KangarooJake

Ok, and swap out Ohio State, Rutgers, and South Carolina for, say UTEP, Marshall and Southern Miss, we'd be in contention for a bowl. Progress is progress. At the beginning of the year, I said Joe has to go at least 4-8, 2-6 MAC. Well, we got 4-8 out of a rather brutal schedule for Akron (BG, Toledo, OU and NIU).

Perfect sum up. How many games did these seniors watch Akron hand them the game? When Toledo tied it and got the ball back, I thought "man, not THIS game." but they stood their ground. That's TWICE now against EMU and UT, they closed out a hard fought win against, to their credit, decent MAC teams. Progress is progress. With the non-conf schedule next year, I think 6-6, 5-3 is an incredibly realistic goal for the Zips.

I might be a broken record, haven't caught up with what everyone else is saying. What a win for Joe. For all the crap I've given him, he rightfully shut me up last night. That was hands down his best win at Akron, and outside of a couple poor drives, he coached a great game. Think about what this means for the seniors, after all the heartbreaking close losses they've gone through to be able to get a send off like that at home against a 7-4 Toledo team (who was projected MAC title contenders). Also, for the young kids. This gives them a lot of hope in the off-season. 4-8, with a BRUTAL non-conf schedule. Three conference wins, including beating your archival by 20, and sticking it to a solid Toledo team. I was at the game last night, much like some of you all. You could tell this team wanted that game BAD. Toledo's bench was all huddled on the heated benches, not really caring about what was going on on the field. Akron's sideline was jumping and moving. Seeing the team celebrate on the field for 10+ minutes in the freezing cold, knowing what that means for the seniors is awesome. Go Zips

Could be worse, could be 0-8 in Portage Co. We don't see many W's, especially where the program is right now, let's enjoy them when we can!

Biggest takeaway: Akron has a better record than Florida State by week 9

Thought of this, too. We're stuck with Moorhead I think. Akron fans have already seen the worst in the last five years, we're pretty desensitized to it by now. I imagine we'll win this game by 7, and then beat Kent State. Would be nice to get another win against Buffalo or something. 3-9, 2-6 MAC.

I'd like to think Akron is still the best team in the conference overall, and now is usually the time Akron kicks it into gear. Toledo, like others have mentioned, is a team I have no worries about in the tourney until they actually win it. Much like Ohio U in football. The last time the Bobcats won the MAC in football, the song "Fortunate Son" by CCR wasn't even a thing. (Ok ok, off topic) Kent and Ohio I think always have a chance simply because they have great history in Cleveland, and Ohio is a hot team at the moment.

Where I'm leaning. Kent, Colgate, maybe squeak one out against WMU or Buffalo. I'd say this is do or die year for JoMo, but at this point this program is so down that I think even if we get another 2-10 result, it is what it is.

It's also costing history at the expense of following the trends of CFP. Which, all this conference re-alignment mayhem has already ruined so much. Akron is a bit of a newcomer to the MAC, but teams like Kent, OU, Miami, BG, have been playing each other annually for about 70-80 years now. Now, that will be gone. I was hoping to MAC would be the outright rebel of the CFB world by straying away from expansion (we've done great with that), and sticking to the formula that's worked for nearly 30 years. Call me stubborn and old school, if you wish! Lol

Stupid move. I liked the divisions. Besides Miami is 10-2, Toledo is 11-1, I think the best teams in the conference are already the top dogs of their divisions. How about we move to 9 conference games, 4 crossover instead?

Firmly agreed, I wish we would bring a Sun Belt/MAC challenge to football. I'd be much more intrigued by seeing us do a home and home with someone like South Alabama or APP State then getting waxed by 3 P5 schools on the road every year.

Toledo fans for a while were bragging about high tailing to the Big East around '05 '06 if I remember correctly. Similarily, NIU fans were "rumored to be joining the Big 12" Aren't they sure glad they didn't? Exhibit A: Cincinatti, something I think all of us saw coming. UC is 3-8 and Akron is 2-9. Another thing, who would honestly take Toledo? Let's be real. Big Ten? Big Twelve even? Doubtful at best.

What a joke.

My guess is MU opens up at -14.5. This game will likely go one of two ways, we either get mopped the floor with and lose to a red hot Miami team something like 45-7, or we keep it close and build momentum and perhaps come out with a 27-20 loss or who knows an upset (Rufus the Bobcat better be wearing Jason Taylor's jersey the next day in gratitude). THIS week will be a great example to see what kind of coaches we have. Do we stick to what worked vs. Kent and keep the players motivated to pull off an upset? Or do we fall back into the pit of despair and look how we did vs NIU and BG? I'm hoping this is something to build on. Unlike last year, we have a few more games left, and I think EMU is very winnable. As I said, Miami is a worldbeater in the MAC right now and Ohio is holding on for dear life to try to get to Detroit. Let's see what Joe can build on.

Agreed, it seemed to coaching staff finally came around to doing what worked and not trying to get fancy about it. So guys, how bad are we beating the RedHawks next week? By 20-30? According to ESPN, our winning chances vs MU went up from 5.8% to 6% from last night. Zips are so back

WE'RE NOT THE WORST TEAM IN THE COUNTRY!

Nor did I, I used to practice in the fieldhouse once a week for the club lacrosse team. I'm excited to see how this turns out, if only they can somehow make the inside temperature under 120 F now lol

My final prediction: Akron 2, Kent State 0 - 8 OT, Akron misses 13 field goals over the course of the game, thanks to Kent State kicking onside kicks left and right giving the Zips an average starting field position of the KSU 10 Total yards KSU: -127, UA: -112 Final play, KSU lines up for a 2 pt. conversion in the top of the eighth overtime, only for the center to somehow snap the ball 108 yards over the QB's head resulting in a safety good guys win. In all seriousness, I'm really not sure what to expect anymore. I think we all expect an L at this point, but I'm sure the feeling is mutual for Portage Co. HS, I really thought we had a great chance against BGSU. We did until we decided to run Madden plays and self destruct. For the sake of my bias, I'll say Zips 14, Flashes 10. Although, I'll be impressed if both offenses manage to find the endzone with offensive big brains Matt Johnson and Joe Moorhead clashing head to head. Gotta laugh at it, or we'll just be frustrated! See you all there, dress warm, temps look like they will plummet. Roll Zips

I heard Undercuffler was so upset with his performance Saturday he threw his helmet down in the locker room and it got intercepted. I wonder how many fumbles he coughs up this weekend against BYE?

I'll say BG takes the win, on paper. This will be a highly entertaining game to watch for these two reasons: 1.) BGSU is the most Jekyll and Hyde team out there, and since they beat Buffalo, that means this week they will give up 42 points to the Zips. 2.) Zips will do absolutely anything and everything to lose this game (someone should let Joe know that tanking doesn't help as unfortunately there is no college draft). Simply put, you're likely to see the worst game of football ever. Which team wants to lose more? Hopefully Bowling Green, but let's not hold our breath.

CMU 31-3, likely. I think the team has packed it in for the year. The Buffalo loss was so demoralizing that they didn't bother showing up to their own homecoming game. Ah, who am I kidding, it won't be 3 points. That would mean we can make a field goal attempt. 31-6, we'll miss the extra point.

Probably the unpopular opinion here, and I'm sure this gets brought up every conversation. But I'm younger, and don't really know the ins and outs of athletic departments as much as probably some of you here. Is there a solid reason why we field a football team at this point? We could leave the MAC and join the Big East in all sports like basketball, soccer, and even perhaps add a men's lacrosse program that competes in a high caliber conference which would help build a program with recruiting. We could get in the big dance every year in men's hoops. I'm tired of seeing us win 20-25 games year and sit home because we lose a close game to an equally good opponent in the final. We could invest in sports that bring us in wins and traditions. We somehow have gotten worse as the years go on in football. I remember being a kid and going to the Rubber Bowl 2-3 times a year and while Akron wasn't a powerhouse, they were winning at least 3-4, sometimes 5-6 games a year. It just seems so hopeless at this point. I disappointedly thought we would lose another close game to a 1-4 NIU squad something like 17-13. Wow, FCS school Southern Illinois held these guys to 11 points and we gave up 55? on Homecoming? Is this really the best we can do? At this point our last resort seems like if Joe doesn't work out (why did we even give him an extension after going 2-10), to beg someone like Frye or Taylor to come in and try. Try. We'll probably still lose, but at least one of our guys will be leading the sinking ship. We have state of the art facilities, arguably the best in the MAC, we are within an hour of St. Edwards, St. Ignatius, Hoban, STVM, Hoover, Jackson, Massillon, McKinley, Hudson and many other regular OHSAA powerhouses and cannot bring in anything. End rant, someone please tell me why I'm wrong so I can hold on to the sliver of hope lol

No, my guess is that we will line up for the game winning field goal and somehow the kicker accidentally takes a knee and then we lose in OT

I may be a late comer to this question, but is there any particular reason we decided to part with Bowden? No, he didn't turn Akron into a juggernaut. But he made us and the CFB world at least somewhat interested in what's going on at U of A. Wins over P5 schools like Pitt and Northwestern, multiple bowl trips, an 8-5 season (might as well be 12-0 for Akron standards), and a MAC East title. We sacrificed that for Arth, and to be honest, I can't even tell the difference as Arth also was losing in close fashion. Akron extended Moorhead to 2027 after his amazing 2-10 start (??????????) Is there any reason we can have perennial powerhouses in Men's soccer and basketball and manage to do literally everything wrong in football. We all I'm sure had the same feeling, as soon as I saw it go to OT - I knew, welp, 1-4 on to NIU I had hope to beat BGSU, KSU, and NIU. Now, I'd consider it a miracle if we managed to go 3-9 I started attending Akron in 2017 as a freshman, these past 6 years have felt like 30 for me so I can't imagine how some of you are doing out there lol

In today's college football world, 5-7 is "bowl eligible" now, so it's certainly possible! Lol