Football
Another week. Another beatdown.
Akron started with a loud burst of energy, which eventually dwindled to a soft hum. Any team can come out of the locker room with adrenaline and make noise. It is the disciplined, smart team, however, that sustains the momentum and plays for four quarters.
As a result, Temple scored 49 unanswered points. I don't think you'll ever see such a statistic in a game between two MAC teams.
Despite all of that, Patrick Nicely looked very sharp in the first half. I love the velocity at which he delivers the ball. Arms like Nicely's are rare. His accuracy has improved each week. It's such a relief that we don't have to worry about a quarterback for the next three years.
Overall, the offense and special teams made big mistakes. Temple took advantage by marching over the Zips defense, which had become demoralized. Before you knew it, a 17-7 lead turned into a 56-17 blowout.
This season has been disappointing. But until yesterday, I always saw the players fighting hard. Last night, I didn't see that. On Temple's extra point attempt before the half, Akron's line barely came out of their stance to contest the kick.
It doesn't matter if there is one year or five years on J.D. Brookhart's contract. When you invest $60 million into a facility that only one team will use (for the most part), you better go the extra mile and pay an extra $400,000 to get a coach with a track record of success. I hope that is one thing the board of trustees realizes.
We knew that attendance would be better this year. Most people understand that winning games is what puts butts in the seats in November, when the weather normally sours. Akron has had great luck with fantastic weather every week. Everything has been in place for a packed InfoCision Stadium except for the product on the field.
We are in our fourth consecutive season of a losing record. Every year, there have been injuries, adversity and a realm of other excuses. I buy Brookhart's excuses. Like I said, however, excuses can pass for a year or two. Eventually, the accountability falls on the coach, who serves as lead scout, general manager, head strategist, chief motivator, manager of personnel and sometimes the play caller.
Akron plays two more games this season — the season that seems like it will never end. Next week, the Zips are at Bowling Green. The Falcons do through the air what Temple does on the ground. The Tyler Sheehan-to-Freddie Barnes combination might be the nation's most productive.
Then Akron finishes the year at home against Eastern Michigan. It will be two of FBS's worst teams playing on a Friday at 2 p.m. in late November. If actual attendance breaks 5,000, I will be surprised. Go Zips.
Men's basketball
Humpty Hitchens was named an honorable mention All-American for mid-major schools, according to CollegeInsider.com.
Rodney Pierce of Buffalo, David Kool of Western Michigan and Jarrod Jones of Ball State are on the list as All-Americans. (I am looking forward to the Jones vs. Zeke Marshall matchup.)
The Zips will begin the regular season tomorrow vs. Austin Peay at 2 p.m. I will liveblog from Rhodes Arena.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Sad but true.
Agreed MR. JD hs 1 year eft Its obviously not can we afford to pay off his $240000 or so but can we afford not to. Mike- what do you think we realistically need to pay? Im guessing 400K ballpark??Also- any info on what happened to Phil Tonga, Devoe Torrence, kevin Davis, Curtis Brown, Casey Estrada, Igor Ivelcic. How many players are just plain gone? ( injuries, dissmissals, academic casualties, etc?? Is it over 20?
The ESPNU announcers last night said that Akron is down 21 scholarship players due to injuries. Though, I think that number is inclusive of all reasons and not just injuries.
I doubt Akron could fill that stadium regularly no matter what kind of team they have. Not enough people in Akron really care about Akron U athletics. If they ever built a winning program that really could compete with the big boys, then maybe people would come, but what's the likelihood of that happening?
Thugs, miscreants, ectra. as Slovensko says! Unfair?
Joe, define big boys. Akron will never be able to compete with the big boys! Akron can compete with D-1 programs, just not the big boys.
A winning, buzzworthy program (and Nicely's arm may finally provide the offensive chatter we've missed), combined with more realistic ticket prices, could actually make InfoCision "the place to be."
Fans do like personal connections…i.e. stars/faces they can relate to. Nameless, faceless teams, such as the Cleveland Gladiators, for instance, do not catch the attention of fans. Akron needs to market the snot out of Nicely, and find a couple others they can put front and center. Dambrot's been more successful in that area, and now Zeke will certainly be the "name" people want to come watch.
Mike R,
How, in good conscience, can UA pay an extra $400k for a football coach without giving the same to Keith Dambrot and increasing Caleb Porter's salary (and actually Jodi Kest's) as well? UA cannot go back to the mid-80's when we made the jump to I-A football and crap all over the other coaches who have already shown success and are dedicated to their programs. If we lose Keith Dambrot because of flushing more money down the football hole, I will walk away forever.
Wow! The Temple game brought into sharp focus all of the problems with the football program. No sense in beating the 'program needs a new coach' dead horse anymore. Its going to happen. The very troubling thing is the longer term damage that has been done. It is even more obvious now than before that the overall football talent recruited the last 5 years is not at the level of the BEST MAC programs. I am talking about CMU,Temple this year. You can throw in NIU and WMU. There are a few players on the roster who can compete at that level. But up and down the talent level is just not adequate. We better hope that guys like Nicley decide to stay when the guy who brought him here is gone. This is another 3-4 year project to re-recruit better talent and get the depth necessary to compete at a higher level in just the MAC.
Attendance!? Anyone who thought the students at Akron were all of a sudden going to flock to games in big numbers doesn't know history. And thinking that the casual football fan would magically appear at the Info. just because the place is new doesn't know history. Actually,driving to downtown Akron in the university area and trying to find a parking place then walking through the area to get to the stadium will keep people away. Winning would help. But, don't expect too many 20,000 crowds. Friday night was embarassing though.
Frankly, what the other coaches are making is not an issue. The AD needs to decide if the football program is going to finally be upgraded on the coaching/personnel side or not. He better get somone in here who can recruit and coach. It needs to be someone who has had experience being fully responsible for running a program previuosly. Like everyone says,they didn't build the Info. to go back to 1-AA.
The bright side is that the new facilities can be used to recruit a coach.
It has been a very disappointing season. I have no inside information, but is it conceivable that Patrick Nicely could leave? Remember Charlie Frye was contemplating leaving after Lee Owens was dumped. From what I have seen so far, I would not be surprised if he transferred.
Where else is he gonna go and be assured of starting for a D-1 program the next three years, and playing in a new $61-million state-of-the-art facility? Nicely will be the face and saving grace of Zips football, mark it down.
Frye wasn't considering LEAVING, he was considering JUMPING to the NFL after his junior year. How laughable is THAT scenario today? Almost as ludicrous as talk of T. Pryor leaving OSU for the pros. Boy, these kids and their skewed-vision of reality!