABJ’s David Lee Morgan wrote about whether Akron’s kicking game will improve.

As of now, it’s clearly the worst in the conference, and I’d argue worst in the country.

Luckily, Kent State’s isn’t much better.

Help might be on the way. Akron activated soccer player Jon McClain for tomorrow’s game. In our Podcasts, we sometimes joke about the possibility of Jacque Pitchford or Sinisa Ubiparipovic suiting up, but it goes to show how dire this problem really is.

• Speaking of the Flashes, oddsmakers have upgraded their chances throughout the week. The line now stands at Akron minus 2.

Football

In a story about the college football rule changes, coach J.D. Brookhart talks about how they affected the outcome of the NC State game.

He also discusses the changes he made to his two-minute drill playbook.

• Copley safety David Arnold committed to Northwestern, in somewhat of a shocker since the leaders were Syracuse and Illinois. Anyhow, that didn’t stop Brookhart’s staff from sending him a letter of congratulations. You know, in case something goes wrong in Evanston.
• Tom Reed wrote a good column about Kent State’s Andre Kirkland, a Division II transfer who won MAC Defensive Player of the Week for his amazing performance against Bowling Green.
• This game means a little more to Eugene Jarvis. He committed to Akron, but never signed a letter of intent because the Zips wanted to grayshirt him — which amounts to making him pay for his first semester. So now he’s more motivated to beat a team he screwed over, I suppose.
• Please, don’t worry about the Zips overlooking Kent State. Similar to Lee Owens’ approach, the Zips are preparing for the Flashes like Ohio State readies for Michigan, the PD’s Elton Alexander reports.

Football

The Buchtelite gives its predictions on Saturday’s big game…

Download podcast_7.mp3

Golf

The MAC named Akron’s Blake Sattler as its Golfer of the Week after the senior won medalist at the McLaughlin Tournament in New York.

Football

Terry Pluto is really excited about the Zips game against Kent State.

He wrote his second preview column today.

Football

Terry Pluto wrote a captivating, in-depth story about Kiki Gonzalez’s career.

The story actually paints a picture of the "nonqualifier," whom Chuck Amato dreads so much. It’s really inspiring what this guy has gone through.

And from what I gather, Kiki is a really nice guy. He went out of his way to say hi to Dan Kadar and me last month at practice.

Men’s soccer

Akron continued to show it does not belong in the top 25 by losing to a mediocre Ohio State team, 1-0.

At this point, fans need to hope for another MAC Championship. The first step for that will be 5 p.m. Friday at home against Western Michigan.

Men’s basketball

In Andy Katz’s article about scheduling, he talks a lot about the difficulties Akron has had.

As Wichita State has also found, it’s a tough task, and it could end up hurting the Zips’ and Wheat Shockers’ chances at an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Football

The Plain Dealer’s Elton Alexander praises the Zips and slows fans from jumping on the Kent State bandwagon.

• Speaking of Kent State, if you want a laugh, visit the Buchtelite stand on the second floor of the Student Union. There is an LED display telling how we feel about those hippies.