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Game # 5: vs. Bowling Green Falcons (Homecoming 2022)


LoyalZIP

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19 hours ago, ZippyRulz said:

early weather forecast is 65 with scattered showers

 

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!

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i did some research last night and saw that BG's QB McDonald did not play in Game 4 for BGSU.  He had a couple of good games in the first three and is the son of former USC and Browns QB Paul McDonald.  If he cannot play, that would be a big advantage for the Zips, like Liberty using their 3rd and 4th string QB.  I did find a website last night that said that his status for Saturday is now Questionable.  Maybe that explains the change to the Line now being BGSU -8.5.  His status would be a big factor in the outcome of the game.

Go Zips!!!

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3 hours ago, bigjim said:

i did some research last night and saw that BG's QB McDonald did not play in Game 4 for BGSU.  He had a couple of good games in the first three and is the son of former USC and Browns QB Paul McDonald.  If he cannot play, that would be a big advantage for the Zips, like Liberty using their 3rd and 4th string QB.  I did find a website last night that said that his status for Saturday is now Questionable.  Maybe that explains the change to the Line now being BGSU -8.5.  His status would be a big factor in the outcome of the game.

Go Zips!!!

I wonder if he is also left handed with a questionable arm.

Edited by clarkwgriswold
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One year ago Blake Hester ran wild on BG…20 carries for 120 yards and 2 TD’s. With the stagnant running game the Zips have put forth thus far, does Hester get a shot at another romp through the BG secondary this Saturday?

 

He hit the holes hard last season…but struggled with ball security. If he’s going to see any action beyond special teams this year, you’d think it would be against the Falcons. 

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10 hours ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

 

I don't know if the news got lost in the corn fields for them, but they lost the last 2 meetings to an Arth-led squad that only ever beat BG at the FBS level. Arth is no longer here, and Moorehead is leagues above most coaches - if not all coaches - in the MAC. Failing to mention the coaching change within the first two pages of the game thread is embarrassing. 

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55 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

I don't know if the news got lost in the corn fields for them, but they lost the last 2 meetings to an Arth-led squad that only ever beat BG at the FBS level. Arth is no longer here, and Moorehead is leagues above most coaches - if not all coaches - in the MAC. Failing to mention the coaching change within the first two pages of the game thread is embarrassing. 

 

It is mentioned in the second post in the thread.

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44 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

I don't know if the news got lost in the corn fields for them, but they lost the last 2 meetings to an Arth-led squad that only ever beat BG at the FBS level. Arth is no longer here, and Moorehead is leagues above most coaches - if not all coaches - in the MAC. Failing to mention the coaching change within the first two pages of the game thread is embarrassing. 

 

I enjoy reading their board whenever I want to catch up on the latest at BG. Their department is a bit of a hot mess right now, having just let go of the AD a little before the season began. Football is bad, men's basketball is sputtering out of control, and their ice hockey program is looking for some upgrades. I am pretty surprised by the level of confidence going into this one so far. That win over Marshall really gave the fan base a jolt, which is awesome. They have lots of good discussion over there, almost as good as ZN.o!

 

***

 

With that said, I would be a little surprised if either team won by anything more than maybe 10 points. Both of these teams are firmly in the bottom third of the league, but with Akron's steps forward so far, I pretty confidently say this is the best these two teams will be for this matchup in a few years. While Tom Arth left Akron with a 2-1 record against BG (LOL), the Falcons have shown some nice signs of improvement here and there. Matt McDonald, who is by every measure a bust, is having a decent final year so far. He's got 10 TDs and no picks thrown, and sat out the last game at Mississippi State dealing with some injuries from the Marshall game. That was the right call, as he'll be rested and ready to go. He has shown some running capabilities in his career, so that will be a concern of mine. The Zips were able to get to Bennett at Liberty a few times as he wasn't a running threat. If they can get pressure on McDonald and push him out of the pocket, there's much more of a threat of him getting some chunks of yards while improvising. That's how so many teams over the last few years have killed the Zips. SFU's QBs averaged 6 yards per carry, many of those runs coming from the middle of the field becoming wide open.

 

I'm not nearly the football expert @catdaddyp is, but I wouldn't mind seeing the Zips run a spy and just force BG to beat them through the air (curious to your thoughts on this and how it would change the D, also who would you have spy?). The secondary has made some improvements, and hopefully Golden-Nelson comes back this week. I loved what I saw from the D on Saturday, if the offense can open up inside the 20 like it has in between the 20s, we'll see this team win a couple games in MAC play and perhaps play spoiler in late October into November.

 

All that said, I look forward to Joe's comments at Zips Live tomorrow, and I am pumped for this game! Still nervous as all get out, and we can never rule out a let down blowout, but I look forward to and expect a great MAC football atmosphere this weekend!

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23 minutes ago, LoyalZIP said:

 

I enjoy reading their board whenever I want to catch up on the latest at BG. Their department is a bit of a hot mess right now, having just let go of the AD a little before the season began. Football is bad, men's basketball is sputtering out of control, and their ice hockey program is looking for some upgrades. I am pretty surprised by the level of confidence going into this one so far. That win over Marshall really gave the fan base a jolt, which is awesome. They have lots of good discussion over there, almost as good as ZN.o!

 

***

 

With that said, I would be a little surprised if either team won by anything more than maybe 10 points. Both of these teams are firmly in the bottom third of the league, but with Akron's steps forward so far, I pretty confidently say this is the best these two teams will be for this matchup in a few years. While Tom Arth left Akron with a 2-1 record against BG (LOL), the Falcons have shown some nice signs of improvement here and there. Matt McDonald, who is by every measure a bust, is having a decent final year so far. He's got 10 TDs and no picks thrown, and sat out the last game at Mississippi State dealing with some injuries from the Marshall game. That was the right call, as he'll be rested and ready to go. He has shown some running capabilities in his career, so that will be a concern of mine. The Zips were able to get to Bennett at Liberty a few times as he wasn't a running threat. If they can get pressure on McDonald and push him out of the pocket, there's much more of a threat of him getting some chunks of yards while improvising. That's how so many teams over the last few years have killed the Zips. SFU's QBs averaged 6 yards per carry, many of those runs coming from the middle of the field becoming wide open.

 

I'm not nearly the football expert @catdaddyp is, but I wouldn't mind seeing the Zips run a spy and just force BG to beat them through the air (curious to your thoughts on this and how it would change the D, also who would you have spy?). The secondary has made some improvements, and hopefully Golden-Nelson comes back this week. I loved what I saw from the D on Saturday, if the offense can open up inside the 20 like it has in between the 20s, we'll see this team win a couple games in MAC play and perhaps play spoiler in late October into November.

 

All that said, I look forward to Joe's comments at Zips Live tomorrow, and I am pumped for this game! Still nervous as all get out, and we can never rule out a let down blowout, but I look forward to and expect a great MAC football atmosphere this weekend!

It’s possible we run some type of spy, but that’s usually used when teams are in spread. I haven’t watched BG play this year, so I’m not familiar with what they are running. The downside to running a spy is it essentially takes someone out of coverage. We already run a lot of man, Cover 1, and Cover 3 and have struggled at times even with everyone in coverage.

 

We’ve been running a 4-2-5 defense but I’m still not sure if that’s our base or if it’s just what we are mostly using dictated on what our opponent’s offenses are running. We’ve stopped the run at times, but have been susceptible to big gainers when teams run counters and traps on us. Basically when the OL is able to get up to the LBs, the DL that are single blocked (or left free) need to make the play. On the flip side, if the DL are getting doubled, the LBs need to make the play. I’m adding S and Nickel into that LB group against runs because in the 4-2-5 they are essentially the 3rd LB depending on the alignment. 
 

We’ve seen so much progress from Week 1 to now, despite the scoreboard saying so. I hope we see another step in the right direction and I’m really looking forward to this game.

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12 hours ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

Funniest thing there is one of the commenters actually thinks BG has a chance of winning the MAC East. It pains me to say this, but Kent is likely the heavy favorites to represent the division. I do think Miami can challenge them though. After those two the division is pretty terrible.

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Have 2 GA tickets and a parking pass for anyone who would use them. Unfortunately will likely have trouble attending most other games this season as well, so reach out to me if looking for tickets!

 

Edit: BG has been claimed.

Edited by LZIp
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6 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

The news I was referring to was the new and improved head coach, while the last head coach beat them twice in a row. 

 

My bad, I thought when you wrote "I don't know if the news got lost in the corn fields for them, but they lost the last 2 meetings"  that that was the

news to which you were referring.

I'm guessing our coaching hire didn't make quite the splash that it did for Zip fans in many parts of the MAC.

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