Recordpub.com - Wagon Wheel rivalry begins again

The call to arms has sounded at Kent State.

Just last week, KSU head coach Doug Martin said he understood why the long-suffering fans of the Golden Flashes have been slow to embrace a 2009 team that had battled its way into contention in the Mid-American Conference East Division.

After the Flashes extended their winning streak to three games in impressive fashion Saturday against Western Michigan, Martin asked his program’s dubious fan base to join the fight.

The Flashes aren’t asking students and alumni to channel the fans of the 1969 New York Mets and show up to games carrying signs reading “We Believe.”

They just want them to show up, and a good start would be Saturday when the Flashes make the short trip to the University of Akron.

The only shame in Saturday’s 26-14 win was the fact so few fans showed up to see arguably the most well-played game at Dix Stadium in the last decade. Kent State announced a crowd of 15,206. In reality, only around 5,000 showed up, and that is a generous estimate.

“The people that were there, man, my hats off to them,” said Matin. “They were outstanding. And boy, the sun came out in the second half and it was a great day. We really appreciate them being there.

“But we need a crowd. We need a home crowd. That’s our responsibility. We have to win to get those people to come. I hope they are seeing that now. And hopefully (Saturday) we get more people.”

Martin called the short 14-mile trip from Kent to Akron’s brand-new InfoCision Stadium, “the same thing as a home game.”

“We can get as many Kent State people there as Akron people,” he said. “I hope that will happen.”

If Kent State can beat Akron on Saturday, they will head into their bye week preparing for a battle for first place at Temple on Nov. 21.

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STUDENT TICKETS AVAILABLE — The University of Akron has generously released an additional 250 tickets for Kent State students to purchase at a discount.

General admission tickets at 30,000-seat InfoCision Stadium typically cost $20. KSU students can now pick up a seat to Saturday’s game for just $10 at the M.A.C. Center ticket office.

KSU is hoping its students take advantage of the opportunity by showing up and having an influence on the game.

In fact, Kent State students can take a lesson from their Akron counterparts in how to invade a visiting stadium or arena. No students in the MAC are better at making their presence known in enemy territory than the Zips.

Remember when Akron’s students used a Trojan-horse-style attack at the M.A.C. Center for a men’s basketball game a few years ago?

They blended into the crowd by showing up in KSU T-shirts and cheering for the Flashes during the game’s first few minutes. At the first time out, they tore off their KSU attire in unison to reveal their true colors. It was devious and inspired and it added to a great atmosphere that day.

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TRADITION TAKES A BACK SEAT — Kent State-Akron week has a different feel this year, at least in Kent.

As KSU turned its attention to the Zips on Sunday, Martin told his players, “I don’t want to hear anything about Wagon Wheels and rivalries,” said Martin. “All of that will take care of itself.”

Traditionally, all of the talk at Kent State and Akron during rivalry week has centered on the Wagon Wheel. The two teams started playing for the trophy back in 1946. Since then, every team that possesses the wheel has focused on keeping it. The other team has dreamed of getting it back.

Akron re-claimed the Wagon Wheel in 2007 with a 27-20 win at the Rubber Bowl. They earned the right to keep it last year with a 30-27 come-from-behind win at Dix Stadium.

The wheel’s two-year residence in Akron may privately grate on KSU’s players, but in public, they are following their coach’s lead and talking about bigger goals — like winning a division championship and keeping their bowl hopes alive.

The Flashes’ current three-game winning streak has been built on single-minded approach. They have remained focused on just the game ahead by calling every Saturday “a one-game MAC championship.”

“Regardless of the rivalry, we are going to approach this game the way we do any other MAC game,” said senior receiver Jameson Konz. “We need the ‘W’ and that’s all that matters.”

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AND IN AKRON — The focus is still all about the rivalry and the Wagon Wheel in Akron, and it should be.

The Zips once promising season has been sabotaged by injuries, including the loss of two starting quarterbacks. Just as Martin and his players have in past years, J.D. Brookhart has adjusted its focus to attainable goals.

They can’t win a championship, but they can keep the Wagon Wheel, and along the way they can spoil the title hopes of their arch rivals.

Gozips.com has a link to a video “message from Tom Wistrcill and the Zips about the Wagon Wheel Game,” where the first-year athletic director learns about the rivalry and the importance of keeping the Wagon Wheel for Akron players and coaches, both past and present.

“I don’t think I understood the significance, and then after we lost it, I figured out how much it meant,” Brookhart says in the video. “It’s a source of pride in this community and the school.”

It’s an impressive production laced with highlights from last year’s game at Dix Stadium, and it ends with Akron’s own plea for fan support.

“Now you know how much this rivalry means to us,” Wistrcill says at the end of the video. “We hope it means the same to you. We need you to come out and support the Zips. Bring your friends, bring your family. ... Come cheer us on to victory. Watch us carry the Wagon Wheel around the stadium again.”

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EARLY ODDS — Kent State (5-4, 4-1 MAC) opened as a three-point favorite to beat Akron (1-7, 0-4) on most Las Vegas betting sheets.

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David Carducci can be contacted at dcarducci@recordpub.com