1981 grad

I had a great time last week and went to the game today. They were competitive in the first half but after Miami took the ball and scored in the first drive in the 2nd half we all knew it was over. What amazes me is how we keep making the same mistakes over and over and over again. An interception in the end zone after a great drive: Check, a missed field goal: check, a defensive penalty on a kick or field goal that gives our opponent a first down: check, a motion penalty that sets us back that destroys a drive, check, check, check, check, ect. And a stupid move by our coach was the last play that I could stomach and that was in the beginning of the 4th quarter. After Akron had a great stop on 4th down and the score was 17-0, I thought I would watch one more drive to see if we could score any points and maybe come back. Finley made a 3rd down run and dove near the first down marker and the refs gave him a first down. I told my son they need to snap the ball quickly because it was very close and they had just reversed a similar play on Miami earlier. Instead, Akron took their time lining up and just before the ball was snapped the refs reviewed the play and reversed their call and then Akron got stopped on 4th down. I left. If our coach and QB cannot figure out to snap the ball quickly in that situation then shame on them. I am sick of losing football and that play just exemplified our losing mentality.

Freeman had a chance to win the game against his old team the Pacers in overtime but the shot did not fall. https://sports.yahoo.com/video/minnesota-timberwolves-vs-indiana-pacers-030719576.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

You gotta love Akron football fans and the people on this board!!! We finally win a MAC game early in the season and we are talking about a bowl game even though we are technically not eligable. Last week this board was talking about firing our coach. When I was leaving the stadium I felt like taking a picture of our victory formation because I thought when is this ever going to happen again. If we win next week, this board will nominate Joe for coach of the year.

Freeman played the last 8 minutes of the first preseason game and scored 9 points making 2 three pointers. Hope he gets more playing time but it looks like they played close to 20 players

On the spur of the moment I decided to attend the game since the weather was perfect. It is one of the best games by Akron in a long time. They had a nice balence of runs and passing and the receivers were open most of the afternoon. The defense made some great plays right before the half. Just wish we could have more games like today. I thought Finely was the best. On the interception it was a bad pass but the defender made a nice play on the ball. Makes me look forward to next week.

Is Finely playing? After watching last week, I just cannot see us moving the ball without him.

It will be interesting to see if anyone makes a dramatic leap like Amani and Tavari did last year. I always thought Tavari had talent but I was in the minority on this board and took a lot of grief from people on this board until last year. However, I was unhappy that Amani stayed with the team last year since I just did not see the talent. Could not be happier to be dead wrong. Nobody can ever predict who will improve from one year to the next.

I am so sick of Reghi tell me each week how our coach is an offensive genius on 3rd down and 27 and we have 5 yards of total offense for the game. Johnson is really bad. Lets go to the our next QB. He cannot be worse. Zips football is simply unwatchable.

I have also swapped tickets numerous times because I am gone part of the season and my ticket agent has been great. Sometimes they move you around because they might not have seats in your section but they will find you tickets. I took my 3 adult children to the Ohio game last year using the swapped tickets and we had a blast.

You could see it on the TV. When the Zips were driving in the 2nd half right before the Finley score Akron called timeout and JoeMo was yelling and pissed. On TV you could also see the frustration between Finely and JoMo when he tried to talk to Finley and he walked away.

During the last dozen years of Zips football we have seen a lot of losing and "dumb butt plays" like trying to catch a punt on the one yard line and then fumbling the ball or taunting penalties that have killed a drive. Last night we had three "dumb butt plays" that prevented us from winning because that is what losing teams do. Which dumb butt play do you think hurt the most: The special teams player that called out a cadence in a field goal attempt that led to a penalty and first down and then a touchdown instead of three. With 2:05 left in the first half and the ball on the UAB 3 yard line instead of letting the clock run down to the 2 minute warning we tried to draw them offsides and the center snapped the ball unexpectedly leading to a loss, and then a field goal instead of a touchdown. UAB then scored a touchdown right before the half. (Giving up a touchdown before the half is an Akron tradition) The unsportmanlike penalty when we had driven the ball to the 15 and instead of 1st and 10 we had 2nd and 19 at the 34. We did not move the ball after that play and missed a field goal. (Lets be real, we have seen that a lot in the last 12 years)

He has played so well tonight and then he just cannot make that big play. Can our defense hold a 2nd time to give us one more chance?

Can our defense step up and keep them from scoring. Would like to see an Akron win despite us shooting ourselves in the foot at least 3 times.

I have never bet or sports so I guess I am a diehard fan and have been following the Zips since attending school in the 80s. Actually, the game was frustrating but it was not a blowout. The defense had some great stops on 4th down, played well and we had some excellant punts. Findley had his worst game as a Zip and very dissapointing offense.

The TV experience was worse. Reghi continued to call out the wrong players when doing the play by play and a few times even got the down wrong. The TV was showing the player's name on his jersey but Reghi was not watching the monitor. It was ugly. And how many times can he indicate our coach is an offensive genius when we cannot score a point. And how many times can we watch the same wrestling commerical? 50 times and counting.