Leaderboard

Akron comes in at 94 in the Preseason Kenpom! Kent is 125 and Miami is 127

But back on for the ALDS. 👍

James Madison comes into the 2025-26 season after posting a 20-12 record last season with a loss in the Sun Belt Final to Troy. From looking at their roster, they have a ton of new faces. Included in these transfers are the following: · Paul Jones, a 6’4” sophomore guard who averaged 7.6 ppg and 3 rpg last year at Winthrop where he was named to the Big South Conference. · Bradley Douglas, a 6’4” senior guard transfer from Geogia Southern where he averaged 12.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg and 2.2 apg. He’s on his 5th school in 5 years. · Cliff Davis- 6’2” senior guard transfer from Rio Grande where he averaged 12.1 ppg and 4.5 rpg. · Paul Lewis, a 6’2” guard who started at Vanderbilt then transferred to UTSA where he missed nearly all of last season due to injury. · Justin McBride, a 6’7 junior forward transfer from Nevada (Previously Okla. St.) where he averaged 7.8 ppg and 4/1 rpg. · Ike Cornish, a 6’6” senior guard transfer from Nicholls who averaged 7.7. ppg and 2.2 rpg. He started in Maryland and spent a season at Ohio U. · Eli Wilborn, a 6’8” junior forward who was a teammate of Barre at Duquesne where he averaged 5 ppg and 3.5 rpg last year. · Gabe Newhof, a 6’9” senior forward who was an NAIA All-American at Spring Arbor last season, averaging 21.5 ppg and 7.2 rpg. From looking at the roster JMU appears deep and experienced and will again be towards the top of the Sun Belt standings. They’ll also likely still be in transition mode with so many new faces. I'll keep updating as more info and previews become available.

In the RPI (as of 10/13 at 9 AM), Akron is #18 and Seton Hall is #20. https://rpiupdatemenssoccer.blogspot.com/search/label/RPI Rank?m=1

I thought “Design a lame new logo” would solve all the football problems…boy was I wrong.

And if a booster does step up to fire Moorhead, they need to be ready to step up in other ways. That is, supporting our program to have a respectable operating budget compared to our peers and NIL, or it’s all wasted money because nothing will change.

I'm 56. In my life, the following schools were doormats. Kansas State, Baylor, Wake Forest, Iowa State TCU, Vanderbilt. Somehow they are respectable now. It wasn't that hard either. They just made good, basic decisions.

I loved the script Akron!

Kenpom.com I personally wouldn't place too much stock in preseason ratings. Especially since we see so much roster turnover these days.

I have watched Stefan Dobrijevic play a lot, maybe 100 times considering Spring, Akron FC, Club.... I have never seen him play better. He was fantastic, easily the MOTM!

Before getting into positional takeaways, I wanted to start with a few general thoughts on the game itself. I try to take my kids to one game each year, and this was the one for us. It was a beautiful day, and the event staff couldn’t have been friendlier. The lower home side had a solid turnout, and it felt like the crowd was ready to get into it if given something to cheer for. The announcer did a nice job trying to generate some energy during stretches when things weren’t going Akron’s way, and I noticed the defensive line coach doing the same — actively trying to get the crowd involved several times. I caught bits and pieces of his conversations with the defense, and he struck me as someone who relates well to the players and has a bright future. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re looking for a new DL coach next year — not because of performance, but because once word gets out about him, I doubt we’ll be able to keep him. Most of the players seemed engaged and locked in, although I have to admit I was a little disheartened by how many guys weren’t dressed out and were only in jerseys on the sideline. One major difference from Moorhead’s first year, though, is that there weren’t any players — excluding walk-ons — who looked out of place at this level. I was talking with someone during the game about how many players from that 2022 squad not only shouldn’t have been playing at the FBS level, but were also being counted on to log significant snaps for us. While this program still has work to do in the win column, it’s come a long way from where it was just a few years ago in terms of talent. QB: Honestly, I thought Finley outplayed Finn in this game. Before anyone scoffs and stops reading, let me explain. Outside of the ill-advised interception on the opening drive, Finley made a number of excellent throws throughout the game. My biggest issue with his performance was that he missed some opportunities — there were multiple plays where receivers came open and he just didn’t see them. Still, the majority of his passes that weren’t intentionally thrown away were catchable. Unfortunately, the receivers caught another case of the drops. PFF credited three, but I can count at least five off the top of my head — and that simply can’t keep happening. In a contest where the run game never got going, we had to rely on throwing the ball, and it’s a tough task when the offense becomes one-dimensional. Finn, on the other hand, if I’m not mistaken, only connected on three throws downfield. Most of his production came on shorter passes where his receivers did the heavy lifting, and with his legs on designed runs. RB: There wasn’t much room for our running backs to operate all game long. Honestly, Gant and Patrick did a nice job just to grind out 55 yards with the limited space they had to work with. WR: It was a performance that could have been better by this group. The drops are killing opportunities and stagnating drives. I do want to give credit to Mason on the scoring drive in the 4th quarter. He dropped a pass early in the drive coming across the middle knowing a hit was coming. He then caught two more passes on the same drive coming across the middle and took the hit. The receivers are working hard to get open and block downfield, but it’s a group that needs to continue to improve. TE: This was another instance where I disagree with PFF’s grading — I thought Cravaack had the best game of his young career, yet he was rated below average. I don’t believe Newell played. OL: Not the best day of work for this unit. The offensive line struggled to get much push against Miami’s defensive front and had a hard time reaching the second level in the run game. They also gave up far too many pressures — in fact, it was the most since the season opener against Wyoming. I know some fans are frustrated with Finley after this one, but I actually thought he made plenty of good decisions and did his best to keep plays alive despite often being under duress. DL: I don’t know how many times a defensive lineman beat his man off the snap and had the ball carrier dead to rights, only for the ball carrier to slip out of the tackle. There were too many plays that should’ve gone for negative yardage but instead turned into positive gains. Granted, Miami’s ground game is tough to keep bottled up, but it’s hard not to think about how different things might’ve looked if just a few more of those tackles had been finished. LB: I thought Cooper and Summers played really well, and Boswell impressed in his limited snaps, as they were all extremely active. One issue that did stand out, though, was when Miami got Summers matched up against wide receivers a few times in the passing game — he doesn’t possess the speed to cover sideline to sideline against a wideout. DB: DeWalt and Reed are playing as well as any cornerbacks in the conference. Both were physical against the run and gave up just 14 yards on a single catch through the air. Reed also added an interception. Anderson returned at safety after missing the last several games. It was good to see him back, although his play was a bit inconsistent. He gave up a long pass and was called for a blatant pass interference penalty that really wasn’t necessary. Flowers and Di. Johnson filled out the rest of the safety rotation. I thought Johnson easily had the best game of his career. Flowers, similar to Anderson, showed some positive flashes but also gave up a deep throw that ended up leading to a score. The two Braches filled in at nickelback. To be honest, it’s tough to keep track of which one made which plays, but I do know there were a few plays given up from that position. ST: I couldn’t tell if the field goal was flat-out missed or if someone got a hand on it. That was about the only negative from special teams, which is solid considering Miami came in with some red-hot units. I thought Hills was close to breaking a long kickoff, but just couldn’t get there. I still think he’s going to take one to the house at some point this season. Coaching: The frustration from Moorhead was visible. Miami is a team that doesn’t beat itself, while Akron tends to find ways to self-inflict damage. The missed field goal, false starts, interception, and drops certainly didn’t help on a day where we needed to play near-perfect football to win. That said, I thought the players gave it their all, and I didn’t see any sense of quit on the team. I’m sure it’s frustrating to not have that extra day of practice like every other team in the nation, but at the same time, we’ve seen these types of mishaps for the past several years. It’s unfortunate, because this team has the talent to win games like this when at full strength, but sometimes we just can’t seem to get out of our own way. On the bright side, next week is another opportunity for a win, and it’s certainly an achievable task. QB: Finley M. Johnson RB: Gant Patrick WR: Ma. Williams Grear WR: Polk Monteiro WR: Walker Mason TE: Cravaack Whisner LT: Da. Johnson Motley-Simmons LG: McManus Archer C Lyons Morris RG: K. Davis RT: A. Jones King DE: Durham Cheatom D. Frazier DE: Dall J. Frazier DT: Laventure Mixon Madden DT: Hull Murphy Musika LB: Cooper Spriggs LB: Summers Boswell NB: Ai. Branch Al. Branch CB: DeWalt Kamara CB: Reed Thomas S: Flowers Di. Johnson S: Anderson Di. Johnson Top Rated Offense (20 snap minimum) QB - Finley WR - Ma. Williams WR - Monteiro WR - Mason LG - McManus Top Rated Defense (20 snap minimum) CB - Reed S - Di. Johnson LB - Cooper CB - DeWalt LB - Summers

I repeat my above question.

That thought occurred to me - regardless, someone dropped the ball.

I don't think anyone wants to shut it down. They want to see a different approach as the last couple of decades demonstrate that this approach isn't working, and it's not going to get any easier with the changes in the college sports landscape.

I had a great time last week and went to the game today. They were competitive in the first half but after Miami took the ball and scored in the first drive in the 2nd half we all knew it was over. What amazes me is how we keep making the same mistakes over and over and over again. An interception in the end zone after a great drive: Check, a missed field goal: check, a defensive penalty on a kick or field goal that gives our opponent a first down: check, a motion penalty that sets us back that destroys a drive, check, check, check, check, ect. And a stupid move by our coach was the last play that I could stomach and that was in the beginning of the 4th quarter. After Akron had a great stop on 4th down and the score was 17-0, I thought I would watch one more drive to see if we could score any points and maybe come back. Finley made a 3rd down run and dove near the first down marker and the refs gave him a first down. I told my son they need to snap the ball quickly because it was very close and they had just reversed a similar play on Miami earlier. Instead, Akron took their time lining up and just before the ball was snapped the refs reviewed the play and reversed their call and then Akron got stopped on 4th down. I left. If our coach and QB cannot figure out to snap the ball quickly in that situation then shame on them. I am sick of losing football and that play just exemplified our losing mentality.

Make sure to check out the Zips men's basketball Instagram today. It has pics of the players in their first year and now. They're great, especially to see how kids like Amani and Tavari grew up.

Any one who thinks simply paying close to $1 million to buyout our coach to bring in someone new will magically solve our problems is insane. We've gone down that route with how many coaches in a row? We have much deeper issues that need to be worked on. At this point it's probably way too late unless 2-3 deep pocketed boosters step up to carry the program like Bud has done with basketball. I say 2-3 because the costs to compete in FBS is several times that of hoops.

Who said anything about elected Trustees? Have them nominated, vetted and approved by people of the University Community; not political hack appointments.