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Ladies won 1-0 last night at Toledo. Brings them to 2-1-1 in conference 💪💪 They're still undefeated at home w/ a record of 3-0-1.

I don't see why we can't compete at the MAC level. I don't see a lack of talent or lack of available talent. There will always be players transferring down to schools like Akron. The problem on the field is lack of execution, not lack of talent. And in addition, there seems to be a pretty serious coaching problem, both developmentally and in-game. I am convinced that if we found a hungry young coach who wanted to prove himself in FBS, the Zips could be successful. In terms of NIL and other resources, It's not as if many other programs are not in the same boat.

The season is near and there's a lot of excitement around the program. There's a lot of questions, too, as we officially enter the Dustin Ford era. 1. Will Evan Mahaffey and/or Kamrin Oriol be eligible? It doesn't look good for Evan IMO. Unless the NCAA allows a blanket waiver for players from his class (unlikely) or the Ohio Supreme Court reverses course (also unlikely), he will probably run out of options to play. Oriol seems like a more optimistic case, although that could change quickly based on continued legal action from the NCAA. 2. How does the program transition fron Groce to Ford? Groce was here nine seasons and clearly had a ton of success, especially the last few years. Ford has been here the whole time, too, and was regarded as one of the top assistants around. He loses a lot in Johnson, Scott, Lyles, Hardman Eric Mahaffey (and maybe Evan Mahaffey), but brought in some good talent in the portal. With so much roster transition everywhere in the MAC, coaching may be the ultimately separater. 3. What does the rotation look like? It's impossible to predict until we know if Mahaffey and/or Oriol can play. Staveskie and Pence will play big roles. Burton and Barre will patrol the paint. Beyond that, there's a lot that we'll have to wait and see shake out once the team gets going.

This ended up costing Syracuse the game. It's a risky strategy to play such a high line because the proper through ball/run can get behind so easily. Impressive finish by Remi with a defender on his back and taking the shot from outside the box. What a game. A chip shot, an absolute rocket, a saved PK, a sub-5-minute game winning goal, and a save off the line on a dangerous failed clear with 2 minutes to go. It had everything.

I think what we need is for them both to commit to LSU, then re-file in Louisiana, get granted eligibility by a judge there, and then re-commit to Akron.

The MAC outside of 3-4 teams have all looked very bad. Even then none of those 3-4 teams are remotely in discussion to get the G6 bid. Given there aren't really anymore OOC games to measure ourselves against external competition, MAC play is mainly just about determining who is the tallest midget.

This is a real measuring stick game for the Zips as it is the first game this season against a similarly situated MAC opponent. The Zips should be at a point where these games are at a minimum competitive.

Nemer signed 3 year extension, which was published by the ABJ. I found the attached article, which provides the details and isn't hidden behind a paywall. https://www.kentucky.com/news/nation-world/national/article317444289.html

QB: Noah Kim is playing well in what is presumably his final season. The former Michigan State and Coastal Carolina transfer started his collegiate career in 2020. Kim has thrown for 1,187 yards and 8 touchdowns against 3 interceptions while completing nearly 63% of his passes. Kim is excellent when his isn’t pressured, completing almost 69% of his passes, compared to just 38% when pressured. RB: EMU will utilize three different backs depending on the situation, with sophomore Amareon Blue and seniors Joey Mattord and Braydon Bennett all seeing significant playing time. Blue has been the main man as of late, rushing for 309 yards and 3 touchdowns on 60 attempts. WR: Senior Benson Prosper and sophomore Harold Mack have become the focal points following the injury to All-MAC receiver Nick Devereaux. The duo has combined for 47 receptions for 525 yards and 3 touchdowns. If Devereaux returns, he’ll make the passing game even more dangerous. TE: All-MAC selection Joshua Long and senior Tanner Lemaster handle most of the snaps at tight end. Unlike most tight ends, Long is a legitimate threat in the passing game, as he already has 22 receptions on the year. OL: The offensive line has been pretty good in pass protection, giving up only 8 sacks on 205 attempts. However, they have been inconsistent when it comes to run blocking. LT - Tyler Brumfield (6’6 305) (Sr.) LG - Guzzy Kayed (6’3 316) (Jr.) - Transfer from St. Francis C - Nicholas Gallegos (6’3 294) (Gr.) RG - Dennis Strey (6’7 312) (Gr.) RT - Elijha Payne (6’6 315) (Sr.) - Transfer from Delaware State DL: Sophomore Quincey Byas and seniors Carter Evans and Ronn Hardin are the main edge threats. The trio has combined for 4.5 sacks. Seniors Peyton Christian, Makhi Gilbert, Joseph Oluwayemi handle the majority of snaps on the interior. LB: Junior Elgin McDuffey and senior Zach Mowchan are the starters at linebacker. Mowchan leads the team with 50 total tackles, while McDuffey has amassed 23 total tackles. DB: Junior Caleb Dobbs starts at one corner with JUCO transfer Rayquan Adkins on the opposite side. All-MAC defensive back Bryce Llewellyn is the starting nickleback. Seniors Juan Salas and Davion Williams fill out the safety spots. ST: Junior Rudy Kessinger has made 5 of 8 field goals and 16 of 17 extra points. Junior Daniel Hull is averaging 43 yards a punt with a long of 60 yards. Keys on Offense: Stay on the field and ride Gant and Patrick as much as possible. Limiting EMU’s opportunities will be important. Their offense can be inconsistent, but they did enough to put away a seemingly improved UMASS squad, and no Zip fan wants to see our secondary on the field against a pass heavy offense any longer than necessary. Keys on Defense: Find a way to get off the field. The “bend but don’t break” philosophy has been completely broken the past two games and needs to be corrected. Things can’t get worse from here, so the only two ways to go are to either improve or continue to make the same mistakes. Final Thoughts: Nothing about this matchup screams win for this Akron squad. However, I’m sticking with my preseason prediction of an Akron win. EMU is on their second consecutive road game and coming off a high of beating a UMASS squad that seemed to be pretty good. This is a prime let down spot for EMU, and the Zips are due for a rebound game.

QB: Someone on staff thought it would be a good idea to ask a “third string quarterback” - Moorhead’s words - to come out slinging the ball, on the road. Someone else - or maybe even the same person - upped the ante and decided we should come out not only throwing the ball with our third string quarterback, but to go five wide, with no threat of an RPO, on the very first play. I rarely question this staff’s ability to design plays, but there were some drives that left me completely lost today. When I said earlier this year I thought Roggow would keep us competitive, that was under the assumption he would be accompanied by the run game. Such was often not the case. Roggow was in over his head, and it showed. RB: I had flashbacks of frustration today when the staff would waste Lingard for portions of the game. Or when a back would make a great run, then rush again for only a handful of yards, followed up by no rushing attempts for a number of plays later. Yes, Gant and Patrick combined for 133 yards, but much of that came when the game was already getting out of reach. Why we don’t lean on those two more, regardless of the opponent, is beyond me. I know we had a lot of one-on-one matchups with the receivers today, but our backs are too good to not involve early and often. WR/TE: I believe there was only one drop. There were several plays where I noticed multiple receivers open around the same area, and Roggow basically split the difference and didn’t get the ball to either one of them. On one of the sacks, it looked like the receiver who was the main target was still talking to the sideline as the ball was snapped, leading to the play being fouled up. Those types of things cannot happen. OL: Plainly put, this line struggles when we become one dimensional. They opened some lanes for the backs and gave Roggow time for portions of the game. At other times, it wasn’t so pretty. The false starts are inexcusable, especially for centers. DL: Our lowest rated defensive lineman - according to PFF, and I don’t disagree with their take - continues to play the most snaps. I don’t understand the rotation, or lack thereof. We started off fine in the first quarter and then things gradually got worse as the game wore on. We have more bodies on the roster, it seems like some other guys should get a shot, and some of the backups like Williams and Kavals should also play a bit more, especially in a game like this. 56 snaps for our worst performing lineman is….something. LB: I thought one of the few bright spots on defense was linebacker play. Johnson and Nunoo seemed to be everywhere. Curtis also had a couple standout plays. Unfortunately, they can’t do it all. DB: I’m not sure if our defensive backs can play much worse. The cornerbacks were fine in coverage, but they didn’t help enough against the run. I remember one of the CBs just bumping shoulders with the ball carrier, who then ran for I don’t know how many yards into the endzone. Our safety play was flat out horrendous against the run. In a game like this, angles and gap filling are so important and we did both poorly. I’m not sure how we’ve gotten to this point, as these guys saw significant action last season and we also have the same defensive back coaches. If things don’t get cleaned up soon, we won’t win another game because we simply won’t be able to outscore anyone. ST: Outside of the blocked field goal, it was a solid day for the special teams. QB: Roggow RB: Gant Patrick Williams Curry WR: Williams Myers WR: Mason Hilburn Louis WR: Burris Hills TE: Alexander Cravaack Hook DeReese LT: Slayden Gould LG: Smith Archer C Lyons Mobley RG: Hampton RT: Jones Gould DE: Frazier Waye DE: Durham Kavals DT: Hull Kavals Brown-Demery DT: Mixon Williams LB: Johnson Jones LB: Nunoo Curtis Hocker CB: Newsome CB: Thomas NB: Branch Moss S: Davis Flowers S: Hunter Flowers Highest Rated Offense (20 snap min.) RB - Gant WR - Burris LT - Slayden LG - Smith RT - Jones Highest Rated Defense (20 snap min.) LB - Johnson LB - Curtis LB - Nunoo CB - Thomas DT - Hull

I don't want this to come out out the wrong way because it will sound like I'm slamming the basketball coach, but here it goes. It's not intended to do that. We have the best basketball coach possible. Akron has the premier basketball program in the MAC. We had a highly accomplished coach leave and the best we could do was promote an assistant. I'm not sure if that last sentence should end with a period, question mark or exclamation point. I am going to assume that the leadership looked at the possible options and said yes. Joe was the best possible option a few years ago. Nobody was applying for the job. Those who yearn for a high school coach taking over the program might have gotten their wish. All things considered, he may still be the best option. It's a horrible program at a school that is putting limited effort into it. What coach is going to want the job? If their vision for making Akron successful is so good, wouldn't that person want to apply at a place actually trying to win? Given the current circumstances, only pure luck gets someone better than Joe hired.

Akron goes from #18 to #9 in Top Drawer Soccer weekly poll https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-national-rankings/men 4 Big east teams in top 11

24 days until the first basketball exhibition game!

Correct...no lights. I attended with an unexpected, good contingent of Zips fans...30+ I'm guessing...including an impromptu pre-game get together at Kelly's Pub a block or so away thanks to Zips alum Pat Nash. A bit disappointed with the inability to maintain possession in the 2nd half, but they found the 2nd goal, and got the shutout W on the road.

Last night was an entertaining matchup of two formidable teams. If you missed it you lost an opportunity to see the game at an elite level. The first half had me concerned. It thought 'Cuse was getting the better of play. They certainly had a few opportunities that could have been goals. The high press bothers us and we have struggled to make teams pay. When played well it can suffocate a team like Georgetown did. But then again they are the best team I have seen in the last two years. The second half was a different story. We used diagonal passes to get behind their press and despite the heart-stopping clearance on our goalline we dominated. I would like to see O'Rourke take Sears under his wing and show him how to penetrate better. Sears seems lost when he gets the ball one on one. Sears technical skills are supposed to be his strength, but the college game in the Big East has caused him to slow down and that plays into the defenders. If he grows his game that will take more pressure off Remi. With Creighton Sunday this is a good time to be putting it all together.

Brett had big shoes (Mitch Budler) to fill. Brett has been very good this year. Matthew Paiva should be one of the leading candidates for Big East Defensive player of the year. Goals get the attention but I would argue that Matthew Paiva is the team MVP so far this year.

New this season ... Each coach has 2 challenges. I don't understand why they don't state coach's challenge rather than simply video review on the broadcast. In the stadium, we can see the coaches signal for a challenge.

Perfect pass beats offside trap. Good pass probably does not beat high line/trap. Make the final pass a diagonal one, boys and girls. #geometry

at 9:50, the zips are up to #10 in RPI

Loaded schedule to wrap up the regular season. Could set us up well

Should be good tailgating. 3:30 start and 74 degrees. I say we put Broughton in with a green shirt on and see if they fall for it.

I completely agree that Dr. Goodrich falls in Category #2. I think he thinks that the Zips can be the best under-resourced FBS program in the country. Has anyone seen the statistics overall for Akron athletics? We are something like #7 or #9 in the country in terms of athletic success per dollar spent. Goodrich wants us to be number one. He believes there are plenty of football programs resourced similarly to Akron, but through a culture shift and a genuine commitment to both academics and athletics, we can be better than those other schools. And we need to be in order to be included in the upcoming TV deal.

I remember at a Zips golf outing Mack Roades addressed the crowd by stating -“We’re not thinking about the MAC…we’re thinking BEYOND the MAC.” Then, he and Hunter left UA for jobs beyond the MAC. UA’s biggest whiff on the AD carousel was not hiring Hunter Yurachek. He liked the University and loved living in Hudson. He had a young family at the time and would have stayed a while. He’s getting some heat at Arkansas right now. If Goodrich departs and Hunter’s looking for a job, he’d be worth an interview.

I disagree, it obviously would not be a highly coveted job but it is still a D1 coaching job in a conference that has a pretty good reputation for sending successful coaches onto bigger and better programs. You would have coaches wanting this job - despite all of its insufficiencies. Look at Toledo’s recent hire. He was very successful at FCS Mercer. Would he have applied for an open Akron job? Not sure, but I think he might have, and I think others would as well.

Sac State is angry now that "we paid you all this money and you didn't even put Akron on our schedule?!"

I’m not against a move being made. However, I don’t think this is the time to do it. Maybe once bowl contention is officially taken off the table. College football has changed so much even since Moorhead was hired. At first, he was able to take advantage of the portal with all of his, and the staff’s, connections to immediately upgrade the roster talent. He was also able to scrap the terrible incoming prep class that was in place and add some quality high-level prospects. Since then, NIL has come into the picture and changed the landscape even more. So not only are we at a disadvantage in athletic funds—including lowly paid assistants—but we are also at a disadvantage when it comes to the portal. I was talking to someone the other day who turned down a job at EMU a few years back, and he was raving about a few of our coaches—RB and TE in particular. He mentioned that those are the types of coaches who could have easily left and gotten P4 gigs, but they’ve chosen to stay for personal reasons. He also brought up one of our former CB coaches—Bell—as an example of how so many coaches are taking internal athletic jobs, like analysts at bigger programs, because the pay here is so poor. Moorhead hasn’t nailed all the assistant spots, but he’s done a pretty good job over his tenure. Whoever the next hire is will have an extremely difficult job filling out a worthwhile staff while also keeping those coaches in place. My biggest issue with Moorhead is that his teams at Akron have seemed to underperform their talent level every year. Looking just across the way at Kent, there is a coach who has a roster with substantially less talent and generally puts them in a place to be competitive. That, however, does not seem to be the norm these days, and while that could happen here, the odds are against it. All that said, something needs to change to make this a competitive program year in and year out.

Nice recap. They're certainly discussing if the money to make a move can be found. I don't think they're going to find it. MAYBE this time next year when he's only got a few games left. But what's the point then? That season's already lost by then, because all you have left are the empty stadium games anyways. Akron will always have significant disadvantages because of the NIL situation. As a result, Akron desperately needs a coach who can get his undermanned team to believe, while also having a coaching staff that can coach guys up. We don't have either of those right now.

Akron Zipped Up recap is here: https://akronzippedup.substack.com/p/game-5-recap-central-michigan-41?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=2970576&post_id=218201656&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1oisov&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email

Not a great night of results for Zips opponents but with the next two matches being Syracuse (22 in RPI) and Creighton (17 in RPI), we have a great chance to build our tournament resume.

I would settle for a winning in-conference record and being bowl-eligible (6 or more wins). That would be a good start.

Well after that dud of a guardians game I’m sure Akron zips football will salvage my Saturday!

Friday October 2 #1 SMU 2 Wake Forest 0 #3 Georgetown 6 Providence 1 as @Zips1991 reported ; #4 Creighton and St. John's played to 1-1 tie Syracuse and #10 Pitt also played to a 1-1 draw Syracuse also has a win over Notre Dame was ranked #10 With Syracuse and Creighton at home next week, the Zips have a great opportunity to make a major move in RPI ratings. #25 Xavier 3 Marquette 0 UConn 1 Villanova 0 Seton Hall and Butler ended in a 0-0 result At 11:30 on Friday night, here are the current RPI ratings for Zips opponents and all Big East teams Georgetown 3 Akron 10 Xavier 14 Creighton 15 Syracuse 20 W. Virginia 23 Cornell 30 Marquette 31 St. John's 37 Wake Forest 41 St. Louis 45 Providence 55 Dayton 72 (Dayton's only loss is to Akron - record of 6-1-3) Villanova 75 UConn 113 Seton Hall 117 DePaul 131 Robert Morris 144 Army 152 Butler 160 Cleveland State 171

Translation: Let's give all of our money to LSU.

Number of teams are the same, but mid-majors still will end up losing postseason slots. Those 8 additional spots will almost certainly go to the P5, maybe occasionally a PAC-12 or A10 can use it to sneak in. Last year only 4 P5 (P4+Big East) participated in the NIT.

Keep a safety deep!

This seems to be a good place to place this since college football drove changes. Full Ride opened with this yesterday. Part of the bill is it caps the number of teams per conference and requires schools to be an independent for three years after leaving a conference, if my memory is correct. If passed, it would put an end to the Miami rumors unless they can beat the deadline because they won't be independent for three years. It's basically begging schools to not make bad decisions the way the NCAA limited Akron's scholarships in 1986 telling us we would be making a horrible mistake, and we did it anyhow. Akron has provided an encyclopedia worth of bad decisions since 1986. It gives back power to the NCAA, which is like giving an arsonist matches. Worse, it provides antitrust protection which is like giving the same arsonist a welding torch. It doesn't force membership in the NCAA, which means the P4 conferences could leave whenever they wanted. Actually, anyone could leave whenever they wanted. https://www.foxnews.com/outkick-sports/senate-passes-protect-college-sports-act-decisive-vote

The asinine commercial length and volume is the worst thing about college football. But ratings are still OK so they're not gonna change it.

Great news!

Those stats are interesting, but if a fan tries hard enough, they can find two good games on. For example, the TX vs TN game was not good last weekend. There was another big game at the same time that wasn't good. The best noon game last week was Louisville and Wake Forest. It was probably one of the best games all weekend. Both teams played great. Fans just have to look for good games.

I respectfully disagree. There are plenty of very competitive games on every week. Teams that used to stink can now get good. It's still the most unpredictable sport on TV other than Jai Alai, which the South Florida organized crime basically runs. What I find difficult are the 3.5+ hour games, long halftimes, endless replays and now ESPN Game Day. I'm a bit sick of the players themselves I've seen enough celebration dances from guys catching three yard outs on their own 28. The Fox pregame show is actually interesting and doesn't have Pat McAfee doing his pro wrestling routine for three hours. I'm Pat McAfeed out. I'm tired of television, gambling apps and beer companies making all the decisions. What I'm starting to find interesting is the use of the noon start to highlight big games. It used to be the ghetto spot for the worst games. Now the games are compelling against high ranking teams. I wonder if they are experimenting with early starts because they a afraid of the NFL. What the NFL wants, it gets. They may want Saturday primetime. If they get it, it will crush prime time college football on Saturday.

I feel the part worth pointing out that is most applicable to Akron is it limits players to only 1 transfer. Any additional transfers require a player to sit out 1 year. This should in theory reduce the number of transfers we see in all sports.

Tuesday September 29 #4 Creighton 4 Omaha 2 Blue Jays can score some goals !! Wake Forest 3 Loyola Chicago 0 Dayton 6 Bluffton 0 Drake and St. Louis played to a 1-1 tie

It's playoffs baby. That's how I think they need to approach the season. The best players need to play unless injured of course. and every game that is "winnable" must be won. No excuses can be accepted and none should be given. Miami and Western in my opinion are the two "hardest" games remaining on the schedule. I think every other game, except Western (it would take a perfect game on the Zips part and a lot of help) on this schedule is winnable. I'm still waiting to see about UMASS but this team should be able to win every other game and this conference schedule this year should be the one that they go 6-2. If this team does NOT finish at least 6-6 overall, that is three conference losses, then I would consider this year a failure, but again in my opinion looking at the rest of the conference, I really think that 7-5 is obtainable. I'm not starting the whole fire Joe Moe or anything like that. I'm just stating that our conference schedule is not that difficult this year and I do believe that we have the talent to win enough games to be bowl eligible. The coaching staff has had four games now to judge talent and to see what works and what doesn't. If they continue to play the same players and refuse to make changes then we can expect the same results and that falls on them. Hopefully, the coachable things have been addressed. From Cat has said, this week the team can focus on stopping the run. Central Michigan is Akron's super bowl. That's all they should be worried about right now. It's the most important game of the season.

Yeah, if they don't win this one, it's hard to see them winning 5 of the next 7 to become eligible.

I guess Pitt is steeped in history in the way a Lipton tea bag has been soaking in a glass of pee for a month. I read an article about the history of Pitt football about 10 years ago. At that point Pitt had winning records in only 38% of seasons in their history. It's a historically horrible program deserving of low attendance. The only thing making them interesting now is the ability to schedule more cupcakes at the beginning of the year and playing in the ACC that allows for lots of average teams to make a bowl.

Now move the game from Thursday to Tuesday night and add a much earlier sunset, much colder temperatures, and stronger potential for bad weather, and that's the attendance handicap created by MACtion. Also, tonight's contest between Pitt and Syracuse is a bit of a Haley's comet moment in terms of its rarity...it is a game of P4/5 teams that have both been defeated by the Zips! 🤘💪

Yes, yes, and yes. And one more yes

I think there is still value in college athletics as it keeps alumni engaged, enhances the college experience, and provides marketing for the University. All of this said, the costs have got out of hand. I get why the Nick Saban's and Urban Meyer's of the world made what they did. Their programs were highly profitable and they were highly successful. I don't think athletics necessarily needs to turn a profit, but it also shouldn't be financially crippling schools. IMO no MAC football coach is worth $600K+, yet you have multiple making $1M+. They're only able to command that because MAC Universities, along with most of the G5, are heavily subsidizing athletic departments to the tune of ~$25M+/year. If that subsidy was something more manageable, let's say $10 million, staffing costs across all sports and building costs would be greatly reduced.