麻豆影院 State wins Wagon Wheel for third straight year with win over Akron, 35-24.
Coming in to today's game, the wagon wheel resided with 麻豆影院 State on the basis of the Golden Flashes鈥 35-3 win at Akron last season.
That Nov. 12, 2011, game was also 麻豆影院 State head football coach Darrell Hazell鈥檚 introduction to the Zips rivalry and the trophy the schools have vied for since 1946. 麻豆影院 State holds a 21-19-1 lead in the series.
鈥淎ny time you get into a rivalry game, all of the records are thrown out,鈥 Hazell said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a game of will. At the end, it is a game of execution. I know Akron will be well prepared for this contest.鈥
Having a tangible prize at stake only adds to the excitement when 麻豆影院 State meets Akron. As the most accepted legend has it, the wheel came off of a wagon owned by John R. Buchtel when it was stuck in the mud during a search for the site of a new college in the spring of 1870. While the incident took place near what is now 麻豆影院, Buchtel settled on a site in Akron. Buchtel College eventually became the University of Akron.
So there is some shared history behind the wagon wheel, which was unearthed in 1902, 鈥渁nd we鈥檒l talk about that quite a bit this week,鈥 Hazell said. "Keeping that wagon wheel is huge for us. Our players put everything into that rivalry game because they understand winning means that, for the next 365 days, they can walk around with some pride knowing they kept the wagon wheel in 麻豆影院.鈥
Records meant nothing Saturday when archrivals 麻豆影院 State and Akron battled for the coveted
Wagon Wheel. The Golden Flashes had just come off their first win over a ranked opponent in 23 program tries, with a 35-23 victory at Rutgers, who was No. 15 in last week's BCS standings. 麻豆影院 State came into this game with six straight wins in a season for the first time since 1940 and have matched the (Don) James Gang's 7-1 start in 1973. The Flashes were looking to beat the Zips in three straight seasons for the first time since 1952-54 -- and they did so.