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These are good times for sports at university
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal sports columnist
Published on Tuesday, Sep 09, 2008
A few years back, a coach at little old Vanderbilt, the Harvard of the South, was discussing an upcoming game against Florida.
Could this win be the one your program needs, said coach was asked. (It was one of those in-depth, probing questions the media are known for asking.)
Tick 'em off, the coach responded. Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee. Any one of 'em would be the win we need, he said.
This past Saturday, the University of Akron got one of those wins, over Syracuse, at Syracuse. Unexpected, pleasant, a win that draws attention, and a loss that prompts anguish and upheaval for the bigger school.
Now, the Syracuse of today is not the Syracuse of the Donovan McNabb days.
But for the Zips to go to the Carrier Dome and win, well it even drew notice from Peter King of Sports Illustrated, who wrote online: ''Akron by two touchdowns AT Syracuse? Akron. Wow.''
Of course, there was the obligatory swipe at Syracuse, as if UA did not really deserve to win.
Syracuse can talk all it wants about its failures, and there were many, but UA did not win because Syracuse did a Fosbury Flop. UA won because it did a lot right and deserved to win.
This was only the second time UA had defeated a BCS team, and it was the kind of win that can engender momentum for coach J.D. Brookhart and his team as it looks to the rest of this season and to the opening of UA's new stadium next season.
But whether the game is a new low for Syracuse — as King wrote — or the most recent new high for the Zips pretty much depends on how things go from here.
UA this Saturday plays a very, very good team from Ball State, which features a quarterback (Nate Davis) who will go in the NFL Draft.
Ball State could talk legitimately of finishing unbeaten this season.
The Zips have the game at home, which helps, and they now are buttressed by a strong game with several things going well.
Quarterback Chris Jacquemain was named the MAC East Offensive Player of the Week (how's that for being specific with an award?). UA scored twice in the fourth quarter after Syracuse had tied the game.
The Zips totaled 478 yards of offense, rushed for 218 and scored a touchdown on a 35-yard run on third-and-23.
All was made possible by the play of an experienced offensive line.
Jacquemain talked about how the Zips thought they could go to Syracuse and run the ball. It has not been frequent for UA to talk about doing that to a major conference school and actually do it.
They did.
Now the idea is to use the win as a springboard.
''Depends on how we handle it,'' Brookhart said.
He remembered 2006, when his team beat host North Carolina State. The next game, UA lost at home to Central Michigan. He said the Zips need to use Saturday's win as a learning experience, a block on which to build. Prior to the season, Brookhart discussed whether he felt pressure with a new stadium opening in 2009 and his team coming off two losing seasons.
He kind of chuckled at the question.
''You can say pressure, but I think we've been doing great things here, things that have never been done before,'' he said. ''We went to a Division I-A bowl game. We won a conference championship. We have a trophy to put in the case. We're doing the right things. We had 30 guys who were above 3.0 last semester with their GPAs. We've had very good GPAs except for one year, and then we made some major changes.
''The thing I like best is the character and chemistry of this team. Are we ever perfect in recruiting? Never. Nobody is. But I stand by my record.''
Athletic Director Mack Rhoades talked of wanting to win but doing it without problems off the field. UA has not had them.
In truth, these are good times for UA sports, with new facilities being built or planned.
Football had a big win, and men's soccer is off to a good start toward a national title chase. Several football players were part of a huge student turnout for the Zips soccer win Sunday over Cincinnati, a turnout that indicates the student body has heard the buzz.
Football now gets a chance to build on that win over Syracuse, this weekend at home against Ball State.
Syracuse was nice when it happened. But UA could take a lesson from that Vanderbilt team of a few years ago. Those Vandy guys beat Florida, but they lost the next five and finished 3-8.
The moral: At Akron, those program-building games pop up each and every week.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/mcmanamon/.
A few years back, a coach at little old Vanderbilt, the Harvard of the South, was discussing an upcoming game against Florida.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 08:47 AM, 09/09/2008
Go Zips
Posted 09:05 AM, 09/09/2008
Nice article that highlights the opportunities that await the Zips this season. Let's hope they take advantage of them. Go Zips!
Posted 09:10 AM, 09/09/2008
Go Zips beat Ball State. Let's fill up that old stadium on saturday.
North Hill, OH
Posted 06:10 PM, 09/09/2008
Let's GO ZIPS! See you at the bowl Saturday! 2-1 after Saturday, 3-1 heading into the cinci game!
cuyahoga falls, OH
Posted 10:58 PM, 09/09/2008
Way to go Zips. Keep it up!!!