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If you read my posts you know I'm not a fan of Guthrie. That being said, I do believe Akron Athletics is better off now than under Larry Williams. More on my thoughts on Guthrie later in this post. Here's my "State of Akron Athletics" comments. First - Facilities. Since Guthrie arrived we've seen repairs made to InfoCision that were needed, although we still need to fix/replace the video board. The JAR is what it is, but it's not terrible, and the new floor, the addition of a "$$$ donor bar" are all positives. It still looks good, and those who do attend infrequently still think it's a good facility. FirstEnergy continues to be one of the top Soccer-specific Stadiums in NCAA soccer, and they recently upgraded the sound system to give more sound clarity and moved the speaker system to make the seating area more enjoyable before the matches (you can actually talk to your neighbors pre-game without screaming!) Ocasek is a very nice facility for swim meets, and they just added a huge, state-of-the art video system that is not only informative, entertaining and readable, but offers the swimmers and divers training assistance. Of course, basketball is getting a new training facility as well. And the new track and field complex at Lee Jackson field is fantastic, although the throws area are a little convoluted. All of these were done under Guthrie, so hats off to the AD and The U on Facilites. Coaches - Guthrie was smart enough to realize that Coaches Groce, Embick and Peresie were the most successful coaches (and programs) he had, so he's left them alone, and even has enhanced their contracts. It doesn't mean he keeps his mouth shut and doesn't criticize them in public to others, which is a big negative IMHO about Charles. He is overheard many times at games/meets/matches being very critical of his coaches to the general public, which I'm sure get back to the coaches mentioned and may tend to undermine their confidence. That being said, I believe he made positive hires in football, softball and volleyball. Baseball has been a circus. He needed to move on from Sabo but the OSU coach fiasco and then not re-signing last year's coach has to be questioned, as well as his new hire. Granted baseball hasn't started and time will tell but his pick is a little underwhelming. The Women's soccer hire was and is disastrous, not that she is a bad person or knowledgeable, it's once again a terrible hire for a D1 school with a Nationally ranked Men's program. Track and Field is another terrible hire. Some will point to the 2023 Outdoor MAC title for men as an argument, but the head coach had little to do with that, it was the throws coach and his athletes that won that title. Meanwhile the women's program is still in shambles. And she's already lost the throws coach after one season and has gone through 2 PV coaches already in one year. It's no secret Guthrie chased Coach Mitchell off, like he did Herlihy from soccer (needed). Still...Now we have a new Lacrosse coach, so we'll have to see how that goes. And I do feel the new hire for Women's basketball is a solid choice without watching one game, but once again, Guthrie's handling of the Jackson situation was pretty ham-handed. Department - The Athletic Department is not what I would call a well-run machine. Being a retired businesswoman, I understand wanting to have staff around you that you have confidence in and comfortable with. And I understand the desire to change, but change for change sake is not always a good thing. The department was already reeling from needed staff reductions, like all departments at Akron when Dr. Miller came on board. It appears from the number and quality of recent departures from Athletics that the methodology is "make life hell on them and they'll leave on their own" rather than try to work towards a different and consistent approach. They've lost a lot of good people and their replacements seem more like a hodge-podge rather than a unified front. Game Day Experience - It is abysmal. At all events. From football's thuggish music on every down instead of marching band, lack of any entertainment during time-outs, quarter changes etc. to the treatment of us fans by game-day staff, plus the cost of everything, it's not going to bring anyone to games. Basketball was so-so but once again, where are the things that make families and casual fans want to attend? They finally seemed to "get it" at the last few soccer matches with a few give-aways. Let's face it, it just flat out is terrible across the board, especially compared to the entire MAC conference, other than perhaps KSU. We do got to many away events in the MAC plus go to watch a niece and nephew who compete at other MAC schools, and hands-down we are 11th out of 12 in Game Day experience. Eastern Michigan leads the way, Miami is very good, Toledo is solid, and I can go on. So that's my "more-than-two-cents" worth. I'm sure I've given enough ammo for some of you to tear into me and tell me where I'm wrong, but the premise was to offer "thoughts" on the State of Athletics....and these are mine.

I guess if he chooses NIU the Zips will still get him for his grad transfer year.

The professors are making a badly informed argument, or they are Nihilists and just want to blow athletics up without out any idea of what comes next. We are living in very Nihilistic times. Akron isn't changing conferences, it isn't changing divisions and the football team isn't dropping down unilaterally. None of these actions are necessary and any one will negatively impact the athletic department. This is what Akron needs to do, FIX THE FREAKING FOOTBALL PROGRAM!!!!!!! Everything else will work itself out.

Maybe it’s too simplistic but I am hoping for something to be positive about in these next few games. Someone to step up and show flashes of potential or talent that we can somehow build off of in the next few years. Maybe just a general bump in our ability to fight and keep games close. Something, anything, to show there’s hope for the future.

I have looked very hard for the past 2 days......to find the press conference that occurred after the Marquette game. I have been unsuccessful in finding the Marquette press conference. The Beacon Journal has not been good this year in sending reporters to cover Akron U. Mens soccer games. Therefore, zips fans are forced to search for the press conferences on you tube. Normally, if a soccer game was played on Tuesday night, either Blue and Gold....or myself will find the press conference on the regular you tube web site (nomally found there around 2:00 or 3;00 on wednesday afternoon). As soon as Blue and Gold or myself or another zip fan finds the previous night's press conference on regular you tube, the zips nation soccer fan posts on this web site for other zip soccer fans so they can listen to comments from Coach Embick and 2 players. Normally, 5 to 6 days after the game has been played, someone in the Zips athletic department (I would assume that it is sports information director Sean Palchick) finally gets around to posting the press conference on the Zips Athletic page you tube channel. I am going to vent here. Zips soccer fans deserve much, much better. Zips soccer fans should not have to wait until 3 pm the next day for a zip soccer fan to find the press conference on regular You tube and then have that same zip soccer fan post on this site. Zip soccer fans sure as heck should not have to wait 5 to 6 days for the press conference to be posted on the zips You Tube channel. Thank you to Blue&Gold and other fans...that have posted press conferences on this web site. Let's compare the very poor performance.....by the Akron Mens soccer sports information director to what Creighton SID did last Wednesday night. Akron played at Creighton last Wednesday night from 7 pm eastern time to 9 pm eastern time. At 11:30 eastern time, I found this tweet from Creighton mens's soccer. It included a recap of the game, a 8.5 minute highlight video and the 6 minute press conference. All included in 1 tweet. Creighton Men's soccer fans are getting great timely information. Akron soccer fans are getting almost no information ....on a timely basis from our SID. Charles Guthrie, Markus Jennings, if you are reading this.....This one Akron Mens soccer fan says ....We deserve much better, more timely information.

I wouldn't be surprised to hear the teachers' union start back on its attack of the costs of the football program as it did in 2020. The University did a decent job of explaining the costs of leaving the MAC and/or dropping to FCS then, but I could see the continued floundering of the program opening the door to this critique again.

I heard Undercuffler was so upset with his performance Saturday he threw his helmet down in the locker room and it got intercepted. I wonder how many fumbles he coughs up this weekend against BYE?

Richie Laryea....!!!

I'll take a different view. That is in the final third Ashton seemed lost. He repeatedly passed inside, broke around the defender and got a pass back. Rather than cross or shoot he passed again. By then the D was crowded between him and the goal. I'd rather see him take a shot any time he in or near the box. He has a wicked left foot that can hit a rocket and keep it low, not overshooting the frame. Let him do more of that. Most won't find the net, but there are rebounds, misdirections and weird bounces that happen in the box.

The last few years In the 4th quarter to get the crowd excited they have a Zips "play of the game" We might be losing by 40 points but sometimes with great difficulty they will find a positive play for the Zips and put it on the scoreboard. In order to blow off some steam from this season, I will ask everyone on the board to give me the worst play of 2023 by the Zips. I know the season is young but I already have a couple of favorites: The missed field goal that would have given us a win over Indiana Our offsides against Temple when they were punting and we would have a last ditch effort to tie the game. When Kentucky threw a touchdown pass after we had the quarterback tackled but could not bring him down to the ground.

On the other hand, the total revenue since 2019 divided by 6 is not too shabby.

This is one strange list for a 4*.

Here's the school's summary of the argument from 2020- https://www.uakron.edu/president/news-and-messages/response-about-athletics

Our 2 young QB's have a couple of spring practices and have been running the scout team. It is not like they have no idea what's up. They will keep their red shirt if that was a concern. Can they perform any worse? It's time to find out!

Every play Lingard doesn't get the ball....

There seems to be such little community involvement by Athletics and our teams. If athletes are volunteering - put it on social media and on GoZips.com. We know the Akron Beacon Journal will not print any positive story, so blitz the small community newspapers. Advertise games/ticket specials and send multiple press releases a day to those small newspapers about game results or community involvement. Partner with FirstEnergy, Goodyear, Firestone, Akron Children’s, Summa, Cleveland Clinic, Signet, GPD Group etc...and offer to assist with their foundations. Student athletes assisting with companies will put Akron Athletics on their radar. Maybe that company buys a suite at InfoCision, maybe they book the baseline bar at the men's basketball games, maybe they donate to Swimming or Track or attend a Soccer, baseball or softball game because they interacted with an Akron athlete. What harm could it do?...No one donates or buys any additional tickets, so then our athletes learn about being better citizens and learn about civic pride, which is part of what higher education is supposed to do.

For me, Undercuffler will always be the guy caught yelling F-bombs at officials on live television. Wonder if his verbal skills are on par with last season.

Good point, '86.

The answer to that didn't change based on the BG game but for me it will hinge on these last 4 games depending on who does or doesn't play.

Good post. If I was hiring an AD at Akron's level I would look for someone could changed a program for the better for the athletes students alumni fans and general community. Are we seeing progress in those categories at Akron?

Guthrie should be feeling some personal pressure I assume. Not job security pressure, but for him to have a good shot at a P5 job, I think he needs to be able to show he changed the football program for the better. So far the product still sucks under him, though I guess some will be impressed that he got JM to come to Akron, even though he hasnt done anything as coach. Also, attendance is still trash, which maybe theres nothing he can do about that, frankly. But I do believe football is his key to a P5 school if that's what he wants. He needs to show he changed the program.

Plenty of schools who have had success without a successful (or any) football program. Depends what you invest in.

Unless you prioritize other sports like a Gonzaga or Georgetown.

In particular, Ashton Kamdem played very well along mostly our left flank. He recorded lots of mileage, getting involved in the offense without neglecting his defensive responsibilities.

AKR 1-1 MAR Zips scored first and second, the second an Own Goal by our senior defender and captain. It happens. Every experienced defender has a story about an OG. A hard fought and physical contest, but Akron is currently lacking quality in the final third. We usually win the match when we shoot 20 times. I fear Zips will remain a pedestrian side until some key personnel return to action.

And I don't wholly disagree. I agree the level of talent has improved. My point was more that this level of misery doesn't have one source as its origin (coaching, injuries, bad luck, talent...). This level of incompetence requires failure on many levels.

If we go with one of our freshmen QB's the Wagon Wheel Game is a tough week for a freshman to get his first start. I still think we're only an average QB away from being .500. But that doesn't take the blame off the staff's shoulders, as it's their responsibility to make sure we've got that average QB on the roster.

No doubt Joe Dunn will begin with a question like, 'Well, coach, for the eighth straight week you came into the first quarter with a chance to win the game but just couldn't quite close it out."

Great game to schedule on the Day of the Dead! 💀

I wish eSports was around back when I was there. I would have loved to compete in several of the sports games, especially football and basketball.

He'll be 24 in January...at some point college has to end.🙂

The transfer portal makes me think. If schools can boot kids off of teams and replace them producing immediate winning, do schools really need 85ish scholarships? Would't 53 be enough to field a college football team every year? Give 15 partial scholarships to practice squad players. NFL rosters have very large turnover year over year and somehow manage to play games and have winning teams with what are very small rosters.

There seemed to be more of an emphasis on running the ball, although still not enough in my opinion. Once the game was out of hand, we had no choice but to go pass heavy. Akron actually out gained BG 157-81 in the first half. Final yardage was 279 to 297. JU was responsible for 4 turnovers. 2 interceptions and 2 fumbles. Not going to win many games with a 4-0 turnover deficit. The bye week is finally here, which will give the staff an opportunity to take a hard look at younger players who may see more snaps at the backend of the season. It will also be a time to attempt some offensive adjustments. Freshman receiver Adrian Norton stood out. Looked like he was open a few times and did catch two passes in the second half. He’s going to be really good and should already be receiving more snaps. Junior receiver Caleb Anderson made a difficult snag of a pass thrown behind him. Something the other receivers have failed to consistently do. That being said, Gathings did win a 50/50 ball in the first quarter. Left guard Ben Frank probably had his worst game, but has been the most consistent lineman this season. For the most part, the left side of the OL has been solid and the right side has struggled. Yesterday, that scenario was flipped. Defense was solid in the first half. The long TD drive followed up by JU’s fumble inside the 10 was a back breaker. BG scored on Nunnally in coverage and also drew a PI on him in the end zone. Why we are dropping our best pass rusher into coverage in those situations is beyond me. Kabbash Richards saw his first significant action on defense and did some good things. I think JoeMo said Kabbash was injured during the first half of season. He’ll likely see his snaps increase. Sophomore LB Jaharon Griffin was laying some hits. He may force himself into more playing time. For all the issues this team has had, the linebacker position has not been one of them and looks to be legitimately 4 deep. The starting OL played every snap on offense with the exception of Keylen Davis leaving the game due to injury. 2 of the sacks should be placed on them. The other 3 go to JU. QB - Undercuffler (Bullock) RB - Lingard (D. Anderson) WR - Gathings (Norton) WR - George (Anderson) WR - Adams (Walker) (Golden) TE - Banks (Newell) LT - Chambers LG - Frank C - T. Williams RG - K. Davis (Lyons) RT - N. Williams DE - Nunnally (Jackson) DT - Jones (Robinson) (Proffitt) DT - Lavea (Moore) (Murphy) DE - Adler (A. Smith) (Richards) LB - Fish (McCoy) (Griffin) LB - Cooper (McCoy) (Harris) NB - Lewis CB - Durant (Golden-Nelson) CB - Tallandier (Hunter) S - C. Thomas (Johnson) S - KJ Martin (Thompson)

He's going to DePaul.