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Reality; No reduced budget Actually we are spending more to be in the Big East MSOC has a healthy fundraising account unlike other teams to do things. The only glaring issue is no Director of Operations position but that was cut during COVID. Other teams lost their DO's too. People also forget that when Caleb was here they had camps with thousands of kids making a ton of cash. MSOC has active alumni and they always step up. The locker was just updated this summer. Jared and Ger both just got new contracts.

I'm really looking forward to...next Sunday, when this OOC schedule is behind us.

This thread is fueled by frustration as well it should be if you care about Zip soccer. I am not an apologist for the staff, but I think they are being asked to keep the standards on an elite level w/o elite backing and resources. They have no director of operations that all top programs have. They are short a full-time asst coach and have no GA's. They are now losing players to NIL offers because they can't match them. The recruiting budget has been cut. Their equipment budget (uni's, gear, jackets, backpacks, field equipment, etc.) from Nike is nearly half what Nike offers the elite programs. Those are a lot of limitations to overcome. The talent pipeline has shifted from elite high school players to 1) transfer portal D3 & D2 players wanting to upgrade, and 2) overseas club players who have been told they are not going to make the top professional side. Academy players are being told to steer away from college as the academy route offers a better way to the top MLS team and money to boot. This does not give our staff a pass. They have underperformed. If the same problem keeps coming up they are either coaching it or allowing it. They need to correct it. I hope they do. In the meantime don't expect a savior to come in if a change is made. Our program is devolving into a stepping stone for a coach on his way to an elite program. We cannot compete at the financial level that an elite program now runs. Our best hope is for Jared and company to fix it.

Wonderful win for the women today on Senior Day! Not sure why they chose to do it at an earlier game than the final one, but it was a beautiful day and a great way to end the extended weekend in town. A women's win Thursday night, football win last night, and this today, 1-0 over St. Francis. (the "other" game yesterday won't be mentioned). The women looked a little tired, maybe the heat? St. Francis out-shot us, and our GK Penelope Cuewen (oh, I give up!) was excellent, but the team figured out a way to put pressure on late and poked one in. 5-0-2! The MAC grinder will start this week, so we'll get a better picture, but they are not going to be an easy mark. And...I may have been wrong about our coach, I'm not ashamed to admit. Damn, I hate being wrong...but yet glad I was!

Pretty good dose are sarcasm when he says “the department gets to pay some bills, the equestrian team gets some new saddles, everybody wins”

remember, by the time we play our familiar rivals at home, we're 1-3 at best due to this ATM scheduling. There's no momentum or hype - winning will get people there, but by the time we even have a meaningful home game, we're behind the 8 ball. We don't help ourselves at all

K. Mumpfield left just before the current coach but is now a captain at Pitt w/ 100+ yards vs. Cinci. https://www.tribdem.com/sports/pitt-football-wr-konata-mumpfields-career-day-draws-praise-from-coach/article_e85df98c-6fcd-11ef-bd3d-ef0577c0a87a.html

I'm sorry but this is silly. Toledo and Akron are VERY different cities/markets. Read up on the history of Toledo and that slice of Ohio swampland no one wanted back in the 1800s. Toledo is isolated from other major cities in Ohio. It has its own TV network affiliates. Its citizens are as likely to work in Michigan as Ohio and many are indeed Michigan fans. This insular mentality explains the strong civic pride, the iconic status of the Toledo Mudhens and, yes, the pivotal role of UT athletics in many residents' lives. Some of these same characteristics explain the popularity of University of Cincinnati sports - although the UC folks are delusional, IMO, if they believe they can compete financially with other P5 leaders. Akron, by comparison, is part of a three-city metroplex where citizens are fans of Cleveland professional sports teams, Ohio State, and high school athletics. Our media is largely Cleveland based. There are tens of thousands of graduates of other state universities who live and work in NEO. UA is still largely viewed as a (good) municipal university that provides convenient access to higher education. UA sports have never been, and likely never will be, priorities for local residents. We're kidding ourselves to believe otherwise.

Being concerned about the choice the AD might make is not reason to stay with this trajectory. Who thought when Ken Lolla left, we would do better?

A couple of guys falling asleep? How about the head coach sleeping on the bench???!!! One sub in the first half on a hot, sunny day? Really? The other coach understood the weather and his team and made subs in the last 15-20 minutes of the first half to not only rest his guys but get other players into the flow of the game before the crucial waning minutes. Bench full of players our coaches recruited, and only 1 is worthy to be subbed into the game? BEYOND PEE POOR!!! I'm with @Let'sGoZips94, I'm seeing a "comfortable" coaching staff who who are unjustifiably arrogant. All I hear is "this player" and "that player" hurt or didn't do x, y, or z. WTF coaches? Isn't your job to coach these players? If they're not doing x, y, or z, it's because you're not coaching them effectively! Get off your collective @rses ... coach and manage the game.

I am very unhappy with Embick's comments in the press conference. He blames the players and offers no constructive ideas on what the coaches can do to help this team get back to winning Akron soccer. He has been the head coach for the last 12 years. He has to take responsibility for how this team is performing. It is not the first year that teams coached by this coaching staff has underachieved. This is the 6th year for this coaching staff and they have not won a single NCAA tournament game during their tenure. Furthermore, if you look at 2023, the coaching staff and players won 9 out of 18 games. YTD 2024, they have won 1 game out of 7. That is 10 wins out of the last 25 games played (that is 40 percent). It is time for the head coach to stop blaming players for not communicating on the field, falling asleep and not being able to score. I can understand his frustration. However, he should not be throwing the freshman left back substitute under the bus. Help the young man get better on the field or we will see that young man's name in the January transfer portal. Embick also said that the team has 2 MLS draftees and an MLS showcase player and they are not able to score. Malik Henry busted his behind yesterday and was consistently dangerous. Malik has worked hard and is trying to take the ball to the center of the field at times this year. Malik deserves credit for his tremendous effort and his improvement in now having an outside threat and an inside threat. I feel sorry for Emil Jaaskilainen. In my view, Emil is the best #9 that Akron has had in many, many years. He is good in the air and often directs good one touch passes off his head. Emil is also very good at hold up play and is good with the ball at his feet. Emil is also very unselfish and had 2 great assists to Dyson in the VCU game. The problem is that almost all of Emil's goal scoring opportunities have to come on headers. With the 4-2-3-1 offensive approach, Emil rarely has the ball delivered to his feet in the box and normally Emil is the only zip in the box. I am very offended by Embick's comments inferring that Emil and Malik are largely responsible for the zips not being able to score. Again, Akron soccer has been playing the same unchanged offense for the past 12 years. When are the coaches going to take some ownership to change up the offense? Opposing teams seem to get more rebound goals and deflection goals than the zips because opposing teams seem to have more offensive players in the box on their side of the field than the zips do on the opposite side of the field. How many times this year have we seen the zips #6 or one of the HMF's take the ball up the midfield and enter a pass into the box? It has not happened very often. One of the reasons that I was really excited....about the 2024 season....was the addition of 3 new exciting players. Maximus Barboto was an all league player in a league that includes highly ranked Vermont and New Hampshire. Maximus and his NJIT teammates last year defeated Vermont. Victor Gaulmin was a 3 time Div. 3 All American. Caleb Borneo was one of the top 50 ranked juniors in the 2023 recruiting class. There have been games this year where Barboto has played 0 minutes. There have been games this year where Borneo has played 0 minutes. For the most part, these 3 players (with tremendous success elsewhere) are forced to split 90 minutes between the 3 of them. I know that they are all small....but can one of the 3 play some minutes at an HMF position? When Dyson is not effective during the game (constantly losing the ball while trying to go 1 vs 2), can one of the 3 play the left winger position? Again, I know that Embick is justifiably frustrated by the team's 1-3-3 start. However, I was very offended by him making negative comments about some of his players. This team played outstanding soccer against VCU. This team was the better team against number 4 ranked Western Michigan. I would have preferred that Embick talk about the team's potential rather than making negative comments about a freshman substitute and the big 3 of Malik, Dyson and Emil. I also did not appreciate him talking about how much that Will Jackson and Joel Sangwa are missed. If the coaches don't remember, I will point out that Will Jackson will be the only zip soccer player that started almost every game over the past 5 years and never won an NCAA tournament game. IMHO, Ashton Kamdem is a huge upgrade over Will Jackson. below is a biography for Maximus Barboto 2023: Named to the TopDrawerSoccer Men's National Top 100 Postseason List. ... selected to the All-ECAC first-team. ... America East Championship Team (2nd straight season). ... a America East first-team selection, led the America East and sits tied for 15th in the nation (as of 11/26/23) in assists with 9. The 2022 America East Conference Rookie of the Year's nine assists in a single season is a new NJIT Division I record and his 13 career assists ranks fifth all-time in the NJIT Division I era. ... scored first collegiate goal against UMass Lowell (9.23.23). ...Barboto became the first Highlander player to be named Team of the Week by two different publications – CollegeSoccerNews and TopDrawerSoccer on September 9 after tallying four assists in a pair of Highlander wins that week. He was also named America East Offensive Player of the week. 2022: America East Rookie of the Year. ... America East All-Rookie Team. ... America East All-Championship Team (only freshman to be named to the team). ... 2x America East Rookie of the Week. ... played in every match but one this season (16), tallying four assists which ranks seventh in the America East. He is the son of head coach Fernando Barboto, who is in his seventh season at NJIT. ...His four assists this season ranks tied for fifth in a single season in the NJIT Division I era.

Crap. My friends didn't forget.

I’ll try to update this on a weekly basis. Minimum 50% of season snaps. QB - Finley 7th by PFF 5th total passing yards 6th most touchdowns WR - Norton 11th by PFF (WR only) 5th total receiving yards (all positions) WR - Golden 22nd by PFF (WR only) 20th total receiving yards (all positions) TE - Newell 7th by PFF (TE only) 6th total receiving yards (TE only) 35th total receiving yards (all positions) OT - Blanchard 20th by PFF (OT only) 7th by PFF Pass Block (OT only) 21st by PFF Run Block (OT only) OT - James 11th by PFF (OT only) 12th by PFF Pass Block (OT only) 9th by PFF Run Block (OT only) DE - Nunnally 12th by PFF (DE only) 9th by PFF Pass Rush (DE only) 8th by PFF Run Defense (DE only) 7th sacks (all positions) 5th total tackles (DE only) DE - Adler 15th by PFF (DE only) 17th by PFF Pass Rush (DE only) 12th by PFF Run Defense (DE only) 35thnsacks (all positions) 15th total tackles (DE only) DT - Moore 14th by PFF (DT only) 15th by PFF Pass Rush (DT only) 14th by PFF Run Defense (DT only) 8th total tackles (DT only) DT - Kapongo 17th by PFF (DT only) 21st by PFF Pass Rush (DT only) 10th by PFF Run Defense (DT only) 2nd total tackles (DT only) LB - McCoy 15th by PFF (LB only) 21st by PFF Tackling (LB only) 3rd total tackles (all positions) LB - Fish 26th by PFF (LB only) 26th by PFF Tackling (LB only) 23rd total tackles (all positions) S - P. Lewis 20th by PFF (S only) 16th total tackles (all positions) 6th total tackles (S only) 21st passes defended (all positions) S (NB) - D. Lewis 21st by PFF (S only) 20th total tackles (all positions) 5th total tackles (S only) 13th passes defended (all positions) 18th interceptions (all positions) P - Book 1st average per punt

QB - Finley displayed how effective he can be when given time. Even though Finley did miss a few throws and was quick to scramble on a few others (I don’t blame him) he finally had the opportunity to exhibit how this offense can operate. Finley finished with a 65% completion rate, 358 yards, and 4 touchdowns vs 1 interception. For comparison, those are similar numbers that DJI had during his All-MAC year in 2022. RB - The offense was lopsided in this area. The backs averaged nearly 4 yards per attempt, but only carried the ball 20 times. We threw the ball 44 times and Finley scrambled (sacked twice) 11 other times. One of the sacks given up was a direct result of one of the RBs (I think Simmons) getting beat again. Simmons and Kellom are effective options with the ball in their hands, but pass protection continues to be an issue. WR - Norton is a star in the making. His play from last week carried over, which was good to see. Golden also continues to make plays when the ball comes his way. Kellom was a reliable receiving option out of the backfield and created a touchdown. TE - Newell collected nearly every snap at tight end and had his best performance of the season. OL - While the OL was definitely better against Colgate than the first two matchups, I hoped for more. Seymore was excellent at LG and looked the part of a former P5 lineman playing against lesser competition. Williams was solid at center. That’s about where it stopped as far as what an FBS OL should consistently look like. Blanchard and Shor at LT, James and Thomas at RT, Davis and Burrell at RG, all had their moments but the consistency must improve. There were too many times when 4 of the linemen would do their part and 1 lineman got beat. I’ve mentioned Delvin Morris in the past and he’s a guy to monitor. He split time at C and LG and did well. I expect he will continue to receive more snaps. DL - The DL overwhelmed Colgate for much of the contest, holding the Raiders to only 84 rushing and 159 passing yards. Nunnally was a menace the entire game and finally got his first sack of the season. Lavea and Moore were effective despite seeing double teams for much of the game. Kapongo had his best game to date. The concern I have is outside of Nunnally, Lavea, and Moore, we struggled to create pressure, even on blitzes. LB - McCoy and Fish played almost every significant snap with Cooper out. The duo was strong as usual, although Fish did miss a few tackles he normally makes. I was surprised Spriggs and Benenge did not receive more snaps. CB - A number of different cornerbacks got work and not just in “garbage time.” Jarmon and DeWalt saw significant action. Kentucky transfer Elijah Reed got his first work of the season and looks like he could eventually be a difference maker judging by his length and the way he moves. White got the start, but didn’t have his best showing. Golden-Nelson and Hunter performed well. S - P. Lewis was excellent. The former Cornell transfer was all over the field and bringing it on tackles. D. Lewis started at the opposite safety spot in David’s absence and played well. When Roach came on the field, D. Lewis slid back to Nickel. I was surprised Anderson did not see more time at safety after his performance last week. ST - Definitely not their best showing this week. The poor decision on a punt return and shanked punt gave Colgate scoring opportunities. Credit Colgate for taking advantage of the early mistakes that were made. Those mistakes against good teams will result in losses. I wanted to see the OL be dominant. It was by far their best showing this season, yet still was not overly impressive. We have a solid duo on the interior with Seymore and Williams. Blanchard is usually solid at LT as well. We need someone to step up at the right guard and right tackle spots soon. Next week, this team will be overmatched (again) and go against one of the better pass rushing units in the SEC. I’m not expecting much. Just get out of the game healthy, wipe the final score from memory, and focus on conference play. Playing this out-of-conference schedule did us no favors from a competitive and health standpoint. We’ll be right at 1-3, where almost every one thought we would be. In my opinion, the true measure of this year’s team starts against Ohio. QB: Finley Bullock RB: Simmons Kellom WR: Norton Davis WR: Golden Rush WR: Polk Granger TE: Newell Cravaack LT: Blanchard Shor LG: Seymore Morris George C Williams Morris RG: Davis Burrell RT: James Thomas DE: Nunnally Cheatom DT: Lavea Murphy DT: Kapongo Moore DE: Adler Ball Richards LB: Fish Benenge LB: McCoy Spriggs NB: Greenwood D. Lewis CB: Golden-Nelson DeWalt Reed CB: White Hunter Jarmon S: P.Lewis Anderson S: D. Lewis Roach Top Offensive Players (25 or more snaps) WR - Golden (was Seymore) RB - Kellom (was Golden) LG - Seymore (was Newell) WR - Norton RB - Simmons (was James) Top Defensive Players (25 or more snaps) DE - Nunnally S - P. Lewis S - D. Lewis CB - Golden-Nelson DT - Lavea (was Kapongo) Top Special Teams (10 snaps or more) CB - DeWalt RB - Castleberry S - R. Hunter S - Conroy S - T. Thomas

I got a good chuckle over this.

The football team has zero NIL money. No grad assistants. No travel recruiting budget. And after this week they will have played games against Ohio State, Rutgers and South Carolina to pay their bills (in addition to selling a home game against Kentucky for $800,000). They aren't siphoning money away from soccer. I want to date Scarlett Johansson. Ambition and reality are sometimes a mismatch. Guthrie fired a bb coach at Wisconsin GB who was 92-80. His hand-picked replacement went 15-61. What P5 school would trust him with a hire? He did design a great "A" though. Selling like hotcakes.

Look at the stadium, field house, weight rooms, locker rooms, coaching salaries, campus enhancements.... to put it kindly, I disagree that there's never been a commitment to building the program. GP1 is talking about bounce houses for the families, Zips Walk, etc. which are apparently the missing piece (and which I'm totally in favor of).

72Roo's post raises some good points. If Charles Guthrie is diverting funds away from men's soccer to try to make the gridiron (American football) team relevant, I am as upset as anyone. I know that Charles Guthrie is very, very ambitious and likely wants to move on to a power 5 conference. As an Akron alum, I know that myself and many other soccer fans feel that Akron being a top 10 mens soccer program.....makes Akron a college that future students and alumni can feel proud about. I wear a lot of A-Roo Akron polos and I have had people in airports comment to me...."Am I correct that Akron is a powerhouse in soccer?". Many alumni take great pride in Akron soccer. I would hate to think that Akron's history of great soccer is being jeopardized by the ambitions of the current Athletic Director.. I also am not happy if NIL and the equipment providers (Adidas/Nike) are helping the Clemsons, the Stanfords and the Indianas have an unfair advantage over schools like Akron and Western Michigan and St. Louis. That being said, let me mention a few things that show that a mid major can still succeed at the highest levels of college soccer. The first link shows the top ranked schools for the 2024 recruiting period. St. Louis Billikens are #2 and the Portland Pilots are #5. It is hard for me to believe that those 2 mid-major schools are using NIL dollars and that they have lucrative equipment deals. Both schools have charismatic coaches that reach out to their fan bases and they both coach an attractive, exciting brand of soccer. The second link shows this week's top drawer men's top 25. I will list what I consider...non traditional, non power schools. - Denver #1 ; Penn #3 ; Western Michigan #8 ; Elon #10 ; Hofstra #12 ; Duquesne #18; College of Charleston #23 and Dayton #25. Do those programs have a great facility like Cub Cadet Field at First Energy Stadium? Are their resources and funding much greater than Akron (I do not know). How many of those programs have won a national title and have been to 3 college cups in the last 10 years (that answer would be zero). What I do know....is that this Akron team played great against VCU and they could have won at Kalamazoo. This team has talent and they are capable of turning this season around if the coaches and the players can start working as a team. I believe in Malik and Emil and Jonas and Mitch and others. Go, Zips !!! https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/article/?categoryId=26&articleId=53661&articleTitle=final-2024-mens-di-recruiting-rankings https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-national-rankings/men

I suggest that you call Charles and set up a meeting to discuss. It would be nice if the "awesome" staff he hired did their jobs like the previous staff and actually reached out to the fan base to fund raise for Men's Soccer. Of course, it would also be helpful if the coach was engaging of the whole fan base as Porter was. The Akron way of just schmoozing large donors continues to not work well; as the old adage goes, you have to spend money to make money. Akron Ath and Dev Depts need to be willing to provide some bling at lower donation levels...e.g., accept that you may only get 70% return on donations by using 30% to provide sport specific gear at lower donation levels but get more donors invested. Inform the fan base and build their willingness to help.

WEEK 3 Starters for new team: WR - Oran Singleton (Eastern Michigan) = 48 snaps. 8 receptions for 89 yards. RG - Tony Georges (Kent State) = 48 snaps. RT - Jordan Daniels (Western Carolina) = 76 snaps. RT - Nate Williams (San Diego State) = 69 snaps. DE - Curtis Fann (Western Carolina) = 49 snaps. 2 Tackles. LB - Luke Bauer (Morehead State) = TBA. CB - Tyson Durant (Washington State) = 52 snaps. 2 Tackles. S - Corey Thomas (Virginia) = 78 snaps. 2 Tackles and 1 Pass Defended. S - Jaden Woods (East Tennessee State) = 83 snaps. 9 Tackles. 1 Pass Defended. Backups for new team: WR - Jasaiah Gathings (UCONN) = 33 snaps. 1 reception for 15 yards. WR - Anthony Williams (Alcorn State) = TBA TE - Caleb Anderson (Alcorn State) = TBA RT - Xavior Gray (Liberty) = 40 snaps. RT - Ronan Chambers (Auburn) = 9 snaps. DE - Ryan Johnson (Southern Miss) = 37 snaps. 4 Tackles and a Sack. LB - Jaharon Griffin (Alcorn State) = TBA S - KJ Martin (NC State) = 2 snaps. 1 Tackle. DNP: QB - Ryan Jankowski (UMASS) QB - Dijon Jennings (Weber State) QB - Steele Wasel (Oklahoma) RB - CJ Price (Jackson State) OL - Ka’Marii Landers (Baylor) OL - Alex Robarge (Southern Illinois) LB - Andrew Behm (Southern Illinois) DB - Rishad Hence (Eastern Kentucky)

A few things. Toledo also plays midweek games. Akron in the past has hosted big events on game days. I remember a few years ago they even offered a free concert headlined by Soul Asylum prior to kickoff. I've seen other similar kid events that you shared that Akron has hosted. I don't think Toledo is doing much more than Akron besides establishing a winning culture and having competent decision makers/ADs. Akron has been miserable for so long that apathy has settled in. I was an undergrad during the Coach I years. I remember pregaming with friends to go to the games and by the time we'd sober up around half-time we were down 3 scores and were bored so we'd leave. Eventually we just quit going to the games altogether. I've tried offering these same friends free tickets after graduating to attend, but nobody wants to go because they remember how terrible the experience was. It's not fun watching "your team" lose by 20-30 points each week for a decade plus. The Browns were terrible for many years, but still most games were decided by 10 points or less. Akron games have historically been over at half-time. Put a product on the field that's worth investing 4-6 hours of one's time to attend and then maybe people will show up.

There are no spots bars within walking distance to the stadium. If you have a car and want some waterfront activity, Liberty on Lake Murray is awesome. If you want to stay in the city, The Vista has a ton of good places. https://www.vistacolumbia.com/directory/eat-and-drink

I too want to learn a detailed accounting of how Akron AD has cut resources to MSOC. Exactly when did this change occur? Perhaps the needed change is within the Athletic Department.

What type of resources/funding did Porter have compared to other "elite" programs? (Legitimate question as I do not know)

Same old troubles: discipline, player control fouls, poor decision making, mouthing, poor performing OL. The staff is either tolerating it or coaching it because they are not fixing it. A great coach once told me his best assistant was the bench. If you are playing contrary to how you are coached you will be on the bench. He said it is surprising how fast the players corrected their mistakes. Discipline comes from the coaches, not the players. The coaches must demand it, then young men will give it. We will not win games because Joe is an offensive genius. We will win games because the players are well prepared down to the smallest detail. I still think we can go 4-8

This is the last time I do your work for you. It took me 20 seconds to find this. https://utrockets.com/news/2023/8/18/football-new-family-and-youth-activities-will-enhance-game-day-experience-at-the-glass-bowl-in-2023.aspx

How Maximus Barboto #21 does not get more playing time is beyond my reckoning. I would start Max, in the hole. At minimum, he should be in the regular rotation. Maybe Max is not entirely fit, I don't know. I do not understand it. In my estimation, Victor Gaulmin #25 and Max are both among the best eleven. They should both start.

Help me to understand what this means. How is Toledo accomplishing this?

I hated the last 2 minutes of the game. For a team that has managed to lose games that it should have won, why tempt fate. Moorehead could have run the clock down to the 2 minute warning without running a play. Instead, he throws a pass that stops the clock at 2:01. He then throws an interception. Being a Zips fan, I could see the pass being run back for a pick 6 and the a recovered onside kick. I thought we should be able to run it down their throats but our zone read looked so slow it just never got going. Finley still runs out of the pocket instead of looking downfield and taking a hit when he throws it. This is not a recipe for success against division one team. I would like to see Tahj play next week and give Finley the week off so he does not get injured. We are going to get killed no matter who is the quarterback. Also, why bring in Tahj, he did absolutely nothing when he lined up as quarterback and then shifted out of it. I also believe we will win against Kent and that may be it.

Akron's brand hasn't severely degraded. They've elevated to the Big East and still possess national notoriety. They are 14 years removed from a National Championship and only 6 years removed from their 3rd National Title Game appearance in 9 seasons (at the time). They had 5 College Cup appearances from 2009-2018. We have one of the nicer soccer facilities in the country and can have some of the best fan support. The Akron brand is fine. The issue is, the further Embick gets away from the Porter era, the worse the program gets. I'm well aware the grass isn't always greener, but I'm seeing a "comfortable" coach and program, not a hungry one. I believe Akron would easily be able to attract a hungry coach that can get this program back to where it needs to be - where we expect it to be.

I'll wager (and give you 5 to 3 odds up to a million - even money on anything over that) that most people find the discussion of some other topic more tedious than gambling stats. For double or nothing, the over/under on the exact percentage is 60%.

I would like to see a little more stubbornness in running the football. We wasted Lingard for portions of last year. The defense gave up the 25 yarder to the QB, but outside of that stuffed Colgate. The next longest run was 5 yards and we held them under 85 yards rushing total. That’s pretty good. The three P4 teams we play this year are built to run the football. Im also concerned for Finley…and the rest of our offense against South Carolina. Some of those guys come downhill looking to de-cleat players. Good to hear about the experience and your granddaughter having a great time. I’m looking forward to attending a game in a few weeks.

That was some good foresight of our muffed punt and red zone interception!

Only one goal against South Carolina. Keep Finley healthy!

Have a little different take on that game. Haven't seen a QB make throws like Finley maybe since the Frye/Getsy era. The 56 yarder he threw to Golden, (I believe) was beautiful. He was getting beat up again because the O line still isn't much good at pass protection. Finley sometimes scrambles a little too quickly. But sometimes its self preservation. Moorehead's' lets kindly say strange play calling(I have a different word in mind) is contributing to Finley getting beat up. Moorehead better realize that if Finley goes down for any length of time his offense is toast. He has two quality RB's but won't use them consistently. Even Joe Dunn was wondering out loud why Akron wasn't running the ball more especially in the 2nd half. Wide receivers looked good for the most part. They have a QB who can get the ball to them. Defense was adequate against lesser competition. Still getting gouged on the ground too much. Colgate O line 'looked' bigger than Akron's defense. Db's looked good. Again, against lesser competition. Finally have a punter and kicker who can contribute. The lack of discipline on the field reared its ugly head again. Dumb, preventable penalties. I guess Moorehead isn't going to deal with it. New scoreboard was nice. Free T shirts nice. Granddaughter had a great time. I fear for Finley's health against S.Carolina. He is already hurting. If I'm the head coach as soon as it starts to get out of hand I sit Finley and some other starters and point to OU in Athens.

Jen Simonetti is a leader I would follow into battle. She has the Caleb Porter intensity behind the eyes.