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ZIPS WANT FANS TO CALL PLAYS
AKRON -- The University of Akron football team will look to fans to call the plays -- at least for one drive.
The university will select an “Offensive Coordinator of the Game” for the opportunity to help script the opening drive of the team’s home opener with Robert Morris set for 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 12 at InfoCision Stadium.
The selected fan will work with Akron head coach and former Morning Journal sports writer Joe Moorhead to design the plays that will open the game.
“I’m looking forward to collaborating with the season ticket holder who wins this contest,” Moorhead said. “This will give our fans a behind-the-scenes experience that has never been done before anywhere, so I’m excited to show them how to put together the opening script and see what they can do.”
All current season ticket holders are automatically entered into the drawing with every season ticket counting as an entry. Season ticket holders will receive additional entries for every new season ticket holder they refer. The winner of the drawing will be announced on Aug. 19. See the Akron web site or call 1-888-99-AKRON for more information.
PRESIDENTS PICK
LATROBE, Pa. – After repeating as champions with their 28th Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) championship last year, Washington & Jefferson College was picked first in the preseason poll during the PAC Football Media Day on Tuesday.
Led by 24th-year head coach Mike Sirianni, W&J claimed 37 first-place votes and tallied 497 total points in the poll voted on by PAC head coaches, sports information directors and members of the medi. The Presidents went 8-0 in PAC play last year to earn the program’s 28th NCAA playoff bid and finished 8-3 overall.
Sirianni was a starting wide receiver on Mount Union’s first NCAA Division III national championship team in 1993.
Grove City College, which earned an at-large bid in the NCAA playoffs, was selected second with five first-place votes and 453 points. The Wolverines will play at Mount Union on Sept. 12.
Westminster College, which finished an 8-3 season with a victory in the Opendorse Bowl Series Extra Points Bowl, placed third with three first-place votes and 395 points. Ranking fourth was Case Western Reserve University with 361 points, followed by Geneva College, who earned an ECAC Bowl bid a season ago, with 339 points.
The 2026 season will be Saint Francis’ first in the PAC as the Red Wolves begin conference play while they reclassify from Division I to Division III. Saint Francis will play an eight-game slate in 2026, all against PAC opponents, but the games will not count in the conference standings while St. Francis reclassifies.
WILLIAMS SISTERS TO PLAY IN OHIO
MASON, Ohio (AP) -- The Williams sisters are back on track to playing doubles tennis ahead of the U.S. Open.
Serena and Venus Williams are set to take part in the Cincinnati Open, which begins next week. Organizers announced Monday they had received a wild-card entry into the doubles field.
They last played a doubles match together at the 2022 U.S. Open. It is their first time teaming up in the hard-court tune-up tournament in Mason, Ohio.
The Williams sisters received a wild-card entry to play doubles at Wimbledon, but an injury to Serena prevented that from happening. They have won 14 major titles and three Olympic gold medals in doubles play.
Venus Williams, 46, is set to play mixed doubles at the U.S. Open later this month in New York alongside Alexander Bublik. She and her younger sister playing at Cincinnati is the latest step in Serena’s comeback at age 44 after losing at Wimbledon in her first singles match in nearly four years.
BUCKEYES RANKED No. 1
Ohio State and Oregon hold down the top two spots and the Southeastern Conference has five of the top 10 teams in the USA Today preseason coaches football poll released Tuesday.
The Buckeyes received 38 of the 72 first-place votes and were well ahead of the Ducks, who got six first-place votes.
No. 3 Georgia received seven first-place votes, No. 4 Texas got two and No. 5 Notre Dame five.
Defending national champion Indiana was No. 6 with 14 first-place votes and was followed by Miami, the team it beat in the College Football Playoff championship game. Texas A&M, Oklahoma and Mississippi rounded out the top 10.
Texas Tech, at No. 12, was the highest-ranked of four Big 12 teams in the poll. The SEC, with nine, had the most ranked teams.
No teams from a Group of Six conference were in the Top 25.
Ohio State went 12-0 in the 2025 regular season before losing to Indiana in the Big Ten championship game and to Miami in the first round of the CFP. The Buckeyes return a Heisman Trophy finalist in quarterback Julian Sayin, one of the nation’s top receivers in Jeremiah Smith and an experienced offensive line.
The Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll will be released at noon Eastern on Aug. 17.
WVU INKS PATCH DEAL
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- West Virginia athletics has announced a jersey patch partnership deal with Antero Resources for all 18 home and away uniforms in the department. The deal is a five-year partnership with the company, marking the first jersey partnership in the school’s history.
"This is an historic day for West Virginia Athletics, and I am grateful that Antero is part of the Mountaineer family," Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker said. "More than 500 Mountaineer student-athletes proudly wear the West Virginia jersey, competing and representing the University and the state in front of millions each week on the national stage. Now, Antero shares that jersey with us and will play a key role in our future success.”
The jersey patches will have the Antero Resources logo above the Nike logo and will have different colorways to “ensure visibility” on all iterations of the home and away jerseys. The Big 12 also inked a $20 million multi-year deal with Monster Energy this summer, making it the brand entitlement partner for football and basketball in the conference. Part of that deal includes a jersey patch sponsorship.
Antero Resources is one of the largest producers of natural gas and gas liquids in the United States. The company is now based out of Bridgeport, West Virginia.