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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/01/2019 in all areas

  1. Late to the party this week. Boy, that was PAINFUL! I think 0-12 is on the horizon, which sucks considering Akron will have spent nearly half of this decade with one or fewer losses. That's pretty shocking considering how much "better" of a program this is than in the early 2000s at the Rubber Bowl. It just goes to show you, you win with people. It's all about the people. And we've had a lot of bad ones in leadership roles around the program recently. I didn't get to watch the game and I only listened to parts of it so I won't get too into things I liked and didn't like, but on the surface there are things we can take away from this. For one, we are not close to being good. At all. But that's obvious and has been all year. We are the worst team in the FBS. But I'll still wear the colors with pride no matter what. Moving forward, the QB situation will be interesting. I haven't the slightest clue why they hung Kato out to dry at the end of the first half by allowing him to be put in a position where he can get hurt. And he was already hurt so at that point I knew who was coming in behind him and immediately lost all optimism for the game. With that said, I figured we'd see Gibson at some point this year. He's the crown jewel QB in the first class on the staff of a QB head coach. This shouldn't surprise too many people. I wish I could've watched it live, but it seems like he was pretty electric. That is against a team with no scouting report on him and a team that has probably a bottom 5 defense, so you probably have to take that performance with a grain of salt. But either way, that was great to see. Also, Burton seemed like he was a decent back. And he's also a freshman which is great! But you won't be playing UMass every week, so again, salt. I've been concerned about the defense all year for obvious reasons. I wish I knew more about schematically how defenses work so I could pin point the issues, but I'll just have to point them out instead. It seems like there are a lot of blown coverages and guys getting burned. They're young so I can live with it to an extent, but French makes it sound like these receivers don't have anyone within 10 yards of them at times. That bothers me. Also, I don't know if we run a spy or not but it might be a good idea. Akron's pass rush isn't good enough to complete coverage sacks whenever there are opportunities, and the QBs often get big gains out of it. I don't know. We're just bad. At least they didn't roll over down 20 to that garbage team. I can't say I wouldn't have myself. And as for the transfers, best of luck elsewhere. The faster this group can get there players in here, the faster we can determine they're the right people to be here or not. The football greatly concerns me right now, and as I've stated the jury is out on this staff. But for the sake of the athletes, be supportive. They sacrifice a lot of time right now to get their asses kicked and not have hope in a lot of games. And they're repping our beloved university week after week. Go Zips!!!!!
    4 points
  2. I’m surprised to hear from a coach that giving a 50, 60, 70, 80 percent effort on the field is supposed to equate to 100% from the fans. This is D1 Collegiate Soccer not grade school. There are no participation trophies here. College prepares one for life. Professionals don’t put up with less than 100% effort. One of our players apologized to me some time earlier this season. I told him that wasn’t necessary. I know this is hard, but at that time I saw the effort. Some bad calls / no calls from the referees also made winning difficult. I didn’t see that in the Cornell game. We were at home with a friendly crowd and no egregious calls effecting the outcome. I simply saw only about 15 minutes of Akron soccer. Other than that, Cornell dictated the game. Most of the rest of the match looked like the lack of effort seen in that golden goal corner kick. Winning will come when there is a winning effort, not whining.
    4 points
  3. I have earned my stripes; I have been here quite a long time. And I will be here long from now. I will handle my fandom as I feel appropriate, requiring neither advice nor permission from anyone. Fan is sort for fanatic. I am not here in the capacity of a coach; that is a different perspective. And I am certainly not a cheerleader. AND I am not a PARENT of someone on the team, which is definitely an entirely different perspective. My means of protest are limited to either vocalizing or not attending. I have not missed a home match in well over a decade. So, vocalizing it is. My support for this program cannot be questioned. I have been here way too long for that. Our team has fallen into the predictable habit of nearly always playing back to GK. Opponents are just waiting to pounce on these back passes. I realize we want maintain possession, and we want to draw out the opposition. But we have become far too susceptible to the high press. And we have become sloppy and too casual about playing square across the back. No. I am not making it up. And who are you to insinuate that I am? Surely you have noticed this sloppy ball handling along the back Many others have noticed, even if you have not. I do not mean to imply that sloppy back passes are the only thing wrong here. That is far from the case. We are on a losing streak of historical magnitude. I do not believe any Zips squad has ever begun 0-0-4. We are at 0-0-7 and counting. We probably will hurt some feelings and trample some egos before this gets fixed. But fixed it will eventually get. And I will be here through all of it. See you at the match. Go Zips!
    3 points
  4. Joining a fan message board to do nothing but be negative and push an agenda is an incredible display of not having a life. Congrats.
    3 points
  5. 100% yes. We have gotten more and more athletic each year, and this is the year I think we start to see the actual talent on this team produce. This team looks like Groce's O-Who teams that won 3 NCAA tourney games in 4 seasons (not that I'm suggesting we'll win an NCAA tourney game this year; we'll certainly be more competitive than in recent years). Could not agree more.
    2 points
  6. Not if Larry Williams has anything to do with it.
    2 points
  7. I think this guy has done a nice job breaking down the Zips this season. I just watched the ending of UMASS this evening and Gibson is very intriguing. I'm going to temper my excitement until I see him in a full game when a team has prepared for him, and that could very well be the next game vs Kent State. I prefer not to burn his redshirt in a lost season, but he could end up being the guy for this offense. Kato has done a great job leading (I've been paying very close attention to his demeanor) I think and he has improved, but he might not be the best fit next season. It just stinks. This year has been and will likely continue to be quite painful. We are going to lose more players and still be shorthanded next year (and still probably the year after that). Having a decent recruiting class this season that includes some transfers/JUCOs that can contribute right away is key to Arth's long term success I think. Multiple years of the worst team in FBS level play isn't going to work.
    2 points
  8. Can't we add one of those captcha things to the forum so when new members sign up they have to prove they are not a robot?
    2 points
  9. I can't recall a lower time for any Zip sports enthusiast. This is not a rant or a fire any coach, AD or BOT member call to action. It is merely a statement that our athletics culture is depressed. Football is now the worst of the bottom 10. Arth may raise us to the top of the MAC. I hope he does, but we have a lot more pain ahead before that happens. I'll give him a chance. Soccer is experiencing an unprecedented winless streak. Jared will fix it, he's too good a coach and we are lucky to have him. Tennis loses a coach who raised the program to the top of the MAC and then resigns days before the first fall season match for personal reasons. What gives? I don't believe why he left. There's more than that at play here. Track and Field can't have a spring home meet because the track is unsafe. Is this any way to treat a program that has made it to a top 25 national ranking? I don't believe this dysfunction is the result of one man's leadership, but rather a deteriorating culture that tolerates excuses and does not think of the university as able to achieve a high level of MAC competition. It's not always about money and funding. For us it's about expecting to lose eventually. There is little evidence of commitment to excellence. I've seen more passion on ZNO than I have ever seen from athletic dept staff. Their response always seems to be "This is Akron, what do you expect?" Well screw that. I expect to win and you coach, athletic staff member or administrator are supposed to find a way to make that happen. Not an excuse as to why it can't. Please men's and women's BBall gives us something to be proud of.
    1 point
  10. ... because SOMEONE had to start it.
    1 point
  11. Arth never kicked off to start both halves of a game. But, come on, way too early for this.
    1 point
  12. Zips need to concentrate one game at a time.... but VCU certainly seems to be the most winnable game of the next 3. The opponent on October 5...FIU is 7-0-2. In their 2nd game of the year, FIU defeated James Madison 3-1 2 weeks after that game....James Madison upset #1 Wake Forest. after the game against FIU, the zips travel to play Butler. Butler defeated the Indiana Hoosiers 2-1 last week rooting for the team to get to 1-7-0.....then they can worry about the upcoming roadblocks https://fiusports.com/schedule.aspx?schedule=237
    1 point
  13. 20 wins isn't the bar it used to be. You can reasonably come out of the OOC schedule with 8 wins. You win most of your home games and split on the road in MAC play and you're around 20.
    1 point
  14. I had a nice talk with Groce at the Ice Cream Social about the team's continued progress and development since he came on board. He wet on to explain how when he was offered the job he spoke with his staff and they thought they could come up to speed a little quicker than usual because the team had a nice nucleus. By the time they got here, they were essentially down to 5 players. This is the year I think they take a step forward as he's finally on to his kids and program.
    1 point
  15. Just ran into Jeremiah Wood at the gym. The dude is absolutely huge. Still looks strong as an ox but cut as hell. He's a legit 6-6, as I came up to about his armpit. Lol. Nice guy. We talked for about 2 minutes. (I could have visited for an hour but didn't want to interrupt his workout.) I told him that when he, Rome & Dru were on the team was my favorite era of Zips basketball. Without any prompting from me, he brought up the Doug Penno buzzer-beater & the slow-starting game clock. We commiserated. Lol. He's living in Ellet in the off-season and playing overseas. Go Zips!
    1 point
  16. Very little. It's just a joking jab at Danny's tracing all that is bad in the world back to Larry Williams.
    1 point
  17. First off, I am glad to see some discussion on this board. with a night's sleep, the statement above...I even more strongly disagree with the statement above. Who on this team this year has been better at right back...than Abdi Mohammed? Bradley Chick is going to hopefully have a long outstanding zips career...if he does not become discouraged by the losing and lack of effort from some of his teammates. However, Bradley had almost no time to acclimate to his teammates and Bradley has been battling leg injuries almost all season. Certainly, you can not be saying that Carlo Ritaccio, as the right back in the Cornell game, was better than Abdi Mohammed. Carlo is a quality center back (although his pass distribution has not been stellar this year). As a right back, he is not currently a match for Abdi Mohammed. Take off your rose colored glasses. Can you truly say that the David Egbo that we have seen in 2019 is better than the David Egbo that we saw in late 2018. Sam Tojaga and Morgan Hackworth were both outstanding down the stretch in 2018. Sam was winning balls in the midfield in late 2018. Sam is not winning balls in the midfield in 2019. This team has talent and I have not given up on them. Last year's team , on paper, probably did not have the talent to beat Wake Forest and Stanford on their home field. However, they followed Jared's game plan and they played as a team and with great effort. This year's team has too much talent to be totally dominated at Pitt and way too much talent to lose to Marshall and to Cornell. Yes, they had one great possession goal at Marshall....but they lost focus and gave up 2 soft goals to an inferior team.
    1 point
  18. None of these young men are rats. I think most are hungry to play and maybe they just don't fit into the system.Therefore, they enter the portal . If they stay and play sparingly then they may or may not have to sit next yr. If they leave now than they can use this as a RS yr or the yr they sit.I think this applies to a lot of RS Soph more than anything. Yes you will have FR & RS Fr as well.
    1 point
  19. That offers some clue as to who you might be. However, as a coach, I'm surprised that you don't get his reference to the unwise play in front of our own goal mouth. Slow passes in front of our own goal while under pressure that have often led to errant passes, turnovers, and potential scores for the competition. No question about the goal at Marshall. I was there. Great goal. First and only lead this season. But, as Jared has noted, this team has not been able to focus for a full 90 minutes.
    1 point
  20. Appalling lack of effort and/or focus!
    1 point
  21. I think they will be more "mentally" talented. There were a few emotional drains on the team the last couple years. Groce has the players HE can connect with and work with now.
    1 point
  22. Bringing in two new sports with no scholarships and no revenue generation potential, only expenses, and failing to provide an outdoor track for the program that truly gives you International Exposure? Where is the logic in these decisions? We are adding sports when the ones that we do have are not achieving at a high level and when donor money is not positively comparable to the other MAC schools. But hey, we have women's hoops and swimming so things are all rosy.
    1 point
  23. Lance Leipold was the Head Coach at Wisconsin–Whitewater Warhawks and won the NCAA Division III Football Championship in 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, and 2014 and were runners-up in 2008. Their opponent in each of those title games was Mount Union. Leipold reached 100 victories faster than any coach in National Collegiate Athletic Association history, doing so in his 106th game on October 18, 2014. Contrast this to Tom Arth, who went 40-8 as a D3 head coach, never made it to the NCAA Finals, and who took over a Chattanooga program that was a playoff team and went 9-13, 7-9 in conference play, and lost 5 of the last 7 games last year before Akron was the only school in America that felt like he should be a D1 FBS head coach.
    1 point
  24. Having been there on Saturday and meeting up with the captain and his wife (among others), I will second everything he said about the pre-game atmosphere. It really was a great scene for two 0-4 teams. One thing I noticed is that almost all of the multitude of students were wearing some form of UMass gear. No Ohio State stuff, etc. Too bad most students didn't go in to the stadium, but the amount out early really made for some excitement. Kind of like the old rubber bowl days. I just wish we could get half that involvement. Thanks again, CK, for the hospitality!
    1 point
  25. It's interesting that John Groce lost Mikal Dawson, but coach Melissa Jackson picked up his sister Jordyn, a transfer from Wabash (IN) CC, who played her freshman year at Xavier. She was the two-time WVa Gatorade Player of the Year.
    1 point
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