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Allow me to chime in: I agree with the assessments that AR12 hasn't looked quite "right" in game action this season. There are myriad reasons for that and you guys have identified several; being "tight", aiming the ball, not comfortable with the speed of the game, not getting his power out of his back leg (aka throwing off his back foot), etc. I suspect that it's a combination of all of that. If you've seen his high school film, you know it's not that he "can't" throw the deep ball or that he lacks the arm to make any throw out on the field. Some of this is just timing and understanding how deep to throw a given route based on the receiver that's running it. As fans (and certainly as parents) it's tough to watch a young player go through the process of growth. We'd like them to be 100% ready and prepared as soon as they step on the field. QB is probably the hardest position in sports - there's only roughly 1000 +/- people on the planet that can do what D1 QBs can do (counting the NFL guys plus all the D1 QBs on rosters right now). There is a growth process that takes live games reps to be a catalyst. KN1 has grown a lot with his playing time last year and this year as you would expect. The game of football is HARD. It humbles you. You have to want to get back up and go back to battle for the men next to you more than your ego hurts in order to succeed. AR12 will be fine; he'll get back to work and assess his weaknesses and come back stronger. The Zips will be fine too. They have a lot of talented, hard-working young men looking to build something together. It's unfortunate that the seniors won't have finished their climb to claim the MAC Championship but they have laid a foundation and set the bar for the next mob of Zips. #FearTheRoo

Making a bowl game looks to be a long shot with the beating Ohio gave Buffalo last night I truly have mixed feelings on this topic, we were completely irrelevant before Bowden, our expectations have risen because we are competitive now. A lot of our losses are close & it seems because we are predictable & underachieving on offense. We also seem to play to be in a game in the .4th quarter & try to win by not making mistakes instead of creating a game plan driven towards the weaknesses of our opponent and playing to win instead of not to lose In sports if you go after it & get a lead you usually take your opponent out of their game plan, which usually creates good things for your team I wonder if we had a good OC & Bowden loosen the noose on his coaches (meaning let your special teams play instead of fair catching kicks & letting the offense be aggressive if we could take the next step? I like we are competing, recruiting is getting better, his southern connection with what is in NEO should be able to succeed. So, the question is, what does the AD do?

My votes are with my heart instead of head. I’m hoping we let it loose & go after it, nothing to lose, please don’t play conservative to hopefully win in 4th qtr Fearless Forecast - we win in a shootout, Kwad breaksout from an outside receiver spot

Good thinking, 'Meister. Could Coach Stroud serve as both DC and OC?

I recommend we go back to the plan of getting 3 defensive touchdowns. I believe we may be undefeated every time we've done that.

^^WOW. Talk about an articulate, well-spoken, mature, composed young man. Welcome to the family, Ali!!

Impressive interview. Nice to see us add a more traditional freshman recruit.

Overall, I feel most the criticism is directed towards the coaches and team as a whole. I've never been one to point fingers at individual players and I feel the rest of this board is mostly the same way. These are 19-20 year old kids who are playing for the love of the game and for a scholarship valued around ~30k per year. People need to remember that.

I went 13-19 1st downs too (no reason, just hopeful we can sustain some drives) Zips win by more than 6. We jump out early and D really locks it down. Passing yards 200-299: Quick passing games gets various receivers multiple receptions and we have a couple slants or crossers go for big gains. Van will lead the rushers: He looked like he was finding some room against EMU and I think he pops a big one (40+) to get his total well over 100 for the game. Fearless Forecast: Boogie catches a TD pass (probably a slant or crosser that he takes to the house from WAY out (70+))

East Division Clinching Scenarios: Buffalo—Buffalo win at BGSU (11/23) or Ohio loss vs. Akron (11/23) Ohio—Ohio win vs. Akron (11/23) and Buffalo loss at BGSU (11/23) and Miami loss vs. Ball State (11/20) Miami—Miami win vs. Ball State (11/20) and Ohio win vs. Akron (11/23) and Buffalo loss at BGSU (11/23) This would create a three-way tie with Buffalo, Miami and Ohio all at 6-2. All are 1-1 in head-to-head among the three teams (Buffalo beat Miami/lost to Ohio; Miami beat Ohio/lost to Buffalo; Ohio beat Buffalo/lost to Miami); All three beat Akron; All three beat Kent State; With BGSU, Buffalo would have lost to BGSU and both Miami and Ohio beat BGSU; the tiebreaker comes to Ohio and Miami – as Miami defeated Ohio on Nov. 7, 30-28. West Division: Northern Illinois (6-1) clinched

Thanks, @zipsoutsider I figure I came to this board to provide insight where I could; no sense in hiding from rightfully frustrated fans. I think y'all have been more than fair in your assessments of the team, players, and the program. It's a good growth moment for us parents too, to be honest.

Takes a lot of guts for a parent to come here, knowing people are going to be taking swipes at your kid. Looking forward to watching Alex grow into the position.

Fearless forecast: Zips leading rusher has over 100 yards.

I knew your heart was in the right place, and your fervor was outstanding, but I didn’t want to be the one to bring it up... ?? Or half up...

The guys watched the Chi-state, Ill-state game last night. They know what their in for Friday night.

This as what I said earlier in the season about Kato...but his mechanics have gotten a lot better since the Miami game IMHO. You're right, Alex will sooner than later start throwing it, rather than aiming it.

I get that and honestly am not trying to start an argument with you. I'm just simply stating their pass defense is far from good and if we need to pass we shouldn't have any problems. As you can see below they're 100th in yards allowed per pass attempt and have the fewest pass attempts against them of any team in CFB. Claiming them as a top 10 pass defense is misleading because teams just simply don't attempt passes against them because they have so much success running.

I'm far from a QB expert, but something about his throwing motion looked off. Like he would throw off of his back foot rather than step into the throw, which would obviously cause the ball to not have as much zip as you'd like. Anyone else see something similar?

ABJ: University of Akron football quarterback situation remains in question for Zips As for Ramart? With Nelson’s status still questionable, he will be the next man up if needed. Bowden said the redshirt freshman was down after the loss Saturday. The message was simple. “You’re not the first quarterback to start out bad,” Bowden said. Alex is going to be fine. You could tell the game was still moving too fast for him. The only remedy for that is reps. It also looked to me like Alex was aiming the ball instead of just throwing it (because he was tight). Pressing too hard. I remember those days from when I played; one of the worst feelings in the world. Only experience cures that. If I may, I will point out one thing I think may be a weakness in his game that reps may not remedy - I think his deep balls flutter a little bit & get caught up. He has a tendency to under throw the deep ball, but he did this in the Spring Game as well, so it wasn't just tightness from starting his first game. In the Spring Game, IIRC, he threw deep, the ball got caught up and fluttered a little bit & gave time for Reggie Corner to run under it and make the interception. I believe the same happened in mop-up duty time against Morgan State. That's something he'll have to work on in the off season. Again, I'll clarify my frustration lies with Milwee. Not Alex. Alex is going to be fine. But Milwee's been underwhelming as OC for... Idk... five years now?

I was listening to the Cleveland Browns radio show on 92.3 earlier in the week and the player interview was T.J. Carrie. Zip alum Ken Carmen asked Ohio U alum Carrie what stadium he liked the most in his travels in college and he lauded Akron as having some of the nicest facilities of any school he had visited while playing for OU. Rather than enjoy the moment, it just made me mad. UA has spent tons to get these model football facilities. The stadium is fantastic, the fieldhouse great, the dorms outstanding and the workout facilities top notch. We have the 15th highest paid coach in the State of Ohio. Northeast Ohio is a hotbed of talent located in a state that produces the 5th largest pool of college football talent in the country. Despite all of these elements for success, we hope every year that our dear Zips will get to .500 to be bowl eligible while we watch them dwell in the mediocrity in the middle or bottom of the MAC. We get the occasional tease with something like the Northwestern win, but in the end we watch the endless train of directional schools eat our proverbial lunch. The school has to make a choice. If you’re going to commit to playing FBS football, commit to doing it well, not settling for mediocrity. If not, go play in some obscure conference and stop this damn charade.

FearFULL Forecast: Once again, we play not to lose. No TD's in the game. Zips win with a field goal.