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December 22, 2015Before each college football season starts, every team sits down and sets their goals for the year. For blue bloods like Alabama or Ohio State it’s “Championship or Bust.” Non-brand programs like Iowa or Washington aspire for a division or conference title. Some teams, like the Akron Zips, just want to go bowling. The Zips accomplished that goal in 2015 during their 7-5 campaign. For the first time since 2005, Akron will appear in a postseason game, aiming to win their first bowl contest in program history. They play the Utah State Aggies in the Potato Bowl at 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
When head coach Terry Bowden arrived in Akron in 2011 he inherited a team in shambles. Under Rob Ianello, the Zips stumbled through an underwhelming season and finished 1-11 with an eight-game losing streak. Bowden’s first year in the Rubber City did not go much better. An identical 1-11 record befell the Zips in 2012, though they managed a four-game improvement in 2013. Entering 2014, the club seemed poised to make a run at a winning record as most of Bowden’s recruiting class was maturing on schedule. Instead the Roos replicated their 5-7 record, missing out on bowl eligibility in the last week of the season at the hands of their archrival Kent State. Still, Akron could sense progress on the horizon.
It’s tempting to say that the pre-Christmas bowls are unnecessary.
On November 21, Akron journeyed to Buffalo with a 5-5 record. The visitors took a 14-point lead to the locker room at halftime and stepped on the gas in the second half to earned their sixth win of the season. In the finale against Kent State, the Zips blanked their rivals, 20-0, and reclaimed the Wagon Wheel. Riding a four-game winning streak, Akron received their postseason assignment: A Potato Bowl matchup with Utah State.
The Utah State Aggies’ offense begins and ends with one man: Chuckie Keeton. The fifth-year senior from Houston will no doubt be a prominent part of the Aggie gameplan on Tuesday. Reynolds’ cannon arm allows him to throw the ball deep with high precision. Simultaneously, his speed can break linebackers’ ankles past the line of scrimmage. Two seasons ago, Keeton seemed poised to lead USU to the top of the Mountain West. Some even included him in the Heisman conversation. However, a left knee injury sidelined him for all but three games in 2014 and when he came back in 2015, the team took a step backwards.
Utah State endured a rocky 6-6 (5-3 Mountain West) season while finishing third in the division. Still, the Aggies are no strangers to the bowl scene. Between 2012 and 2014 Utah State won 11, 9, and 10 games, respectively, with a conference title thrown in. This season the Aggies started 4-2, including a win over No. 21 Boise State, but finished a disappointing 2-4. In the season finale loss to BYU, Keeton set the school record for most career touchdowns with his 61st TD toss. Bowden and the Zips will need to respect Keeton’s arm and legs in Idaho if they want to stay in the game.
It’s tempting to say that the pre-Christmas bowls are unnecessary. No one would allege the Potato Bowl has as much heft as the New Year’s Six or the CFP Semifinals. However, to the players on both teams there is no place they would rather be more than Boise, Idaho in late December. The Zip seniors who once endured a 1-11 season now have a chance to deliver the first bowl win in program history and end their collegiate careers on a high note. Terry Bowden understands the stakes. “It’s a credit to these players and, again, the accomplishments they’ve done,” Bowden says. “And so much of it is the journey as much as it is the destination when you go to a bowl. And for these guys to come from where they’ve come from to the first bowl game in 10 years it’s very special, very special for these guys who worked so hard.”
Making a bowl game is progress. Winning a bowl game is history. The Zips can deliver an early Christmas present to their students, alumni, and fans on Tuesday. Their next goal involves a trophy.
4 Comments
I only want two things this bowl season: a Buckeye blowout of the Irish, and a Utah State beat down of the zips.
Really nice post!
Go Zips!
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