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Enjoyed the spring game today. I thought it was a great idea to open up the lounge/box seats. There were not many people in that area until halftime, when it became flooded with fans and recruits that were guided to free food. Well done and way to show off the amenities of the stadium, which otherwise may not often be seen. The game itself flew by. A few things really stood out to me. 1) This team is way ahead of where they were last spring. They look disciplined (minus a few penalties), physical, and know their assignments. 2) The athleticism and maturity was noticeable. 3) The secondary is much improved. It seemed like last spring game WRs and RBs were running free in the passing game nearly every pass. Not the case this year. 4) Tackling was outstanding. I think there were only two missed tackles the whole game. Last SG I remember coming away thinking Wiley had more lower body strength than what he showed on film due to his ability to break tackles. Turned out our defense was just terrible (as a whole) tackling at that point. Position Takeaways: QB - Undercuffler looked confident and in command. He also had the benefit of playing behind what looked like the first string OL. There are still some passes Undercuffler struggles to complete. That being said, he can get the job done. The offense should be in good shape if Undercuffler has to play meaningful snaps this year. Jennings and Wasel received the rest of the snaps. Both did some good things and also looked like young QBs at times. Jennings throws a nice ball and is clearly a solid athlete, but listing him as 5’11” might be generous. Wasel has a big arm and forced a few throws today. He also made a few that gave reason for excitement. His mechanics need work and he seems to realize that as he was focused on the sideline going through step by step motions before the 3rd quarter began. (Irons and Jankowski were sidelined). RB - Lingard is good. He didn’t break any big runs today, even though it felt like he might a couple of times. Not sure what happened at Florida, but the guy has “it.” He did have a nice touchdown run and is the number one back. Lingard will be a weapon for this offense barring injury. Kellom looks ready to contribute when his number is called and Hester also had a nice run. It’s unfortunate Price is out for an extended period, but I have no doubt this group will provide more production than last year. WR - Might as well mark down George for All-MAC. The guy looks the part in every way. It was good to see some of the other guys get substantial playing time today with Adams out and SJL gone. Like @LZIp mentioned, Walker had the best day catching the ball. Thomas, Golden, Anderson, and Gathings were all noticeable. TE - Banks and Ognenovic took most of the snaps. Nothing substantial to report here. OL - My biggest takeaway is that T. Williams and K. Davis look ready. I can’t place who the other guard was, but the lineup blocking for Undercuffler was LT Chambers, C T.Williams, G K Davis, RT N. Williams. Takeaway from the opposite OL was freshman OT Jayvin James. James is huge, has long arms, and moves well. He’s going to be a good one. I locked in on him for a number of plays and came away excited about what he could become. (Landers and Robarge were on the sideline). DT - Terray Jones is a force. It’s unfortunate Holt left because those two could have been dynamic. Robinson seems to have come a long way and will challenge for a starting spot. Nothing stood out about the other DTs, but they did not make it easy on the OL. (Murphy was on the sideline). DE - Pass rush from this position is still a concern. Rabah and Johnson look like the starters for now. We need the incoming players to step up and provide more. (Richardson was on the sideline). LB - This position looked great. Bubba was Bubba. McCoy is physically impressive even though he surprisingly missed a tackle. Fish looks like he knows what he’s doing this year. I noticed him around the ball often. Griffin and Behm also had their moments. CB - The coverage was solid today despite often not having much of a pass rush. Golden-Nelson and Terence Thomas look ready to cause other teams some serious issues. Those two kept popping up over and over. I believe it was Judson Tallandier who also looked good here. All the DBs seem to have added muscle mass. (Joey Hunter was sidelined and I don’t recall seeing Cam Threatt). S - So many of these guys are built and move so similarly now it was hard to tell them apart at times (that’s a good thing). Martin saw plenty of time and Johnson chased down a miscued pass for an interception. This group was solid against the pass and came up well in run support. (Nate Thompson was sidelined). ST - Some good and some not so good. As a group they struggled at the start, but found their groove as the game progressed. Im sure there is more that I missed or forgot to say. It’s late and I wanted to report as much as I could while I had it on my mind.

Teal Bunbury with a goal....and a nice dance 😁

Former Akron long snapper

Zach Morton signed with the Lions.

Love it @catdaddyp!!!! Thanks for all of the hard work and observations this spring. That’s better than anything I’ve read in the local paper in years, as are most of your posts on here. I’m pumped to see how this team competes in the fall.

Thanks for the notes. I wish I could’ve gone, I don’t miss events like this often. Someone in the department told me they were very impressed with the turnout up on Club Level. Hopefully they were able to make some sales.

Something has got to be done about this. Therefore I've decided the only thing to do to bring attention is to go on a hunger strike. I will be giving up kale, tofu, carrot juice, caviar and liver. This is drastic, but it's got to be done. While I will have doctors monitoring my health there is no guarantee how long I'll last. This could be my last post unless an announcement comes soon. I leave all my smart-ass comments to Zipmeister. Farewell!

When I saw the photo you posted, I thought maybe the Zips were holding a special "let's fill the stadium with almost one fan per player" event.

Offer to JUCO DT Daniel Tupuola after his spring game visit. Former Portland State commit.

That was from my seat in the upper deck. It doesn’t show all the people in the lower deck. I should have shot a couple in the lower section. It was not a bad crowd at all…

Look…some press! https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2023/04/30/5-takeaways-akron-zips-football-spring-game-coach-joe-moorhead-jeff-undercuffler-darrien-lewis/70163919007/

Awesome breakdown @catdaddyp. Regarding OL, I thought James passed the eye test as well! A good sign for a true freshman. I believe Kilbane was the other guard playing with the first team.

I remember the Zips games there, it seemed like every time I went there they were playing against a Tennessee Something opponent. I went to a couple Cleveland Force games at the Rubber Bowl, when Bart Wolstein owned the team. He was looking into the outdoor leagues (ASL, NASL) but figured out there were in as much trouble as the indoor leagues. Before that there were other exhibition games, at least one with the Jacksonville Teamen. I don't know if they were ASL or NASL at the time. I went with a church youth group, it was my first exposure to the world's game.

Most of the fans were in the lower stands, a few of us were in the upper. And the Kaulig Companies Lounge was open for fans to check out and join. I didn't go in there, but I'd bet it was full.

Nice sweep @NIU this weekend 4/28 19-7 4/29 game 1 11-9 4/29 game 2 8-4 The Zips are 9-15. Currently 9th in the MAC, with 7 conference games left at this point they can finish just about anywhere in the conference. I can see us finishing midpack.

Straight spitballing here, but I'd guess about maybe 2k in the lower bowl (maybe like 1/4 full). No idea what upper section/club looked like.

Castle probably will be the PK unless they bring someone in. Wasn’t impressed by eithers leg strength. A lot of guys not dressed and a few I didn’t even see on the sideline (Darnell and Landers were two I didn’t see). Wasel looked like a true freshman in school a semester early. Jennings was kind of intriguing. Myles Walker probably had the best game. He’s small but loved his HS tape. Good to see him coming along. off the top of my head, players not dressed on the sideline included: Adams, Irons, Jankowski, Robarge, Richardson, Ant Williams, Nate Thompson, Clyde Price, Joey Hunter.

I have no doubt @Zipmeister can easily pick up the slack 🤣

It's Saturday. Maybe tonight?