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Z-I….

I have a lot of thoughts this week. Number one, that was a frustrating game to lose and one I felt we should have won. I’ll give credit to BG in that they have some playmakers and If the ball bounces their way they have enough firepower to beat some above average teams - as demonstrated in their win over Marshall. On the flip side, they tend to give up big plays and if their QB is not playing, or even having an off game, I can see how they could lose to just about anyone. With that being said, we lost this game due to a number of our own mistakes. OFFENSE QB - As we suspected in the preseason, the offense (this year at least) hums at the rate Irons can take it. He hit some big passes and also had some well thrown balls dropped. Conversely, Irons missed on some open receivers and held the ball too long at times. Irons looked gassed on the last drive and that probably played a part in his accuracy and decision making. RB - It was refreshing to see Price get downhill and do some things we expected to see when he was recruited. Still not sure why Norrils has not seen much PT, but one thing is clear, we are missing an explosive running back and this offense will need to continue to rely on Irons’ running ability. WR - It seems Adams is due for one big drop a game, but outside of that he was impressive creating separation. SJL continues to have an excellent season. I was disappointed in George. For whatever reason, he did not seem to be fully immersed in the game and did not attack the ball like he has in previous games. TE - Banks is obviously a big target and creates mismatches in the passing game, but we need more out of him. I believe it was Brank who dropped a perfectly placed ball down the seam by Irons. JoeMo has been excellent in the past exploiting the TE mismatches, but so far we are not getting the consistency we need from that position. OL - Looked like Landers started at LT along with Robarge at LG. Daniels and Banes came back in after a series or two. Pretty sure Lyons and Kilbane saw time throughout the game as well. The OL coach is clearly trying to find a combination that works, but inconsistency has been the theme here. Whigan and Williams have been solid on the right side, except Williams continues to collect holding penalties. DEFENSE DL - I thought Thomas and Harper were excellent. I noticed Thomas hustling down the field in an attempt to clean up missed tackles by others. I’m pretty sure I saw Holt get a few snaps. The other DTs that played did not seem to have much effect on the game. Jones, Morton, and Johnson each had their moments at DE, but I expected to see a higher level of play from them. LB - Not sure what was going on with Bubba, but he did not start (although he did play). Behm started and there was a clear drop off in production. McCoy was the other starter. Regular rotation of Fish and Boateng, who had their moments against the run. Terry finally saw action in the back half of the game and looked good. Again, not sure where he’s been. Richardson was back this game. I noticed him play, but I don’t recall seeing him do much noteworthy. CB - Hooks and Durant started at CB again. Durant was the target of choice by BG. What has happened to Golden-Nelson? I thought he had that spot locked down after the first two games. He’s gone MIA and in turn that CB spot has become a position of weakness. Threatt played and did not look good. Amankwaa played his first game on defense and looked solid. I expect Amankwaa will receive more PT as the year goes on. Lewis and Hence played the Nickel, but Hence struggled in pass defense again. S - I believe Thompson and JKP started while Martin rotated in. Again, hit or miss in this area. Thompson came down to make a number of tackles but his run fits weren’t always the best, which has been the case throughout the season. It was good to see an opportunistic interception by Martin. Too many missed tackles by this group and the entire defense. SPECIAL TEAMS I’m not going to rehash the obvious goofs on ST yesterday. I will say not having a kicker with a strong enough leg to put the ball through the end zone is tough. Our tackling was not up to par when we needed to consistently cover kickoffs, therefore giving BG excellent starting position on most of their drives. The team definitely showed resolve and fight to the end, but had far too many mistakes. The missed tackles were infuriating. I can understand a handful of missed tackles against P5 teams, but I’m fairly certain we missed more tackles yesterday than any other game this year. What made the missed tackles even more disappointing is the majority of time our DC called the right play/alignment to put our players in a position to be successful. There is probably going to be some doom and gloom in our fan base after this loss, especially after we beat BG last year, but last year has little bearing on this year. This team is close to getting over the hump. As much as we’d all like it to be, progression is not on a linear upward trend. It’s choppy and sometimes requires taking a step back before two steps forward. I’m disappointed that we lost, but more so in the sense that we are so close to moving up the MAC ladder and did not take advantage of the opportunity yesterday.

I made the trip to Knoxville with my wife. It had been a couple years since I'd made a Zips road trip, so I was overdue. Irons was indeed fantastic. Amazing he could move the Zips against a top SEC defense, with no threat of a running game whatsoever. It seems Gibson made the smart move transferring to Georgia Tech. It is probably better to sit the bench close to home, rather than do it 600 miles to the north. It'll be interesting to see what Joe tries in order to kick start the Zips running attack. Norrils can break some tackles. Like others have said, I'd like to see him get a crack at a few consecutive series. Bungling in the red zone was costly. Missed FG, dropped passes, fumble...a shame the Zips never gave themselves a chance to make Tennessee sweat a little. And for my wife and me to cheer a little. If Irons got UA Player of the Game for his valiant performance coming off an injury, co-POTG would be Noah Perez. Off the bench, as a 140 lb true freshman, hits two FG's in front of 90,000+ hostile fans. I think there were 50 names from the 2021 roster that weren't on the 2022 roster. Even with 32 scholarships to give, that's an impossible number of holes in the dike to plug. Cornerback recruiting seems to have been the primary victim of that numeric impossibility. Being outscored 115-6 in the past two games is beyond rough. But Arth and Larry Williams left a huge mess for Joe and Co. to clean up. They'll get it done, but turning around a D1 football program that has beaten no FBS programs outside of BG in the past 4 calendar years is not an overnight process. You don't plant a garden on Monday, and eat tomatoes on Friday. The Tennessee fans were predominantly nice. Fun environment. Result aside, we had a great time. Beautiful day in the south. Ate too much. Drank too much. That's what life's all about. 😁

The Beacon sports page is up to 7 pages?! I'll assume 6 of them are ads for ED treatment?

There's a lot of Zips football media content posted, but it's interspersed throughout multiple threads. For ease of searchability it seems like it may be a good idea to consolidate them in a single thread. Let's see how it goes.

Figured this deserved it's own thread. Will bring a lot of artistic entertainment options to the heart of downtown.

Zips finally figure out how to score touchdowns in the red zone and come from behind to win by a narrow margin of 31-28. Wife and I just moved back here from California. This is our first game in person in MANY years.

Not sure where this would fit best, so I'll put it here. So damn cool, these clips give me chills! This era of Zips football just felt different. They were tougher, and grittier. Joe can bring that magic to Infocision!

- Irons looked fantastic. From his pocket movement, to decisions, to ball placement, he was excellent against a strong P5 defense. - Tennessee showed a different defensive front than MSU and our OL really struggled getting any push in the run game. - Once the run game gets going, this offense will be fun to watch as that’s when JoeMo becomes so good at finding all the mismatches/open receivers. That’s predicated on a successful run game though. - Caden Clark saw playing time, but is clearly behind Banks and Brank. He has the ability to become a really good player once he settles in. - Wiley tried, but was often bullied in pass pro. - Still not sure why Norrils is not receiving more PT. He’s done some good things the past two games. - Bubba had a whale of a game. - Thompson and Martin were second and third in tackles respectively but that is misleading. They missed their fair share of tackles and were often late coming down to help or did not squeeze their run fits well, which led to big runs by the offense. - No one in the secondary was spared this game. Tennessee went after Hooks and Hence first half and was unbiased in the second half. - Robinson saw his most minutes at DT and had a few promising plays. He’s not much of a pass rusher, but can be a force in the run game when lined up correctly and fires off quickly. - Harper was doubled almost all game. - As athletic as Fish is he really struggled with Tennessee’s counter and misdirection plays, often getting caught badly out of position or allowing a block to climb to him. - Thomas was used as a DE first half and was ineffective. He tried speed rushing but that caused a loss of contain and he rarely got close to the QB. - I did not see Terry this game and Boateng started. - I don’t think Golden-Nelson played the first quarter. Not sure what was going on there. Hooks and Durant started at CB, Lewis at Nickel, Thompson and Martin at S.

I was at the Liberty vs. Wake game yesterday. Here are my thoughts about Liberty. Offense If I needed to describe their offense yesterday, it would be in two words: opportunistic and talented. Opportunistic - To be fair, their offense made some mistakes in the first half and that probably cost them the game. Now, in the second half they took what was in front of them and moved the ball great. Had they been more opportunistic, and probably adjusted to what Wake was doing faster in the first half, ESPNU would be talking about another G5 school upsetting a P5 school. Their run game moves the ball on first down and makes it easier to move the ball. Their QB is smart about when and when not to run. Talented - They have some burners at WR who also make good catches. After the catch, they are very shifty. Very reliable group. They have a decent offensive line. After halftime they were able to slow down Wake's rush and move the ball better. The QB was still under pressure, but not under siege. Their offensive line is the weakest part of their offense, but still a good group. If the offense Liberty put on the field in the second half shows up in Akron next week, they will hang 50 on the Zips. Defense My word description for this group would be: focused. They came to Winston-Salem with a game plan to stop Wake's running game and not give up a flood of big plays. I think they accomplished both. Liberty held Wake to 26 yards rushing on 21 carries. Wake lives and dies with the Sam Hartman to A.T. Perry combination down field. Everyone knows Hartman by now, but a lot don't know Perry. He is a very tall WR destined for the NFL and destroys teams downfield. Liberty held him to 33 yards on 4 catches. Wake could have done a better job of throwing some intermediate passes, but that isn't the nature of their offense so they were forcing the ball downfield a lot even though Liberty decided those plays would not beat them. In the second half, this group played great. For most of the second half, Wake's offense was confused and out of sync. Liberty also forced two interceptions out of a QB not prone to throwing them. Their defensive line made Wake's look like what I think they really are, average. They got just enough pressure on Hartman to throw off his game. I hope the Zips do something to move the pocket around against this group. Their first down defense was great. Zips need to find a way to move the ball on first down more consistently than Wake did. Special Teams Their biggest success was a blocked punt through the end zone resulting in a safety. On kick offs, they had a lot of success retuning to their left so the Zips need to watch out for that. Liberty's PK has a huge leg and can easily place kickoffs through the back of the end zone. He also made a +50 yard FG with relative ease for a college kicker. Coaching Going into halftime, it was something like 20-8 in favor of Wake. I really thought with Wake getting the ball to start the second half and their ability to move the ball late in the first, the game would quickly get out of hand and a sold out homecoming crowd could head to the bars early. Whatever they did, it worked. Actually, I think "whatever" was just Liberty playing better. Their offense is extremely creative and they are well coached in it. The two things I would be upset about today if I was a Liberty fan were: the decision to go for two with 1:10 remaining in the game and the play call. Liberty had a ton of confidence and momentum. I would have tied the game, gone into overtime and trusted my team. Second, they ran a form of the "Philly Special" for their two point play. I don't like trick plays to begin with and I hate them with the game on the line. I would have passed and given my QB, who was playing great at the time, a couple of options in the end zone and allowed him to make a decision. If the play would have broken down he had great legs and could have run in if the opportunity presented itself. I have seats on the 50 (actually, the 48) and could see from my view the play had no shot from the start. Too slow developing and Wake played disciplined defense on the play and had it well covered. The WR had no shot to do anything with the ball. I just felt like the decision and play were a form of desperation and they were too in control of the game for desperation.

It might help if a sweatshirt isn't $69.99.

Sunday's match was the first live action that I have seen since the Rubber Bowl. I was over stunned! The speed, precision, total dominance. I kept wondering, "were we that good, or was Northern that bad." That totally soothed Saturday's pain!

No mercy! 4-0 Zips shortly before half.

To roughly quote Ricky Bobby... With all due respect, and remember I am saying with all due respect, the idea of not putting your best staff on your top 25 soccer program ain't worth a velvet painting of a whale and a dolphin getting it on.

I now live about an hour and a half outside of Lynchburg and plan to drive in for this game. Any other Zips fans plan to attend? I brought my daughter to Liberty for a track meet last year and their campus and athletic facilities are out of this world. Beautiful surrounding area too if you're into mountains and hiking. I don't know much about their team other than they finished the year as a top 25 team in 2020 and their QB from last year was drafted in the 3rd round. I did a little research on their fan site. Looks like Charlie Brewer, who was a 4-year starter at Baylor, transferred in and was set to be their starter this year but went out for the season their first series of the season. They're now down to their 3rd string QB, which is the guy that played against Wake, Kaidon Salter, a former 4-star recruit. Looking at their schedule, Southern Miss taking them into OT gives me some hope, but a win over UAB and a stupid coaching decision away from a win over Wake Forest doesn't bode well for our rebuilding Zips. Regardless, I'll be there rocking my blue and gold, so if anyone else is coming down and wants to link up, let me know!

DJ Irons is ranked 35th in the nation for pass completion percentage with 67.4% according to NCAA FBS stats In addition he has not thrown an INT

Here! Sitting at the Knox Brew Hub with a smoked porter. Fun city!

QB 1) Irons = 71 RB 1) Wiley = 65 2) Price = 6 WR 1) SJL = 59 2) A. Williams = 12 WR 1) George = 51 2) Gathings = 20 WR 1) Adams = 29 2) Golden = 38 TE 1) Banks = 38 2) Brank = 37 LT 1) Gray = 50 2) Daniels = 21 LG 1) Banes = 68 2) Lyons = 3 C 1) Robarge = 36 2) Georges = 35 RG 1) Whigan = 65 2) Kilbane = 6 RT 1) Williams = 58 2) Chambers = 13 Notable ST Players: Hester = 25 Naim = 25 SJL = 19 Price = 18 Brank = 14

We will be in Bloomington.

So far in the young athletic season, ZTV sports has really stepped up their student-run UA athletics content. In the final segment of each episode, they're spotlighting classic Zip moments. In the latest edition, they talk to Jared about the 2010 experience. While old news to many, I still love to re-live that moment in time any chance I get. And every time I do, I get more and more hungry to see the program do it again. I linked for the video to start at the final segment, but I would encourage you to watch the whole episode so the folks over at ZTV can see that we're enjoying the good content!

Zips #20 in the Coaches Poll, up from #25 last week: https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-di-men/

Hang in there GP1 because this is where Akron is heading starting in 2023. I think the MAC is going to place limits on these sacrificial pay games. The one P5 will include limits like no scheduling top 30 teams from outside your home state. Also a minimum of 6 home games.

Great team win last night. Joel Sangwa is my mid season pick for team MVP. He brings such stability and skill and confidence to the center back position.

You hire a coach for the long run. You want a guy who will build a legacy. Coach Jo will do just that. He gets it and he gets Akron. Just watch his presser and you realize he wants to deliver a win as bad as we want one. Our mistakes will be corrected and we will cease to beat ourselves. That will happen because we have good coaching and we are growing our talent base. Neither of those two happened under Arth or Bowden. The process may be painful at times, ala BUGS and Liberty, but the foundation is emerging. We haven't seen this engagement from the coaches or the team in a long time. From that base Jo will turn it around.

Agree Clark. Hubby and I at the game and when the punt debacle occurred, we both said, "Last two seasons this game would be over." And we were proud the way the Zips came back and made a game of it. Like you said, they kept fighting, kept trying to find a way to win. Small victories, indeed.

Wow. Spot on post by @catdaddyp. Thank you for making this board even greater than it was, we're so happy to have you here! I don't think I disagree with anything said above. I am bummed that we haven't seen Golden-Nelson the last couple of weeks, and I hope that whatever injury he has sustained isn't too serious. Joe hasn't been hiding that info and has been pretty open about it, I just don't think he's been asked. Perhaps someone will submit that as a question during the live video of Zips Live this week. There's an advanced metric box score I always like to check out on CollegeFootballData.com https://collegefootballdata.com/boxscore/401416609 A lot of it is over my head, but there are a few things I like to look at. Postgame Win Expectancy yesterday was BG 69%. That metric is essentially who would win the game if it were played again with the same stats, etc. Sure enough, if a couple bounces go a different way, this would have been a big homecoming win. For example, we all know Golden's muffed punt cost the game, a few of us said as much the second it happened. It flipped momentum, and instead of being down 3 and getting the ball to open the half, they were down 10. Well, BG did the SAME THING at the SAME EXACT SPOT ON THE FIELD! That was shocking to me, and kind of hilarious. But he was able to pick it up and evade a couple of tacklers to get out of bounds at the 12. That ended up as an 88-yard TD drive to make it 31-21 early in the 4th. That is football being football, and man did it pee me off. Grimes did play early, but was not dressed for most of the game. I have a feeling this wouldn't have happened with Tony in there. Damn damn damn. Another thing I like to look at on the advanced box score analysis is called Scoring Opportunities. It measures the points a team scores per scoring chance, which is defined as moving the ball inside the 40-yard line. BG made 9 trips inside the 40 on offense, netting 24 points, and 2.67 points per opportunity. The Zips, on the other hand, made 4 trips inside the 40, scoring a TD every single time (Adams TD catch was 41 yards, close enough). It's nice to see the offense turning these sustained drives into touchdowns more often, that's 5 quarters in a row finding the end zone! Just need to do it more than once a quarter. I also emphasize 3rd down efficiency on offense and defense a lot. Akron was one of the worst 3rd down teams coming in, but put up a very impressive 11-17 number yesterday. The threat of running the ball is the difference there. Later in the game, I felt a rare confidence in the Zips' ability to do either, and that's credit to Joe for once again being a mastermind in playcalling. I loved the QB draw calls and thought DJ was a smart runner, sans the fumble. Still holds on to the ball too long at times, and it's going to be hard to win games where you take 6 sacks. The defense struggled on 3rd down, giving up 7-13. They got decent pressure, but could not finish plays with hurries and sacks. McDonald had his best game against Akron and made some big time clutch throws. He did just enough to eek out the win that was served up to them on a platter. I still say that Akron should have won that game. I'm definitely bummed, but far from discouraged as to the progress of the program. I predicted this result pretty spot on, and I expect more games like this as we move through the season. The Zips are bad and at the bottom of the MAC, that is no surprise. Going from distant worst to middle of the pack/above average is what I was hoping for, but definitely not expecting. I've been thinking a lot about who I would compare this team to, whether in football or a different sport. In football, it reminds me of Kent in 2018, Lewis' first year. While he had Woody Barrett as a brand new QB, we've got a guy who played occasionally last year, and might as well be new with this new system. Some old guys who lost a ton sprinkled in with some new guys who show promise. But the same results in the win/loss column despite a new style of football and much more competitive games. On the basketball side, it feels like the 2018-2019 Zips. A team that did much better than the year before with an overhauled roster, that shows great flashes of potential but still can't seem to rack up the wins. That team also set itself up to win games and then shoot themselves in the foot constantly. I'm becoming a broken record, but I see a lot of these issues as growing pains, whether it be the players or the staff. This is one of the youngest staffs in the sport, with a big group of guys that have lost a butt-load of games and don't know how to win. I recommend listening to last week's edition of Zips Live to hear more about the staff construction, interesting stuff there. But words cannot describe how much better I feel about the program now than I did 365 days ago, that is for sure. Yesterday was nothing short of a heartbreaker, and these last 7 games could be a struggle, but I believe in the man on that sideline and I can see his vision playing out already in its early stages. Go Zips!

Bought my family 4 pack of seats for this one for $40. No fees, just $40. Make this an option for EVERY game! Sell more tickets, especially to people like me that have young kids.

70 now and partly cloudy, with a 12% chance of rain. Beautiful, and will probably change about 7 more times before Saturday. Scot Loeffler will return to the BUGS sideline after missing last week's game against Mississippi State due to health reasons. Hope everything's ok. This will be my oldest daughter's first University of Akron sporting event. Let's make it a good one!

In Joe We Trust! Go Zips!!!!

It's a steal. Packs the long, cold winter with entertainment.

https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-di-men/ zips drop from 14 to 15 .....in this week's coaches poll other zip opponents in coaches poll Pitt goes from 10 up to number 8 Ohio State (after tieing Akron and defeating Indiana) jumps from 22 to 13 Indiana drops from 15 to 16. Duquesne has a 6-0-1 record and is tied for 25 in this week's poll FIU and Western Michigan both received votes in this week's poll

I would say a few factors off the top of my head unfortunately play into this: 1. Akron football has not been a very good product for a long time. I get ragged on by a few people I know, who are sports fans, for having season tickets to Zips football. However, they have admitted they would probably go to games if the Zips produced good teams, or at least competitive teams. Their losing ways for SO long has turned a lot of people off. If they start winning consistently, I think people would be more interested. 2. Ohio State. I hate to say it, but in Ohio, many children are Ohio State fans and grow up watching them with friends and family. Even if no one in their friends or family ever graduated from Ohio State, people are still bred to watch them. It's easy, they always win, get a lot of coverage, so forth. Kids go to Akron for an education, but many will stay in their dorm or go to a local bar on a Saturday and watch the Buckeyes play on Saturday, even though the Zips have a home game on campus. This is frustrating!! 3. Coverage by local media. It is non-existent and any articles written by ABJ feel forced sometimes. I think the fact that no one, including the local media or university, really even promoted the fact that people could get FREE tickets to the home opener is a sign of how much change needs to happen on that front. I need to get back to work or else I'd go into further detail on these points, but those are just some thoughts off the top of my head. My suggestion: Win, plain and simple. And push local promotion of the team.

Highlight of the night was the healthy return of Sammy Tojaga. Hard working young man. Sammy was very good on the 2018 National runner up team Sammy and William Portman will be great leaders for this team over the rest of the year. If the zips can figure out how to defend corner kicks, this could be a very good team. I want to rewatch the key moments of the game......to see the very key no-offside call...and the very key offside call. Ryan Kingsford looked the best that he has all year. Great performance by him (with Shooky out). I agree with what the announcers said that they heard from Coach Embick. they said "Coach Embick said that Mitch Budler has been very good as GK this year. IMHO - Mitch has made some great saves against high powered talented teams

I don't know how you came to this conclusion, but I took this the exact opposite. I understood this tweet as Guthrie saying he had no control over the schedule, but if he did, Akron would not have played 2 Top 25 teams.

A few takeaways: - Joe mentions how well Jones has played. - He also spoke about Lewis and how well he’s played at the Nickel spot. Includes that’s the way they want to build with homegrown talent. - Said Boateng had a much better game than in Week 1. - Joe again brought up McCoy and how he thinks he will be a star here. - Said Whigan again graded out as the top OL and that Banes had a solid game. Joe thinks Williams may be the most physical lineman. - Joe said that Tennessee has a bigger OL than MSU. A few things I noticed from the highlights: - Cam Threatt looked good again the second time around against MSU’s backups. - Thomas was firing off the ball quickly against MSU’s backup OL. - Robinson is a big dude, but was often slow firing off the ball. - Regarding Boateng - what I like about him is the way he hits and tackles. Now if he can improve on reading his keys, getting off blocks, and the other minutiae of the LB position, we’ll really have something. Until then, I imagine he will continue to back up Terry.

A real feel good story. A great video also accompanies the article. What a quality young man. Very proud he's in blue & gold!

I want to give credit to the coaching staff for making a key adjustment. The zips were getting run over in the first part of the 2nd half. Akron's holding midfielders were not getting the job done. Akron's coaching staff stopped OSU's momentum by moving Jonas Buechte to holding midfielder. Jonas did a much better job of holding on to the ball in the midfield. Jonas made a spectacular play......and made a great pass to Stefan Dobrijevic. Dobrijevic made a great header for the 3rd goal. The coaching staff first brought in Frias to replace Jonas as CB. Frias (to be kind) did not shine. Coaches again made a quick adjustment to bring in the reliable veteran (William Portman) to play center back. I think that last Friday night and tonight clearly show that the Zips need Jonas Buechte most at Holding midfielder. If the coaches had not made the adjustment when they did, I am convinced that the Zips would have lost tonight. Yes, there were times during the game...where I was upset with the lack of possession....and non marking on corner kicks. However, the zips played this game without their best player....(IMHO).....Dyson Clapier. Captain Will Jackson has missed the last 2 games. I thought that Ashton Kamdem played a good game at left defensive back. All MAC selection in 2021 ...Ryan Kingsford...is not 100% healthy . Stefan Dobrijevic had by far...his best game as a zip. He was very active. It is very hard for a freshman to step in for a star like Clapier. However, I applaud Stefan for the huge strides in his game. Stefan's give and go with Malik Henry...when the zips were playing 10 on 11...did not lead to a goal.....but it was beautiful soccer by Stefan and Malik. The zips will be better down the road....as Stefan had to have gained tremendous confidence tonight Yes, we will remember Shooky's red card...and Shooky will be really missed in the game at Pittsburgh. That being said, Shooky had his best game as a zip. He really showed his speed tonight. His assist to Kingsford was outstanding. His goal involved very good decision making and great skill. This game was super physical. 13 fouls for one team and 9 fouls for another team. The ref lost control of this game. When the zips were down 2-1, they were getting mauled. I am proud of the effort that the team made to fight back to take the lead. Credit again to the coaches for the Buechte move.

Day to day for Irons is certainly encouraging. Just save him for Liberty if he's good to go or even just MAC play honestly.

I was there in 2012, Bowden's first year, when we jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a pick six, took the lead 23-20 in the second quarter on 70 yard run by Quentin Hines, and were only down 30-26 into the 4th quarter. I felt like I was the only Zips fan in the entire stadium that day (went with some Vol fan friends) and boy was I making some noise. They pulled away at the end for a final that didn't reflect how close the game was, but man, 100,000 people dead silent listening to you go nuts is an incredible feeling.

I thought that, until Irons was injured, it was the best a Zips team had looked since we beat Northwestern. Great offensive play calling and execution (sans turnovers, of course)...fast and aggressive on defense. We looked like we belonged on the same field as a solid Big10 team, for an extended period of time. I wasn't too keen on seeing more of Irons running. Not because he isn't a great running QB, but because he's not proven to be the most durable Zips QB. And he's our key to a competitive season. I was so encouraged by how we looked to begin the game...and by the beginning of the 4th quarter I had to turn the TV off. I've seen how that type of beatdown plays out too many times over the past few years. You get tired of repeatedly hearing the opponent's fight song, and seeing the opposing fans mugging for the camera and dancing in the stands. Undercuffler has less arm strength than Irons, less pocket awareness, and can't run nearly as well. It is a big step down. I hope Irons is healthy by MAC time. With him healthy, we are a solid MAC team, and can win at least 4 MAC games. Without him, I don't know how much Joe can coach up a kid who's glory days were 3 years ago, against the likes of Central Connecticut State, Bryant and Lafayette. If anyone can, it's Joe. Maybe we run the wishbone against the Vols next week? 😁 I'll be in Knoxville. I've seen the Zips lose every game they've played against a P5/G5 opponent not named BGSU for the past 4 calendar years, so waiting another week or two for Joe and Co to start seeing results of their work in the win column ain't no big thing. 🦘💪

I learned in our run to the title in the spring of 21 not to pay any attention to TDS. They have Marshall setting at #13 after whipping #2 Pitt and WVU at #10 after getting thumped by #2 Pitt and unranked Penn State. TDS looks and sounds a little cliqish to me. Enough about my rant on TDS, just stopped by to wish Akron good luck against the Hoosiers. And its nice to have Akron back to their old self as a player in the college soccer world.

Depth Chart from Week 1 and snap count is below. I put an asterisk by the players who backed up two positions. DE 1) Morton (39) 2) Johnson (42)* DT 1) Hawkins (41) 2) Wilson (27) 3) Thomas (3) DT 1) Harper (60) 2) Sy (19) DE 1) Jones (70) 2) Johnson (42)* LB 1) Arslanian (46) 2) Behm (29) LB 1) Boateng (20) 2) Terry (42) 3) Fish (17) OLB/Nickel 1) Thomas (24) 1) Hence (13) 2) Lewis (41) CB 1) Golden-Nelson (57) 2) Durant (40)* CB 1) Hooks (55) 2) Durant (40)* S 1) Martin (38) 2) JKP (49)* S 1) Thompson (64) 2) JKP (49)* Notable ST Players: Howze = 20 Adler = 19 Thomas = 19 Arslanian = 15 Terry = 14 Conroy = 13 Jackson = 12 Behm = 11

He talked a lot about his staff and how they’ve managed this year, despite a lot of them being on the younger side. Mentioned that it’s hard to build an experienced staff with the budget he’s got. Which kind of goes back to that Athletic article. Said BG will be a tough matchup, they’ve got a nice little pass rush. And McDonald is an experienced QB that can put points on the board in the offense. Also, on the topic of coaches being out for games (Loefler missed BG’s game last week, hope he’s doing well): he talked about his experience with diverticulitis last year. When asked who is next in line if anything like that happened at Akron, he said coach Fess (QB coach Billy Fessler). I found that very interesting, he’s very young but has an impressive resume for his age.

Word on the street is - Ravontae's scheduled to see his first Zips action on October 1st vs. BGSU. Long road back to the field for the kid. Hope he can stay healthy. He will be a force if he can avoid the walking boot.

"Hey Aaron - I know you're a failed, once-promising NFL prospect. I can't imagine how hard that must have been to deal with as you held a clipboard for millions before being offered hundreds of thousands of dollars to hop in the booth to commentate on your safe space - SEC football. Anyways, the SEC isn't everything, bud. The list of non-SEC QBs, even non-P5 QBs, to have more successful football careers than you and countless other SEC/P5 QBs is too long to list. Just keep that in mind before you continue to unprofessionally clamber for a G5 QB to transfer to your beloved SEC or P5 school. Sincerely, Every Zips Fan That Had to Listen to Your Garbage Commentary on Saturday" z.i.P.S. No I didn't send this - I don't have Twitter. Arth's media sessions were like the current Browns regime. Unwilling to answer anything in detail because they're not smart enough to realize the opponents already know their mistakes due to how simple/basic they are. JoeMo knows he's smarter than 99% of the coaches on the opposing sideline, and isn't afraid to actually answer the media's questions.

- Joe continues to hammer home the point we were outmatched or “out gunned” against MSU and Tenn. - Said we left 21 points out there with the missed scoring opportunities and turnovers. - Said Nate Thompson had his best game yet. He was decent in week 1, struggled in week 2, and had his best game in week 3. - Thompson is playing the boundary safety since he’s a larger guy at 6’3” 210 and is needed more for run fits. - Said Whigan has been the most consistent OL. Nate Williams has done a good job at RT. Daniels at LT has helped but he still needs to get stronger. - Blake Hester has done a nice job on special teams. - 3 Running Back rotation with Wiley, Price, Norrils. - Clearly happy with Noah Perez calling him “my guy.” - Mentioned obvious players from last game like Shockey-Louis, Adams, Grimes, Bubba. - Intentionally held off on designed run plays for Irons against Tenn.

And to the announcer who keeps encouraging DJ irons to transfer. FU.