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Game 5 Thoughts


catdaddyp

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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.

 

 

 

 

Edited by catdaddyp
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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! 

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4 hours ago, catdaddyp said:

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.

 

 

 

 

Ya still too many warts. IF they can keep Irons healthy, and thats highly problematic in my opinion, they should at least score some points. But,it makes me nervous. On the defensive side it looked a number of times that defensive players were confused and out of position. Something wrong with sideline communication thus putting guys out of position. And, some of the DB's are really bad with technique. Can't get turned to run WITH receivers then not being able to find the ball in the air. And,yes tackling overall was poor.

Maybe the offense will steal one but...

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7 minutes ago, Lee Adams said:

Ya still too many warts. IF they can keep Irons healthy, and thats highly problematic in my opinion, they should at least score some points. But,it makes me nervous. On the defensive side it looked a number of times that defensive players were confused and out of position. Something wrong with sideline communication thus putting guys out of position. And, some of the DB's are really bad with technique. Can't get turned to run WITH receivers then not being able to find the ball in the air. And,yes tackling overall was poor.

Maybe the offense will steal one but...

My guess is the problem is three fold with secondary right now. Either the DBs have a lack of experience, the staff is coaching some bad habits out of them, or they just don’t have the physical stature to stay connected to their man properly. I think both our secondary coaches have an eye for talent and the talent level will increase in the coming years, but this is also their first time coaching as position coaches at the FBS level. I’m certain they know their stuff, but it may take them a little while to figure out how to best coach these players and also what best fits their coaching styles within this staff.

 

I think the secondary will be solid by the end of the year, just going off the improvement we’ve aleady seen. Unfortunately, that sentiment has not helped us the past few games. A consistent pass rush would be the biggest help outside of technique development.

 

Speaking of “warts,” (about to be alot of “buts” ahead) we try to play a good amount of man, which I like to see, but it’s also hurt us at times. I’ve been critical of Hooks’ play, but I also think he has the size and physical ability to make an NFL roster someday. For that to happen, he has alot to improve on. I like Durant, but he needs to add about 10 more pounds to not get shoved off when in coverage or at the LOS. Hence is the same way, but probably needs about 20 more pounds. Golden-Nelson was solid for us, but he seems to be hurt. Lewis is a great fit at Nickel but has struggled as an outside corner and safety. Amakwaa may help us once he gets acclimated - if yesterday’s game was any indication. Threatt seems like a fish out of water when he isn’t play on the outside. Our 3 man rotation at safety has P5 ability all over it, but those guys have been so inconsistent to date. If the safety play continues to improve, a chunk of our run defense will be cleaned up and we shouldn’t have too many more over the top busts in the passing game. 
 

A lot of “ifs” and “buts” above but there is enough talent to win us some games this year. As far as the weight issue goes, that won’t get addressed during the season and is something I’m sure our S&C coach will handle in the off-season. Assuming the recruits are being honest about their height and weight, almost all of the incoming DBs have the size to be ready to play immediately. That in and of itself will clean up some of the issues.

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13 minutes ago, Hilltopper said:

Our biggest issue is a lack of depth. That's why we have a Freshman back there fielding punts. 

Eh, even if Grimes was hurt, Shocky was returning at the beginning of the season and I don't believe anything negative happened where you wouldn't want to put him back there. Still a big believer in the staff and not everything was going to be fixed in a shortened offseason (and depth/overall talent is still an issue), but there were some questionable decisions this game.

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1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Way too many instances of the first tackler not getting the ball carrier down.  

90% of college football fans are saying this today and they are 100% correct. Tackling is at an all time low. It's maddening. 

 

Worse is the once a game event when a player gains 20 yards and a DB let's the ball carrier gain an additional 20 yards while he has one arm on the carrier while trying to poke the ball loose with the other. 

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