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Overall, I thought it was the best game we’ve played and took another step in the right direction. Offense: - Some self-inflicted injuries with the drops again. - Irons seemed to press too much at times and was responsible for some of the sacks that could have been avoided by getting rid of the ball sooner. - The OL majorly struggled against the stunts from Liberty’s DL. In particular Daniels, Banes, and Williams. No doubt opponents will test us with those in the future. - I thought Wiley had his best game and ran hard, but I’m disappointed in the lack of opportunities for Norrils. - We still struggle to create opportunities in the run game in the traditional sense and are having to make up for that with sweeps and screens. - Ka’Marii Landers saw his first action filling in when Daniels went out. His potential and athleticism was exciting to see. - JoeMo called some great plays that didn’t get executed for whatever reasons. Defense: - Johnson may not have many stats, but he seemed to be everywhere Saturday. Johnson was dropped into coverage from the edge position, rushed the passer, and was moved inside to DT on obvious passing downs (along with Morton). He also took on some crucial blocks in the run game so others could make the play. - Bubba had another monster game. - Outside of the two coverage busts, this was by far the best game our secondary has played as a whole. I don’t think Hence was fully responsible for that first bust as it looked like we were in cover 3 and the S should have rotated over. - Speaking of safeties, the trio of Thompson, Martin, and JKP were excellent tackling in the open field and helping in the run game this week. Sure there were a handful of mistakes, but overall well done. - Thomas started at defensive tackle beside Harper and did a really nice job. - McCoy got the start at LB, but it was Boateng who saw the most action at LB with Bubba. - A lot of players saw PT on defense Saturday and every one of them did something good at some point. - Both Terry and Golden-Nelson were MIA this week. Not sure what’s going on there. Special teams played well in all areas. Missed the long FG, but Perez doesn’t seem to have the leg strength for that….yet. I feel great about going into MAC play after this game. Liberty exposed some of our weaknesses, but player development is clearly happening.

If you became a Zips' fan during the Ianello years you are a true hero.

The play you’re talking about in point one is the same one I mentioned. Cover 3 and it looked like Hence thought he had flats/zone while others were in man underneath. Safety helped on the middle receiver instead of the one Hence released. While the QB was a backup, that was Liberty’s leading rusher (Hunter) from the running back position. Liberty hit us with a nice concept on the counter a few times where they gave themselves numbers and got some chunk plays out of it. Credit to them as I haven’t seen it run like that before and we weren’t prepared for it. Even so, a few times our DT and DE stuffed it on their own. Run game is definitely a concern. Without it, we won’t see this offense be quite as explosive as JoeMo’s offenses usually are. Im not sure if Irons is still hurt. He had a few runs he almost broke, but Liberty made great solo tackles in the open field. I’m not too worried about what other MAC teams have done to this point. As long as this team keeps making progress, wins will come. The offense couldn’t quite get it going but the defense took a major leap forward. For one game at least. Now we need to see consistency.

I'm out of Likes, but I agree. This is a much better coached team this year. There is better talent than we had before, but in football you're looking at 30+ key players and it will take some time to build that roster up. It's easy to get frustrated, but this team went 3-27 under Arth and Rodriguez. We won 10% which is slightly over one game per season. There's the old saying Rome wasn't built in a day, a mid-major college football team certainly falls under that rule. Let's get ready for some MACtion. Or whatever the buzz phrase is this year.

The Zips didn’t win but anyone that has been watching this team each week can see the progress they are making. Yes I wish the dropped passes would’ve been caught and some of the missed tackles were made. This “team” is getting better and the building will continue.

I think that Akron defense has made some nice open field tackles all game.

At the game. Have seen only one Zips fan but see a small contingent way up on the corner.

2023 VERBAL COMMITMENTS SIGNED: Kameron Cheatom, DE, 6-4, 225, Brashear HS, Pittsburgh, PA, Rivals Profile SIGNED: Conner Cravaack, TE, 6-5, 220, Madeira HS, Cincinnati, OH, Rivals profile Senior Year Highlights SIGNED: Bruno Dall, DE, 6-8, 230, St. Stanislaus HS, Bay St. Louis, MS, Rivals Profile, Season Highlights SIGNED: Jayvin James, OL, 6-6, 270, Blanche Ely HS, Pompano Beach, FL, Rivals Profile SIGNED: Terray Jones, DL, 6-1, 290, Transfer from Tennessee State University SIGNED: Zayden Laing-Taylor, CB, 6-0, 185, Miami Central HS, Miami, FL, Rivals profile Senior Year Highlights SIGNED: Lorenzo Lingard, RB, 6-0, 210, Transfer from U. of Florida SIGNED: Jean Louis III, WR, 5-9, 185, Canarsie HS, Middle Village, NY, Rivals profile Senior Year Highlights SIGNED: Jonas Mann, OL, 6-8, 295, Pickerington North HS, Pickerington, OH, Rivals profile SIGNED: Marcus Moore, DT, 6-3, 310, Massillon Washington HS, Massillon, OH, Rivals profile Mid-season Highlights SIGNED: Adrian Norton, WR, 6-1, 195, Stebbins HS, Dayton, OH, Rivals profile Mid-season Highlights Senior Year Highlights SIGNED: Darius Owens, S, 6-0, 175, South Gwinnett HS, Snellville, GA, Rivals profile Mid-season Highlights Senior Year Highlights SIGNED: Ahmad Rabah, DE, 6-5, 215, Transfer from American International College SIGNED: Melvin Spriggs, LB, 6-3, 215, St. Michael the Archangel HS, Fredericksburg, VA, Rivals Profile, Season Highlights SIGNED: Steele Wassel, QB, 6-4, 210, Choctaw HS, Choctaw, OK, Rivals profile SIGNED: Catrell White, CB, 5-10, 175, Erasmus Hall HS, Brooklyn, NY, Rivals profile LATE SIGNING PERIOD VERBAL COMMITMENTS: SIGNED: Joey Hunter, CB, 6-1, 200, Transfer from University of South Carolina SIGNED: David Jester, S, 6-3, 195, Homestead HS, Homestead, FL SIGNED: Delvin Morris, OL, 6-5, 285, Caldwell HS, Caldwell, TX hudl highlights SIGNED: Ben Frank, OL, 6-5, 310, Transfer from Hobart College, NY SIGNED: Terrence Thomas, S, 6-0, 190, Transfer from Purdue University SIGNED: Paul Davis, WR, 6-0, 185, Hart Co. HS, Bowman, GA SIGNED: Judson Tallandier, S, 6-2, 190, Transfer from Pitt SIGNED: Antonio Smith, DL, 6-5, 240, Transfer from New Mexico Military Institute SIGNED: CJ Nunnally, DL, 6-4, 245, Transfer from Independence CC, Independence, Kansas SIGNED: Gage Summers, LB, 6-0, 230, Transfer from Riverside City College, CA SIGNED: LaJoshua Jackson, DE, 6-4, 250, Transfer from East Mississippi CC SIGNED: Silas Proby, CB, 5-11, 175, Transfer from Reedley College, CA SIGNED: AJ George, OL, 6-6, 300, Transfer from University of Cincinnati SIGNED: Drake Anderson, RB, 5-10, 200, Transfer from University of Arizona SIGNED: Lama Lavea, DT, 6-0, 300, Transfer from New Mexico State University SIGNED: Keon Kindred, OL, 6-5, 285, Transfer from the University of Maryland SIGNED: Joshua Blanchard, OL, 6-5, 310, Transfer from USF SIGNED: Tyler Carter, DL, 6-2, 300, Transfer from Fullerton College, CA SIGNED: Tahj Bullock, QB, 6-4, 225, Transfer from Virginia Tech SIGNED: Shammond Cooper, LB, 6-3, 235, Transfer from the University of Illinois SIGNED: Phaizon Wilson, WR, 6-3, 215, Transfer from Grambling State University SIGNED: Jacob Newell, TE, 6-5, 245, Transfer from Arizona State University VERBAL: Josh Castro, OL, 6-4, 305, Transfer from California Lutheran University VERBAL: Kabbash Richards, DE, 6-5, 245, Transfer from East Mississippi CC CLASS BREAKDOWN Total Commits: 39 Offense: 17 QB: 2 (Wassel, Bullock) RB: 2 (Lingard, Anderson) WR: 4 (Louis III, Norton, Davis, Wilson) TE: 2 (Cravaack, Newell) OL: 7 (James, Mann, Morris, Frank, George, Kindred, Blanchard) Defense: 22 DT: 4 (Jones, Moore, Lavea, Carter) DE: 7 (Cheatom, Dall, Rabbah, Smith, Nunnally, Jackson, Richards) LB: 3 (Spriggs, Summers, Cooper) CB: 4 (Laing-Taylor, White, Hunter, Proby) S: 4 (Owens, Jester, Thomas, Talliander) Specialists: 0 P/K: 0 (We're guessing Owen Wiley, Joey Castle, and Dante Jackson are preferred walk-ons.) LS: 0 (We're guessing Drew Nicholson is a preferred walk-on.) Walk-Ons: 9 Jax Smith, 6-0, 190, WR, Choctaw HS, Choctaw, OK Grant Edgington, OL, 6-4, 270, Madeira HS, Cincinnatti, OH Aiden Diaz, TE, 6-3, 225, Shaker Heights HS, Shaker Heights, OH Langston Ragland, DL, 6-5, 225, Westerville Central HS, Westerville, OH Drew Nicolson, LS, 6-1, 205, Corona del Sol HS, Tempe, AZ Owen Wiley, K, 5-11, 165, Avon Lake HS, Avon Lake, OH, Rivals Profile Joey Castle, P/K, 6-3, 195, Norwin HS, North Huntington, PA Dante Jackson, P/K, 6-0, 195, Transfer from Butte CC, CA Ridge Howard, LB, 6-2, 225, Elkhart, IN These verbal commits never signed LOI's: Maurice Long, OL, 6-6, 285, South Point HS, South Point, OH, Rivals profile Joshua Bowen, LB, 6-2, 210, Dillard HS, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Rivals profile Mid-season Highlights Senior Year Highlights

I notice that someone just posted a reaction to the initial post in this thread. So don't forget, or, for anyone new to this thread please know, that I'm continually editing Post #1 to keep it as up to date as possible (sans any insider information) in regards to our Class of 2023 Verbal Commitments.

UGH... lightning delay with 35:50 left in the game really looks dark right now.... play can not begin until 30 minutes after the last lightning strike

The play-calling by Joe Mo is something I haven't seen since i've become a fan (Ianello years ugh). You can tell he's an offensive mastermind with the creativity on some of these play calls and the way he's able to generate rushing yards when everything between the tackles in a no go. I think this offense will be really fun to watch come conference play if we can breakthrough a little more, and assuming we're able to generate some sort of run game by the RBs AND/OR when Irons is able to run the ball like he has when healthy. I don't recall anyone getting hurt last night..Shocky was shaken up on his catch, but think he just got the wind knocked out him. JKP and Boateng were back after leaving the game vs Tenn. It looked like Julian Richardson was dressed but I don't recall seeing him on the field. Word on here is to expect Ravantae Holt back this week. Pretty healthy going into conference play all things considered. Still would like to know whats up with Devonte Golden-Nelson and Amankwaa.

Probably tough when everyone else is letting him down blocking or catching. Talking about bad leadership based on split second clips we see on TV is speculation unless there is a connection with the team. Piling on DJ, who may be our best player, seems misplaced.

I will go back and watch the replay when I have a chance, hopefully in the next day or two so I can better visualize what happened and what the issues are. It’s tough to get a good idea of how the game went listening to Skoczen. He barely describes anything that’s happening. “Here’s the snap, fakes the handoff, throws and it’s caught” doesn’t do much and it was quite hard to follow. Anyway, it sounded for the first time like the defense was opportunistic. While giving up two bad touchdowns early and a ton of 3rd-and-long situations, they stepped it up for a huge chunk of the game and made things tough on the quarterback. With the secondary being what it is, getting pressure and forcing tougher throws may be the only prayer this defense has in a lot of games. Offensively, I’m encouraged once again by Irons’ performance, but I still have many concerns overall. Another red zone turnover is very problematic, and the overall constipation when down in that area is something that bad teams universally have issues with. It’s almost like they’ve got the yips. When they get down inside the 15, I don’t expect them to score touchdowns. Hell of a throw by DJ to get the touchdown, but if they can punch it in a couple more times, they walk out of there with a pretty decisive win, which is hard to believe. The inability to run the ball is beginning to really worry me. I am still a fan of Wiley, but I simply don’t think the O-line is ready to really run block well. They don’t seem to have great footwork to even get in position to run the ball to the outside. There has definitely been improvement in the line, but I don’t see enough improvement yet. I like how Joe has been implementing more catch-and-run type plays, and they’ve been pretty successful. You see a lot of teams do that when the QB doesn’t have the best down-field ability. And a lot of the best offenses in college football like to run them for easy chunk plays. Sounded like a lot more drops too, which is also concerning, but also tells me there are more and more easy opportunities for playmaking that haven’t been there in the last few years. The arrow is pointing upward. Maybe not as fast as we’d like, but last night was a promising performance against a very good team. I would still consider Akron to be far from great, but they’re also inching further and further from the atrocities of 2019-2021. In Joe We Trust!!! F B G!

The announcers for a period there kept hammering home JoeMo's comments about the state of the program when he took over. I don't know if any of us realized how bad of shape we were in. So much worse than I imagined, and it's showing. You can see the coaching improvement, but because of the coaching improvement, the talent deficiency is more and more evident. Our offense is ready to rock and roll, but the offensive line isn't. Our defense has fight, but we're thin on the line and in the secondary. Continually losing to FBS opponents is frustrating, but this was our first FBS opponent under JoeMo that was against a G5 opponent. Liberty had more established talent than us, but we were in it. We will win in the MAC, and look for us to make some serious noise across the board starting next year. These games turn into wins, and P5 games will become closer. We were better in week 2 than week 1. We didn't get worse in week 3 (Tennessee is a different monster). And we were better in week 4 than the previous 3 weeks. Go Zips.

Gotta be the coldest spot in Akron.

Great fight. Just not enough horses in the barn. We will get there, and are certainly trending in the right direction. In JoeMo We Trust. Go Zips!

*All season

I would have kicked the P.A.T. and moved on.....

The centers need to get their snapping fixed. They;ve been high all year and and its throws off timing.

These are pathetic calls. Then again, Liberty had a key player elected as a result of a bad call.

We need a touchdown.

That BS penalty killed that drive. Ugh.

Needed a TD there. Dang! Okay defense, let's get another stop!

We needed 7 there. Damnit. Not impressed with the red zone play calling so far.

NIce start to the half. We need a dang TD though. #11 for Liberty is a baller.

Lonely vigil here in Lynchburg. Haven’t seen any other Zips apparel but I’m here representing. 😎 closer game than I expected, I admit. Liberty is struggling to defend the passing game. If the line holds up, we have a shot.

HOOKS TURNED AROUND AND LOOKED FOR THE BALL! PROGRESS!

How did we miss out on this guy? https://floridagators.com/sports/football/roster/keon--zipperer/15261