kreed5120

Based off the AP poll since CFP rankings aren't out this week yet, #20 Washington State plays #12 Colorado and #8 Oklahoma plays #10 WVU so there definitely were some other good options. The reason ESPN picked WMU was because every year they like to host 1 non P5 Gameday and they felt going to WMU was the most newsworthy destination. In the past they have gone places like JMU and NDSU. I don't think the uproar would have been so great had WMU played someone like Toledo this week instead of 2-8 Buffalo. Another thing that has made a lot of people upset is that the Big 12 has yet to host a Gameday this year and they clearly have the best pure match up this week.

I'm all for Gameday heading to a MAC, but wait until WMU is facing a 2-8 school?

Definitely embarassing losing to an in region school we were expected to beat handedly, not denying that. This is game 1 of 31 regular season contests. I'm just not ready to say we can't turn it around and contend for the MAC title.

It's game #1 guys. Let's not try to overreact. UConn lost to Wagner last night. This stuff happens. Perhaps it will be a long year. Perhaps it won't be. Either way we haven't seen enough to say either way with certainty how things will shake out.

On the plus side this nips those at-large hopes in the butt so we don't have to hear people talk about them for the next 4 months.

It's really early. Hard to tell how much rust or getting use to play with new teammates plays a factor in these games. EMU I think could be good mostly based upon how they finished last season and what they have returning this season. I'm still not buying into American yet at least.

I do agree the script Akron is a nice touch.

Mehhh. Not a big fan of the white numbers on a white jersey.

I'm with Hilltopper on this one. Every year some MAC fan base brags about how great their recruiting class is, meanwhile, Akron ends up with NR and 2* players. Somehow we are always there at the end.

I think that is the only thing this board agrees upon.

Play calling plays a big factor I'd say. Chapman's strengths aren't the same as Woodson's yet Akron OC is stubborn in not wanting to alter his game plan to fit the strengths of his QB. With Chapman in they should do more QB draws, bubble screens, and higher percentage passes over the middle of the field. Instead they still try to dial up the long ball even though that's not his strength.

I didn't even realize the games overlapped until now. But yeah, I'm definitely going to the jar. I'd rather watch the Zips beat up on some cupcake instead of being OU's cupcake and losing to them for a 9th straight year.

Akron lost by 3 TDs to previous 1 win Buffalo, lost by 31 at home to Toledo, and just lost by 2 scores to 1-8 BGSU. I think it is fair to say Akron right now is the worst team in the MAC given its current state. Unless we get the Woodson from week 3 back, we have no shot in hell vs OU next week. Hopefully we can keep the score somewhat close.

Those 14 points we gave up on 2 fumbles might have just been a little too much to overcome with our 3rd string QB. Do appreciate the effort they played with in the 2nd half.

At least Zips basketball season starts this weekend...

Looks like it's going to stand...

That was balsy by Natson trying to field that.

This is year 5 meaning Bowden has recruited every player on this roster. I can see giving him a small buffer as year 1 and year 2 would have been extremely challenging for him to recruit. That still means next season we need to start seeing some sophomores and juniors producing. It might not be this year, next year, or the year after but at some point Ianello would have been gone long enough that we can no longer use him as an excuse for Akron not doing better. This is the MAC where teams go from worst to 1st all the time in a matter of a few years. Edit: Personally, I think we HAVE to make a bowl this year to keep that momentum moving forward then need to be serious MAC contenders next year. Next year our offense should be better than this years and the defense can no longer blame inexperience. When you line your team up where one side of the ball is filled with senior talent and the other is mostly returning those are suppose to be your peak years. There will be some amount of growing pains the year after.

To be fair I actually only followed that game on my phone while watching the World Series. I intended to watch the replay at a later time, but didn't bother given how lopsided the final score was.

Yeah, I mean one has to remember that was Holley's 1st game ever as a college QB and Akron got the ball back with 59 seconds down 3 points to a team they should have beaten easily. We did just enough to win and that's fine by me. I'll take the "W" any day of the week. I'm not trying to say Kent is better, but they clearly play with more heart. If we played with their effort, we would have beaten Buffalo (certainly at least wouldn't have lost by 3 TDs) and wouldn't have lost to Toledo and WMU by a combined 72 points in our own house. Perhaps what we are missing is that on the field leader like Holley who is willing to lay it all out there and inspire his teammates to just give that extra 10% effort.

Serious question. Are you not even a little bit concerned with our inability to compete with the best of the best in the MAC even though teams with less talent can?

Regardless of how this game plays out Kent, despite using their 3rd string QB and being without their defensive leader, is playing WMU much tougher than we did.

He has us at 21 regular season wins. We should be able to get to 9-10 OOC wins fairly easily. Barring injury I can't see us going 11-7 or worse in conference play. I'd take the over on that win total and say we win 23 regular season games.

Have to imagine he makes a practice squad somewhere. If for nothing more than just his returning ability.