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It's not about "calming down" and it's not about being an overly negative Nancy troll. It's about being frustrated. Did anyone expect Akron to beat Kentucky coming into the season? No. However, it was circled with a "maybe" next to it based on what we saw from our offense last year. What we are witnessing is a complete regression on offense that is way closer to Arth Ball than supposed JoeMo Ball. That is what's so damn frustrating about that game last night. We're an embarrassment on the side of the ball that draws interest, draws fans, and is supposed to be the absolute strength of the head coach. What's even more frustrating is Kentucky tried to, at the very least, allow that game to be a one score loss if not an Akron upset. It was right there for most of the game, and only got away from us after we failed to capitalize on a plethora of opportunities. Our offense looks like I'm watching with DirecTV from the mid-00s on a stormy day - constantly buffering, never smooth. Gaining 2 yds is incredibly difficult and everything is side to side - not up the field. It's one of the worst offenses I've ever witnessed, and that's not hyperbole. To top it off, we have don't have a reliable, DI kicker, so even 3 points on a stalled drive is difficult. I don't care as much about the shoot-yourself-in-the-foot crap; those few plays are amplified with every play mattering in our garbage offense. Our defense will win us some games this year, and I'm hoping we have enough on offense to win a few more in the MAC. But man, I am incredibly frustrated right now. I expected to progress this year, not regress, at least offensively.

Side note: love the traditional gold helmets

This week's advanced box score: https://collegefootballdata.com/boxscore/401520228 Unfortunately, what jumps off the page is Akron's success with scoring opportunities. It didn't feel like it while watching, but Akron got the ball inside the Kentucky 40 just as many times as UK got it inside Akron's 40. Penalties, drops, missed kicks, and we leave Lexington with 3 points. That is what bad football teams do, and that's why my concern is growing. Last year, coach had DJ slinging it 10-15 yards down the field on sideline comebacks all game long. Long, difficult, strong throws and the likes of SJL and DG and AA would bring them down and help us move the ball. Now, in addition to not being able to finish, it's a battle to just get 5-6 yards on a pass play. I question either QBs ability to make throws down field and make good/quick decisions. Both of them look so fragile and scared. With that said, I simply do not understand why Anderson and Lingard aren't used more. Those guys should get twice as many touches per game. They're easy to get the ball to, and both of them run hard and strong. We can't waste their time with Akron. Defensively, I was impressed again. The most glaring error was the TD before the half, granted that was a hell of a pitch and catch. And the long TD off the shoulda been sack was bad, but unfortunately these guys still have trouble finishing. A MAC QB/RB give up on that play, not Kentucky. Special teams--not acceptable. Bobby Golden has played like 7 games in an Akron uniform and he's got to have the UA record for most muffed punts in a career. And we don't have a kicker. If we don't get the ball inside the 25, we will not score any points. Frustration is the word of the season so far. The last God knows how many seasons, it's been apathy. Now, there are very reasonable expectations of scoring points and forcing turnovers, and they have not delivered. After a quarter of the season, I have been frustrated and upset after each game. Not good. I'm not even sure what direction they can go to make something happen at this point.

It’s never a good thing when your football team’s offensive output matches that of the soccer team.

It's soccer season, and we're legit National Championship contenders.

Where to start? Going to do a little different format this week. Offense: - From what I could see on tv, it looked like UK was not going to let us beat them over the top and were willing to give up some underneath options. That being said, the few deep shots we took were poorly thrown. UK also got plenty of pressure on DJI by bringing just 4 rushers most of the time. DJI actually did a nice job maneuvering in the pocket considering all the pressure he was under. More on that below… - The OL had their worst game of the season. The OTs struggled all night. The interior of the OL was better than the OTs in pass pro but struggled with UK’s blitzes, which usually coincided with a 3rd down. Of the 34 pass attempts, DJI was pressured for 25+. - If we’re going to take all of the underneath throws, the ball placement has to be accurate enough to allow the receivers to catch, turn, and potentially create yards after catch. Basically, no deep ball = no explosive pass plays, unless they are created by YAC. Too often the ball was catchable but not thrown where the receiver had a chance to make further advancement. To compound the issues, perimeter blocking was as bad as I’ve seen under this staff. - This offense is not good enough (at this time) to overcome penalties. Once we get into 3 and 9 or longer, it’s basically a dead drive. - I sound like a broken record but Lingard and D. Anderson need the ball more. Whether that’s in the run game or passing game, they need the ball. Defense: - The defense did enough to keep it a game. Unfortunately, the sack that turned into a touchdown was a backbreaker and the offense did little to help the D throughout the contest. - Consistent play came from Nunnally, T. Jones, KJ Martin, Tallandier, and Lewis. Although, Lewis did get beat on one TD. - Our DL held their own against UK’s OL. As far as pressure goes, Zips had nearly as much on UK as against Morgan State. - It may have seemed like there were a lot of missed tackles, but that’s misleading as they came in bunches. We had 13 for the game, which is what we average on the season. Really not much else to say here. It was a wasted effort that ended up with a lopsided score. Special Teams: - The punt muff can’t happen. - The missed FGs are disappointing, but heck of a job by the holder getting the high snap down on the made FG. - Jackson was fine (not great) punting the ball. - Nice job by the punt team recovering UK’s muffed punt. - Kick off coverage was solid. Defense and special teams forced a combined 3 turnovers which should have been enough to keep us in the game. Until the offense gets on track, it’ll be more of the same. UK’s talent level helped exploit some of the same issues we had last week.

Kind of a weird game where the score doesn't tell the whole story. Defense played well. Pretty incredible plays from Davis and Leary made it look a little worse than reality. If you're going to give a superior team a game, you can't shoot yourself in the foot. Muffed punt, dropped 3rd down pass while driving by Adams, illegal man downfield on a huge 4th down gain, and an unreliable kicker and last night is what you'll get. Still don't understand this offense at all. DJ played fine (in terms of accuracy and decision making) from what I could see, but he still looks timid/timing off. All those beatings the past few years probably had a last affect on psyche. We have to find a way to open up the offense more. We have zero vertical passing attack. Think the offense will open up once we can establish that. I just don't know if the issue is QB not seeing guys, coaching staff limiting play-calling due to personnel limitations, OL not being able to protect long enough, our the WRs just not getting open. Probably a combination of all of the above. Has Bullock even played the last 2 games? Odd to use him like we did against Temple then seemingly go away from it. What shouldn't get lost in all the frustration, (and not to excuse our issues) is that Kentucky did exactly what they were supposed to do to us. Some of that was self-inflicted which can be fixed. We have a lot of issues offense, but I think still plenty of options and some more time to get those figured out, and we have the head coach to do it. Its not like last night was Temple kicking the pee out of us. The season is only ever about conference play, just get the crap fixed by then. Would like to see us give Indiana a game next week. They aren't good. We can if the staff can find a way to spark the offense. The time to panic isn't when we're losing to superior opponents like we're supposed to. Conference play, at least for the foreseeable future is where we should be really judging the program.

I'm going to make a predictably fruitless request. As we commence our annual tear down of our program and its leadership could we maybe offer some solutions rather than engage in simple p!$$!ng and moaning?

What's really discouraging is that I flipped over to the Colorado - Colorado State game after we allowed UK to beat us, and the difference in speed, pursuit, aggressiveness, physicality, general skill, and offensive sophistication is on a whole different level, and it's glaringly obvious, even on tv. If Colorado - Colorado State is D1, UK was playing D2, and we were at what might be expected for low D2 or D3. Both of these teams would smoke UK and make us look like we don't even belong on the same field. As an example, the velocity and accuracy of the passes in this game are closer to NFL quality than they are to what I observed in UK-Akron. Unbelievable that there appears to be this much of a gap!

Yeah, tomorrow will be recaps of how much this team has improved, how we should be excited for the future, and other moral victories that are nonsense all capped with "in JoeMo we trust". Tired of this crap on the field.

We haven't had a turnaround in damn near a decade and folks like you defending this trash are part of the problem.

Wahhhhhhh Wahhhhhh Someone Call The Wambulance! Wake up buddy, its 2023, we are bad right now. And it’s time to accept that we don’t have a Colorado turnaround in us. Let’s support this team for what it is right now! If we hit week 8 and we stink then I’ll be with you brother, but join me right now.

I can assure you if you’re an Akron football fan you have seen much much worse. I hate that I can say that.

Lol @ calm down We suck against everybody

Everyone needs to simply calm the f down. What did you expect? Our offense has been horrible. DJ is clearly just not himself right now, I thought he actually played better than he has been tonight. The defense was great until they clearly were gassed. I thought the offense had more identity but still not great. REMEMBER: This is the SEC vs. a MAC team that has not been good. It’s the process people. Calm. The. f. Down.

One of the interesting things about being in the Big East is, they seem to treat men's soccer as a major sport, and the referee was new to Akron matches. The ref assts were local as was the 4th. They spent a lot of time pre-match walking the field, with the Big Guy pointing things out, measuring things, talking to timing, ball handlers, game staff, way before kickoff. I'd love your opinion on FloSports broadcast, but they certainly had a nice production presence, and the League had personnel at FES. The only time you ever saw MAC staff at a match was during the tournament. Long lead in into your question, I know... The other interesting thing was the presence of VAR, something I've never seen used at FES, the MAC or last year's NCAA. And both Penalties were reviewed by VAR and by two of the 3 on-field officials. So, I would tend to think they must not have been bogus, given the video confirmation. Maybe the VAR was inconclusive and didn't over rule. But boy, "Welcome to The Big East" has sure been an eye-opener as to the professionalism, and for the competition.

I bit the bullet for it. If you like Akron Soccer then it's worth $30/month. I'm not able to make all the matches... and often simply choose not to attend in person when the weather turns... so it's nice to be able to not miss the action. The audio is only Chad Welker commentating... he does a better job than I would... but... it's underwhelming. The video is good. I'm definitely going to drop the subscription at the end of the season & then pick it up again next year.

Offense has yet to score in 2nd half this season.

Everyone on this board is frustrated. And everyone has been noting for 3 weeks how the offensive performance, specifically QB play, is entirely unacceptable. In a time where the ABJ and all other local media has given up on covering the team, I think ZN is fortunate to have as many people as it does that make thoughtful posts week after week.

When’s basketball season? asking for a fan base.

Like whatever man. That’s your opinion. this game could have gone either way tonight

All you have to do is imagine this is year 7 of Moorhead and then it feels a lot more like a Bowden game

What I wouldn't give to watch a Brookhart or Bowden team right now.

Irons sucks. pure and simple. We can’t win with him at QB.

Can’t wait for the 27 paragraph summary thoughts thread tomorrow. bowl game!!!!!

I've never seen football this bad in my life!!!!

Please cut Perez in the morning.

Hard to call plays when your QB can't throw down field more than 10 yards with any accuracy. Hard to run when all you can call are screen passes and short out routes. Hard to score points when your kicker has limited range. So basically, we have to get into the Red Zone to get any points, but we have no way to get there. I'm actually amazed UK hasn't been blitzing on every play.

Hard when you are on the field 75% of the game.

Adams drop Ineligible man downfield Long 3rd and goal TD Failing to finish the sack How different is this game if just two of those go the other way?

Just can’t finish. Man these guys take a lot of 3rd down sacks. If they don’t take the sack there, the penalty results in a 1st down. But…on the board.

Why wouldn't we accept the penalty and go for it???? I know it's nice to get on the board but we need TD's if we want a chance.

Field goal does nothing for us.

Ffffffffff

I have zero confidence in this team trying to take a game Kentucky is desperately trying to give us.

I think the ineligible receiver downfield was the TE who caught the ball. The refs have never seen a down-the-field pass from Akron, so they figured it was illegal. It's comical at this point.

Oh look, a big play...with a costly penalty. Surprise surprise.

Where is the shooting yourself in the foot emoji?

I'm so frustrated. Maybe it's my fault. Maybe I just need to accept we cant win any of these yearly games we whore ourselves out to the SEC. UK giving Akron every opportunity to let us have some joy and Akron still cant handle it. So tired of the mistakes. Muffed punt, Adam's dropping an easy pass for 1st down, etc. Just gets old this crap happens weekly.

Saw that coming. Can't let them complete a pass in the end zone on that play. 🙄

Looked like they held Lavea. Whatever. This team is incredibly aggravating.

Love our D

They can’t handle any adversity. Any loss of yardage or no gain and they just stop in their tracks. Absolutely no excuse for not scoring points on that drive.

FG was a good effort considering bad snap.

How on earth does a WR like Adams drop that? Totally killed the drive. Fragile offense.

Field position alert!! First time in 4 quarters we have passed the 50 yard line.

Offense is so so so so bad

Who on here was complaining about Golden returning punts/kicks? You win.

This already isn't fun.

My opinion ... I would agree if the NCAA ever implements the Fall/Spring Soccer season where teams aren't playing such a compressed schedule.