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I contend, and have for nearly a year, that anyone that watched the football game that took place at Infocision Stadium on November 17, 2018 would be ashamed to wear the University of Akron's colors due to the coaches literally not trying to extend the game as the Zips failed to find the end zone against a bottom 5 defense. Bad football is bad football is bad football, but when you QUIT on the team, and in turn the players don't play hard, or you know fall asleep on the bench, or let the team run onto the wrong side of the field, please see yourself out the door. Year 7. Shame on you. Shame on all of you. That's a big time loser mentality. I simply don’t understand the myopic nature of the other side of the argument. Folks, it really isn't difficult. In year 7, you should NEVER gain less than 100 yards of offense in a game against Eastern bleeping Michigan. And then follow that up with a big fat turd on senior day when the coaches, again, QUIT on the team. Specifically, quit on one of the most successful senior classes in the program's history. N O B O D Y I S S A Y I N G A R T H I S G O I N G T O B E T H E S A V I O R O F A K R O N F O O T B A L L I wish that team last year was mediocre, we might've seen them make a bowl game! Instead, in year 7 of a regime, the 2018 Akron Zips would have had a hard time covering a 7-point spread against a significantly less experienced and talented 2019 Akron Zips team. And, again, they quit against Bowling Green. I was cracking beers and doing a dance the day the quitter was let go by UA athletics, and I was tremendously skeptical of the impending coaching search and even perplexed by the hire. Specifically, I was worried at how perfect administration deemed the coach they hired. I simply didn't (and don't) really see where that excitement comes from. The off-the-field stuff looks improved and they're playing hard, but that's it so far. GO ZIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wish I could be there Saturday!!!!!

Cykron: Prayers to you and yours.

Does anyone here really think that if we kept Bowden that this team would be good? We went 4-8 last year on a team that anyone with two eye balls could see had way more talent than this years one. One of those 4 wins came against an FCS opponent, which we didn't even play an FCS team this year. No, I'm not here to defend or make excuses for Arth. I wasn't thrilled with the hire myself. What I'm willing to say though is this team would suck regardless of who was coaching it as there is a clear lack of talent and depth on the roster. Considering Bowden offered ~75% of these guys scholarships a lot of the blame for the talent deficiency falls on him. Unless an unexpected win occurs this team is going to go 0-12. If you want to argue Bowden would have us at 3-9 that's fine, I'm not going to bother arguing with you. Either way both would be terrible seasons that I'd have no interest in watching. The Bowden blowhards around here talk so much about how the name was an asset for recruits, but every year we had a sub par MAC recruiting class. He had some early success in hitting on some transfers that helped mask some of his recruiting deficiencies, but then he quit hitting.

Yes, because I was talking about high school, you got me. Just know this, there were a lot of football alumni at that game, we all talk, and not one person to a man thinks what's going on with this team under Arth is anything but a disgrace. Guys that have been in the program and worn the uniform know what to look for, and it's not being found. This was one of the most boneheaded hiring decisions in school history.

as Cykron likes to use small fonts - it's his nephew, the back-up QB at Buffalo, from Stow.....

?? I'd like to hear the argument in favor of that staff doing everything they could to win that game. I'd love to hear it. There's no shame in being wrong, son. I admitted I was wrong about Terry and so can you. My argument, as I have stated ad nauseam, has not the slightest thing to do with Arth. If that's all you can bring to this discussion, I appreciate you conceding defeat to simple logic.

BRO, THIS ISN'T ABOUT ARTH. WHAT ARE YOU NOT UNDERSTANDING? I acknowledge the previous staff's accomplishments, but that doesn't give them an excuse for what they became. My stance here is the very opposite of myopic. I loved that staff for a long time. Hell, go back and read some of my old posts from the glory days of Terry Bowden football at Akron. I fought for that group for a very long time. They brought us some amazing moments and a bunch of unforgettable wins, but if you wanna tell me that things were the same last year as they were in 2015.....yikes. No need to lie to yourself. No overlooking here. Also, taking 2 timeouts home with you after having nearly 10 minutes to muster 2 touchdowns against a bottom 5 defense in year 7 is the definition of QUITTING and not giving your student-athletes the best chance to win.

Fearless forecast - Buffalo's punter will only get one shot at a punt, and he'll pull a trick play pass for a TD....

Delusional....this is your subjective perspective that can only be based on your perception of what you saw and you act as though it was fact. Not everyone agrees with you and since it is subjective, it will never be settled. You consistently overlook the milestones achieved by Bowden, that is truly myopic. What is discernible, however, are the kids in the transfer portal and the winless record. They have given up on the program. That is measurable. What is more, the fantasy that you will strike gold in finding a replacement that exceeds Bowden in talent and ability to recruit. If you think you will, you should probably be playing the lottery, too. How many local kids have committed to Akron since Bowden was fired? Let's not forget that Bowden's recruiting travel budget was cut and he was told to focus on Ohio kids. Where do we see Arth recruiting?

Really bummed not to be able to attend this game. It has been highlighted on my calendar since the schedules were announced. Unfortunately, my wife has a serious health condition that has to take priority. Interestingly, it was diagnosed two years ago right about the time of my take-over of a tailgate lot for the Iowa State game. Things are going well, but we just need to keep things going in the right direction. Under other personal circumstances, I would certainly be there! P.S. No inside info to share about the Buffalo QB situation ?, but stay tuned!

That's why we moved to Iowa. So much more to do here! ? Seriously, we may not have much, but we have plenty!

Damn fine work! Thank you! Very enlightening.

No Akron East kids left, that tree bared no fruit

It is simple mediocrity was not good enough. We had to race to the bottom.

So, back on October 6th I asked the question "I don't know the answer to this, and I'm too lazy to check it out, but how many of the 130 NCAA D1 schools have kids on their current roster hailing from say, I-70 as the southern border and Sandusky as the western border, as an indication of how the rest of the nation views NEOhio high school football talent?" It's a rainy day and I was bored so I did a little research. Instead of looking at the whole 130 D1 schools (I'm not that bored!) I looked at the current rosters of all the MAC Schools, all the Big 10 schools, and threw in Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Marshall and West Virginia too. I went from the PA border to Elyria, and from Lake Erie to Canfield. Now this is just based on being on the roster, not if they are starting, getting any PT, riding the bench, practice squad fodder, whatever. I do have to say, we sure have a helluva lot of long snappers and punters/kickers on this list from NEO! Here's what we have - The MAC has 110 players from the area selected. Akron leads by far with 37, and that's after taking Burkhart off the list. Here's the list: Akron - 37 Kent State - 21 Toledo - 17 Ohio - 14 Bowling Green -7 Miami - 6 Buffalo - 5 EMU - 3 Ball State - 2 NIU, CMU, WMU have none on their roster The Big 10 (or 14) have a total of 50 players from the area selected. Here's how they stack up: Ohio State - 17 Michigan State - 11 Michigan - 7 Northwestern - 5 Penn State, Purdue and Minnesota each have 2 Rutgers, Indiana, Nebraska, and Wisconsin each have 1. Maryland, Illinois and Iowa do not have any. The "other" schools have 24 players from the area. I was very surprised to see that Cincinnati leads with 16! Notre Dame has 4, Pitt has 3 and WVU has 1. Marshall has none. So the idea of Akron "not recruiting locally" seems to be debunked. Both Terry and Tom have done it. Where did the recruits come from? You'll not be shocked to see that St. Ignasius leads with 13 players, followed by Hoban and St. Ed's with 10 each. Massillon Washington and Mentor each have 9, and I remember Arth addressing the Mentor market as one to go after when he got here. Cleveland Heights, Hudson and St. Vincent-St. Mary each had 6 players on these rosters, followed by Avon, Glenville, Canton McKinley, Padua, Solon and Stow with 4 each. Benedictine, Brush, Copley, Lorain and Strongsville each added 3 to the list. Aurora, Bedford, Brecksville, Coventry, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, Euclid, Firestone, Warren Harding, Jackson, LaBrae, Medina, Midpark, Nordoonia, North Royalton, Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin, Perry, Springfield, Ursuline, and Westlake each had a pair, and 40 other schools had 1 player each. So, this is what currently populates the rosters of 14 schools from the Big 10 and 12 from the MAC, plus 5 "Bigs" in our area. I guess the three surprises for me were 1) how much we have tried to mine this area and how little we have to show for it during both coaching staffs; 2) the numbers at Michigan State; and 3) the numbers at Cincinnati! I know I might have missed a few players playing farther away, and I'm sure there's enough ammo here to post a lot of "Yeah, but's", so have at it.

Funny how the Bowden-Sucked-Trust-The-Process people are slowly tapering off. The thread should probably start after we lose to BGSU in embarrassing fashion. Can anyone really tell the difference between these two seasons: Oh wait...the season on the right we'd won a game. The guy is a disaster in WAY over his head. And it saddens me that there are serious Zips fans on here who were happy jettisoning what we had for this.

When do we start the, "Fire Arth" thread? This guy does not deserve a second year, and I am not sure he deserves to complete this year. We have legit talent in the transfer portal and this season is a dumpster fire rivaling the Ianello years. What a disaster. Thanks, Larry Williams.

He already attended grad school...at AKRON. (yet we jettisoned him for a guy with no connection to Akron, a 9-13 record, no notoriety in college football...). It's to keep his "Resume Recent" and he probably just wants something to do that doesn't jeopardize the two-year free paycheck for Akron jettisoning him prematurely. I've heard the Clemson area is very nice. lol. If I was collecting two-years salary to sit on my ass...shoot, I'd go do just about anything I've ever wanted to do.

I was back in town for this game, and genuinely excited to have homecoming on a beautiful October day against Kent. The team's poor execution on the field left me with a sick feeling (or perhaps it was the food trucks at the alumni tailgate). It reminded me how low the floor is for teams in the MAC - not only do you not win games, but you don't even really compete. Unlike the Ianello years, I think the Akron players had a lot of talent, they just weren't working to their potential nor working with each other as one unit. Arth has a lot to work with, but unless he figures out how to bring them up to FBS Gameday speed, it's going to be a couple of long winless years. I don't expect miracles with a coaching change, but the quick reversion back to how we looked pre-Bowden gives me a new appreciation for everything Terry was able to accomplish at the University. Is Hoban's coach available at a price the University can afford? They played Saturday night and looked like they would give these Zips a run for their money - maybe Arth could use him on the staff.

Is Bowden still on staff in some capacity? Wonder what he is thinking. I doubt if he is just a "well I'm getting paid" guy. It has to hurt seeing up close what you were trying to build take so many steps back.

I honestly don't think we would win many games at the FCS level this year. That's how bad this team is. From beating Northwestern last year to not being able to compete in FCS. That's what happens when you fire a great coaching staff of legitimate FBS coaches and replace them with a bunch of part time D3 morons who should still be living off stipends and driving Uber in the offseason.