A Brand New Offensive Line
By Matthew Hammond, Athletics Communications Intern (August 17, 2016)
Following one of the most historic seasons in the history of Akron football, expectations to exceed last year's achievements are high. Akron received four votes in the MAC preseason media poll to win the MAC East Division, as well as a vote to win the MAC championship game. The 2015 season brought the program its first-ever bowl victory in the second bowl appearance in school history as well as the most wins in a season since moving up to Football Subdivision (FBS) level play.
Moving into 2016, there are a lot of new faces on the team, particularly on the offensive line. All five starters from last year have graduated, and the line got a new coach. Former graduate assistant Brett Ekkens was promoted to offensive line coach, and his most experienced linemen are sophomore Kyle Ritz and junior Stephen Ericksen who have a combined nine starts, the second least experienced line in the country. The current starting center, LaVonne Gauthney, spent most of his time last season at tight end.
Even with all of the changes and being the fourth offensive line coach in as many seasons, Ekkens still understands the importance of having consistency in the leadership.
"We've had guys come into the program for a number of years, and they've had multiple coaches, but those guys have come in and worked hard every day. The guys in the program set the tone and the pace, so everything has to do with consistency," he said.
Losing all five starters from 2015 also means that the line needs new leaders, but Ekkens is comfortable in that area as well.
"I expect all five of my guys that are starting and are out there on the field to be leaders and set the tone for the offense. We always talk about being a unit; we don't list names."
Ritz made five starts in his freshman season, and he has the most starts of any lineman. Even so, he doesn't feel much pressure from the high expectations either.
"I don't feel any pressure; I'm around a bunch of great guys and great hard workers, and it's all about the team at the end of the day," he said.
Ritz also feels pretty good about the upcoming season. His expectations are high.
"I feel that we're pretty athletic and mean, so we'll get after it."
The most interesting piece of the line, though, comes right in the middle. From tight end to starting center, Gauthney will be making the snaps for the offense in week one. He doesn't have a ton of experience there, but he feels pretty good.
"I practiced a few snaps back in high school seven-on-sevens, so all-in-all I've got pretty much one year of experience there."
Like Ritz, he isn't too worried about having a new coach on the line.
"There are no concerns. It's just like coming out of high school and going to a prep school, dealing with new coaches here and there, so having a new coach is just having a new body, and you just listen to the coach, go out there and play."
Gauthney doesn't feel too much pressure either.
"We're all going to work hard together and push each other. If we play together as a team, we'll be fine."
Despite having so little experience across the board, there is a huge sense of confidence amongst the group, which is all you can ask for when the unit lacks reps. More importantly, the offensive line now has a completely blank slate, and they're all in together. With a proven starting quarterback in junior Thomas Woodson, a highly touted transfer running back in Warren Ball, and receivers like Jerome Lane and transfer JoJo Natson, there are enough pieces in place for the line to show that it can set the tone and be the anchor of an offense with the goal of a MAC Championship in place.
Akron opens the 2016 season with VMI on Sept. 3 at InfoCision Stadium - Summa Field. Kickoff on ESPN3 is set for 6:30 p.m.
Matthew Hammond is a freshman at The University of Akron, majoring in sport management. His blog will appear each Wednesday.
Akron Football Continues Pre-Gameday Tradition
By Melissa Powell, Athletics Communications Intern (September 20, 2014, Football)
As part of a long-time tradition, five student-athletes from the Zips football team stopped by Akron Children's Hospital Friday afternoon to visit with school-age children.
Before each home game, select players from the team volunteer to spend time with the children, play games, and go room-by-room to pass out autographed posters and other goodies.
Scott Boyett, Joe McNamara, Kyle Pohl, Nick Rossi and James Turner made the trip this week and were led around by Akron Children's Hospital Child Life Specialist Gena Valloric and volunteer Michelle Laskey.
Valloric has accompanied the student-athletes on their visitations in the past and is grateful for their generosity, as she sees the happiness and motivation they are able to bring to the kids who are working hard to get better.
"Unlike other people that come in and visit, I think what the University of Akron football team has offered the kids is a dose of normalcy. They come in, throw footballs with kids, play games or carve pumpkins. They do a lot of things to make the kids feel more normal in this environment," Valloric said.
Valloric and the children are not the only ones who can appreciate the visitations.
"I get just as much out of it as they do, just going down and seeing the kids' faces light up. Nobody ever wants to be stuck in a hospital, especially as a kid. You should be out running around, playing with your friends. Any time I could get down there, even if it's just one kid that we see, it makes a world of difference," McNamara said.
In addition to playing board games and visiting rooms, the trip even included a quick visit to the hospital's recording booth where the team was able to give some radio shout-outs to the children.
"What I like most about it is that, from a student-athlete point of view, you don't see yourself as that big of a deal" said Rossi. "But when you go to the hospital, just to see how much joy you can bring to a younger child or a even a teenager who looks up to you is great."
As visitations continue throughout the rest of the season, Rossi especially looks forward to a Halloween visit soon to come.
"My favorite part is when we go around Halloween time and carve pumpkins with them. They all come in to one meeting room and we all do the activity together, so it's always fun," he added.
Celebrating the life of Coach Tank...
By Gregg Bach (@ZipsGregg / @ZipsFB) Jan. 23, 2014, Football
View Alan "Tank" Arrington Photo Gallery
Tonight, Zips Athletics celebrated and memorialized the life of late football assistant head coach and offensive line coach Alan "Tank" Arrington, who passed away on Dec. 23 following an automobile accident in the state of Mississippi.
Several hundred people filled the fifth floor of InfoCision Stadium to hear eulogies from Zips senior o-lineman Jarrod Pughsley, Arrington's brother, Perry, and UA head coach Terry Bowden.
"He'd tell me all of the potential that I had," Pughsley said as part of his emotional remarks. "And he was the first person to say it like he really believed in me."
Arrington joined the Akron coaching staff prior to the 2012 season after six years at North Alabama. His last three seasons at UNA he worked under Bowden and in addition to being colleagues the two were the best of friends.
"He was always thinking about the things he could do for you," Bowden said during his remarks, to the players in attendence.
Much of Arrington's focus during the postseason was on improvements to the team's locker room and player lounge as well as a uniform redesign for the 2014 campaign.
Make a gift in memory of Alan "Tank" Arrington
PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge Saturday...
By Gregg Bach (@ZipsGregg / @FollowThe Roo) Nov. 2, 2013
, General, Football
Including one point being up for grabs when the Zips football team takes on Kent State at 3:30 p.m. at InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field in the annual Battle for the Wagon Wheel, 3.5 points are on the line today in the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge standings as volleyball plays at KSU at 7 p.m. (for one half point) and men's and women's Cross Country competes in the Mid-American Conference Championships this morning in Bowling Green, Ohio. (one point apiece for the men and women) (more below). The men's 8-kilometer race starts at 11 a.m., with the women's 6-kilometer run to follow at noon.
This is year three of the PNC Wagon Wheel Challenge, which includes competition between 15 of the schools' varsity sports. The first to score eight points is crowned that year's winner and Kent State currently leads 1.5-0. For more information and to follow updated standings, visit WagonWheelChallenge.com.
Today's main event comes on the gridiron, where the Zips and Flashes are meeting for the 56th time and 43rd occasion with the coveted wooden Wagon Wheel at stake. Akron leads the series 30-23-2, but since the Wagon Wheel trophy has been at stake (dating to 1946), Kent State holds a 22-19-1 edge. The Zips are 22-9-2 in the series when playing at home (1-1 at InfoCision Stadium). KSU has claimed the last three overall meetings (35-24 on Nov. 3, 2012 at Dix Stadium; 35-3 on Nov. 12, 2011 at InfoCision Stadium; 28-17 on Oct. 9, 2010 at Dix Stadium).
Prior to this three-game slide, UA had won three-straight and five-of-six meetings (2004-09), and this is the longest KSU has retained possession of the wheel since winning nine in a row from 1946 through 1954.
So, why do we play for a wagon wheel?
According to legend, the “Wagon Wheel” came into being in the spring of 1870 when John R. Buchtel, an Akron industrialist, at the insistence of Rev. Andrew Willson of the Kent Universalist Church, set out for Kent in search of a site for a proposed college. However, his wagon became
bogged down in the mud where Kent State University is currently located, the horses broke away and left bits and pieces of the carriage scattered, including one of the wheels, which remained wedged in the mud.
Buchtel eventually found his way back to Akron, where he settled on a site for Buchtel College, the forerunner of the present University of Akron.
During construction of a pipeline along the Western Reserve Trail in 1902, the wheel was discovered and eventually became the property of Dr. Raymond Manchester, who in 1945 as the Kent State Dean of Men, suggested the wheel be set up as an award to the winner of the annual Akron-Kent State football game.
Manchester had the wheel painted blue and gold, the school colors of both schools, and it has been a prized trophy ever since. Each spoke bears a plaque verifying the score of each game.
In 1946, Kent State defeated the Zips, 13-6, to capture the Wagon Wheel Trophy. After a KSU win in 1954, the series between the two schools went into hibernation. Not until Sept. 9, 1972, was the series revived. In that game, played at the Rubber Bowl, 25,131 saw UA grab a 13-0 lead, but KSU battled back to score 13 fourth-quarter points, and the contest ended in a tie. Akron was then awarded custodial rights for a two-year period for its first possession of the prized trophy since its inception.
One of my best memories from the rivalry series is much more recent, it came on Thanksgiving Day 2005 (Nov. 24). Played in blizzard conditions, UA downed KSU 35-3 to win the MAC East Division championship. Fans spelled out "MAC East Champs" and "Go Zips!" in the snow that covered the bench seating in the closed end of the Rubber Bowl.
Go Zips, Beat Kent State!
Tailgating food is something to cheer about
By Lisa Abraham, Akron Beacon Journal food writer, Oct. 9, 2013, Football
Photo Gallery
Sports fans, you can talk all you want about running backs and quarterbacks, but we all know that football would not be nearly as popular without the game-day food.
They should rename the sport foodball.
To prove this point, look no further than the tailgate parties at the University of Akron's InfoCision Stadium.
Read full Akron Beacon Journal story
Sometimes it's about more than football at a football game ...
By: Gregg Bach (@ZipsGregg), Sept. 23, 2013, Football
The Zips football program teamed up with a national charity group named Special Spectators last week. The organization arranges for seriously ill children and their families to attend local college sporting events.
UA played host to Nathan Stephens and his family at last Saturday's home game versus Louisiana. The 6-year-old, from nearby Barberton, is battling acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He was introduced to the crowd during a timeout and also had the opportunity to high-five the players when they took the field before the game.
You can read more about Nathan's special day in this Akron Beacon Journal article 
Special Spectators has hosted more than 6,500 kids at events around the nation and this fall alone will be part of 45 college football games.
A Michigan Fan Salutes the Zips
Courtesy of the Akron Beacon Journal, Sept. 18, 2013, Football
The following letter appeared in the Sept. 18 "Letters to the Editor" section of the Akron Beacon Journal.
I, like many Michigan fans, was complacent before the football game with the Akron Zips. We evenseriously discussed leaving after the third quarter if the score was 50-0, and the third string team was playing.
I had the pleasure of attending the game with my two sons. What we were treated to was a game for the ages and great memories.
It was a testament to the Zips and their coaching, talent, execution and perseverance. A lesser team would have crumbled in the Big House. Instead, the offense owned the front line, having twice the rushing yardage of Michigan at halftime.
It seemed that the Michigan offense was often going the wrong way, as it was being pushed back by Akron. Except for a costly interception in the end zone and a pass interference call, the game could easily have gone the other way.
The composure the Akron offense showed executing the final two-minute drill was impressive. It was a great teachable moment with my sons, showing them the power of passion, dedication andteamwork.
I do not know when Michigan and Akron will meet again on the football field, but I hope to be there. I have the utmost respect for their kids and their football program.
The Big House has been home to many memorable and storied games. This ranks with the best of them.
Kevin Lavery
Jackson, Mich.
The Turning Point is Upon Us
By: Dallas Moyer (@ZipsDallas), Sept. 16, 2013, Football
History tends to repeat itself...
How many times have you, as a college football fan, climbed out of bed on a Sunday morning and read about how a heavy favorite struggled and/or lost to a big underdog on Saturday the week following a big win? I've already lost count how many times it has already happened this season.
So the story came and went over the weekend as the Zips went into the "Big House" – the largest college football stadium in the nation and home to the program with the most all-time wins – and stood toe-to-toe with the No. 11/12 Wolverines.
The Zips out-played the Wolverines in many aspects, forcing four turnovers, holding UM to 30 percent in third-down conversion, etc. And when it came down to the end, a blitz on fourth-and-goal was the difference.
As Coach Bowden said today in his MAC Coaches Conference Call, "...rarely does a loss feel like a win, but this one does."
However, a loss is a loss. History may repeat itself, but history can also be changed. This team cannot be like the Wolverines and have a letdown following an emotional game.
So, what can we hope for this week?
We hope for a packed ZipsFest with fans on hand to welcome the football team when it arrives at 4 p.m. to face Louisiana.
We hope for InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field to be filled with an energetic, confident fan base, just like the team that took the field at practice today and that will take the field on Saturday.
We hope to see a team take the next step.
We hope to see the players carry the momentum and make a statement, a statement that can allow them to one day say: "I was there when this Akron Zips team took the program to the next level."
Coach Bowden talks about commitment when he talks about Zips football. Commitment to his players, to one another, to the program, to the university and to Northeast Ohio.
This team is committed to taking the next step...are you?
Football Embarks on Season-Opening Road Trip...
By: Gregg Bach, August 28, 2013, Football
The Zips football team opens its 113th season tomorrow night in Orlando when it faces UCF. A travel party of 142 people left campus around midday, caught a charter flight from Canton/Akron Airport to Orlando International Airport and quickly settled into the hotel to begin making final preparations.
Read our preview for tomorrow's game, which you can watch on ESPN3 or hear by way of Steve French, Brad Detwiler and Joe Dunn on the Akron-IMG Sports Network.
Get to know the opposition here.
