Well when my buddy Paul said he wanted to get together and watch the MAC Championship last night I have to admit I was a little skeptical. But since the game featured the Akron Zips, I figured why the hell not. And this turned out to be one of the best games I watched all season (and I watch a lot of games given my basement is packed with 5 TV's each with a different game on every Saturday). So yea..this game was money. Akron had never been to a bowl game even though they had a winning record last season. So they were shafted, but this year with the power of LeBron they came through...
So coming out of haltime the score was tied up at 10-10 and Akron was keeping pace with the heavily favored Northern Illinois...isnt MAC football exciting? So N. Illinois scored twice in the third to put Akron in quite the hole not to mention killing the attention span of Herbie and Mike Terico in the booth. Yes, if you tuned in you heard Herbie say don't watch any of the games this weekend cause they will all suck..love it. So Akron goes down big in a pretty intense game actually.
4th quarter begins and Akron makes a quick score to make this game watchable, but after a 52 yd field goal by N. Illinois, we felt like the night was over. Granted it was only 10 points, but they were moving the ball at will thanks to their mini version of Reggie Bush. But the Charlie Frye replacement, Luke Getsy, drives on down the field and scores quickly. But after hogging the ball for almost 5 mins, N. Illinois scores going up 30-24 with about 3 mins left. Ok 'we' can do this so Akron is driving than bam..interception. Damn tipped ball. At that point with about 2 mins left things weren't looking to good. But our D stepped it up making some big stops and combining that with our last 3 timeouts, it's Akron's ball again. No timeouts, 81 yards to go. MAC football baby. So Getsy drives us down the field against an awfully tired N. Illinois defense (it was sloppy trust me) and gets to their 36 yd line...then LeBron steps in.
#23 of the Zips (Domenik Hixon) who was taken out of the game for heat exhaustion, wanted back in. They put him in towards the end and boy did that pay off. Luke hit Bron's number for a 36 yard TD with 10 secs left and there we go..a 31-30 victory, the first Conference title in the school's history, and a trip to the Motor City Bowl.
the power of Bron can not be underestimated...
So yea folks I just gave a recap of the MAC championship, but I am not nuts. For me, Paul, and Gaffbag it was easily one of the best games we watched all season. Herbie was even going nuts and proclaimed it the game of the week.
MAC football..good stuff..
5 comments:
Great game review. May I add the feeling of "Ohioness" (see Mr. LeBlog's first post) that came over us when the pick was thrown. But great job by the LeAkronites never to give up.
ironic that the conference champs, a team from ohio, will be rewarded with a trip to the big bowl game in detroit. alls i'm sayin is that i'm just sayin...
I was on the phone and text messaging these guys all game and it was sweet. Akron Zips baby. Did anybody see "Zippy" (the kangaroo mascot) fall on his face in the stands. It was histerical and Herbie/Tirico loved it. That game was truly one of the most exciting games of the season. The passion those guys played with was stuff only a game like that or the Turkey Bowl could provide. It was Lemazing. The #23 and LBj reference by Mr. LeBlog himself bring a smile to my face and made me chuckle. The part about referring to The University of Akron Zips as "our" team... now come on. I'm an Akronite also, but I would never call the Zips my team. I am very disappointed in you my Buckeye friend.
Shout out to Zips soccer, who lost in the tourney today to maryland 1-1 (4-1 in a shootout). The Zips were ranked number one for a few weeks this year before losing to Indiana, the first time ever in any sport that an akron team has been rakned number 1. Kudos to Ken Lolla's squad for a great season.
Anyone catch the LeBron-Damien Wilkins matchup last night at Seattle. LeBron won the battle, but Damien and Jesus Shuttlesworth won the war. C'est la vie. For those who don't know, Damien, son of Gerald and nephew of 'Nique, played middle school ball at good ol' Revere Middle School, just a few miles north of St. V-St. M. He never played high school ball here because Gerald got traded to the Hawks, but maybe he deserves a place on the wall of fame next to Jeffrey Dahmer and Andy McCollum (i think he still plays OGuard for the Rams). Damien and LeBron played on a summer league squad called team jam here in akron. http://www.teamjam.org/basketball_directory.htm.
My props go out to MaSug for the Team Jam link. It is a sweet site. I didn't realize how many Akron hoopsters there are around the globe. I was going to mention the #1 Akron Univ soccer team today. It was a great game, they just came up a little short. Akron has truly gotten a lot of respect lately and it is sweet. Hearing and reading about the hometown is special. I love it.
By the way, McCollum is a ProBowl Center for the Rams. A great Revere Alum... Copley who... (Paul)?!
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