Leaderboard

Regardless of their perceived standing this year, neither Rutgers or South Carolina have lost to a G5 team under their current head coaches. Yes, there have been some close games, but no losses. Keep in mind, the same “mid-tier” South Carolina program walloped #5 Tennessee just two years ago. That was the same year Tennessee beat us 63-6. Like I’ve said before, losing creates apathy. To some the “eyeball test” is important and we clearly have not met the eyeball test for a full 4 quarters against anyone on our schedule this year. It’s interesting that some are quick to point to close losses by other teams and infer they are competitive, yet when this program loses 10 one score games in two years, it’s nothing more than losses and the program isn’t competitive. Perhaps this team doesn’t win much more, or maybe, they come out and surprise everyone in conference play? I don’t know, but we won’t find out until the games are played. We’re 1-3, which is right where this team should be regardless of the eyeball test. We’ll find out Saturday if the winds have finally turned.

I'm younger than most posters here. Even the Charlie Frye Zips teams were before my time as a fan so my Zips football fandom has been bleak. That said, two of my more fond Zips football fan moments were beating Northwestern and going to the Big House and nearly knocking off Michigan. I still claim the refs blew the call by not calling the jersey grab by the Michigan defender. You seem to be more optimistic than me. I feel we would be 1-3 regardless of who we played this year, unless we were able to schedule multiple FCS schools. That's not to say I want to schedule 3 P4 a year in perpetuity. I do however like having 1-2 of them on the schedule that way it has opportunities to create those moments. Preferably against programs like Northwestern, Indiana, and yes Rutgers. Avoiding the OSU, Alabama, and Oregon's of the world. What's made me grow apathetic to the football program is all the 0-3 win seasons in conference play. You can go 1-3 OOC and still make a bowl game game by going 5-3 in MAC play. The MAC looks like it might be better this season, but it had previously been historically bad. The MAC East was probably the weakest division in all of college football. We've had plenty of opportunities to pad our win total in conference play, but failed to capitalize.

Game thread and Ohio Preview QB: Ohio will play either Parker Navarro (68.5%, 547 yards passing, 2 TDs vs 4 INTs) or JUCO signee Nick Poulos (43.5%, 135 yards passing, 0 TDs vs 1 INT). Navarro was held out last week against UK, so Poulos got the start. Both are dual-threat QBs as Navarro has 107 yards rushing and 2 TDs. Poulos has 62 yards rushing. RB: Northwestern transfer Anthony Tyus leads the MAC in rushing with 391 yards and 4 TDs. He is averaging 6.9 yards per carry. 2023 signee Ricky Hunt is the backup (I thought he was the 2nd best RB in the 2023 MAC class). Hunt currently has 138 yards rushing, 1 touchdown, and averages 4.2 yards per carry. WR: Northern Arizona transfer Coleman Owen is 2nd in the MAC receiving with 25 receptions for 336 yards. 2023 signee Chase Hendricks is second on the team with 10 receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown (I thought Hendricks was the best WR in the 2023 MAC class). TE: 2023 signee Mason Williams is the starter at tight end. Ohio has not utilized the tight ends as much as Akron in the passing game, but Williams does have 6 receptions for 59 yards. OL: It looks like the offensive line has started all 4 games together this season, so Ohio seems to have some consistency up front. LT - Carson Heidecker (R. Sr.) LG - Davion Witherspoon (R. Jr.) C - Parker Titsworth (Gr.) RG - Christophe Atkinson (Gr.) RT - Jacob Dennison (R. Sr.) DL: Nevada transfer Marcel Walker-Burgess (19 Tackles, 1 Sack, 1 INT, 2 FF) started against UK. North Dakota transfer Ben McNaboe (17 Tackles, 0.5 Sack) was another starter. Kaden Schmitz is another edge to watch as he already has 2.5 sacks on the season. On the interior is Cincinnati transfer CJ Doggette (9 Tackles) and Bralen Henderson (7 Tackles). LB: Bucknell transfer Blake Leake leads the team in tackles with 29. Shay Taylor has started 3 games and collected 14 tackles. DB: Tank Pearson (14 Tackles and 1 INT) and Roman Parodie (12 Tackles) are the starters at CB. 2023 signee DJ Walker (17 Tackles) has played mostly NB. Northern Colorado transfer Dustin Johnson (26 Tackles) has been one starter at safety, while Austin Brawley (28 Tackles) has been the other. K: 2023 signee Gianni Spetic has been perfect on field goals and extra points going 5 for 5 and 7 for 7, respectively. P: Jack Wilson is averaging 43 yards per punt with a long of 56 yards. KR: Tank Pearson is averaging 20 yards per return with a long of 31 yards. Breakdown: Offense - Ohio wants to run the ball and have the personnel to do so. Despite having one of the top reception leaders in the MAC, Ohio has not been overly impressive throwing the football. The offense has also turned the ball over a total of 8 times. Defense - The Bobcat defense has struggled to create turnovers and are similar to Akron in terms of pass rush. Ohio’s 6 sacks puts both teams near the bottom of the MAC going into Week 5. Ohio is also statistically near the bottom of the MAC against the pass. What does that Mean? Ohio’s strength is running the football, whereas Akron’s weakness has been stopping the run. Akron’s strength has been throwing the football, as Ohio’s weakness has been stopping the pass. This game will probably come down to turnovers, field position, and special teams play, as the two teams seem far more evenly matched going into this game than in 2022 or 2023.

Wow....I knew absolutely nothing about St. Francis University I had no clue that they are the Red Flash...... St. Francis is a private Catholic university with 1,639 undergraduate students St. Francis is located in Loretto, PA . Loretto has a population of 1,302. Loretto's main claim to fame is that industrialist Charles Schwab was raised in Loretto. Charles Schwab built a 44 room mansion in Loretto. Loretto is 17 miles west of Altoona. 25 miles southwest of Johnstown Ok back to soccer...... The Red Flash have a YTD record of 2-3-1 St. Bonaventure 3-0 win #3 West Virginia 4-0 loss Wright State 3-1 loss Robert Morris 2-1 loss Bucknell 3-0 win Canisius 3-3 tie as of 6:30 pm on Sunday night, the Red Flash were #133 in RPI zips (as of 6:30) were #63 in RPI

I blame the schedule. We're no where near the class of mid-level P5 teams right now. Those are guaranteed losses...that's why those teams pay us crazy sums of money to pound us. If we'd have played Marshall, Liberty, UAB, etc. we'd have been way more competitive, and way less banged up as we roll into Athens on Saturday. How has BGSU seemingly leapfrogged us, when we ran them off the field only a couple years ago? How has EMU begun fielding watchable teams after decades of wallowing in the lower-MAC abyss? Those are the questions I'd like to see answered if we finish 2024 with only 2 or 3 wins. There is obviously a method to being competitive in the MAC even if you recently sucked. And it isn't just the head coach, it is the entire organization. The AD get's no free pass because we were bad before he arrived, or the stadium and practice facilities are too nice. I want to see this Zips team against MAC competition. I still like our defense, and I know if Finley isn't getting snowed under he's a good QB. I HOPE our OL fares better against competition more within their weight class. I HOPE Joe calls a more diverse, aggressive offensive game when he actually has a chance to win, and isn't just hoping to survive. We'll see...

Which teams were we supposed to beat to not have this thread pop up 4 games in?

This is the last year that we can give Moorhead a chance to keep his job. 3 years on the job with only 2 wins isn’t progress but status quo. I’m pulling him for this year but as fans of our Zips we deserve more. Still can’t understand firing Bowden 5 years ago. No more excuses on almost winning MAC games. Got to win 500 level or close to it for him to keep his job. Bowden was in a similar spot and finally in year 3 the rebuild turned around. I’m going to root for Moorhead until he proves me wrong with another 2 win season.

Enrique 😂

Kent briefly became relevant under Lewis. EMU became relevant under Creighton. Leipold made Buffalo relevant. The right head coach is vitally important in the college game as he wears two hats. He functions as both the head coach and the GM. I wouldn't say the right head coach is the only thing that matters, but it's what's most important. I wouldn't be willing to give up on Moorhead if we finish with ~3 wins this year, but he certainly should enter season 4 on the hot seat if that's the case.

Better topic headline would be "Moorhead 2024: Why Would He Stay Until 2025?"

We have seen so much bad football the last 10 years I would not make a coaching change since team is not as bad as prior teams. It seems like we have talent to compete but the coaching has not been great with the delay of games, play calling, and the decision to let Finley stay in the game and get beaten to a pulp. We have to develop a running game and Finley is just not a zone read quarterback. Let him play to his strength, a drop back passer. Using Tahj as a receiver has not worked and I wish they would bring him in to run the zone read offense for a few sets and see if he can move this team on the ground.

So many people seem to blame the schedule. South Carolina and Rutgers have been bottom to mid-tier P5 programs in their respective conferences for the last decade or so. Even if we swap them out for a game against App State, Marshall, or Western Kentucky, I have little faith that we would be better than the 1-3 record we are currently.

There is plenty of blame to go around but Finley does deserve some. I remember several times he had a surprisingly clean pocket and made some really bad throws. QB’s get hit, it’s part of the game, you don’t just get a free pass to play poorly just because you’ve taken some hits. Not trying to pick on him, I think he has a lot of potential and has shown that he can play well but he deserves blame for playing bad.

None coming any time soon.

I think this week starts to tell us whether the program is making progress. Competition against similar competition will be telling.

Fortunately this insanely brutal scheduling is behind us for the foreseeable future. 2025: -Wyoming -@ Nebraska -@ UAB -Duquesne 2026: -@ Wake Forest -Robert Morris -@ Minnesota -UNLV 2027: -@ Rutgers -@ UNLV -Maine 2028: -Lafayette -@ Wyoming That is sane OOC scheduling & I'm looking forward to seeing Wyoming & UNLV @ the Info. (Not to mention James Madison in 2029.)

With Ashton Kamdem out due to a red card, I hope that James Buebendorf gets a chance to play a lot of minutes against St Francis. I really like the speed and potential of James Buebendorf. It is always hard for freshman to make an impact on an experienced team but I really like what I have seen from James Buebendorf and Jack Roman.

I don't think any fans left. I do think people were turned off by how unprofessionally the previous AD handled his departure.

Gotta wait awhile before the Kent game.

Did the Zips leave the MAC and join the MEAC?

I love when people vent. I could do without the comparisons to a crappy small town full of halfwits who have nothing better to do on Friday nights than going to high school football games.