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I think only 1 year of eligibility, but pretty good get here. Part time starter for Arizona in 2021 (while being their leading rusher). Ran for nearly 1k yards prior to that at Northwestern. Named to the 2020 Doak Walker Award watch list... https://arizonawildcats.com/sports/football/roster/drake-anderson/14677

Nice pickup and the stealth offers continue! Anderson has great feet and can make guys miss in tight space. This is going to be a fun year.

Our chances would dramatically increase if we just increase seating capacity by 45K to 55K. Although this is unlikely because it would require the university to open more than three refreshment stands for the pro games.

I never understood how the program could be so bad when the conference tournament was literally held in your city every year (Firestone Stadium). Now it's hosted by the #1 seed, but that always frustrated me. Some of the stories I've heard about one of the former head coaches of this program from former players was insane. I'm not going to tell them as we're past that now, but it definitely showed administration didn't care about the program or it would have had a change a lot earlier than it did. I know time will tell on all these hires, but at least Guthrie has recognized the programs that needed change and has made those changes. I'm glad to see there has been improvement this year with the new staff. Hoping the team can make some noise in the conference tournament!

The closer the Browns are to Berea for training and such, the better in my opinion. Not sure why Infocision hasn't been mentioned, I agree. Akron would be CRAZY (city and campus) to not try to solidify hosting a season or 2.

I have nothing to base this off of right now, but I wouldn't be shocked if a particular student-athlete in the transfer portal as a graduate transfer comes "home" to Ohio from a Power 5 school. Seems like their height, position, and experience would be a perfect fit for what might be needed still for this roster (if there is any spots left which I think there is at least one spot still). EDIT - Or another graduate transfer stays in Ohio and that one would make a ton of sense with the connection to this staff.

https://tucson.com/sports/arizonawildcats/football/arizona-wildcats-running-back-drake-anderson-enters-transfer-portal/article_dffeaf32-6f77-11ed-8201-8b34268e8b15.html Looks like he missed last year from entering the portal early in the season. He has now also played for 2 Wildcats and 2 UofA's

Yes, thank you. Typo on my part.

My best guess is initially we will see something like this: LT - Landers LG - Robarge C - Georges RG - Kilbane RT - N. Williams That being said, I don’t think it will stay that way through the season. I remember looking down at the sideline last year during the CMU game and thinking “it’ll be another year before Davis, T. Williams, and Hale-Frater help us.” They just weren’t in D1 shape at that point. Fast forward a year and it’s pretty clear from @Captain Kangaroo’s photos that is no longer the case (for K. Davis and T.Williams at least). We need those guys to come along as they bring a level of athleticism that some of the veteran OL just don’t have. As much as JoeMo loves for his OL to pull, get to the second level, and be able to block out in space, the athleticism those guys bring will make a big difference. 100% agree Landers is locked in. The same can probably be said for N.Williams since he is considered the emotional leader of the OL. I suspect once T.Williams and K. Davis get their moment, they will be hard to keep off the field. Im anxious to see for myself at the spring game. A year can make a big difference so maybe we come away feeling entirely different? Switching gears to the spring game, I remember last year in the spring clips Curtis Fann looked the part as a DL. Couple that with his HS film and it stood to reason he was ready to do something. Fast forward to the spring game and he gave such poor effort. I doubt we see anything like that this year as JoeMo has done a lot of “pruning” to the roster.

I think OL is the biggest concern on the team. Dismissed several guys that received scholarships at larger programs, which is very confusing. Hoping we add at least 2 or 3 legit offensive linemen in the portal before June. Must protect DJ Irons and make some holes for Lorenzo Lingard.

First Class of 24 commit:

Thanks for the photos, @Captain Kangaroo. #56 (OL Keylen Davis) and #27 (RB Lorenzo Lingard) REALLY pass the eyeball test 👀👀🤯

Tremendous support for our student athletes, more than doubling the original goal. Way to go Zips Nation! 💙 💛

Pat McAfee is a gazillionaire now because of YouTube. I'm not sure how much revenue he generated from YouTube specifically, but providing a free show that everyone with internet can access has attracted such a crowd that his sponsor deals have been in the $100M+ range. The MAC has the 2nd largest non P5 TV deal that ends after the 2026-27 season. I do wonder how lucrative that deal is, being paywalled behind cable/streaming/ESPN+ subscriptions, vs a deal or independent movement to go to YouTube. Hell, all ESPN+ is anyways is a platform where the University's broadcast can be seen. I don't know if the TV deals include equipment or funding for equipment, but it's an interesting avenue that could be explored.

Well, that answers our question.

I was able to stop by campus and take in this morning's scrimmage. Here's what I observed - Golden was the #1 punt returner (although punting in the low-ceiling Stiles Center is impossible). hen a punt hit the roof, someone would toss a high ball to the returner who'd run it back. No tackling. It was a full 4-quarter offense vs. defense scrimmage. Undercuffler took 60% of the snaps. Dijon took around 25%, and Wassel took maybe 15%? DJ Irons was in attendance. In good spirits, with no visible injuries. Just progressing through the long rebab from his shoulder surgery. Hester got a lot of carries. He had fun today. He's a good RB. Probably not in the Top 3 in the depth chart, but he wouldn't hurt us at the position if we had a decent OL. He also still seems like the #1 KR. Gathings made a few nice catches. He played quite a bit. Dijon is a tiny QB. He's a full 6" shorter than Undercuffler. He didn't have a great day. To be fair, he wasn't playing with the 1st stringers. Bu I can't see him pushing for the starter's job. Undercuffler threw a couple TDs, and also had a couple picks. To me he still looks like a very capable back up, but not someone who can carry a D1 team. Walking out of the building, I overheard someone say "that was the worst our offense has looked all spring." #22 Kellom got some carries, and two TD's (one, a 70 yard run). He's apparently has had a good spring. Neither #99 or #44 distinguished themselves kicking FG's. Granted it is tough to judge kickers indoors when their kicking into a net with taped goal posts. 6' 8" German import Bruno Dahl was seen trying a few 50 yarders after practice. He's obviously played some soccer in his day. 😁 Lingard #27 broke a nice 30 yarder early in the practice. He can go from a standstill to full speed on a dime. He was talkative and engaged the whole practice. Seems like a good kid. He also ran back a KO later in the practice. He could be a dangerous return guy. Wassel didn't look like he'll break any of Charlie Frye's records this season. If anyone was expecting him to push for a starting job in 2023, based on this scrimmage, I'd say you'll need to be patient. He has the tools, but will need time. #20 Price was in sneakers and a tee shirt. He had a little limp. Didn't play. #93, #95, #97, #9 were our primary DL's. #99 and #54 played a lot too. It was difficult to get a gauge on the defensive line play. The stands were folded up to allow the baseball team to hit in a cage, so you had to watch the entire scrimmage at field level. KJ Martin made a nice high-point catch in traffic. Jax Smith caught a pass from his HS teammate Steele Wassel Myles Walker got the nod as the #2 punt returner Wassel threw an endzone pick on a long pass to Dakota Thomas. Thomas told Wassel on the sideline "That was a great pass...not your fault." Thomas also had a potential deep TD catch ruled out of bounds (by a 1/2 step). Joe spoke to the team after the scrimmage and told them he was happy with the physical effort. He said it was the best he'd seen since he took over. "I'd rather ask you guys to dial it back than to beg you to play harder, so keep it up!" I can't attend the spring game next week, so I look forward to reading everyone's observations!

Thanks for putting this together @mes102!

This team starts 3 freshmen (IIRC) and our best hitter, Lexi Campbell, is a sophomore 👀👀🔥 Just like we keep saying with football, there is so much HS talent in the area. If we can only become a destination... 🙏

He stepped up big during the end of the season just like Hunter did for us and he did it without anything close to Freeman or X on the court with him. He could make a monster jump into his sophmore season. Seeing Mr. Pinky bring in Sincere a few years ago and now this is not how I like spending the off season.