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Thought I would get this thread up because, well, somebody has to do it! The Zips head to Bowling Green Saturday to face the 3-4 Falcons. The Falcons have wins over Georgia Tech, Buffalo and Eastern Illinois and losses to Michigan, OU, Miami and Liberty. Sophomore RB Terion Stewart (5’8” 225 lbs.) leads Falcons rushers at 70.6 ypg. Stewart played at Sandusky High School and was Northwest District Offensive Player of the Year. He ran for 91 yards against the Zips in 2021 but was not enrolled at BG last year missed the entire 2022 season due to academic and mental health issues. He is coming off of a 123 yard performance on 25 carries against Buffalo. Connor Bazelak, a senior QB from Kettering Alter is a transfer who played at Missouri and Indiana. He is completing 59% of his passes and is averaging 189 ypg passing.

Akron travels to Omaha to take on the Blue Jays of Creighton. Creighton will start the game at 6 pm their time.....so us good folks in the east can see the game at 7 pm our time. Creighton has a 3-5-5 overall record and they are currently 3rd in the Big East Midwest division with a 2-2-1 record. Creighton has a very special soccer specific stadium. Morrison Stadium’s seating capacity is 7,500. Construction on the stadium was completed in 2004 and included a video scoreboard, champions room, nearly 2,000 covered chairback seating, five luxury suites, an enclosed press box, concession stands and a banquet area. Let's hope that GK Mitch Budler is healthy and able to play in his home state. Mitch is from Lincoln, NE. Lincoln is about 60 miles from Omaha so Mitch will have lots of family and friends at the game if he has recovered from the injury suffered at Xavier. Malik Henry and Josef Paulus both missed the Xavier game. Wishing good health for these 2 very important zips. With the Marquette game just 3 nights away, the zips will need to use their bench a lot in this tough Wednesday and Saturday game week. Looking at the current Big East standings, 1. Georgetown 12 points 2. Xavier 10 tie for 3rd ....UConn and Akron 9 tie for 5th....St. John's and Providence 8 tie for 7th...Seton Hall and Creighton 7 9th.... Butler 5 10. Villanova 4 11. Marquette 3 12. DePaul 1 top 4 teams will host host home game in the Big East quarterfinals only the top 8 teams make the Big East Tournament Looking at the Wednesday night matchups, there are 3 games (Akron at Creighton, UConn at Providence, and Seton Hall at Providence) that involve 2 teams currently in the top 8. Villanova (1-3-1) at Georgetown (4-1-0 ) 2 pm Butler 1-2-2 at Xavier 3-1-1 7 pm UConn 3-2-0 at Providence 2-1-2 7 pm Akron 2-0-3 at Creighton 2-2-1 7 pm Seton Hall 2-2-1 at St. John's 2-1-2 7 pm DePaul 0-4-1 at Marquette 1-4-0 8 pm Go, Zips !!!! Let's get 3 points...and yes, I will also be rooting for the Butler Bulldogs on Wednesday night.

Everything after the 3rd TD in the Temple game.

I appreciate the contribution to the board, but some of this is not correct. College coaches do not give a 💩 about stars. They recruit and evaluate based on what they see on tape and in person. Stars are for the fans and for the recruiting services to make money. The majority of time the stars will eventually align to 4 and 5 stars for the elite programs by the time signing day arrives, but many of those prospects start out as 3 stars if they have not competed in multiple camp settings. As offers are extended and the recruiting services get around to seeing the prospects in person, star bumps will occur. That being said, a large portion of 4 and 5 stars have competed in camp settings by the time they are seniors. As far as Rivals is concerned, the majority of G5 commitments will be 2 stars. On3 and 247 will rate most G5s as low 3 stars because it’s good for business and gets more eyes on their product. We can all say what we want about the performance on the field, but what is not up for debate is the amount of connections JoeMo and this staff have. They aren’t going to recruit anyone who they do not believe will help this program. Plus, the interest has to be reciprocal between the recruits and staff.

KenPom's 2024 rankings dropped in the last couple of days. They start with Akron at 102, 3 spots ahead of where they finished last year. The Zips opened at 110 last year and climbed as high as 95. For whatever reason, the site seems to be still filling in some holes, as it has the Zips opening with Southern Miss. KP has SDSU at 117. Their schedule is loaded once again. They play Kent again (this time at home), they go to Kansas State, Southern Miss, and Wichita State. Not quite the gauntlet of last year, which included a back-to-back road trip at Kent then at Bama. The opener last year felt like a tournament game. The atmosphere in the JAR was the best it has been in November in very long time. This game on the road will be no easy feat, and I wouldn't be shocked to see ZN melt down that night. Appel was in street clothes for the opener last year. Mayo was held in check most of the game. Matt Mims got hot from 3, and he may be one of the most under-the-radar best shooters in the country. William Kyle, in his first ever college game, played very well against Freeman. X was heroic.

Outrageous? Paying $20 to watch Akron football this year.

Food and a cash bar. A chance to mingle with the players and coaching staff in a relaxed atmosphere. A short program to introduce everybody. Usually a trivia game by the players about Zips related subjects. Overall an enjoyable event.

I know it is early but I am eager to get this season rolling! The Zips head off to Brookings, South Dakota to face the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State on November 6th in what is likely to be a tough opener. As you may recall, the Zips opened last season at the JAR against the Jackrabbits, pulling out an 81-80 overtime win. The Jackrabbits were selected by the Summit League’s head coaches, sports information directors and media to win the upcoming 2023-24 regular season title. 6’4” junior guard Zeke Mayo was selected as Summit League Preseason Player of the Year. Last year, Mayo led the team in points (18.2), rebounds (6.2) and assists (3.4). 6’8” redshirt senior forward Luke Appel was also selected to the Preseason All-Summit League First Team. Appel missed a large portion of last year due to injuries. In 2021-22 he was the Summit League Sixth Man of the Year. The team also has some serious size with 8 players 6’7” or taller including Wyoming Transfer Nate Barnhart. Warning to Zips fans- this is not Cedarville!

Not committed (yet 🤞🙏🙏)

Wow, great work, @TennZip! Thank you!

Akron football has won the MAC Championship more recently than the following teams have won the MAC tournament: Ball State Bowling Green Toledo Northern Illinois Eastern Michigan Central Michigan And in that same amount of time, WMU has won the tournament once

There are still 3 league games left....I was curious......as to which team might have the toughest remaining schedule. I am not sure if this is a valid way to look at it....... ( I am not factoring in whether the games are home or away) However, if you look at it by looking at avg. pts for teams left on the schedule, it looks to me that Butler has the toughest schedule...then followed by Creighton and St. John's ...followed closely by UConn. if a team had to face Villanova, Marquette and DePaul (currently 10 to 12 in the standings) in the last 3 game, they would have the easiest remaining schedule Conversely, if a team had to face Georgetown, Xavier and either Akron or UConn (currently top 3 in standings), they would have the toughest schedule Let's look at it .....by current 1 to 12 in the standings... Georgetown currently has 12 points Left to face Villanove 4 points St. Johns 8 points Marquette 3 points 15 points (average of 5 points per game) Xavier currently has 10 points Left to face Butler 5 points Villanove 4 points UConn 9 points 18 points (average of 6 points per game) Akron currently has 9 points Let to face Creighton 7 points Marquette 3 points Butler 5 points 15 points (average of 5 points per game) on paper....slightly easier than Xavier....both Xavier and Akron have 1 remaining home game and 2 games on the road UConn is tied with Akron at 9 points Left to face Providence 8 points Creighton 7 points Xavier 10 points 25 points (average of 8.33 points per game) tough schedule..... St. Johns is currently tied for 5th with 8 points Left to face Seton Hall 7 points Georgetown 12 points Creighton 7 points 26 points (average of 8.67 points per game) tough schedule Providence is currently tied for 5th with 8 points Left on schedule UConn 9 points Butler 5 points Seton Hall 7 points 21 points (average of 7 per game) Seton Hall is currently tied for 7th with 7 points left on schedule St. Johns 8 points DePaul 1 point Providence 8 points 17 points (average of 5.67 per game) Creighton is tied for 7th with 7 points Left on schedule Akron 9 points UConn 9 points St. Johns 8 points 26 points (average of 8.67 points per game) tough schedule...all 3 of their opponents have winning records in the league Butler is alone in 9th place with 5 points...their remaining opponents all have winning records in the league Left to face Xavier 10 points Providence 8 points Akron 9 points 27 points (average of 9 points per game) very tough schedule on paper Villanova .....currently has 4 points....they have to face the top 2 teams and the last place team left on schedule Georgetown 12 points Xavier 10 points DePaul 1 point 23 points (average of 7.67 per game) Marquette currently has 3 points left to face DePaul 1 point Akron 9 points Georgetown 12 points 22 points (average of 7.33 per game) DePaul last with 1 point Left on schedule Marquette 3 points Seton Hall 7 points Villanova 4 points 14 points (average of 4.67 per game) on paper...the easiest remaining schedule Again, I am completely ignoring home vs. away I know of no good way to determine the advantage of a home game.....I do think that it is fair to say ...that Butler (currently in 9th place).....has 3 very tough remaining games on their schedule. All 3 of their opponents are currently in the top 6 and all have winning records in the league. DePaul plays 3 teams that are currently not in the top 6. I will let each of you...draw your own conclusions ........I obviously hope that the zips can get 9 points in their last 3 games.....and they will be guaranteed to host a Big East quarterfinal game.

At least it wasn't an attempted on-sides kick to open the game that led to a TD! 🤣

Good catch. I had to hop on the PC to be able to pause it more accurately. We're so damn tall and athletic anymore, it's hard to tell the difference between players without jersey numbers. Very good sign.

https://niuhuskies.com/news/2023/10/16/general-new-niu-convocation-center-court-unveiled.aspx NIU will no longer play in Batman's Cave. They redid their floor and it's normal now.

Zips win this one. I'm not sure if it's going to be 2-0, or 41-10, but we are Loeffler's kryptonite.

Akron is by far the most accomplished program on that list. I'm guessing it's really a 2-team race: DePaul and Zips.

I’ll just touch on the recruitment of Wasel and Jennings. Wasel was ranked a 3 star by Rivals since late 2021. At one time he was listed as the 20th best player in Oklahoma. After committing to Akron, he later fell to 28th overall. After receiving his initial rating, he stayed as a (5.6) 3 star by Rivals, which is high for MAC status. Jennings was not given a rating by Rivals until signing day, despite being offered by Kentucky back in January of 2020. However, UK eventually backed off. To my knowledge, Jennings did not do many camps and therefore flew under the radar outside of the MAC footprint. I stand by what I’ve been saying in that this staff has majorly upgraded the talent level on this roster. The QB problem is masking much of that. Arth’s last class (before being let go) was off to a horrendous start and it was unlikely it would have picked up much, if at all.

NIL, SCHMIL… Our G5 competition isn’t shelling out big NIL money to get players. That’s for P5 programs. Pro teams like the Cowboys or Mets shell out huge money every year and win nothing. The Guardians are always competitive, with 1/3 the budget. You think if Kaulig donated 50k to UA we’d spend it on anything but a sack of beans and some shiny trinkets? The next Getsy, Frye, Johnson, Washington, Jacquemain, Woodson…Dalton Williams…whomever… is out there and it doesn’t take 50k to identify and develop them. Big off-season for Joe in the QB department.

This week's advanced box score: https://collegefootballdata.com/boxscore/401532420 How about that, Akron scored every time they got inside the 40! But they only did twice. So if we look at the early portion of the game, we see that Akron's defense forced a long field goal, which was missed. Then Akron went 3&out, Then Golden-Nelson picked Bauer and took it into plus territory, followed by a short drive and made field goal (praise the Lord!). Then ANOTHER pick, this one was huge, as CMU was driving. After that pick Bullock ran 27 yards to get into plus territory again. Two plays later, that awful, horrible, unbelievable, etc. etc. interception. After that, the teams exchanged punts for the entire quarter until CMU nailed that long FG. Akron's defense gave them so many opportunities in that first half to bust things wide open. Even if it had been just 10-14 points mustered by the offense in the first half, the D could have ridden that tide to ultimately bring us a win. Things weren't necessarily looking promising before that pick, but they sure as hell took a further turn for the worst after. At this point, it's safe to say that the QB and OL are what is holding this team back. Sure, there are things like penalties still and plenty of blown coverages, untimely special teams gaffs, but as a whole, the team looks to be where it probably should right now. Only, the lifeblood of the offense is a mess. My heart hurts to think of what this team would look like if we had even just a QB playing at the level of DJI in 2022, which was usually nothing more than "decent." This season has become some kind of sick joke. It's almost as if a deceptive genie granted all of our wishes. Zips fans from 2018-2022: "Genie, all we ask for is a competitive team!" Genie: "Here you go! They will play nearly every opponent close, and even hold the lead for a decent amount of time, but they will never win!" Zips fans: "Genie, we just want a decent QB this year, DJ Irons is going to be back, right?" Genie: "Yes, DJ will be back! Only he won't be the QB he was last year, and he's going to get hurt at the start of MAC play!" Zips fans: "Genie, all we want is a coaching staff that can bring in the recruits we need to win!" Genie: "Can do! Here's the best receiving corps in over a decade, a top 3 running back talent of the century, some nice OL prospects, a P5 QB transfer, and a defensive unit that features some great transfers and even LBs that can make up for the loss of Bubba!" This is the most frustrating season I've experienced as a Zips fan in so long. It's usually blind optimism only to be disappointed and not surprised. Well, this season has been pretty shocking. We are every bit as capable as most teams in this league, but can never put together a 60-minute game on both sides of the ball. We can't even finish more than one drive, maybe two, per game on offense. I said before the year that we've got expectations now and it was horrifying, because we know how that goes at Akron. Well, here we are. There's such a solid foundation to this team, especially with a defense that's been answering the bell week after week, dealing with 3&out after 3&out from their offensive teammates. A funny thing I noticed while digesting the game the last 36 hours: DJI first drive of the season: Long TD on 2nd play JU first drive of the season: 5-play, 67-yard TD drive Bullock first drive of first start: 12-play, 65-yard TD JU first drive of relief at CMU: 8-play, 70-yard TD What does that mean? I don't really know. I would say it points to having some really good skill players and potential, but the QB play and line play simply isn't good enough to adjust to the defense's adjustments. Lingard has run for an average of 4.5 yards per carry during MAC play. In those 3 MAC games, he has touched the ball 41 times between runs and passes caught. In the MAC, teams have been relying on their running backs for years. It's usually a guarantee that when your RB is the most talented-or close to it-player on your offense, you're going to do everything in your power to get them the ball and put them in position to make plays. Whenever he gets the ball in space, he runs away from the secondary, leaving some of the fastest players on opposing rosters in the dust. Even when he doesn't have a lot of space, he falls forward and finds any space he can to gain yardage. Of all the failures of 2023, the most egregious is the usage of Lorenzo Lingard. I get it. Coaches are stubborn. Coaches have tremendous egos. They're often drunk on their own power. But rarely, and I mean RARELY, have I ever seen a player of Lingard's ability in this league not get used. Even the 2017 Ball State Cardinals, who had a worse MAC season than any Arth/Bowden/Ianello team ever did, had a stud running back and gave him the ball because it was their best chance to be successful. He ran for 1,000 yards on almost 5 yards a pop. Akron hasn't had a 1,000 yard rusher in 15 years. What they have done through 7 games with Lingard has been upsetting and incredibly disappointing. Between Moorhead, Arth, Bowden, and Ianello, Moorhead has still done more winning than those guys did through 19 games. In 2013, Akron finished 5-7, its best record since 2006. They started that season 1-6. Their run to 5-7 and a .500 MAC record kind of came out of nowhere. Even with a couple of beatable teams coming up for this 2023 team, I just don't have the belief that they will actually win. It sucks. This season has sucked. Every game has been so frustrating. It felt like we were about to break through against Indiana, only to be punched back down. I always enjoy going over to BG for basketball and football games. But I'm probably going to pass on making that trip. Maybe I'll change my mind later in the week. Finish...? It hardly even feels like this team has started...

I kinda got talked into getting on Instagram to see things about my out-of-state grandkids, and I happened to "follow" the FB team there. I get inundated by pictures of all the FB players the days leading up to a game, and they're all "tough guy" poses, and "in-your-face" looks. If they spent more time working on basics, rather than posing for their Instagram account, they might be better off. Nothing like a 1-5 team who loses to the likes of NIU, Buff and CMU posing as FB players then losing again that week. IMHO. Of course, then I get the women's soccer posts as well, and they show the women having all sorts of "funnzie" games and smiley faces, and they've won 2 matches all year. How about winning, then post your winning poses.

EMU going with the air raid and 5-wide with a QB who isn’t a good thrower when it’s 40 and pouring. Coaches are so stupid sometimes. Unreal how much money they make.

So I’m watching the end of College Gameday, which now goes to 12:05 for some reason. I flip over to CBS Sports to check out Kent-EMU. It’s 7-0 EMU with 14:54 left in the 1Q. Naturally I think something is wrong with the scorebug or something weird happened. So I log into the ESPN app and it hasn’t even launched the game yet to see the stats and play-by-play. So I check out Twitter and…

I like the idea of the Zips Today podcast. 50% of the podcast is commercials though. Thankfully you can skip them but it is like trying to watch a 15 second highlight on ESPN.com but the ad to get there is 30 seconds.

I'll say BG takes the win, on paper. This will be a highly entertaining game to watch for these two reasons: 1.) BGSU is the most Jekyll and Hyde team out there, and since they beat Buffalo, that means this week they will give up 42 points to the Zips. 2.) Zips will do absolutely anything and everything to lose this game (someone should let Joe know that tanking doesn't help as unfortunately there is no college draft). Simply put, you're likely to see the worst game of football ever. Which team wants to lose more? Hopefully Bowling Green, but let's not hold our breath.

I am adding to the list: Bullocks attempt to thrown the ball out of bound that was a wounded duck and was intercepted by Central Michigan. You may be a bad passer but you should at least be able to throw a ball out of bounds when the rush is getting to you. And the offsides on the CMU field goal attempt that eventually led to a touchdown instead of a field goal.