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Pads go on in one week. I can't wait. I plan on making the trip to Wake Forest and am very excited. I hope the QB pans out, watching the interview with Joe Moe he did bring up a good point when he said the QB has not played in a relevant game for like four years so there is going to be some rust to get off. He is obviously the key and it should be different knowing the team is his unlike the last two schools he was at. The position coaches are all great at making sure the players are ready to go and have been together for a long time with the exception of Mack at defensive line but they brought in some monsters so if the defensive line can get some pressure it could be an exciting team. I am really excited to see Aboor play and Williams (that man is huge at 6'6 340). Aboor was getting playing time as true freshman at Ohio State, he is older now and I'm sure he has physically developed if he is hungry, the pedigree is there he can possibly come in and dominate at that end position....

If quarterback play lives up to its potential and the offensive line gels quickly, this year’s offense has a chance to be explosive, especially with the skill positions being talented and deep. Defensively, there are plenty of question marks up front, but this unit could surprise. The question is how long it will take for this year’s defense to sync. There’s enough talent on that side of the ball to keep Akron in all of its conference matchups, and Tibesar always has them playing a physical brand of football. I also expect special teams to make a bounce back this year, as there are players in place who should be able to not only make routine plays but have the ability to produce a big play from time to time. Honestly, I feel there’s enough talent on this year’s roster to win most games on the conference schedule, but this year’s lineup is more difficult than last year’s, so similar results in the win/loss column wouldn’t be surprising. At Wake Forest - Wake may be hard pressed to reach the eight wins they collected in 2025, as they will be working in a good amount of new starters. However, they still have more overall talent than the Zips. Even though I’m calling a win by the Deacons, it’s Week 1 and wild things can happen. 0-1 Vs Robert Morris - Robert Morris was probably better than their three wins indicated last season. Unfortunately for the Colonials they lost almost all of their production on both sides of the ball. Chances are they’ll struggle to hit three wins again in 2026. Zips win handily. 1-1 At Minnesota - Unless the Gophers are completely looking past the Zips and towards their conference lineup, this will be Akron’s second loss of the season. Depending on which publication is being utilized, Minnesota sports around nine players on preseason All BIG teams. 1-2 Vs UNLV - It’ll be nice having a strong G5 program come into InfoCision. What won’t be nice is the likely loss that’ll come with it. UNLV is expected to be a contender for the G5 playoff spot this season. Who knows if that’ll come to pass, but the Rebels will likely be too much for the Zips to handle. 1-3 At Central Michigan - The Chippewas should be strong along both lines of scrimmage and field one of the better run games in the MAC. There are questions about who will be the starting QB, but if the Chips figure that out, they are going to give opponents all kinds of issues with their power spread offense. Akron caught CMU by surprise last year and I doubt that happens again. Also, I don’t like the Chips physical style against Akron’s remade defensive front. 1-4 (0-1) Vs Eastern Michigan - There hasn’t been much separating Akron and Eastern Michigan over the past few years, and despite EMU returning a bunch of production, I suspect there won’t be much separating the two programs again this year. This will be EMU’s second road game in a back-to-back, and it could also be the highest attended game of the year for Akron. If that turns out to be the case, there will certainly be more energy in the stadium, which should help lead the Zips to their first conference win. 2-4 (1-1) At Miami - Miami has been picked as one of the best teams in the MAC again. If rumors are true that the RedHawks have the most revenue share of any program in the conference, then Miami should be fielding the strongest team on a consistent basis. The Zips have had issues scoring points against Miami whenever they’ve played over the past few years, and I doubt that changes in 2026. Miami wins. 2-5 (1-2) At Kent State - Zips shouldn’t have lost to Kent last year. They won’t lose this year. Akron takes back the Wagon Wheel. 3-5 (2-2) Vs Ohio - This could be the year all the coaching changes finally catch up with the Bobcats. Couple that with losing all-conference quarterback Navarro, who bailed out the Ohio offense with his scrambling ability an insane amount of times, and this may line up as an “upset” victory for the Zips. Ohio has plenty of talent, but QB play is what has set them apart in recent seasons. I’m expecting a drop-off and calling for a Zips win. 4-5 (3-2) Vs Western Michigan - Western Michigan was the most physical team in the conference last season, and that will probably remain true in 2026. WMU returns a lot of production on the offensive side of the ball, including the 2025 Offensive Player of the Year in quarterback Lowry. However, the Broncos are replacing a number of players on defense. At this point in the season, I feel like the Zips will be situated to take one of the two games between Ohio and WMU, so if I’m wrong about Ohio, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a win against WMU. That said, since I called a win against Ohio, I’m going with a loss here. 4-6 (3-3) At UMASS - The Minutemen should be improved over last year, and if they aren’t, their administration may be forced to make yet another change with the coaching staff. Especially considering how they’ve sunk plenty of money into the program, by G5 standards. Regardless, this is a matchup the Zips should win. 5-6 (4-3) Vs Buffalo - The Bulls lost a ton on defense, multiple playmakers on offense, and will be replacing practically their whole offensive line, although it won’t matter much by this point of the season as Buffalo will have already figured out what they have. Even so, I’m calling for another win for the Zips and a bowl invite, as this staff usually has Akron playing their best football at the end of the season. 6-6 (5-3)

I know I am going to get bashed for this, but Joe Moe has said they have the lowest budget than any other team in country. Apparently it is close to two million dollars. I don't think that is a woe is me mentality it is a realistic mentality and pointing out that something has to change. The Big 12 signed a sponsorship with Monster Energy and every team in the Big 12 got 1 million dollars sounds great, Ohio State just signed a sponsorship with JP Morgan and Ohio State alone gets 17 million dollars because all of their sports teams are going to wear a patch on their uniforms... I'm not saying I want the jerseys to look like billboards but any type of sponsorship money would be nice. Players that have transferred from JUCO and FCS schools have said that they had more at their other schools. I agree the only reason players are coming to Akron is to get the chance to play so they can go somewhere else. The mere fact that Gant stayed is amazing I truly hope he has a great season and it pays off, I think Hull could have left as well and got paid.

Thanks to Dr. Z for passing on the MAC coaches survey from the Toledo Blade. I found it engaging and reflective of the general sentiment among most MAC coaches.The most interesting take away for me was that no MAC coach praised the conference, its future or its leadership. None of that came up. The coaches seemed to be trying to survive in the changing world of college football. I do agree with one coach who opined that Miami is preparing to leave because they have the resources and the backing to play at another level such as AAC. It seems to me that Steinbrecher has no vision as to how the MAC can improve and raise its stature. But we all knew that.

Unfortunately, I see a 5-7 record again. I think the team may be better but the schedule is also more difficult. I see us beating RMU, EMU, Kent, UMASS, and Buffalo. With our track record against OU, I can't predict a win in that game although I understand the reasoning.

Excellent writeup. I'm not sure I see all six of these wins, but this is a very well-reasoned argument. I'm still saying 4-8 (Kent and Ohio are the two of yours I would probably peg as losses). It's only Year Five; we can't expect Joe to increase on his win total for a third straight year with so many disadvantages.

The jersey sponsorships are relatively new. I think it was just in the spring that the NCAA announced that they would be a thing. Now you have 350+ D1 schools and I'm not going to try to guess how many none D1 schools all trying to seek deals. I don't think it's as much that Akron and other MAC schools don't want them. It's more about finding sponsors who are willing to pay mid-six figures. Especially since many of your local credit unions and regional mid-size businesses might have already had their marketing dollars already budgeted and allocated for all of 2026 before they knew jersey patches were going to be a thing. New Mexico State in CUSA signed a deal that pays around $350K/yr. If Goodyear, Timken, Cleveland-Cliffs, or whoever was offering Akron $300K-$500K/yr I'm sure they would have already accepted. It takes two to tango.

That's fair. I don't remember ever seeing him take on that mentality or saying we are going to overcome. I guess I always looked at it as though he was pointing out the problem that exists and hoping at some point someone would listen and try to change it. Hopefully to the players he portrays it as though it is us against the world and despite not having a pot to pee in we are going to prove them all wrong.

I'm curious what happens with Broughton this year. He is so dynamic I wonder if they find somewhere on the field for him. I am also curious about what they have in store for "The Johnson, Bullock" plays. Broughton is no where near their size Roggow is tall and thin and I don't think they will use Beals in that way so I wonder if they go more wildcat or something for the short yardage situations?

Cat, I personally love when you do things like this and appreciate when you do your breakdowns. I am being optimistic and hoping for 6-6 at least. I think it would be awesome and a bowl game would be incredible. Gonna all come down to the defense and I think Tibs is the man so they have a shot

I don't think our QB room is getting talked about enough. Poff, Broughton, and Beals are all dudes.

I do think he was being cautiously optimistic if you watch the interview. It was not being negative just factual. The interviewer was asking about Poffenbarger and the Qb situation. Joe Moe just said that he has looked good in the practices and the spring game and that he has been a leader but there has been some time since he has played in a game, and that he has clearly shown that he it is his team. It was not being negative just factual.

I think he thrives on setting expectations low so no one gets their hopes up. 😅

If Joe had ever once said "we're going to succeed despite our limitations," I'd agree with your assessment. Or if he'd ever have been positive about where things are or could be. Then maybe. But nope, the public head of our program is just "yep it sucks."

Congratulations to Thomas O’Rourke on making the final U21 Dominican Republic roster… translation: These are the DOMINICANS who will represent us at the Central American and Caribbean Games 2026

A chance to see Zips MSOC’s Aiden Benitez who is on the El Salvador U20 MNT squad tomorrow night at 10 pm EDT on FS2.

We deserve health insurance benefits as Zips fans.