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Top Drawer Soccer,,,,,has posted their pre season poll https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-national-rankings/men

Takeaways from the limited clips of the 2nd scrimmage and other media: - Seems Gathings is in line to start in SJL’s spot. - Looks like DJI is still running with the 1s. Maybe there is also significant rotation with Bullock that we haven’t seen? - Clip of OL Colin Lyons running downfield. He’s a guy I thought would help us last year, but was hampered by injuries. - RB Drake Anderson seems to be in a number of highlight clips during fall camp. - I’m guessing nothing has been settled along the DL, but the main cast that keeps popping up are DEs Ryan Johnson, CJ Nunnally, and Antonio Smith as well as DTs Kyle Thomas and Devon Robinson. - Looks like Fish and McCoy are the likely starters at LB.

Thanks for the info. I was/am pretty excited about Colin's potential but was disappointed last year as he didn't help us at all, not knowing he was banged up. On the GoZips dot com roster Kyle Thomas is only listed at being 230 pounds. Is that a typo? There's no way you can be an impactful D1 DT at 230, is there? I'm still crossing my fingers for nice production coming from transfers Terray Jones & Lama Lavea.

Congratulations to InterMiami CF on winning the first Leagues Cup. Great to see DeAndre Yedlin make his pk (9th of 10 for InterMiami) ... only pk he's ever taken? ... and GK Drake Callender making the 10th/"winning" pk as well as saving the pk from Nashville's GK.

Phenomenal @catdaddyp I can be guilty of homerism myself, especially at this point in the college football year, but I agree with everything said. I was also skeptical of the wins coming immediately last year, but knew of the guaranteed improvement across the board. It finally became evident in week 4 throughout the end of the year. As for this year, none of it is homerism. It’s legitimate empirical data to back up the prediction that this team will be much improved in the win column. I’m not sure how much it will be as I’m sure there will be plenty of struggles, but this is the best roster and outlook we have had in 5+ years. As with most Akron football fans, I went into the 2018 season with expectations similar to what I have now. That turned out to be foolish after such a fluky run to the title game in 2017. The 2022 Zips didn’t win the East, but they gave me far more confidence going into next season than the 2017 team did. This is now a Division 1 roster that is getting better every single day. Cannot wait for Temple. Akron football and expectations are scary. It feels good to be in this position again.

Once again, @catdaddyp drops more information in an off-the-top-of-the-head post than the Akron Beacon Journal provides in a lifetime.

Wish the Zips Football Kick-Off Reception with the coaches would have taken place yesterday and maybe Mangini could have spoke for a few minutes to help fire the base up.

I’m excited to see what the OL does this year. Anxious to see what young guys like T. Williams, K. Davis, and C. Lyons give us on the interior. I still think Williams and Davis will be starters. Definitely a typo on Thomas. He has to be in the 300lbs range. I’d guess Jones, Lavea, Thomas, and Robinson will be the four that collect the most snaps at DT. Need those guys to pickup where Holt and Harper left off.

DeAndre's pk at ~1:17 - 1:21

55, I hope you are still checking in here, and for your sake I hope that you saw through the wildly optimistic comments two of Zipsnation's members made in response to your post. The rational Nation members all recognize that the Temple football squad is head and shoulders above our team and are bracing themselves for the pasting the Owls are sure to put on them Sept. 2. I just beg of you to forgive our members who may have been just a tad overly optimistic about the Zips, and to do whatever you can to convince your team not to punish ours too badly.

Depending on who you talk to will get you wildly different views on this year’s team. I’m very bullish on Akron and think the team will take a major leap in the win column. Similar to Temple, Akron was playing their best football towards the end of last year. Even with a roster that wasn’t quite up to par with most opponents, Zips lost 5 conference games by a score (7, 6, 6, 3, 1). The major flaws were lack of pass rush (dead last in MAC play with 13 sacks), giving up sacks (last again with 36), run game (averaged less than 100 yards per game on the season) and inconsistent CB play. On the bright side, Zips led the conference in passing yards per game on offense and improved the run defense by 140 yards per game vs the previous season. Zips collected the #1 Comprehensive recruiting class in the MAC (according to Rivals) during the offseason and kept significant losses to a minimum. Outside of graduation, key losses were LB Bubba Arslanian, DT Ravontae Holt, and LT Ka’Marii Landers. The offense should be more explosive in the run game with the additions of former 5 star RB Lorenzo Lingard and Arizona transfer RB Drake Anderson, while the passing game that averaged almost 300 yards per game in conference should be just as effective. The offensive line may not be elite, but should be improved. There will be a noticeable difference in athleticism along the OL. Defensively, Zips will field a strong group of safeties and CB play will be much improved if the spring game was any indication. There is a chance all five starters in the secondary will be former P5 players. The linebacker corps is fairly young and/or inexperienced, albeit talented and physical. The DL is where most questions still remain. There was an overhaul of players this offseason, which was probably needed. Five JUCOs and three transfers were added. Another situation where the athleticism (and also length) has been improved. However, who starts there or even plays the most snaps is anyone’s guess at this point. The biggest difference between this season and last is the amount of talent throughout the roster. I would pit Akron’s depth against any other team in the MAC at this point. That may sound crazy in year 2 of Moorhead’s tenure, but the portal has opened up another avenue of flipping roster talent that wasn’t available just a few years ago. Also, a mark of a strong coaching staff is the development of players and improved performance throughout the season - something we saw from the Zips last year. To close out the season, Akron held the top rushing team in the MAC (NIU) to 89 yards rushing and followed that up by limiting Buffalo to 27 yards rushing. Most casual observers seem to have issues getting past the name on the jersey and think this will be the same ole Akron. Of course, those same observers don’t follow recruiting so that’s not a surprise. Like you mentioned, week 1 can be fluky sometimes. It’ll be interesting to see how this one plays out. I suspect both teams will be improved by the end of the season and it’s unlikely a loss by either side will be much of setback. On a side note, Joe Moorhead’s Fordham teams went from 6 wins in his first year to 12 in his second year. That’s FCS ball and may not directly correlate to MAC play, but does go to show Moorhead knows what it takes to drastically change the direction of a program. Looking forward to this game and hope both teams avoid any major injuries and also give the staffs significant insight that will help with the rest of the season.

Temple fan checking in. We are looking to start the new season off right. Current coach, Stan Drayton, is fixing the wreckage left behind by former MAC NIU HC Rod Carey. Lots of newcomers and a few key players return, particularly on Defense. Our QB, EJ Warner, Son of a Kurt, had a very promising freshman campaign, stepping into the starter’s role as a true frosh. I visited 2 times during our MAC days. Lucky enough to see 2 Temple wins, a great 4th quarter comeback in the Rubber Bowl and one of the 1st games in your new stadium. I recall someone had sadly committed suicide in the stadium the night before the game. last time I looked, Temple was 9 pt favs. I tend to gamble. I don’t like tgat number from our perspective. Week 1 often favors underdogs and it seems like the Zips hung close w teams each game. I will gladly take any intel. Family has to eat….