Leaderboard

Other info from the scrimmage - Kellom was the starting RB. #9 Jordon Simmons (Sr. Michigan State transfer) was the second RB, and broke a nice 35 yard run early in the game. He also started the 2nd half. Blake Hester broke a 30 yarder in addition to his 2 TDs. Starting OL was: TE: Newell LT: James Jayvin LG: Keon Kindred (Maryland transfer) Center: Tyhler Williams RG: Colin Lyons RT: Josh Blanchard (USF Sr. transfer) Next OL was: LT: Nick Stopiak LG: Keylan Davis Center: Max Mobley RG: Jerrod Burrell RT: Jonas Mann Starting 3-man front: Edge: Jon'Trell Mixon Edge: Andre Proffitt Nose: Nathan Kapongo 4-man front #1: Edge: Bennett Adler Interior: Marcus Moore Interior: Lama Lavea Edge: CJ Nunnally 4-man front #2: Edge: Bennett Adler Interior: Andre Proffitt Interior: Lama Lavea Edge: CJ Nunnally Perez missed a 35 yarder. Wiley was on kick offs and was the PK in the second half

Everything you need to know about TP and Fear The Roo Collective. https://on.soundcloud.com/6HFv9

I was able to attend today's scrimmage. It was offense (blue)/defense (white), just like last week. Below are some notes and pics - #15 Ben Finley continues to impress. Had a couple nice TD tosses. Zips fans will find this kid an absolute breath of fresh air. Unflappable...doesn't get rattled after a bad pass or a WR drop. Accurate. A different level of QB than we've seen in an Akron uniform for a while. You will all love him. Ben can run if needed...but we gotta keep this kid healthy. Ben zips one over the middle. Tahj started the scrimmage. Other than a couple spot appearances by Wassel and Ruggow towards the end of practice, he and Ben split the reps. In the right situations, Tahj is dangerous. He was wearing the "can't hit me" green jersey today, so rushing attempts aren't all that informative...but he obviously is a handful for a defense when he decides to use his feet. Steele got only a series or two, but did toss a TD. Ruggow got one series. He'll definitely benefit from a redshirt. Not a knock on him...he's just got a lot to learn. #22 Charles Kellom had a great day. He looks like he will definitely contribute this year. Two receiving TD's! (this one off a Finley swing pass). Nice TD celebration by Charles & Co. #22 pulled in a 35 yard TD on a 3rd and 18 from Ben Finley. This was Steele's 5 yard TD toss to Adrian Norton. At the 5 yard line, lined up behind redshirt Fr. TE Aiden Diaz, Hester scampered around the left tackle for a rushing TD. Hester had 2 TDs today, and the OL lifted the diminutive RB to the sky. #17 Justin Campbell, a Ball State transfer, had a couple nice grabs, including this one over the middle from Tahj. The defense made some big plays today. Here, #11 Davonte Golden-Nelson jars the ball loose for a turnover. Here you go, @taylormade28 🦾 Big Ben meets with Soph. WR Paul Davis and Charles Kellom after Kellom's long TD reception. Steele Wasel had the "best hair award" last week. Hester nabs the honor this week. Great day for Blake. He got a lot of opportunities, and delivered the goods with a couple TDs. This OL sat out todays scrimmage. A familiar face is again prowling the Akron sideline. The scrimmage concluded with a pick six of Tahj Bullock by #13 Freshman Rodrick Hunter! Joe was as positive as I've ever heard an Akron coach after the practice. He emphasized he felt they got better today. He told the team they should be very pleased with how they executed. Pleased, but not satisfied.

Ignore the quote.

Assist for DeAndre.

You guys are awfully bullish on Young coming in and contributing significantly as a true freshman. I wish I could say I'm as confident of that... but I hope you guys are right 🙏🤞🙏🤞

I said in an earlier post (somewhere??) the reason the MAC was so bad last season is because PG play throughout the league was poor to bad across the board. We were spoiled with two years of X, Carry, and others that transferred in and made the league much stronger. No suce transfers last season short of the guy at CMU. It will be interesting to see how that position looks across the board in the MAC this season. Young IMO walks in the door as Top 1-3 in the league, depending on how you want to rank them. We'll see if that looks the same in January. For the sake of the MAC, here's hoping Young is as advertised, ... but he ranks 3-5. Then the MAC has a good chance at climbing back into the 14-19 range among top BB conferences in D1.

There are good things coming to Baseball. Rome wasn't built in a day. We just need to stay the course.

see ya'll Saturday

Pretty sure it is. Could also be Fields? Either way, that explains one of them MIA. Good eye.

I've made points on here ad nauseam. It's a forum. Our guard play was the reason we were a 14 seed and lost by double digits to Creighton. It's worth hammering IMO. It's an observational opinion countering another statement. It wasn't political or Pro-Kent; no need to be confrontational. Go Zips 👍

I'm gonna defend @1981 grad. Scott & Thornton really struggled all year to provide any sort of positive impact on the offensive end, especially consistently. Scott came on stronger towards the end of the season, but it still wasn't stellar. Countering a statement that both played their role well isn't "negative" - it's simply not sugarcoating the situation. The role needed was a PG, and none of Tavari, Scott, or Thornton stepped up to fill that role all season. In fact, that role was so vacant that Tribble ended up filling it. That's NOT what Groce wanted.

We made March Madness with Thornton and Scott, I think they played their role well

So half. And almost half the gains are mid majors. Almost like it's pretty even. It's just musical chairs, every school will tell you it's worse for their situation. Luckily we have a culture here that people want to be a part of

Offense and defense both made big plays. Best the Zips have looked in recent memory. Finally showing some depth, experience and talent.

We will not be playing an OOC schedule like last season. Expect a Dambrot style OOC slate. Too many new pieces to put together before MAC play. Anything less than a 20 win season hurts future recruiting. Winners want to play at winning programs.

I still feel last years team never reached its peak potential. Tribble was probably the only player that exceeded my expectations coming into the season. Freeman may have slightly exceeded them too, but I expected a big year from him. Ali had a good year, but I expected more from him, particularly as a floor spacer. Everyone else fell well short of what I thought they'd do. Per kenpom, last season was Groce's 4th best Akron squad. I want to say next year's team won't be as good as this one, but it's not like this year's team was all that special. The MAC on paper looks weaker. I think we can make it back to the tournament next year, but we probably won't be the odds on favorites to win the MAC.

We just lost our 4 best players to graduation including the MAC player of the year and the players that remain from last year were underwhelming. (Scott, Tavari, Johnson, Prather, Lyles) There is no way anyone can predict how good we will be next year as West Virginia Transfer U. With the transfer pool, this is going to be the new reality. I was so disappointed with our transfers last year (Thornton and Scott) that I am just wary of relying on new transfers. Lets hope for the best and be prepared for the worst.