Leaderboard

After one week of watching the Zips get manhandled by a Big10 program, I will offer the following thoughts regarding this week's match up with the Blazers - I don't think the Blazers are good. You don't give up 19 points to Alabama State, and get shut out in the second half of your home game against Alabama State, if you're good. You also don't get 39,000 people to show up at your home opener, and build a 172 million dollar new stadium (opening next year) if you completely suck. I would expect a much better effort out of both the Zips and Blazers this week. Looking forward to watching Bubba this week. He was the one guy that repeatedly played with the speed and aggression to win the Illinois game. Other guys had their moments, but in an absolutely unwatchable game, Bubba almost made it worth watching. We need the three Week 1 "non-travelling" Zips seniors to travel to InfoCision on Saturday. If we don't have those guys we can lose to anybody. Council + Brown on the o-line will make a world of difference in both the running and passing game. If we only have Council again, look for another Milwee-esque day running the ball. Jest is a handful at nose tackle. No one that we put at nose tackle last week was a handful. 20-or-so snaps from Jest on Saturday would be really nice to see. Alvin Davis almost single-handedly beat Northwestern last season. Last week we replaced him with a true freshman. BIG drop off. Get AD back in the secondary and you'll see an entirely different Zips defense Saturday. Unfortunately, none of our WR's stood out. Boogie was a non-factor. Stewart was "ok." Michael Mathison was a pleasant surprise (hope he's healthy this week).I have to assume that Williams missing the entire spring prompted Arth to ease him into game action Saturday? I expect a heavier dose of Dre Williams on Saturday afternoon. If I were in the media, I'd be asking about the punting game. Does Wieland get another game to prove he can kick like HS? Or does our Freshman punter make his home debut? IMO - our chance to win the game rests on the four non-factor players from last week actually playing (I threw Dre Williams in as a non-player too). A 42-3 shellacking will cause a lot of locals to say "Yep...same old Akron," so Arth and Company need to come out this week with a sense of urgency and try to make a statement. However unfair it might be to Arth's unenviable situation of taking over a 4-8 program, a 31-9 home loss to the Blazers would put Joe Akron in yet another fall coma. If the four absentees play this week, Zips win 31-27. If we field the team we fielded @ Illinois - Zips lose 34-16.

Greetings from a Blazer fan. Tough 1st game against Illinois but you get a home game against a UAB team that has a bunch of new starters that are still trying to figure things out. We return key starters at QB, RB, Center, Nose Guard and a few other positions but the OLine, D-Line & WRs has new starters for the most part and our secondary lost a key starter last month to injury. Don't know if Akron was holding some players back that will be ready for the game this Saturday but I do believe the point spread is too high. UAB is notorious for playing bad 2nd games of the season on the road. I think it will be a good game and a few Blazer fans will be making the trip. Here is to a good and injury free game and of course...GO BLAZERS!!!

Thanks ME...that was powerful. Before I listened/watched I was wondering why it said he was "polarizing" but then Lexi tells us. I've always valued Lexi's opinions on the game and players (he too can be polarizing in his views!) but what a great commentary on Nags....

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/265-fox-sports-1350-clips-27773802/episode/zips-live-090319-48850099/

See attached for what I'm confident in is a very accurate 78. I haven't gotten around to updating the positions/walks-ons yet. I don't think there is much Coach Arth can do. Rules are rules. Look no further than the roster additions this year to see Arth took full advantage of the rules. Signed 22 on NSD: https://247sports.com/college/akron/Season/2019-Football/Commits/ Assuming Romenick (the punter) isn't on scholly yet as he isn't starting. That has us at 21. All of them made it to campus, which is a big change from prior years. Added Demetrick Watts Added John Mitchell Added Julian Hicks Added Jaquize Cross. There's your 25. Zips Football Scholarship Chart.xlsx

I'll guess, GT asked coach Arth about the players not making the trip after the the presser. Coach Arth responded by saying he thinks they will play, but it's out of his hands. PS I have no inside info, I'm just guessing by reading the above.

After one high school game, I am still very high on Ian Kipp from Mentor. One intangible that he has is that he is a winner. This is upon all of his physical and mental tools. I hope that Coach Arth is using his contacts to pursue this quarterback. He is the real deal.

If anyone believes Zips were in a formation other than 4-1-4-1, let me know. It appeared to me that Zips put a little effort in disguising their formation. The back four listed here is my preferred back line. There is tremendous potential here to be a championship defense. But for that to happen, the outside backs must play better, and contribute more to the attack. I believe that is very likely. In summary, Zips did not handle the Cardinal high press well. Again. Stanford disguised when they were going to turn on the high press. I like the analogy to gridiron. Stanford is a blitzing team. But they are getting more sophisticated about it. The blitz is not always on. Sitting as close as I do, I could hear Cardinal players shouting what seemed to be code words for the high press. It does not bode well for any side in any match to give up 11 corner kicks. We now know the ratio. 11 ck = 1 g. Zips eclipsed that 11 corner kick mark several times last season without scoring. So, that must change as well. https://www.buildlineup.com/shared/5d6ef8f6138c092e24ae2140

Oh, that's good. Because Akron is notorious for playing bad in the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 10th, and post season games of the season unless the opponent is Kent State.? So are you saying there's a chance?