kreed5120

I see we already have 4 players in the portal. I was curious how that compares to other teams so I gave it a look. The other 11 MAC teams have a combined 4 players in the portal, 2 of which are WMU players. It's still early and a lot can change between now and March/April, but I'll be interested in seeing how our transfers end up comparing to other MAC programs when all is said and done.

Anyone else looking forward to this stopable force meets a moveable object juggernaut match-up?

With the increase in college football transfers, I wonder if we see the NCAA modify that 25 scholarships per year rule in the coming years.

If it was injury related, I'm going to guess he was a game time decision and was healthy enough to play if absolutely needed. If that was the scenario, I'd say his odds of playing this week would appear to be pretty high.

According to ESPN FBI, this is the only game we're favored in the rest of the season. Every other game besides the BGSU game our opponent has an 80%+ chance of winning. If we can't pull this one out, I see 0-12 becoming a strong possibility.

I'm not on the fire Larry Williams bandwagon right now, but I do believe his contract is up at the end of the 2020-2021 school year. If we don't see some serious improvement in mens basketball and football between now and then I don't see how we extend him considering he hired both Arth and Groce. We've had some success in certain olympic sports (T&F, swimming & diving), however, those aren't what excite students, alumni, nor joe akron. If it did I don't think the University would have much issue crowdfunding $1.4 million for a new track.

Not that it matters when you're only attracting 5k-7k fans, but Infocision was probably built a little too big. Everyone being so spread out just kills any sort of game day excitement. Maybe they should start tarping off sections to make fans sit nearer to one another. The program has been pretty irrelevant for the last 30 years. It would multiple years of 9-10+ win seasons to restore any sort of excitement into the program.

Syracuse is the only school in NY that is rolling in the money on athletics and it's private so I don't think this would apply to them. All these type of laws are going to do is force public schools to reduce or eliminate athletics all together. It seems the general populous thinks because schools like OSU, Michigan, Alabama, USC, etc. are rolling in the money that all other schools are as well. Between division 1 & 2 there are nearly 700 athletic programs. I'd have to guess 90% of those rely heavily on student subsidies already to fund their athletics. They're now going to have to raise student athletic fees even more as laws like these further reduce the little revenue athletics generates.

I wish I had @Blue & Gold optimism this week. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if Kato picks up enough junk yards in the 3rd and 4th qtr to clear 290 yards as I see Troy jumping out to a large lead fast and willing to concede underneath routes over the middle.

I'm not sure what your problem is. First off, I was being nice welcoming a new member. Next I haven't seen people calling for Larry Williams to be put on the hot seat. Maybe they have and I just haven't seen. I found his post well put together to display his argument.

Welcome to the board. It's nice to have another thoughtful person on the board who backs their opinions up with facts. I too wasn't thrilled with the Arth hire. I'm just cheering for him to succeed because I want to see the Zips do well. Groce kind of inherited a mess of a team as everyone who was on Dambrot's team pretty much either graduated or transferred. I'm giving him this season to show some actual results. For the sake of the program as a whole I hope we do see improvement this year as I believe Groce still has 4 years left on his deal and no way the University is going to eat 3 of those. I think you did bring up a good point about Larry Williams that I haven't see many people talk about. I feel it's a given at this point that the Zips football program is going to finish at or near the bottom of the MAC this year. If Zips basketball has another middle of the pack finish, I wouldn't be surprised to hear more talks of wanting Larry gone. I'm not sure how many years he has left on his deal.

It was a bad PR hit when the team was cut, but once it was cut they should have just left it for dead. I'd rather the athletic department focus their attention and resources on improving the other sports. Even if the baseball program is self funded, as is claimed, its going to be a pretty much a club team facing off against actual D1 schools. I can't imagine why anyone would want to watch.

Does anyone know what's going on with Peter Hayes-Patrick? I saw several different media outlets pick him to be MAC offensive freshman of the year before the season started yet he still doesn't have a touch yet. Is he injured or is he just not as good right now as people were thinking he would be? Our running game could sure use a boost, however, I'm not sure it matters whose carrying the ball with how bad the o-line has been at opening up holes.

Any online fan site is going to have irrational fans. It's easy to act that way when you're hidden behind a keyboard. Frankly this is the best place for Zips news. I know I personally wouldn't be the fan that I am now if not for this site. Thanks Captain and all the admins for the work you do.

Wisconsin has consistently been a top 3 or 4 team in the B1G for 2 decades. They aren't going to want to spend 3 years developing a guy when they can get someone who can help them win now.

I'd add DB to this as well. I think I read in the off season that we only have 8 DB on scholarship. That's not a lot considering you have 4-5 DBs on the field every defensive snap. Not to mention good cover corners give the d-line a little extra time to get pressure on the QB.

I know some around here are already wanting Arth fired after 3 games, but I think it can be agreed upon that the one position that he is qualified in evaluating talent is at the QB position. Personally, I don't think it matters who we have playing QB as the o-line is the real issue on offense.

UMass lost to Southern Illinois last week and got clobbered 52-17 by Charlotte yesterday. That game will probably be Akron's best chance of getting a win this year.

Personally, for me however Arth does has no bearing on my thoughts on letting Bowden go. I wanted Bowden gone because frankly I didn't feel he won consistently enough to warrant more time and I had no faith in him turning the program into a consistent MAC contender. Some of you may or may not disagree and that's fine. If Arth succeeds it tells me Larry Williams and his supporting staff made a good coaching hire. If Arth fails that means they didn't. Somewhere out there is a young promising coach that is looking for a chance. It's just a matter of finding him.

I actually meant to click 71-100 for rushing. That's what I get for trying to vote before my morning coffee ?‍♂️

Good, we need that last line of defense. We've been getting badly beat over the top.

@Z.I.P. I appreciate you sharing your story. I'm not sure its that people don't care. I think everyone has just came to the realization that barring some surprise 8 figure donation that a new arena isn't going to happen anytime soon. I'm not sure if you recall, but a few years ago the city actually did try to get a downtown arena paid for by including it as part of a ballot issue that would have raised sales tax. The arena was removed prior to election day as tax payers made it clear they didn't want their tax dollars used for it. The sales tax increase measure still ended up failing. The University itself is facing its own well documented budget problems. The money isn't there for an arena. Personally, I know the JAR is a bit dated relative to these cathedrals we've come used to experiencing in the sports entertainment world, however, it's structurally fine and completely serviceable. The University trying to keep up with the joneses is what has gotten it in the financial mess that it is currently in. Getting the annual budget into the black should be the Universities main focus.

If I had to guess I'd say it's because that's not a glory position so the best athletes aren't "wasting" their time with it. I'm getting even a little more off topic here, but just want to answer your question with an example. I'm not a huge soccer fan, but am a casual follower. Those that have followed the game more closely told me the one position that the US consistently produces elite talent at is goalkeeper. The reason they said we're able to do that is because kids here growing up view that position more highly than other countries where they treat it like being a catcher in baseball so US goalkeepers typically attract a higher caliber of athlete than other countries to the position.

I honestly don't know what to expect this season. I think we can potentially be pretty good in a pretty down MAC or we might struggle to even make it to Cleveland. Xeyrius sophomore year at Dayton was pretty great. His junior year was pretty terrible. Cheese at times showed flashes that he could be an All-MAC caliber player and at times was just invisible. LCJ I think can be good for us if he doesn't force too many low percentage shots. Hopefully a season of experience under Banks and Roscoe's belt will make both more comfortable on the floor. Riak should anchor what I expect to be a really good MAC defense. Hopefully he worked on some hand eye control as if he could just catch and dunk a simple dump off pass, I'll be happy. It's guess work what we'll be getting from anyone else.

You're comparing apples to oranges. Your definition for basketball success is that Akron had to win the title game while Akron football just had to make it to the title game. Dambrot made it 9 times to the title game, winning 3 times. Bowden made it to the title game 1 time, winning 0 times. Honestly, I don't see how the two are comparable at all.