2010 Week 13

t's time once again for two college teams that are 10 miles apart and both wear blue and gold to play a football game for a horse-drawn wooden wheel.

Maybe it doesn't get national recognition, but the Battle for the Wagon Wheel is the only thing close to a historic football rivalry here at Kent State.

Notre Dame has Southern California, Ohio State has Michigan and Kent State has the Akron Zips.

In case you don't know, a blue-and-gold wagon wheel is the prize given to the winning team in this annual contest, hence the name. To get you up to date, here is a bit of history about how the contest evolved.

As legend has it, Akron founder John R. Buchtel was traveling about Northeast Ohio in search of a place to build a college. It was 1870, so Mr. Buchtel was at the disposal of a horse-drawn carriage. While traveling through Kent, his wagon got stuck in some mud. And when his horses tried to pull him out, the whole thing broke to pieces.

Fast forward 32 years and Akron and Kent State are just a carriage ride apart from each other. Unbeknownst to Buchtel, one of his wagon wheels was left behind in pristine condition buried in the mud. Kent State Dean of Men Raymond Manchester found the now-legendary artifact and decided it would make a great trophy for a yearly football contest.

This will mark the 50th meeting between Akron and Kent State all time and the 37th battle for the Wagon Wheel. Akron owns a 27-20-2 advantage in the all time series, winning eight of the last 10. If history repeats itself, then the 24-7 halftime deficit was coming true. " ...This is a big rival" said Senior QB Morgan before the game. Whatever Coach Gallo told the players during halftime worked. The players stormed out of the Locker room jumping and screaming like they won the National Championship. Senior WR Robinson Connected with Giorgio Morgan with a 10 yard pass in the opening minutes of the 3rd Quarter to make it 24-14, right back in the game. Next possession after the Defense stopped them was a 5 yard run by Adam Flowers. After Shutting Akron down in the 3rd and 4th Quarter, Kent St had one more shot to win it. On the 35 yardline on 4th and Long, Kendrick Pressley ran a button route on the right hand side, looked back as the ball was on its way, bobbled it and retrieved it, broke not one, but two tackles on his way to the game winning touchdown.