Leaderboard

OFFENSE QB: Finley was a mixed bag…again. At times, he threw some pinpoint passes and at other times he was just off. Finley completed 48% of his throws for 250 passing yards and a touchdown. Finley did finish the contest without an interception (despite putting the ball in harms way several times) and did not take a sack. Bullock was effective as a runner and collected 35 yards with 2 touchdowns on the ground. On the negative side, Bullock took a sack, fumbled, and also missed a wide open Cravaack for what would have been a touchdown. RB: For the first time this year, we leaned on the run game - rushing the ball a total of 45 times. Simmons and Kellom finished with over 100 yards rushing a piece. Simmons took a knock on his long run and didn’t seem the same on his two runs after that. Both backs were excellent in pass protection. WR: What a difference a week makes. After 8 drops against NIU, the wideouts caught almost everything that came their way. Norton made several incredibly difficult catches and finished with 5 receptions for 107 yards. The perimeter blocking may have been the best it’s been all year. TE: Newell and Cravaack had only a handful of opportunities in the passing game, but they were extremely effective as blockers. OL: The OL often struggled with Kent’s pass rush. We actually did a nice job of picking up 3rd down blitzes, but besides that it wasn’t always pretty. That said, our run blocking was some of the best it’s been this year. Center T. Williams was dominant against the interior of Kent’s DL and climbed to the linebackers multiple times. He easily had his best game of the season. DEFENSE DL: Moore consistently disrupted plays at NT/DT. Former Zips center Tony Georges was badly overmatched and there wasn’t anything he could do against Moore. The other defensive tackles were solid against the run. Madden managed to collect a sack despite our usual lack of pass rush from the DTs. The DEs did a nice job of containing the edges and forcing plays back to the LBs. Nunnally had one of his best games overall and added another sack. LB: Linebacker play was excellent outside of one gap bust where Summers filled directly beside McCoy. Even though Fish and Summers started the game, McCoy played the most snaps. Summers is coming along, but needs to pump the brakes on running his mouth so much to the opponent. That behavior will eventually cost us. DB: Reed and Golden-Nelson started at CB and are easily our best options at this point. Reed snagged his first interception of the season. Hunter, DeWalt, White, and Jarmen were the backups. J. Anderson returned from injury to start alongside P. Lewis. D. Lewis started at NB and backed up the safeties. Greenwood subbed in at NB. To say P. Lewis and D. Lewis did not have their best games in coverage would be putting it kindly. ST: G. Smith was perfect on FGs and XPs. He went 3 for 3 on both, with a long of 43 yards on FGs. Book did not have his best day, but did manage to pin one punt deep inside Kent territory. Coaching: This was easily the best coached and executed game of the season. There was an emphasis on running the ball and Akron collected 529 yards of total offense compared to 281 for Kent State. As well as the team played, we still had some pre/post snap penalties. Kent is a bad football team. They pretty much did what they’ve done all season, which is get the ball to their three playmakers on offense and hope for the best. We shut down the RB and instead got beat on a few explosive plays by the two WRs. Their defense was as advertised with a few passes rushers and terrible against the run. It’ll be interesting to see where they go from here as far as Burns is concerned. The “youth movement” doesn’t seem to work in today’s age of the portal. The better players will continue to go elsewhere and it’ll be a constant backfill of incoming freshmen. Drayton tried the same thing at Temple and he’s already out the door. Vegas pinned us at 3.5 wins before the season began. Maybe next week we’ll come out and play a clean game (for once this season) and give ourselves a chance to finish on a high note. QB: Finley Bullock RB: Simmons Kellom M. Williams WR: Norton P. Davis WR: Golden Rush WR: Granger Polk Mason TE: Newell Cravaack LT: Blanchard Shor LG: Morris George C T. Williams Mobley RG: K. Davis Burrell RT: James D. Thomas DE: Nunnally Cheatom Richards DE: Adler Dall DT: Moore Brockington Hull DT: Kapongo Madden Murphy LB: Summers McCoy LB: Fish McCoy NB: D. Lewis Greenwood CB: Reed White DeWalt CB: Golden-Nelson Hunter Jarmen S: P. Lewis D. Lewis S: Anderson D. Lewis Top Offensive Players: HB - Kellom WR - Norton HB - Simmons WR - Polk C - Williams Top Defensive Players: CB - Reed LB - McCoy DT - Moore DE - Nunnally LB - Summers

I say we just end the season right there, go out on a high note. It is basketball season now! And soccer tourney time

their jerseys look like the blue paper-towels from the gas station

This guys seems like a decent guy to me....

...who quit in the 3rd quarter. Seriously...who lets 39 seconds run off the clock in a rivalry game, at home, to get to the 4th quarter? They hit on 2 deep balls in the game. Why not throw it deep and try? We came back with 21 unanswered in the 4th quarter last year to win.

Pitt has 14 players in the portal. Maybe a couple want to stay in the region……

Strategically, we might want to ease up to help save Kenni's job.

If we beat Toledo next week then I'd say a corner might have been turned. Beating a team that might be the worst team in all of division 1 (including FCS) that we were double digit favorites against doesn't really mean much. It's too early to predict what our record would be next year. I'll make a guess once the transfer portal period is over.

Isn't it sad that this is what college athletics has become? It's just another free agency market. I wish there were a better system in place to compensate student-athletes.

For the first time in my recollection ESPN has added a scoreboard for all the NCAA Tournament games. Hurray. https://www.espn.com/soccer/scoreboard/_/league/usa.ncaa.m.1

There is a lot outside of just the players and coaches that has to change before I believe a corner has been turned. The Zips had a really good win last night, but that's short term. If the Zips played as well last night against top tier mac schools, they would be going to a bowl, but Kent has a way of making teams look better than they are.

And - I'll bet that's the first sack by a player born in London who went to UTEP on a Tuesday night for Akron. 🤣

Commentator #1: "This has not been Kent State's night." Commentator #2: "It has not been Kent State's couple of seasons." I LOVE these guys! Can't we just always play on CBSSN?!

These announcers actually are pretty entertaining.

WE ARE SO GOOD AT FOOTBALL!

2 pt conversion up 26. Forget everything negative I've ever said about JoeMo - build the damn statue. This guy's a legend. 😂

I do not want to make judgements about players as I have great respect for all athletes who can compete at a division one level. That said- most of those 4 players would not be significant contributors next year. Certainly Langstaff would have likely been a contributor. I continue to feel that this team needs serious help on the offensive side- none of these players were likely to score goals. They have signed 8 players for next year- most if not all are three star rated by Top Drawer Soccer. If they are as good as their stars (I know, big IF), the program will take a big step next year if they can find some goals. If not- trouble!

KS37 looks to be a really good kicker. Wish we had him or someone like him a few years ago against Indiana...it's amazing what that game could have meant for us, especially considering where IU is as a program right now.

Interested to see where he's playing next year. If there were ever a time to create a NIL, this off-season would be it to keep Norton.

I have to admit, the crowd is better than I expected from what I can see on TV. Imagine if they played this game on a day of the week and time that was convenient for students alumni fans and general community around Akron to attend.

We should never forget just how great Steve Zakuani was at Akron. Stevo deserved a College Cup appearance. Damned NCAA bastards!

Can anyone refresh my memory? Was the Ohio State game originally scheduled to be played on Sunday? Was the game first moved to Tuesday with the hope that it could be played on the Akron Campus? My memory is that by Tuesday...the field was still not playable so they moved the game to Wednesday. Did Northwestern end up having 3 days more rest than Akron? I think that Northwestern won their game on Sunday. Was the real temperature for the Ohio State at Akron game in the neighborhood of -5 degrees ? (maybe colder) I flew fron Nashville to Cleveland Tuesday night to spend Thanksgiving with my parents. When I got off the plane, my first question to my parents was "Did the Zips soccer team beat Ohio State on Tuesday night? " (I had told them that the game would be on 1350 radio). My dad smiled and said "The game has been moved to St. V on Wednesday and your mom, you and I are going to the game". It was a bone chilling to watch 1:09:55 of soccer action ...but it is one of my fondest memories with my parents in their later years (my mom passed away in early 2010). There was nothing better than watching Caleb Porter teams in tournament action during Thanksgiving week. Thanksgiving week 2009 - My mom's heart was too weak to go to tournament game in 2009. My dad and I watched the Zips beat Indiana in 2009 NCAA action during the week of Thanksgiving (My mom was glued to the radio...listening to the great Steve French broadcast the game).

Whoever is hired as the new AD is going to have his hands full. Big budget cuts are coming and the new AD will be viewed as a a hatchet man. Charles did the best he could with the cards that were dealt to him. Over the last 3 years the athletic department budget has been reduced by $6 million. We went from a marketing department of four down to one. Every sport had it's budget cut. Even with that obstacle he still managed to get many significant projects accomplished. New turf at Infocision, new scoreboard at Infocision, complete renovation of Lee Jackson field just to mention a few. The overall condition of all our venues improved. He worked hard to retain our best coaches, men's basketball, men's soccer and swimming. If they were unhappy with him they would have left for many of the lucrative offers they recieved during his tenure. We won 11 MAC championships and one BE championship. Did he probably miss on hiring Joe Mooehead? Maybe, but at the time is was a wildly applauded move. I'm not sure short of a miracle, anyone can turn around Zips football. As far as him being an outsider, you could say that about every AD we have had since Jim Dennison. He did miss on the logo change. He misread how much our fan base liked the logos we had. He also missed on the baseball coaching hire that put us back a few steps. Since he is a NY native and has worked in that market before(Columbia) I think be successful at Fordham. This is what happens at major institutions when there is a leadership change. The new leader wants to bring in his guys to execute his vision.

after our game with the golden flashes I'm ready with my w/l prediction for next year. 8 - 4 with Norton 6 - 6 without him it would help if we replaced a couple of teams already on the schedule with two games against new mexico state. whats your o/u on the amount of nil money a halfway decent team will have to offer Norton in order to get him?

Even in their bad years...of which there have been many...they've always had an Edelman, Cribbs, Harrison, Davis...some player that stood out as pretty good. Not this year.

(GP1) word for word what I would have responded.

It helps when you play the worst team FBS football. We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Has he been out most successful ex-head coach?

.

Especially impressive the student giving the double deuces after that touchdown bomb

It's always a good feeling to be laying waste to a rival early in the third quarter. There's still nearly a whole half of pounding Kent left!

They may not have the quality of talent, but the crew they have doing this game sure cares more than most of the ESPN crews.

That was a heck of a drive to end the half, no time outs, in the shadow of your own goalposts, no time outs, under two minutes, and the Zips got points. Massive.

Kent has 13 yds on 13 carries. Even for them that should be easy math.

This is a really entertaining game so far.

Norton is so good

Other than mispronouncing "Buchtel" during the intro segment, the booth commentators are pretty good. They are knowledgeable and elevate the game, which is impressive for a match up of two of the worst teams in the country.

And Kent, to be fair.

my apologies I now see that you had mens portal date below the 4 ladies not being very familar with the players, I went to stats Sugar played in 3 games Kirsten played in 6 I did not Koly's name Langstaff played in all 18 games...She is a defender ...so no goals and no assists https://gozips.com/documents/2024/8/15/AKRON_WSOC-24.pdf

Here's the deal on the case against Burns and how this usually works. When there's a debt like that the bank sends numerous demand letters/correspondence in an attempt to get the debt worked out on their own. When that fails, they turn the debt over to the lawyers who send at least one demand letter. When all that fails, they file suit. The complaint then goes out to the debtor by certified mail. When that mail gets claimed, and here it was signed for by what looks to be another member of his household, the time to file an answer starts to run. If an answer is not timely filed, the plaintiff can file for default judgment. That's what happened here on November 13th. The court hasn't yet granted that motion so there's not a judgment.

@fknbuflobo......I think #1 ....is what you are looking for.... maybe around 2:40 in the video.......but you will enjoy watching #10 to #2....... can you find yourself in the crowd behind the goal?

KENT STATE STILL SUCKS

To date I haven't commented on Charles leaving, not that anyone cares what I think which is fair enough. From my viewpoint I see posts that are unfortunate because they are making fun of a man who genuinely tried to do what he thought was best. Like Moorhead Charles came at a time when the sands of the position shifted. For Moorhead it was NIL. For Guthrie it was repeated budget cuts due to enrollment. Charles did not want money games, but he had to take them to keep from cutting even more. He took the OSU game when he found he was losing $3M in the budget. University administration wanted him to take the game. In fact the week before Charles resigned UA administration asked him to schedule another money game for next year. Charles was the one AD who could think big. To get there he improved facilities, went thru the rebranding, found new sources of funding (Summit Circle, Children's Hospital) and held coaches accountable. He wanted all coaches to be in the top three of the MAC. Some give him credit for soccer going to the BE. I give the credit to Jared for working the BE soccer coaches and having them work their AD's. Still Charles had to support it and he did. Just as he supported Bud Wentz forming a collective for basketball. He brought in professionals to run athletics. Nearly all of Williams staff was replaced except for Paul Hammond, assoc. AD for facilities. Once Hammond retired he farmed his duties out to his staff, again due to budget cuts. He worked the deal with Children's Hospital to build a clinic in Stiles Fieldhouse and staff all our trainers. When our longest serving trainer, Brent Draper, was close but not yet qualified for retirement Guthrie saw to it that he received full retirement and got him a job with Children's as their trainer for soccer, which he had been for many years. The rebranding seems to be a hot spot for some. They let us know about it in every post. Yet it needed to be done. Like Hilltopper I sat on the alumni committee that reviewed the final product. I preferred the Z and argued for it. It was unique and solely ours. Guthrie said he was told by the board of trustees he could not consider it as our primary logo. That had to be an A. They wanted closer linkage with the city of Akron. Hence Zips is no longer in one of the end zones at Infocision. Both ends say Akron. I still prefer the Z, but I have come to like the new A. I see the Z in it and that helps differentiate it in my opinion. I will not crucify him for doing what he thought was best. That's what a leader does. Akron is not an easy place in which to be a leader. You make decisions and then listen to the criticism. Guthrie's hires have been encouraging. I would say that w/o football he has done well. He kept Embick, Peresie, Groce, King and Engle. Good new hires are Gensler and Nicholson. Jones, Kiptoo and Faulds appear to be encouraging. Bad hires seem to be Moorhead, Simonetti, Gonzales and Norton. Everyone, including me, praised the hiring of Moorhead. No one knew he would be so prickly to deal with and inflexible in adapting his coaching style to the needs of the team. Still that is a hire he made and it is bad. Was Charles the best we could get at the time. I'll let you answer that one. As for me it took me a year to understand what he was doing, what he was dealing with and how he was planning ahead. I feel he was good for us. He made mistakes and rubbed people the wrong way. He didn't explain his thinking and actions well. The collapse of football ruptured his plans. That coupled with Miller resigning and the recent death of his dad led to him leaving. He is from Albany and his wife from Binghamton. Charles is close to his mom and sisters. Moving to Akron from Green Bay was a blessing for him because he could get home more often. Now he felt a need to be even closer. Fordham doesn't fit his career trajectory, but it does put him four hours from home. I wish him well. Charles introduced change to an athletic dept that needed it. Some say he was all about himself. I can see that, but if he was making athletics better I feel some leaders are like that. We will be better off for what he did in his time here though I sincerely doubt we will find a better AD with the state of the university. I could give more, but that's enough.

Not only was he interviewing for a job on Akron's company time, he was apparently working on the rebranding of the Fordham logo while still employed at UA? Someone in the Athletic Department found these renderings when they were cleaning out his desk.

Charles is a class guy. Glad he is able to head home with the new job. His wife is also from that area. Good luck to whoever succeeds him at Akron. They are going to need it with what is coming down the line for the athletic department and university as a whole.