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Reggie Bass transferring from CMU to Kent to play less, score less, and win less (than CMU this year) is absolutely hilarious.

credit to WZIP for actually traveling to Toledo

You can't play like 💩 for 30 minutes and expect to fix it in the last 10 minutes.

Got to agree with you here 81 Grad. Still I believe Groce will figure it out. Many players, especially Freeman, have said this team has another level in them. I think they should have that, but in reality they do not. They have too many weaknesses to go deep in the tournament. In fact it will be a challenge to win the MAC. The turnovers that plague this team are a puzzle. Why can't they be patient rather than trying to force a play? I am struggling to understand why Groce keeps starting Dawson. He has started to show defensive lapses and his shooting is atrocious. Nonetheless I keep telling myself to enjoy this team because next year's edition will be a big drop-off from past performance.

Here we go again! The Flushes come to the JAR Friday night at 6:00 p.m. to face the Zips. Mr. Pinky's squad stands at 13-13/6-7 and are fresh off of a loss at Athens. Jalen Sullinger continues to lead Brimfield in scoring at 14.6 ppg. "Better than Freeman" Payton leads rebounding at 7.3 rpg and is third in team scoring at 12.7 ppg. Von Cameron Davis is second in scoring at 13.0 ppg. while also contributing 4.7 rpg. Davis has become a much better player than I thought he would be when they recruited him. He's becoming that Malique Jacobs type guy who does a little of everything for them (without the video expertise). I really thought they were starting to run the corner but they've never quite gotten there. On paper they seem to have the talent to be much better than their record, but they've never seemed to have really meshed.

Cochran's fat ass is annoying

Freeman Ali Tribble Hunter Johnson I need to see that five get the most time together the remainder of this game.

Under 30% shooting and under 15% from three. We need the law of averages to even out.

My gut told me Tavari's minutes we re up but to my surprise that's not been the case. In the 5 games in February, his minutes have gone: 13-23-12-17-13. Scott's:22-22-14-11-13. Thornton: 13-17-12-5-10.

It will be interesting to see how the rotation evolves over the last five regular season games. T. Johnson, Scott, and Thornton have all had their minutes fluctuate over the last few games and Prather has started to see limited minutes. Tavari in particular looked good against Kent the first time, so I'd expect to see a decent amount of him on the court Friday.

The screens aren't showing off. The tequila bars, wine stands where you can buy an entire bottle of wine and take it to your seat, and a champagne room for high dollar donors is the showing off part.

It's a puzzle, and all we can do is watch and hope some of these 3 balls eventually make it through the net in Cleveland.

Showoffs. Like we could afford all those projection screens 🙄

Well at least now we don't have to look back thinking that the Miami game ruined our shot at an undefeated conference season. 🙂

60 of our 64 points came from Freeman/Ali/Tribble/Hunter. We have zero depth.

Discussed earlier but 12 years ago.

Number one seed is still well in play. If the standings stay roughly the same and the Zips and Rockets end up tied, Zips will have the one seed because the Rockets lost to CMU.

Relax, there is no at large bid at stake, only the MAC tourney

Lucky*

Apparently, he heard you.

We almost collectively screamed him into a travel. LOL.

Cochran is the biggest 6'2" in the NCAA.

Prather might not be good

Okay that guy just tackled rique under the basket

I used to tell my kids that the refs won't bail you out of a bad play. That rule doesn't apply in the MAC.

horrible 3rd foul call on Freeman. Maddox was out of control

Tavari Johnson and Ryan Prather Jr need more minutes and Mikal Dawson needs less.

Toledo. 😁

You can live with giving up 32 points in the half. Scoring 22 is a recipe for disaster.

Zips dribbling the air out of the ball. Half can't get here fast enough.

If you were just watching this game with no other knowledge you would have no idea these were the two top teams in the conference.

Shammah makes a layup!

Maybe they're just not better than the good teams. 🤷‍♂️

Dawson showed so much promise as a freshman then got injured then yeah... hopefully he can turn things around because he seems like a good kid and hard-worker

Step out of bounds then shoot one off of the side of the backboard. Ughhhh.

Total is now down to 139.5

Akron by 3-5 points

It's impossible to blame this all on 1 person. Although Scarborough certainly didn't help. Pew research published this study in December. In the US College enrollment peaked in 2011. In 2022 there were 1.2 million fewer enrollees attending college compared to 2011. That would mean it's not just Akron feeling this burn, but most places. There are fewer Gen Z than there are millennials and a fewer percentage of Gen Z are going to college compared to millenials. In the coming years I'd expect more and more small private Universities to fail as they burn through their endowments and more consolidation. I feel Proenza is more to blame for Akron's poor financial standing. He dug the University into massive debt expanding the campus. Now we have all this excess space that we're paying for that we really don't need. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/12/18/fewer-young-men-are-in-college-especially-at-4-year-schools/#:~:text=College enrollment among young Americans,fewer young men pursuing college.

Akron should do that on the tarps at the Florida neutral site football games.

You must have been there when I was. The year we played Tennessee the on-campus enrollment was 32,000. I checked it the other day. It's not even 12,000 now. A little over 10,000 undergrads, and a little over ~1,000 graduate students. Scarborough was a devastating blow to the University, and Stark State moving in because of changes to State funding for Public Universities forcing UA to scrap Summit College, the University has been in a death spiral for near of a decade. My friends who are faculty at YSU talk about Akron being the model for what is taking place in Public Universities; scrap all the programs to bare-bones and become a papermill. I'm not shocked the AK Rowdies barely exist anymore, the student body barely exists anymore.

12 Questions Going Into Spring Ball 1) Who will be the starting QB? Chances are California grad transfer Ben Finley will be the starter upon completion of spring ball. He has proven experience at the P5 level and has been brought in to compete for the starting job. However, he has also been turnover prone and that particular issue could hold him back. Tahj Bullock has all the physical traits to be an elite QB in the MAC (if he ever puts it all together). That being said he must dramatically improve his decision making and accuracy. Otherwise, Bullock will continue to be a situational player. Will Steele Wasel be ready to toss his name into the conversation? He’ll have a chance to display his development going into his 2nd full spring. If none of the QBs are up to par, the staff may venture back into the portal. Keep in mind, Bullock was not signed until after spring was completed last year. 2) How will the carries be divided at RB? It’s almost a complete overhaul in the RB room. Gone are Lorenzo Lingard, Drake Anderson, and CJ Price. Only redshirt sophomore Charles Kellom and senior Blake Hester return (although, Hester is mostly used on special teams). Michigan State grad transfer Jordon Simmons has the most experience and will likely start. This may be the year Charles Kellom receives significant snaps. He will be pushed by Minnesota transfer Marquese Williams. Talented freshman Sean Patrick will not arrive until after spring concludes. 3) Is the WR room complete? After originally thinking this room was complete, it would not be a surprise to see more player movement due to staff changes. Veteran coach JD Brookhart knows what he wants from his players. That, coupled with a new offensive coordinator, may lead to some changes being made after the spring. As it stands, Alex Adams could be All-Conference again if fully healthy. Adrian Norton is set for a breakout year. There is plenty of returning talent, plus incoming JUCOs, to potentially make this a highly productive group. 4) Who will emerge at TE? Redshirt sophomore Jake Newell has All-MAC potential and will be the starter going into the spring. Mizzou transfer Max Whisner was running with the Tigers’ 2nd team at this time last year. The staff has kept snaps fairly balanced at TE, so it’s safe to expect both of the aforementioned to see plenty of snaps. Redshirt freshman Conner Cravaack redshirted, but has high upside and may carve out a role. 5) What does the OL look like? The offensive line usually takes the longest to develop in turnaround situations and it has been no different here. There is far more talent on the roster than when Joe Moorhead arrived and only one holdover from the previous staff (Colin Lyons) going into 2024. A number of combinations could take place, but best guess going from left to right will be Blanchard, K. Davis, T. Williams, Seymore, Kindred. Coach JRod is going to play 8-10 linemen per game and the depth is easily the best it has been. Regardless of what the starting lineup looks like, the OL will have size and athleticism. This should be the year the OL takes a significant leap. 6) Who will step up on the DL? The only major loss on the interior of the DL is Terray Jones to graduation. Lama Lavea is back, as is true sophomore Marcus Moore. Grad transfer Nathan Kapongo will immediately push for starting snaps as well, giving the Zips an impressive rotation of interior DL. CJ Nunnally returns, but may be hard pressed to replicate his 7 sacks due to the increased attention by offenses. Bennett Adler is back for his senior year and will be pushed by LaJoshua Jackson, Kabbash Richards, and Kam Cheatom. When asked about Cheatom last season, Moorhead said “Cheatom is going to be a star in this league.” 7) Is this the best LB corps in the MAC? Almost all of the linebackers that were voted All-MAC in 2023 are gone, while the Zips have their most productive players returning. Miami can probably lay claim to best linebacking corps going into the season, but Akron is not far behind…if behind at all. Former JUCO Antavious Fish finished the season with 94 total tackles, while junior Bryan McCoy collected 95 total tackles and was voted All-MAC Third Team. Former Illinois transfer Shammond Cooper became a vital piece of the defense and proved to be an excellent blitzer. Former JUCO Gage Summers, redshirt freshman Melvin Spriggs, and freshman Rich Benenge will see if they can lay claim to significant snaps. This room is flat out loaded. 8} How will the secondary shake out? The secondary is wide open with the only returning starter as Nickelback Darrian Lewis. Redshirt juniors Joey Hunter and Devonte Golden-Nelson should get first crack at the Cornerback spots. However, they have both yet to play a full season due to injuries. JUCO transfers Iesa Jarmon and Justin Anderson will arrive physically ready to contribute. Silas Proby, Zayden Laing-Taylor, and Catrell White redshirted last season and will have an opportunity to compete for snaps. Terence Thomas looked the part in the spring last year, yet did not see any defensive action as Darrian Lewis and Corey Thomas collected all the snaps at Nickel. All the starters are gone from Safety, meaning this will be a revamped group. Senior transfer Paul Lewis will likely be one starter as he was voted All-Conference at Cornell. Aman Greenwood was a part-time starter at Syracuse and will likely fill Corey Thomas’ role splitting snaps between Safety and Nickel. Oregon transfer Daymon David will also have an opportunity to collect starting snaps. This will be an important spring for redshirt juniors DiMarco Johnson and Neal Roach to find their footing on the depth chart. They will have redshirt freshmen Darius Owens and David Jester pushing them. 9) Which kicker will lock down the starting spot? Noah Perez has the most game experience and was 9 for 9 on PATs, but struggled with FGs beyond 30 yards. Owen Wiley was perfect down the stretch going 3 for 3 on FGs and 7 for 7 on PATs. His only two misses on the season came from beyond 40 yards. Ideally Dante Jackson will be left to just kicking off and punting. Competition is a great thing, but what cannot happen again is the musical chairs act that occurred last season. 10) How much different will the offense look in 2024? Probably not substantially different, but new offensive coordinator Taylor Housewright will certainly bring some new elements. Last year’s offense struggled through much of the season and was a disappointment compared to the year before. If a change was going to occur, this off-season was the right time to make it. 11) Can the defense continue to improve? The defense has improved in nearly every statistical category since Tim Tibesar’s arrival and all coaches on the defensive side of the ball return. The defensive front 6 (7) should be just as good, if not better, in 2024. If the secondary gels quickly, there is reason to believe the 2024 defense will be the best we’ve seen under the current staff. 12) How many wins should be expected? To start out, I’m guilty of ramping up expectations for what turned out to be a disappointing 2023. It’s hard to win many games without an adequate quarterback. DJI never returned to form, while Bullock and JU were inconsistent. 7 games were decided by one score and we only managed to win 2 of the 7. That’s tough. I’m not sure if there’s another team in the nation that has played, and lost, as many one score games as we have over the last two seasons. It’s time to get over the hump. Almost every team in the MAC will role out a new starting QB in 2024. If there was ever a year the MAC was wide open, 2024 would be it. Playing at Ohio State, South Carolina, and Rutgers seem like 3 losses on paper. If that turns out to be the case, 9 wins would be the max. On the flip side, I believe 6 wins and a bowl appearance should be the minimum.

Aren't good teams supposed to peak towards the end of the season? These last three games have been the worst the Zips have played all season.