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OFFENSE - Great to actually see an effective ground game by the running backs. Part of that was due to the over aggressiveness by EMU’s front, part was due to alignment, part play-calling, and credit needs to go to the OL, Wiley, and the QBs. I throw the QBs in there because they didn’t goof any of the handoffs and 99% of the time made the right read to give (or keep). - Although Undercuffler did throw one nice deep ball, we witnessed the difference in arm strength and accuracy between the two QBs. Irons gets away with a number of those tight window and cross field throws, Undercuffler not so much. - I can’t heap enough praise on the OL after that performance. For a unit that has struggled all year in the run game, they looked confident and decisive. Even in pass pro they looked well prepared. Landers is going to be a monster by the time he graduates. Watching Williams block down and role up EMU’s LBs was fun. DEFENSE - Couldn’t always see what was happening in the secondary with the camera angles, but it looked like Hence and Durant played most of the snaps at CB. Thompson and Martin at S. Lewis at nickel. Woods may have been working in at both S and nickel, but I’m not sure. - I can’t say what the issue was with all the edge busts because I haven’t rewatched the game, but the TD play after we had Terry’s TD called back was a mixup with Jones and Boateng. Boateng was blitzing on the edge but took an inside angle and Jones looped over almost like he thought he was running a stunt. If I recall correctly, we were in Cover 3 and the CB was run off by the WR and one S was in the middle of the field. I believe the other S was lined up underneath on the opposite side. - At this point, any time a LB is in the game not named Bubba, Terry, or McCoy I think to myself “oh ****” Sometimes we get away with it, but often the other guys seem lost. - Despite giving up 155 yards rushing, that was probably the best game our DL has played in 2022.

The luck I am referring to is from things like a fumble on a strip-sack against CMU rolling OB, the EMU RB dropping the ball behind the LOS and bouncing perfectly back into his hands, 2 weeks in a row a punt hits a blocker running backwards square in the head. Of course, this doesn’t mean I’m referring to some higher power, it’s just that the Zips have been so far behind in every facet that they cannot overcome these things or take advantage when the opportunities present themselves. And when I talk about bad teams lucking into a win, I like to emphasize the game against Bowling Green last year. Akron had no business winning that game and was by far the inferior team, but even they on the right day could pull one out of their behind. Just a tough year for Joe, I genuinely feel bad because he’s set guys up for so much success, constantly.

Any other notable seniors that did not walk last night? I’d like to think that means Bubba will be back next year. I think the offense we saw last night is more in line of what JoeMo wants to run on a regular basis. An effective run game opens up all kinds of options in the passing game. Our safety play has been solid and the tandom of Thompson, Martin, and Woods have really come on strong. It’s like night and day at that position from the beginning of the year. Cornerback has been the beast of burden. I’m disappointed that Hooks, Golden-Nelson, and Threatt did not fulfill their potential this year. Golden-Nelson and Threatt should be back next year, so I’d think an offseason with this staff will help. It’s telling that 5 2023 JUCO CBs have been offered in about a month’s time. I’m not as high on Jennings as others. I think he’s a great athlete but it remains to be seen how much QB he’ll play here. Of course, I’ve only watched his film and have never seen him play live. I expect we will take a bigger step forward than most expect next year. The fact this team has been competitive in conference play with the current roster leads me to believe another influx of talent will not only get us over the hump, but send us tumbling down the hill (in a good way).

In true UA fashion, this link is buried deep on GoZips.com https://opendorse.com/akron-zips You can select through all of the athletes to request appearances, autographs, videos, etc for different prices. Kind of cool.

Tell me you haven’t seen the play without telling me you haven’t seen the play. As I have said all year, this team isn’t good enough to overcome missing out on the 50/50 bounces, and that’s perfectly okay right now. That is just the way things are.

I just….ugh. This team. They play their hearts out. That’s all I can really say. There’s such a lack of depth, playmaking, physicality all over the field. It’s getting better and will improve in the coming seasons, but I just can’t believe they haven’t gotten lucky in a single one of these one-score MAC games. Like I’ve said a few times, even the worst of teams have usually gotten lucky enough once or twice. We’re kind of like the bizarro 2021 NIU—can’t win a close game and you just come to expect to lose close. How many times this year has Joe had something beautiful drawn up and the ball has just fallen to the turf? Or in an important game situation, the single worst Murphy’s Law event takes place? I guess you create your own luck, and with skill comes more luck. It’s just beyond frustrating at this point. You just kind of have to laugh it off sometimes. You really take yourself out of it when you throw 2 picks inside your own 20. Also, the EMU RB dropping the football, it bouncing right back into his hands and runs it for 20 more, along with another EMU fumble that bounced right back to him. Saw a couple picks go right throw the hands of Akron defenders (aside from Bubba’s ELECTRIFYING pick). 2 missed wide open deep balls. George dropped one in his hands on the sideline, JU underthrew Shocky a bit on the sideline once wide open, Wiley dropped wide open potential go-ahead TD. It’s just crazy to me. It really is. All this crap to lose by just 6. Shoutout to Wiley and the run blocking though. The 55-yarder was Dollard-esque. I wish I knew football better to understand why we weren’t able to do just half of what we did today on the ground all year. Oh well. On to Buffalo. But first, beat Mississippi State!

Setting NCAA records for most blown wide open big plays this year. Poor JoeMo.

If Guthrie reads these boards, please get us a new camera angle next year

Oh my god, That’s the Cam Wiley we’ve been waiting on!

Line seems to be doing better opening holes

I have to say. After all of these years the aluminum still looks nice and shiny on the bleachers. This is great exposure for Akron and the MAC.

Ross Tucker needs to ease up on the DJ Irons hype train. Haha.

We really have the worst camera angles in the nation.

I completely agree. I would love for us to join the Big East for Mens Soccer. Great programs, excellent schools, and the geography makes sense. I’ve attended Zips Mens Soccer matches at Xavier, Butler, Creighton, St John’s, and Georgetown. I’d love to travel to see our games at the other schools as well.

I’m 50/50 on that one. I can see how it could go either way, I’m not an expert but I was definitely surprised in real time that they let it go. I’d be curious to hear other replay officials’ opinion. I think a little before that, EMU was ruled down on the field but the ball came out, and it was reviewed and it stood. On that one, you could see the ball moving before the knee hit, and by the time it did hit, he wasn’t possessing the ball, it was just sitting on his arm loose. If they hadn’t blown their whistles and let it play out, that one would have stood as a fumble at midfield, Zips ball. It may have even been the same drive. I use the L word so much, so I’ll call EMU fortunate to have had those game-changing calls go their way.

I noticed Bubba did not partake in the Sr. day festivities. I wonder if it's confirmed yet that he has another year, and that it will be at Akron. I hope so, I feel we're on the cusp of a handful of wins, and that guy deserves to be a part of it. To me, the offense let the game come to them instead of forcing the issue when unnecessary. That goes for Joe & Co. as well. They saw how EMU was playing up front and took advantage instead of trying to continue to force the issue with JU. I wish I understood DB play more just so I could comprehend how bad they are. They simply do not look like D1 athletes a lot of the time. I don't really see them being out of place, they are just a step behind on routes and get beat. I do not love Irons, but he is certainly the best QB for this offense at this time, and that became clear last night. If the injury continues (I heard it was shoulder, still have 1.5 weeks before Buffalo), I would love to see what Jennings has to offer. At least throw him out there against a Buffalo team that you don't stand a great chance of beating as opposed to waiting until the final game against an NIU team that's playing like they're tanking for the first pick. All in all, same script, different day. 3 Saturday home games for the fans absolutely blows, and for 3/4 home losses to be gut-wrenchingly close doesn't feel great either. It does feel much better than 2018, 2019, 20, and 21 though, and it was nice to see some improvement in person. 10 months from today the Zips host the Morgan State Bears, hopefully fresh off a great opening win at Lincoln Financial Field against former UA HC finalist Stan Drayton!

My wife and I each ordered Enrique Freeman t-shirts today. Show your love for Enrique's efforts by ordering your own t-shirt, crew neck sweat shirt or hoodie. Logos of Enrique on front and back. Order at https://store.barstoolsports.com/collections/enrique-freeman

Furthering this, the Big East has a tv/media deal with Fox Sports worth $40M+ per year - $32M+ more per year than the MAC's deal with CBS/ESPN - AND THE BIG EAST DOESN'T HAVE FOOTBALL! It is set to expire in a couple of years, but based on the ratings charts I saw, there is no reason a new deal won't be agreed upon, and probably for an even larger amount. If the opportunity would arise to join the Big East in basketball and all other sports except football, you immediately take that offer and figure football out later.

I’d have to go back and rewatch, but on a number of those plays we trapped the DT and gave the DE free release. The entire OL would block down, while the OG and OT would work up to the LBs. The TE would pull across and chip the DT. The edge players were usually lined out so far they could only make it to where the QB originally was by handoff. *Editing and adding* that often due to their alignment so far out, the DEs essentially took themselves out of the play. So our OL & TE only had 5 guys to block in the box. We also had Whigan pulling on a number of plays and had some success there. That’s nothing new, but on first watch, it seemed we pulled him more than usual last night. Wiley breaking a few tackles helped too. He’s been brought down by first contact the majority of the year, but he kicked it into another gear in the second half. I was not impressed by EMU’s front. However, I was impressed with the talent they had in the secondary. I know they have the nation’s leading sacker, but I wouldn’t have even known it had it not been brought up before the game.

I believe that we will win!

The pass out of the backfield to Wiley in the 4th is the epitome of this. Catch the pass/get the ball to the wide open guy and we just may win. Excellent play call that has zero excuse not to be executed.

As usual, RPI and the Tournament Committee are what matter. I have confidence that Captain Sammy Tojaga who has played for a National Championship (on an unseeded Zips team) along with Captain Will Jackson, Johnny Fitzgerald, and Joey Paulus, who have been here one less year than Sammy and have only tasted one NCAA Tournament game, will rally our team for a victory this Saturday and a seed in the 2022 Tournament.

You're using the word luck too much. The Zips don't need luck. They need to execute on the things they can control. I'm sure they don't practice dropping passes and punts, and under throwing passes.. I'd go as far as to say they probably practice catching and throwing. They need to apply those lessons in games.... Every time. It's a gazillion little things they do wrong. Losing culture is extremely difficult to change.

WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DID YOU DO WITH CAM WILEY

A punt hitting a guy in the head like that once—okay, sure. Weird but okay. Two home games in a row?!?!! We need an exorcism of this stadium.

Terrible the way all that just played out. That’s been this season in a nutshell.

HE WAS PULLING IT BACK TO TUCK IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. Awful spot on Undercuffler run, but Jeff was a (insert Jeff Undercuffler getting ejected clip here) for going down so soon. 2. BUBBA! 3. Can someone fix the audio issues? The dog whistle sound needs to go.

A….a turnover?!?!?

We all know how this last drive ends right..?

Same thing crossed my mind. Kicked out in 2nd half means you need to sit out the 1st half of next game as well as far as I knew.

A good number of recruits are at the game according to twitter accounts.

Two fumbles on one drive that miraculously bounce right back into their hands. Can’t make that crap up.

Yea, that’s what I was thinking. They should broadcast from the away stands, squash everyone into the lower tier and 3 sections.

Hopefully a dreadfully small crowd will not surprise anyone. Has been happening for years, unfortunately. This is a tough time for teams that have nothing to play for but 'pride' as they say. Biggest challenge for Coach Moorehead is to try to keep his best players from departing in the off season. Gonna be tough with some of the guys who have shown well and want to move to a better program. Hang on for next seson. Reup those season tix.

I don't want this Greg. You are one of us and we have your back. Just play as hard as you can, trust your teammates and follow the coaches. The rest will take care of itself. We are Zips and we are family. I'm glad you are in the family. On to Miss State!

If this is wrong, I don't want to be right. I was following the gamecast, saw OU go up by 2 with 1 second left, almost exited the page, and it refreshed to show the made 3 by Belmont as time expired. Immediately typed in bobcatattack.com and got some popcorn. Also, Belmont apparently lost 7 of their 8 top scorers from last year.

Zips were very close to being in same spot. Had Freeman not tipped the missed FT I think SDSU would have won. (It would probably be wrong to head over to Kitten Attack and enjoy their rationalizations and meltdown)

For those of us with Fatfingeritis, an Undo button would be helpful for those times when our fat fingers accidentally delete a large body of text by accident.