Football

Here's a riddle: What's the difference between Akron this week and Akron last week?

Lipstick? No. The answer is Sean Baker.

Baker, a defensive back for Ball State, caught three of Chris Jacquemain's four interceptions. The junior quarterback also fumbled, which Baker returned for a touchdown. Baker, who is auditioning for Chuck Norris status, also made nine tackles and broke up a pass.

The Zips lost 41-24 in a game that looked eerily like last week's win over Syracuse. Problem was, Akron couldn't protect the ball this time.

Were there good things about Akron's performance? Sure. The secondary limited Nate Davis' options by providing solid coverage, particularly downfield. Miguel Graham logged the play of the game with a one-handed interception in the endzone.

Akron's running game was healthy (although I would argue that the coaches didn't give Andrew Johnson nearly enough carries). Deryn Bowser also played well, catching eight passes for 117 yards.

The real problem was dropped passes and other mistakes in the passing game. Dashan Miller and Jeremy Bruce each dropped an easy catch that turned into an interception.

Although Alex Allen left the game on a stretcher, I have been told that his injury is not as serious as it appeared. Allen believes he can play next week (but what player doesn't?).

Jacquemain's stats are worse than they should be, but he still played awful. This was a game that the Zips would have won, if only they received adequate quarterback play.

For what it's worth, tailgating was fun. Although the intense rain created new rivers and swamps, yours truly and several others took the opportunity to slide through the mud. Good times.

I will have more on the game tomorrow.

Football

It's been pouring rain the past 24 hours, and relief does not appear to be in sight.

How will that affect the game?

Normally, it is a detriment to the offense that relies heavier on passing, which would be Ball State. However, Cardinals quarterback Nate Davis wears a glove on his throwing hand, so maybe it won't affect him.

News and notes…

The Muncie Star Press mentions that Ball State is 9-2 in the past two years in MAC road games. However, it has lost its last two MAC openers. The publication predicts a 40-24 Cardinals win.

The Indianapolis Star said this game might determine the MAC's best quarterback. (Uhh. Dan LeFevour and about six other guys probably have a better argument for that than Chris Jacquemain.)

The ABJ's Michael Beaven talked to Chris Kemme about how the game will turn out.

Prediction — The Zips' offense will be downright unstoppable. Andrew Johnson will put on a show in his debut at the Rubber Bowl. Problem is, Ball State will move the ball at an equal pace. Davis will throw a couple interceptions that make up the margin between the teams.

Akron 34, Ball State 31

Men's soccer

The No. 2 national ranking won't last.

The Zips lost last night to unranked New Mexico by a 1-0 score. They will play Missouri State Sunday afternoon.

Football

Typically, you are the first to hear my thoughts on an upcoming Zips football game.

Not this time.

I gave my two cents to Ball State blogger Phil Friend, who does a nice job reporting on the Cardinals. (He's also a sports editor at a newspaper in Indiana.)

Other news and notes…

A member of the 2005 Zips team that won the MAC Championship sold the ring on eBay for $557.09. The ring features J.D. Brookhart's slogan from that season: "Three more feet." Special thanks to Dan Kadar for finding this on the Web. You better bring some fine beverages, son.

The Plain Dealer's Elton Alexander talks about the challenge that Akron's defense will face.

A little birdie told me that Zeke Marshall will be visiting campus for the Ball State game. It would be nice if some fans made him feel welcomed. If you see a 7-foot 18-year-old, it's safe to assume it's Zeke. Nov. 12 is National Letter of Intent signing day (or 60 days away, not that I've been counting).

The Ball State student newspaper has a decent preview of the game. In it, the Cardinals coaches praise Akron as being the best team they've faced this season.

In the Buchtelite's preview, Brookhart says the Zips can't afford to be satisfied with last week's performance if they hope to win on Saturday.

The over-under is 58 points. Ball State remains a seven-point favorite. Therefore, the oddsmakers predict basically a 33-25 Ball State win.

Football

I conducted a brief interview with my counterpart at Ball State.

The blogger's name is Phil Friend.

Here is our conversation…

MR: What do you think of the seven-point spread?

PF: For the love of God, Ball State better at least cover it. I think if we want people to take Ball State seriously, the Cards should win by about two touchdowns if not more. But this game has "trap game" written all over it, Plus, the Bird is coming to Akron. As long as the Cards play like they should, I like us to cover this easily.

MR: What is Ball State's perception of Akron?

PF: You know, I was thinking about this earlier, and I don't really know if anyone has any sort of feelings at all. I think it'd be different if this was Miami or one of Michigans, but the schools aren't necessarily close to each other. From a football standpoint, I know that the Cardinals beat both Northern Illinois and Akron, yet we saw you guys win the MAC. I think we'd like to be Akron's position this year. And the kangaroo, of course. Can't forget that.

MR: Tell me about Ball State's defense?

PF: Well, I was happy with the fact we only gave up 348 yards rushing against Navy. So take that for what it's worth. If we're going to do anything (bowl game, MAC title, BCS game) the defense needs to be about 100 percent better than they've been the past two years. As in, not letting Garrett Wolfe run for 363 yards, or Ray Rice getting 280-plus in the bowl game last year. And allowing 400 yard passing games to Curtis Painter and the North Dakota State QB who's name escapes me, I think it's Steve Walker, is unacceptable. But with so many returning starters, I'd like to think this unit will be much improved. It has to be, it can't do much worse.

MR: What is your perception of Ball State's running game?

PF: When MiQuale Lewis went down with an injury last year, that ruined our offense. We became very one-dimensional and basically ran out of running backs. A walk-on true freshman — Ray Winkler — got a bulk of the carries and actually scored the game winner against Northern Illinois last year. Nate Davis and Dante Love are going to get their yards, the Cards have to have a running attack to keep teams honest. And Lewis averaged more than 10 yards a carry in high school so there's some precedent.

MR: If you had to sum up your fans in three words, what would they be?

PF: CHIRP! CHIRP! CHIRP!

Other news and notes…

Here is the injury report: DOUBTFUL (Hassan Hazime), OUT (Ryan Bain, Eric Lively, Deni Odofin, Jerome Royal, Cowles Stewart and Sean Fobbs).

The Plain Dealer's Elton Alexander tallied how much money MAC schools have spent on their football facilities the last five years. The numbers are staggering in Akron's favor.

The ABJ published a wire story about Ball State receiver Dante Love.

MACReportOnline.com previewed the Akron/Ball State game.

Nick from VanDelaySports.com predicts a shootout between the Zips and Cardinals. Final score: 31-28 Ball State.

Football

After running for more than 100 yards against Syracuse, Alex Allen is now the starting running back.

J.D. Brookhart made some other changes to the depth chart heading into Saturday's game at Ball State. You might think they are minor, but I know the coaches wouldn't alter anything without a reason.

The other changes…

Andre Jones and Alphonso Owen share a starting position at receiver. They did last week, too. But now Jones is listed first. Richard Sandilands is no longer listed as a backup at that spot. (He remains as the backup holder, though.)

Dashan Miller now shares a starting job with Jeremy Bruce. Bruce was the lone starter before this week.

Joe Tuzze is off the depth chart at running back. With all that talent in the backfield, there's just no room for a fullback-type runner.

To relieve the busy Jones, Andrew Johnson is now the alternate kick returner, alongside Bryan Williams.

James Harvey is the new starting nose tackle. We saw last week's starter, Cowles Stewart, fall to a leg injury of some sort. The backup is Joe Rash. Ryan Bain is left off this week's depth chart, so you probably won't see him Saturday.

Sean Fobbs is left off the depth chart at linebacker. He shared the job with Mike Thomas last week. That's another possible injury.

True freshmen Norman Shuford and Josh Richmond are no longer listed as third-string cornerbacks. Perhaps this was a decision to keep their redshirts alive.

Football

Akron darned sure better beat Kent State and Army.

Along with Syracuse, they are three of the nation's 10 worst teams, according to ESPN.com.

The Buchtelite's Vincent Dorsey traveled to Syracuse for the game. Read his column.

Men's soccer

With a No. 2 national ranking, the Zips almost have returned to the top of the nation.

Akron sits behind the unanimous No. 1 Wake Forest.

Football

The oddsmakers think highly of Ball State.

The Cardinals are seven-point favorites at the Rubber Bowl. They should be.

Quarterback Nate Davis and his team are slowly becoming the MAC's darlings. His favorite target is Dante Love, a 5-foot-10 senior who is breaking school receiving records.

It's not just them. The Cardinals have several NFL prospects. Punter Chris Miller has been the nation's best for a couple years. Tight end Darius Hill is always there for a crucial first down. And that's not to mention some of Ball State's playmakers on defense.

Despite giving up 346 rushing yards, the Cardinals beat Navy 35-23 on national television last week.

There's a reason, however, why Ball State isn't a top-25 team. The Cardinals have struggled to stop the run. The performance against Navy didn't reassure anyone. That makes Ball State a better matchup for Akron than for other MAC teams.

Notes…

Ball State coach Brady Hoke said he has noticed that Chris Jacquemain is a more polished passer this year. The ball "really comes out of his hand," the coach said.

The ABJ's Patrick McManamon talked about how Akron might use the Syracuse win as a springboard.

Jacquemain told the ABJ's Michael Beaven that the difference for him is confidence. Also, his teammates respect him. (Personally, I will hold off on calling Jacquemain a "break-out" player until he does it for a few weeks in a row.)

Also this…

Mack Rhoades and associate AD Mary Lou Gribshaw showed up to my Sports Law class. Here are some interesting tidbits on how UA deals with the NCAA.

Rhoades gave some examples of creative incentives for coaching contracts. At Texas-El Paso, they gave the football coach $1 for every ticket sold that cost more than $10. It led to a $100,000 or $150,000 bonus each year. Rhoades suggested he is interested in implementing incentives like that, or ones for team GPA and Academic Progress Rates.

The standard contract length is increasing from five years to seven years, particularly in unestablished programs, where the coach believes he needs more time. On the other hand, administrators are implementing buy-out clauses for departing coaches. The universities figure it costs about $150,000 when a coach leaves. The buy-out clause lessens the sting.

Rhoades has a policy that he won't negotiate with agents. Supposedly, it's a trend around college athletics. Notre Dame has actually codified it. The administrators are strictly forbidden to negotiate with agents there.

UA recently implemented an attendance policy for athletes. Rhoades said Akron is one of only a few schools in the nation to do that.

The most expensive item on the budget is scholarships. The athletic department pays the university $6.3 million for tuition, fees, etc.

In order to cut the budget, Rhoades told each program that it will receive no money, unless it justifies each dollar.

The university gets between $80,000 and $100,000 each year from the NCAA for the revenues from the NCAA Tournament. The MAC gets $600,000 in TV money, which is split between the members.

In comparison, the Big East splits $8 million. Rhoades still talks about a Big East breakup. When that happens, Akron will be waiting. Rhoades played a role when UTEP moved from WAC to C-USA, so he knows the process.

Akron's budget is $19 million. Ohio State spends more than $100 million. Does that disparity sound familiar? How about Major League Baseball, and the discrepancy between the Yankees and Devil Rays?

Boosters are a big deal at most universities. Some coaches have it written in their contracts that they must attend so many booster events. Here, Rhoades said the boosters are a "great group," but they normally fall into two categories: One is the dedicated, hard-core Akron supporter. The other shows up to events in Ohio State gear. (Sigh.)

Football

I love reading the "I my gosh! We lost to Akron" news stories.

Here is one. It outlines the indisputable conclusion that Greg Robinson's time at Syracuse is done.

Notes…

Here is the video report from that columnist who ripped the Zips so harshly. I would watch it myself, but I'm in class. (Don't tell my profs.)

JohnnyZips84 leads the Yahoo! Pick'em League with 30 points. I am close to the league's caboose.

Is anyone else totally fired up about the Ball State game at the Rubber Bowl Saturday? I'm ready for some serious tailgating.

Football

Here are my positional grades from yesterday's win at Syracuse…

Quarterback – Chris Jacquemain was efficient and smart. He wasn't the one who carried the offense, but it's important to note that the quarterback supplemented drives, rather than stymied them. He threw one pick, but oh well. Fantastic improvement. Grade: B+

Running back — We saw the Alex Allen that many predicted when the Youngstown product arrived on campus. Syracuse is a poor tackling team as it was; Allen made them look like the jayvee squad. Dennis Kennedy and Andrew Johnson each had their moments, too. You can't ask for much more out of these three. Grade: A

Receiver/tight end — Last season, it was Jabari Arthur and maybe a catch or two from some other guy. Saturday, the Zips six top pass catchers all entered the mix, led by Andre Jones, whose route running was fabulous for a guy who just converted to the position. Grade: B+

Offensive line — These guys take my game ball. The running backs shed plenty of tacklers, but the offensive line is the reason the runners reached Syracuse's backfield. There were holes galore. Also, the line avoided all penalties and gave up only two sacks. Kennedy rightfully credited them when talking to the media afterward. Grade: A+

Defensive line — Almondo Sewell made eight tackles. Linemen other than Sewell combined for only five. In the 3-3-5 defense, the line's performance cannot be measured in such terms. It's more important if they require more than one blocker in order to free up the linebackers and secondary to make plays. Cowles Stewart and Dan Marcoux don't appear to be doing that at this point in their careers. **Paging Ryan Bain. Paging Eric Lively.** Grade: D+

Linebackers – Kevin Grant was more involved than I remember him being at any point the past two seasons. Mike Thomas was a playmaker, too, with an interception, fumble recovery, tackle for loss and seven tackles. Overall, not bad. Grade: B

Secondary – Syracuse quarterback Cameron Dantley passed for only 130 yards. The secondary had a few big mistakes, but mostly played decent coverage. Miguel Graham and Bryan Williams played well, in particular. Grade: B

Special teams — John Stec's punts have been longer this season. Igor Iveljic drilled all his extra points, and barely missed a 41-yard field goal. The stats say he logged two tackles, though. (Who knows if that's true?) Bryan Williams averaged almost 40 yards per kick return. Grade: B

Coaching – You can't fault the coaches for much here. The team was prepared and disciplined. There were only five Akron penalties, and none hurt too badly. Although the 3-3-5 lives, I saw at least one play where the Zips used four down linemen. Grade: B