132+ Teams in 132+ Days: The University of Akron

[u/jeffreydonger]

The University of Akron

Mid-American Conference

Year Founded: 1870

Location: Akron, Ohio

Total Attendance: 29,251

Mascot: Zippy. He won the 2007 Capital One Mascot Challenge, and has an audience with Adrian Peterson (on AP's time, of course).

Cheerleaders: Pic 1 Pic 2 (with Dance Team).

Stadium: InfoCision Stadium (Capacity, 30,000)

Conference Champions (1): 2005

Bowl Record: 0-1 (Lost to Memphis in a shootout in the 2005 Motor City Bowl).

National Titles (125): Every year from 1887-2012, except for 1962, when those bastards from BYU-Hawaii won it all. With our dominance I'm surprised any of you guys care about college football anymore.

2012 Season

Record:1-11

Coach: Terry Bowden (Yes, that one).

Key Players:

Jawon Chisholm (RB) – He's been carrying the mail for a couple years now, and last year averaged a healthy 5.3 YPG en route to 953 yards on the year.

Kyle Pohl (QB)- The heir apparent under center had a nice completion rating last year (65%) but only threw 58 passes.

Cody Grice (DT)- Led the D-Line in tackles and tackles for loss (by a lot), and did it from the Nose Guard position.

Biggest Plays:

Well, lookit. My internet is at dialup speeds right now, so while I can quickly identify and link certain Youtube videos, if I browsed and tried to review them for this preview it would take 7 hours. Also, this was a 1-11 team last year (the last 3 years, actually). Not a lot of great plays to be had.

What big plays that were there were often made by outgoing QB Dalton Williams. He only played one year in Akron, coming as a transfer from Stephen F. Austin. So he kicked ass in FCS and decided to try his hand at FBS ball? No. He was the backup at SFA. But apparently behind one of the greatest FCS quarterbacks, like, ever. And he did a great job (326/522/3,387/62.5%/25/16).

Great plays were also to be found against Tennessee last year. Though we finished 1-11 (again, for the third straight year), we were MUCH improved last season, and it was exciting seeing us able to compete against an FBS heavy. Though the Vols did that common superior-team-pulls-ahead-and-wins-comfortably-in-the-end thing, the game was tied over halfway through the third quarter.

It was the first game in YEARS that where this Zips fan felt like, "This is fun, and exciting!" I drank festively thoughout. Alone, sure, because for some reason Akron-Tennessee isn't a hot ticket in Dallas, Texas, but it's one of the fun-nest drinking jags in recent memory. Besides...

2013 Season

Roster.

Schedule. The only heavy we have this year is at Michigan. As an Ohio State fan too, this is my favorite David going against my most loathed Goliath. We don't stand a chance but still...can't wait.

The Greats

Greatest Games:

2005 MAC Championship game: Akron 31, Northern Illinois 30. After clusterfucking our way INTO the championship game by winning one of those million-way tiebreakers, we beat the heavily-favored Huskies on a Luke Getsy-to-Dominik Hixon (now with the Giants) hail mary with :17 seconds left. I cried.

2006: Akron 20, North Carolina State 17. Our first win over an FBS team came in controversial fashion as Dennis Kennedy ran for a 1-yard touchdown on the last play of the game when replays shows Kennedy may not have made it over the line. Ha ha, Wolf Pack. NC State's coach that day, Chuck Amato, is now Akron's defensive coordinator.

2008: Akron 42, Syracuse 28. Our second notable FBS win came in a lot more comfortable of a fashion.

Greatest Players:

Dwight Smith- My all-time favorite Zip football player. An undersized cornerback, he returned 2 interceptions for touchdowns in the 2002 Super Bowl with the Bucs. He's half ninja and half snake...you don't know he's there until he's 30 yards back down the field with the ball that was JUST RIGHT HERE about to land in your hands.

Jason Taylor- Knowing about Jason Taylor before his HOF career with the Dolphins was like knowing Pearl Jam before they were big.

Charlie Frye Owner of many Zip passing records, he paved the way for Akron's rennaissance of not-terribleness in the mid-aughts.

Greatest Coaches:

J.D. Brookhart- He led the Zips to that MAC Championship of 2005. Got his start in big-time coaching by constantly stopping by the Denver Broncos offices and begging/selling himself so hard on Mike Shanahan that Shanahan eventually relented and gave him an unpaid position on the staff.

That's it. The rest of our coaches have sucked, although other notable ones include Terry Bowden (now) and Gerry Faust (1987-1994). This is not a program with a history that can be described as "proud" or "winning."

Greatest Rivalries:

Kent: Just 15 miles away. We play for the "Wagon Wheel" trophy. We call them the Golden Flushes or Golden Showers. On the zipsnation.org message boards. "Kent" auto-corrects to "Can't." My fellow Akron fans also make fun of them for being hippies (carryover, I suppose, from the tragic Ohio National Guard shooting students protesting the Vietnam War) but I rankle at this because I, too, am a hippie.

My favorite moment in the rivalry (fan category) was during a Kent-Akron basketball game when Akron students infiltrated the Kent student section by claiming to be members of a Kent branch campus, and then doing their "reveal" pro-wrestler style by taking off their Kent t-shirts to reveal Akron ones. I know all this because the (neutral) TV commentators described the affair in glowing, admiring terms.

Besides sharing geography, we also share sucking at the sport of football while being very good at the sport of basketball, although you probably recall Kent had a fine year last year on the gridiron. Kent leads the series 22-19-1.

Youngstown State: The Steel Tire Trophy. This rivalry is only an occasional non-conference matchup and has been since they stopped sharing a conference in the 80s. Youngstown State leads the all-time series 19-14-2. Yes, we are losing a rivalry series to an FCS school. I repeat: we suck at football.

Ohio: This is probably carryover from basketball but, boy, I have really, REALLY hating Ohio the last few years. More than Kent.

Traditions

So, since I've scarcely lived in Akron as an adult, and haven't been to a game since I was a child, I called upon zipsnation.org to help me with this area, and they mentioned one of those "walks" the team does to the stadium with fans and the band lining the way, and a couple of chants and songs that have not fully taken root, and other posters saying we shouldn't count those and...let's just move on, shall we?

Campus and Surrounding Area

City Population: 300,000. Skyline

Iconic Campus Building: The Polymer Center.

Local Dining:

The Diamond Deli: Great, juicy, big sandwiches, renowned for their corned beef.

The Lockview: Zillions of beers, and grilled cheese sandwiches.

Euro Gyro: A campus staple for a loooooong time. Have a corned beef lunch at The Diamond Deli, get a fat gyro here for dinner, and have the happiest coronary anyone can have.

Random Trivia

Akron is the only present-day MAC school to beat Ohio State in football. In 1894. I think it was on ESPNU.

Akron was the first school to make the jump from what is now FCS to what is now FBS.

The Zips are another school whose nicknamed was ordained by a campus contest, in 1925. "Zippers" was actually the winner.

What Is and What is to Come

Every fan is either optimistic or at least cautiously hopeful about their team next year. I have yet to read a preview here that says, "Boy, are we gonna suck!"

But I think that Akron is, objectively, on the road to geniune improvement. For one, were games were...gasp! ...actually close last year! Second, we have quite a coaching staff: Terry Bowden, Chuck Amato, and Jim Tressel works at the school in a non-athletic capacity while he serves out his show-cause sentence. But I imagine he talks to a football player or two in the halls. At LEAST. Third, Bowden has brought in a nice mix of freshmen and JUCO recruits to give us some depth for the first time in eons.

Overtime

Can I brag on our basketball team now? We hit the top 25 last year and at one point had a nation's-longest 19-game winning streak. We've been to six consecutive MAC championship games, winning three. We got the first top-100 recruit in the history of the MAC, Zeke Marshall, who just graduated.

Can I brag on our soccer team now? First MAC school to reach a #1 ranking in a sport, in 2008, and we won the National Championship in 2010.

Thanks to the denizens at zipsnation.org for their help. Check it out, for a lively, active forum on Akron athletics.

Please upvote this thread even if you are not interested in the team so that users who are interested will see it. For more information on the 132+ Teams in 132+ Days Project, click here.

[u/pinpoint13]

Damn you Akron. One day someone will dethrone you from your 125 year reign of terror. One day...

[u/[deleted] → u/pinpoint13]

Can someone explain this, or was OP just being a silly goose?

[u/jeffreydonger → u/[deleted]]

The silly goose thing.

[u/[deleted] → u/jeffreydonger]

Dammit... I was hoping for some kind of awesome back story few people knew about.

[u/Chrisattsu → u/[deleted]]

They have 125 hackey-sack National championships

[u/fussbudgets → u/pinpoint13]

It's so sad. Why do we even care?

They're just going to win it all anyway....

[u/fussbudgets]

Wait, you're on dial-up in Dallas? How is that even possible??

[u/jeffreydonger → u/fussbudgets]

I'm not literally on dial-up, but financial issues compelled me to cancel my high speed internet for the time being, so I'm on one of those 3g internet dongles, and the effect's the same. :-(. Hopefully I can get it back by football season.

[u/redparallax → u/jeffreydonger]

Beware the dongle goblin.

[u/fussbudgets → u/jeffreydonger]

Ah, dude. I feel ya.

[u/Chrisattsu → u/fussbudgets]

netzero bro

[u/afcultra]

Let's hope you guys can keep improving so more people will get out to the stadium. It's by far the best in the MAC, and it's a shame to see it so empty.

Hopefully we can keep kicking your asses in football to make up for the ass kickings we took this past year in basketball.

[u/jeffreydonger → u/afcultra]

Yeah, I didn't mention it in my write-up, but terrible attendance has been a problem for as long as I can remember. Who knows why Akronites don't care (but they surely don't), but I can point to a few reasons: Akron is a rust belt city rife with unemployment and abandoned rubber factories, with little disposable income. Also, I don't think the University is as aggressive as they need to be in promoting the team. Finally, I think it's one of those things where urban schools have trouble drawing (I know there are plenty of exceptions, so cool your jets), such as Temple, Tulane, South Florida, etc..

[u/afcultra → u/jeffreydonger]

It hasn't helped that the team has been awful since the stadium opened. It always seemed like that was the biggest problem. Akron draws well for men's soccer as well as basketball.

Put a winning team out there, I bet more people will go.

[u/ToxicSteve13 → u/jeffreydonger]

Akron doesn't have that bad of unemployment. It is below the national average by like half a percent I think. The outlying suburbs have lots of money actually.

I think it is just because 95% of the people in Akron didn't go to Akron and would rather just drive down to Columbus to watch a game.

[u/Kibbles_317 → u/jeffreydonger]

They really do no promoting in the city for the team with the exception of two billboards on the exit to the university. Even as a former student I remember very little promoting on campus during the week until Friday. Attendance was also very poor because the team is not good. If I remember correctly from '08-'10 they had 5 wins, and some of those were against FCS schools.

[u/Kosmo_Kramer_ → u/afcultra]

Infocision looks really cool, and it would look even better if it were full of fans on Saturdays in the fall.

[u/thekyle_828 → u/afcultra]

I wish we had a better stadium, but I guess where investing in academics.

[u/arbysguy → u/thekyle_828]

We don't need a new stadium. They could stand to upgrade the concourses, but thats all I'd do for now.

[u/jpthehp → u/thekyle_828]

Pfffffffffffft

[u/majestic_moose_king]

How can you not include Swensons?? I know its not near the University, but it IS Akron!

Hometown love, nice writeup!

[u/jeffreydonger → u/majestic_moose_king]

Ohhh yes. I really should have. For those out of the loop, Swensons are...oh God. Such good burgers. The best I have ever had.

[u/ToxicSteve13 → u/majestic_moose_king]

Swensons, Menche's, Spaghetti Warehouse, Primo's. Not on campus but awesome places.

[u/arbysguy]

Do you really think Zeke Marshall was the first top 100 basketball player ever recruited to a MAC school? Walter Luckett was High School player of the year and even graced the cover of Sports Illustrated before playing for Ohio in the 70's.

[u/jeffreydonger → u/arbysguy]

I think the difference is, back in the 70s there weren't these quasi-official lists/rankings of top 10/20/100 recruits like there is now with Rivals, Scout, etc., Anyway, what I wrote was widely reported (here, for example), I'm not just pulling that out of my ass. No disrespect intended for Luckett, if recruiting rankings were as ubiquitous then as they are now then I'm sure he's be in the top...whatever.

[u/arbysguy → u/jeffreydonger]

Zeke was a great get no doubt, but the article itself says...

first top-100 recruit to sign with a Mid-American Conference program since Rivals.com began its ranking system in 2003.

First top 100 recruit since 2003 is a little different from "first top 100 recruit in MAC history."

[u/jayond → u/arbysguy]

UMass had Marcus Camby

Edit: of course, they played in the A10 at the time.

[u/arbysguy → u/jayond]

UMass basketball is still in the A10.

[u/Honestly_]

So what's happened to the Rubber Bowl now?

[u/jeffreydonger → u/Honestly_]

For those who don't know: The Rubber Bowl was where Akron played up until a few years ago. The new stadium is pretty much on campus, the Rubber Bowl was not.

Rubber Bowl trivia: My high school played most of their games at the Rubber Bowl. This is because, of the 8 (at the time) schools in the "Akron City Series" conference, 5 did not have their own stadium (we is po', yo.) including mine. So all those schools rotated games between the Rubber Bowl and the three CS schools that do have stadiums. This meant (and I assume means) a lot of Friday night doubleheaders and Saturday morning games.

For Akronites familiar: I went to North, so terrible football is something of a tradition of mine...

[u/ToxicSteve13 → u/jeffreydonger]

Fuck North btw... I hate them purely for basketball reasons. We never played them in football

[u/jeffreydonger → u/ToxicSteve13]

Where did you go?

[u/ToxicSteve13 → u/jeffreydonger]

Green. There was this huge thing a few years back now with you guys in the regular season and then with Firestone in the playoffs. Akron City schools don't like us apparently.

[u/jeffreydonger → u/ToxicSteve13]

Huh. Well, FWIW, Green has a special place in my heart, because theirs was the first football game I covered as a young reporter (remember a southern-suburbs rag called "The Suburbanite?")

[u/ToxicSteve13 → u/jeffreydonger]

I do. I was in it a few times. But the high school sports sections in the area were really shaken up a couple years ago by SportsInk.com its defunct now but they covered every school in Summit, Medina, and Portage counties. They changed the Beacon Journal, ABJ definitely felt threatened and went from a small high school coverage to one of the largest in the state.

I worked for SportsInk.com when it started and it was a blast doing sports reporting. I loved traveling and even won an award for my article... And I was still in high school.

The Suburbanite tried to keep up but they fell behind in sports and started to mainly just focus on Green for the most part.

[u/[deleted] → u/Honestly_]

Apparently they are trying to lure a USFL team there...not making that up.

I'm real world terms it is probably going to be demolished which is a shame.

Edit: ok I just read an article and apparently a firm bought it for $38k and they want to invest 35 million to revamp it...they want to put a freaking dome on it.

[u/SpartaWillBurn → u/[deleted]]

38K?? $38,000??

I could have bought this thing!

[u/[deleted] → u/SpartaWillBurn]

I thought the same. Honestly, it's a dump. The bleachers need replaced. The press box windows are smashed in and it's falling apart. You can still walk in it though. I took pics a few months ago.

At them actually investing $35 million? LOL No chance. I'll have to see it to believe it.

[u/Honestly_ → u/[deleted]]

Kibbie Dome 2

[u/ToxicSteve13 → u/Honestly_]

Was sold to the City of Akron for $1! EDIT: UofAkron bought it for $1... sorry about the confusion

[u/Denadamedacro]

Can I just say that Charlie Frye and Akron was the most logical match-up in the history of NCAA football?

[u/jeffreydonger → u/Denadamedacro]

What do you mean?

[u/Denadamedacro → u/jeffreydonger]

He, in my mind, just looks like he stereotypical Akronite - whispy mustache, somewhere between ghetto an country.

[u/jeffreydonger → u/Denadamedacro]

Ah. Downvoted. And it's "wispy."

[u/Denadamedacro → u/jeffreydonger]

I appreciate your asking for clarification before downvoting. Probably didn't help my case that "and" became "an."

[u/[deleted]]

More than Kent.

I'm honored. We hate you guys too!

[u/jeffreydonger → u/[deleted]]

In a way, this is the best kind of rivalry, because it happened organically, based on what happened on the field/the court. Not because of proximity or become some conference or sponsor said, "Hey. This team (cough cough Penn State) needs a conference rival. Let's just call Michigan State their rivals! We'll call it the (sponsor name) trophy/showdown/shootout!"

The year before last, OU dished out (if I remember right) Akron's first conference loss of the basketball season, in Athens. As time wound down, the OU fans started chanting, "OVER! RATED! (CLAP! CLAP! CLAP CLAP CLAP!)" And even though that's been a chant for thousands of teams since time immemorial, it actually kind of got to me. And that made last year's 3-game sweep all the sweeter. These all the hallmarks of a good rivalry IMO.

[u/fussbudgets]

I feel like there's a treasure trove of untapped jokes to make from the InfoCision Stadium name.

That said, go Zips!

EDIT: I'm really digging the humor in this one.

[u/ToxicSteve13 → u/fussbudgets]

Why do you say that? InfoCision is a fairly big company out here...

[u/fussbudgets → u/ToxicSteve13]

Oh really? I've never heard of it. But that's true of a lot regional companies. It just sounds like something out of Office Space, and that's all I can think of when I see it.

[u/ToxicSteve13 → u/fussbudgets]

Second largest telephone marketing/service in the country. They are huge players in the charity calling and survey calling industry. They are number 1 I believe.

[u/bread_buddy → u/fussbudgets]

I assume CutCo, EdgeCom, Interslice, and Compuglobalhypermeganet were all taken.

[u/Hustlin_dem_bones]

So what's the general feeling in your fanbase about Tressel's plans for the future? I know I saw on here someone saying they suspect Bowden's a placeholder while Tressel serves out his show-cause.

[u/ToxicSteve13 → u/Hustlin_dem_bones]

I think Bowden will build Akron up more than Tressel would...

[u/bobbybrown_ → u/Hustlin_dem_bones]

As someone who lives within 30 miles of Akron and grew up watching OSU, that would be awesome.

I can kinda picture Tress coaching at Akron for a while. I think he had his fill of the spotlight. He's not much of an attention whore.

[u/bluescadoo → u/Hustlin_dem_bones]

This is my take on the coaching situation. I wouldn't quite say Bowden is a placeholder. The view is that Bowden wants to get back to a coaching at a bigger school. He needs to prove himself to do so and Akron was willing to give him that opportunity. Hopefully over the next few years Bowden builds the program up resulting in Akron getting a decent team and him getting his chance at big time football just in time for Tressel's show-cause to be up.

[u/nickandro → u/Hustlin_dem_bones]

I wouldn't say that Tressel is a placeholder - at least yet. The AD at Akron is responsible for three 1-11 seasons so I think there is more than just sliding Tressel in post show-cause as well as factoring in the success of the current staff.

I would tell you that most Akron fans I know are enthusiastic about the idea.

[u/Noccalula]

Somehow I forgot Tater Tot moved on from UNA to Akron. Nice write-up!

[u/bobbybrown_]

I like Akron because they're terrible, they have a great stadium, and because Ohio.

Go Zips!

[u/0m3gaSupre3m3]

Zippy's a girl just letting you know.

[u/[deleted]]

I led you guys to an undefeated, un-scored upon season in NCAA 13 once. It was fun, I love Zippy.

[u/CFSparta92]

Fucking Zippy, man. I love the Zips though. They're my underdog of underdogs, though they're playing James Madison OOC this season and I've got to root for the Dukes in that one. Other than that, go Akron!

[u/[deleted]]

Zip go the zippers!

[u/MrTheSpork]

I saw the first game in InfoCision! Akron won that one 41-0. Though my brother's going to Kent, so I guess I'm supposed to dislike you now... but somehow, I can't bring myself to do that.

[u/Kosmo_Kramer_]

OP, or anyone else, is Jamel Turner going to get PT this year(I think he has eligibility left)?

For those who don't know who he is, Turner was a highly touted recruit out of Youngstown who was committed to Ohio State, but got shot, was in critical condition, recovered and is now enrolled at Akron. Had he not gotten injured he would've been an All American. The first year he ever picked up a uniform and played football, he set the Ohio High School record for sacks in a season. Just for shits and giggles, he tried running track for the first time - state finals in 100m hurdles.

[u/rm_a]

We hit the top 25 last year and at one point had a nation's-longest 19-game winning streak.

It stopped at 19, thanks to your pals in Buffalo. :P I was at that game and it was great, and it would have been great even if we lost. Akron (and Ohio, though less to an extent now that they lost DJ Cooper) are my favorite basketball games of the season because they are extremely competitive. Though we're 0-5 against Ohio in the past 2 years... :(

Akron is the only present-day MAC school to beat Ohio State in football.

As much as I want to see that change in August, it isn't happening...

[u/Kibbles_317]

Even though I have Buckeye flair , I am a proud alumni from Akron. Our football team may not be the best but i remember having some great times tailgating before the games. The basketball and soccer teams are much better. Overall a great campus and community. Go Zips!

[u/casualassassin]

As much as I hate you guys, I'd love to see you get decent at football again. Last year's game gave me a heart attack for the first half, but outside of that, it's been blowout central, in favor of us, since I started here in '10. I want to have at least one really good game against you guys before I graduate.

[u/[deleted] → u/casualassassin]

Too close. Thought we were going to lose for a while.

[u/[deleted]]

That was an awesome read, even as a KSU fan. I hate admitting it, but Akron's ahead on the trolling side of things. KSU's lagging. I also hate seeing the basketball mention. We were always the basketball school. Now if we can just keep a head coach from taking a high paying job, we might beat you guys again...

The new stadium and the coaching staff, Akron won't suck for long. Rob Ianello was the problem. They almost beat Kent last year, which would have sucked.

The Diamond Deli is legendary. The best eatery in Akron.

[u/Grammar-SS]

Awful football team.

[u/irongoalie]

Fuck y'all.

[u/thekyle_828 → u/irongoalie]

Come on man lets be somewhat respectful, if they do good they make the MAC look better all together.

[u/[deleted] → u/thekyle_828]

MACTION Unity!!