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As others have already said, it wasn’t a true spring game—just a “thud” practice—but it was still great to watch the players move and compete. QB: Finley is head and shoulders above the rest. Roggow and Broughton each had some good moments, but if the season started today and something happened to Finley, I’m not sure either one is ready to lead us to a win just yet. Like I mentioned before, Broughton’s smaller frame is probably part of the reason we were able to land him, but he’s special and he’s only going to get better. He also lined up at receiver a bit. RB: There weren’t many run plays, and the few they did call were blown dead pretty quickly, so there wasn’t a whole lot to take away there. That said, the backs caught the ball really well out of the backfield, and you could easily see their talent from that angle. Gant and Patrick are the two to keep an eye on. Patrick still needs to put on a little more mass, but once he does—look out. WR: I’m calling it now—Kyan Mason will be all-conference this season as a redshirt freshman. He’s dynamic, and our defense had a tough time covering him all night. Polk and Davis look like they’ve kept progressing and should both have solid seasons. I was expecting more from Hills. He got separation a few times, but just couldn’t haul it in. His catch radius seems somewhat limited. He’ll probably be used more on the short stuff. It was good to see Adams back out there, but he doesn’t look quite like the explosive receiver he was before the injuries. He’ll help us, no doubt, but expectations should be tempered. And once again, another spring and another strong showing from Walker—caught almost everything thrown his way, including a tough grab against Reed to end the period. TE: Backups Whisner and Witherspoon saw a lot of action at tight end tonight. Witherspoon was a bit up and down as a receiver—dropped a few easy ones but also came down with some tough, contested catches. He moves well and has all kinds of length. Pretty sure I saw Newell and Cravaack out there too, just don’t remember them getting many reps. OL: Western Kentucky transfer Darrell Johnson looks to have the inside track at left tackle. He’s got all the physical tools and should be solid. Morris and K. Davis looked really good at center and left guard. Right guard and right tackle still need to be sorted out. Based on what I saw tonight, I’d say transfer Allen Jones has the edge at right guard. Right tackle looks like it’s between JUCO signee Massai King and Jonas Mann. Pretty sure I saw Mann take a few snaps at left tackle too. DL: There was some good out there, but overall, we need immediate help. Arizona transfer Cyrus Durham is the real deal and will help soften the blow of losing Nunnally. Dall looked ready on the opposite side. Inside, Ronald Hull looks good to go. Beyond that, when it comes to starting D1 talent, that’s about it. The rest of the group has potential and might provide depth in 2025, but that’s where things stand for now. The portal and JUCO are going to be critical for our D-line moving forward. LB: Similar to running back, it’s tough to get a full read in this type of practice. That said, our backers move well and can fly downhill when needed. Spriggs came up with an interception when a receiver wasn’t expecting the ball. DB: The defensive backs rotated a lot and played all over the place. I actually thought Jarmon looked the best tonight. If I had to guess, I’d say the starters will be Jarmon and Reed at corner with DeWalt at the nickel. Tranfer Ben Kamara looked good too. We might not have an elite secondary, but we’ve got guys who move well and have plenty of length. The safeties rotated quite a bit too. The biggest thing that stood out to me was seeing Daymon David on the sideline in a red jersey. ST: Wiley looks like a completely different kicker than he was a few years back. When he connects, the ball jumps off his foot. I’d be surprised if he’s not our starter. Hard to say much about the punting, other than there was plenty of hang time—kicks kept smacking the ceiling. I came away feeling really good about our offense. This group has a real chance to be the best we’ve had under Moorhead. Defensively, though, I’m not too confident about our D-line depth. There’s too much youth and inexperience, and we definitely need more help for this season. I think we’ll be solid at linebacker and in the secondary. Now we just have to wait and see who hits the portal and who we can bring in.

He turned into a stud when I coached Pitt on CFB25

Great pickup! Brookhart is loading up the WR room.

He looks dead inside.

If you want to start feeling old - Jason Taylors son was just drafted by the New York Jets.

Probably best not to hold the event if it’s just going to be a practice. The spring game is yet another casualty of the portal. Yet another cool thing about college football relegated to the history books…

Tailgating with my wife, The Unluckiest Woman in the World, inside my pick up truck as the rain pours down in Lot 10.

I know this a basketball thread, but it's too funny that Sendy threw out the 1st pitch and Kent lost. The dude only knows how to lose to Akron.

Why would Kellom transfer down to Eastern Illinois?

https://www.cleveland.com/news/2024/10/university-of-akron-gets-2-million-from-feds-to-help-recycle-electric-vehicle-batteries.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawJ5_q5leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFJOWI2UmxSSkNqeVhyeUFNAR7FwnxVLG4udjbW7et186xTcQO5odAj-wt5CEK9cTI4P3E765kWlFQWFTWZnw_aem_wLjuZmBgLJ2odnOLNcRz8w

DE commit. Started every game for Dayton this past season.

What happened between Jason and UA?

Home and Homes with Gardner Webb for the near future.

This is more a practice than a scrimmage. Not like the past 2 Saturdays so far. Bummer.

Shor must be short for Shorts. He’s at the spring game but in his #75 jersey and sneakers.

Just based off his GW bio, seems like a damn good hire. Really good fundraiser and knows how to negotiate deals and get butts in seats

GW bio focuses a lot on revenue generating activities: https://gwusports.com/staff-directory/andrew-goodrich/354 From his Miami bio A member of the external leadership staff, his role he is responsible for the management of the marketing department’s promotional, advertising and budgeting strategies for the Hurricanes’ 17 varsity sports. Additional responsibilities include supporting the efforts of UM communications, ticket sales, ticket operations, digital media, creative services and multimedia rights partners to increase and improve brand value, brand awareness, fan experience, customer satisfaction, attendance and revenues. USF At South Florida, Goodrich was responsible for leading the Bulls' business strategy, revenue generation, ticket operations, ticket sales, corporate sponsorship, merchandising, and USF Athletics licensing (CLC) initiatives. Additionally, Goodrich supervised marketing and strategic communications which included digital and social media strategy, Bulls Vision audio/video production, branding, and in-game presentation/fan experience enterprises. SU His success in growing attendance in football and men's and women's basketball, and his expertise in marketing and fan experience will aid us in expanding the impact and reach of the Syracuse brand.

My two cents, quick read is that he has been instrumental in fund raising, marketing and sponsorships at ACC and Big South schools. Finding new, innovative ways to raise money and increase engagement on and off campus, would be very beneficial to Akron athletics.

I sure hope it can handle the enormous crowd.

Trying to predict this team's starting 5 and rotations is silly. Here's the key, and @Zippy87 eluded to it - we are way more matchup proof this year than we were last year. Our rotations are going to be very malleable based on whomever we are playing. Evan will pretty much be a staple no matter what strengths our opponents have because he's so versatile, athletic, and a great defender. Against a taller team, we can utilized more of the Barre/Lyles/Brisco/MMK/Evan combinations. Against more guard oriented teams, we'll just insert any 3 guards in addition to Evan and one of the bigs. Need more offense? Throw Evan at the "5" and run any 4 of the other guards. Zippy87 said we'll have 6 guys in the rotation that will be 6'3" or taller. We'll actually have 7, maybe 8 if Josh Henderson plays as a true freshman. Scott and Head are also both 6'2", so not far off. All but Sharron, Tavari, and Perkins will be 6'2"+. 2024-25 Contributors James Okonkwo - 6'8" 240 lbs Amani Lyles - 6'7" 226 lbs MMK - 6'6" 195 lbs Isaiah Gray - 6'3" 220 lbs Bowen Hardman - 6'3" 190 lbs Nate Johnson - 6'3" 205 lbs Shammah Scott - 6'2" 195 lbs Seth Wilson - 6'2" 220 lbs Sharron Young - 6' 160 lbs Tavari Johnson - 5'11" 160 lbs 2025-26 Potential Contributors Chabi Barre - 6'9" 225 lbs Rich Brisco - 6'8" 230 lbs Amani Lyles - 6'7" 235 lbs MMK - 6'6" 195 lbs Evan Mahaffey - 6'6" 200 lbs Josh Henderson - 6'5" 175 lbs Eric Mahaffey - 6'5" 190 lbs (I've heard he's now 6'6") Bowen Hardman - 6'3" 190 lbs Shammah Scott - 6'2" 195 lbs Cody Head - 6'2" 194 lbs Sharron Young - 6' 160 lbs Tavari Johnson - 5'11" 160 lbs Tai Perkins - 5'11" 165 lbs I legitimately think we got better despite losing Nate & Okonkwo. This roster is going to be VERY formidable. LET'S GO ZIPS!

Welcome to Akron .... for a season.