catdaddyp

QB: Finley had his best game of the season, though that might not be saying a whole lot after the first two. He avoided turnovers and made a handful of really nice throws. There were a few sacks I thought he could’ve steered clear of, but beyond that, if he can consistently play at this level, the offense has a chance to keep moving forward. I’m still scratching my head over why Johnson didn’t get any looks in short-yardage situations. RB: I kept waiting for Patrick to bust a big one, but it just never came. Still, he and Gant ran hard, combining for 148 yards on 20 carries. I’ll take that any day of the week. WR: Similar to Finley, this was the wide receiver corps’ best outing too. Even with three drops, they got open, put in effort blocking, and for the most part, hauled in the catches. TE: Newell didn’t do much with his two catches, but he was solid as a blocker, especially in pass protection. Cravaack saw less than 10 snaps. OL: I thought Lyons and K. Davis played well. There were a few times we were close to breaking a big run, but things like letting a combo block go too early and both guys releasing to the second level ended up giving the defender a free shot at the back. I can’t help but wonder if all the subbing we’re doing is causing some of those mistakes. The OL definitely could’ve been better at times, but overall they opened some holes and gave Finley a pocket to work with. DL: The defense as a whole did a really nice job against the run. That said, our four-man pass rush was anemic…again. We had a hard time getting pressure in the first half, though things looked a little better after the break. Both of our sacks came on five-man pressures if I’m not mistaken. I’m not sure what’s going on with Cheatom, he hasn’t played lately, and we’re getting next to nothing from the backup DEs. LB: I thought Cooper, Spriggs, and Boswell all played well. The more I watch Boswell, the more I like him—kid’s going to be a player and just has a knack for making things happen. DB: All things considered, I thought Reed and DeWalt held their own. Our safeties, on the other hand, got absolutely roasted when they were stuck in man during the first half. The good news is we probably won’t see a better passing attack the rest of the way. UAB may not be a great team overall, but they’ve got some legitimate threats at receiver. ST: The kickoff return for a touchdown and the penalty that set up another score were absolute back breakers and, in my opinion, the difference in the game. Punting and placekicking were solid otherwise, with the only miss coming on a long field goal attempt. Coaching: That was the most animated I’ve seen Moorhead since he’s been at Akron. I think he knew this was a game we had every chance to win, and maybe he’s feeling a little pressure too. I did like the commitment to the run game, and the offense putting up 441 yards without a turnover is nothing to scoff at. Sure, it came against a bad defense, but the offense still played well. I’m not sure what adjustments were made defensively at halftime since I couldn’t see much of what was happening in the backend, but it was night and day when it came to points allowed. We still gave up yards, but that’s fine because at the end of the day the defense threw a second-half shutout. In the end, it’s another disappointing close loss in the Moorhead era. The game was there for the taking, and we couldn’t do it. We’re likely going to be 1-3 heading into conference play, which is the exact same as last year’s payday schedule. Of course, that’s assuming we take care of Duquesne this weekend, who will surely be pining for an upset. QB: Finley Johnson RB: Patrick Gant WR: Walker Mason WR: M. Williams Monteiro WR: Polk Grear TE: Newell Cravaack LT: Motley-Simmons D. Johnson LG: Archer McManus C Lyons Morris RG: K. Davis RT: A. Jones King DE: Durham D. Frazier DE: Dall J. Frazier DT: Laventure Mixon DT: Hull Murphy Musika LB: Cooper Spriggs LB: Summers Boswell NB: AL. Branch AI. Branch CB: Reed CB: DeWalt T. Thomas S: J. Anderson Hunter S: D. Johnson Flowers KO: Wiley B. Johnson K: Wiley P: Castle Top Rated Offense (20 snap minimum) QB - Finley WR - Grear RG - K. Davis WR - Polk RT - King Top Rated Defense (20 snap minimum) DT - Murphy NB - AL. Branch LB - Spriggs DE -Dall DT - Laventure

Don’t turn it over, actually win the turnover battle, rack up 441 yards of offense, and still find a way to lose. Rough.

Shocked UAB didn’t run another screen there.

Please do not throw the ball here….

I’m being a little facetious. It’s been called inconsistently ever since it was implemented.

Vandy player got ejected tonight for less of a hit than that and had helmet up. I’m at a loss.

Not sure how that wasn’t flagged for targeting. Guess I just don’t understand the rule anymore.

Going to need to score just about every drive and hope UAB goofs up somewhere.

Our safeties can’t hold up in man against these receivers, and we can’t generate pressure without bringing extra bodies. That’s a tough spot to be in.

Is Johnson not available? 3rd and goal and we run Finley up the gut?

Defender trying to imitate the snap count.

What a dumb penalty. Our defense is going to be gassed by the 4th quarter at this rate.

Here are some Game Day notes. I’ve also added them to the bottom of the original post. Kitna has already thrown for 551 yards while completing 72% of his passes. However, he’s shown to be mistake-prone under pressure, tossing two interceptions so far. The Blazers will rotate at running back with UTEP transfer Jackson and top backup Beebe handling most of the workload. Jackson is a dangerous runner who can break one at any time, while Beebe is just as likely to catch a pass as he is to carry the ball. Milliner is UAB’s most explosive wideout, and Hooks has been Kitna’s second-favorite target. UAB has stuck with the same five starters through both games, not rotating a single lineman. It’s a rebuilt OL and they’ve surprisingly been a strong unit so far—giving up only one sack and 6 pressures. Going left to right: Sneh - 6’5”315 (Kansas State) Perez - 6’5” 315 (Duke) Lepkowski - 6’3” 300 Morgan - 6’4”320 (South Carolina) Moore - 6’8” 290 The Blazers’ defense has struggled to stop anyone this season, but a few players have stood out with consistent play. Interestingly, both starting defensive tackles—Smalls and Sam Houston transfer Warren—have been really good. At linebacker, Rhode Island transfer Hightower has been effective, while in the secondary Boston College transfer safety Cheek and Pittsburgh transfer cornerback Crumpley have been the top performers. UAB has only punted once this season—a 39-yarder downed inside the twenty. All extra points have been converted, and field goals are 2-for-3, with the lone miss coming from the 30–39 yard range. The two makes, however, have both been from beyond 40 yards. During Dilfer’s press conference, a reporter referred to this as a “get right game” for UAB. Dilfer laughed and said the Blazers are usually the get right game for their opponents, adding that he hopes Akron’s offense doesn’t get going this weekend. Some notes about the Zips: JUCO transfer right tackle Maasai King has graded out really well through the first two games, especially in pass protection according to PFF. Next is right guard Keylen Davis, who has been solid but noticeably stronger in run blocking. Keep an eye on JUCO transfer defensive tackle Nehemiah Musika in goal line situations. He was also mentioned on the Zips Weekly show. Musika was a commitment I really liked, though I wasn’t quite sure how we managed to land him. He supposedly isn’t as tall as listed and is still working into shape after being a late arrival due to coursework. Once Musika is able to play more regularly, he should give us a strong rotation with Laventure and Hull at DT—barring injury. Former Illinois transfer Shammond Cooper has been playing at a high level and also leads the team in tackles with 19 total. I’ve mentioned this a few times already, but DeWalt and Reed have really stepped up at cornerback. Reed in particular has been impressive—allowing just 19 yards on four receptions while being targeted 10 times. They’ll need another strong outing today if we’re going to have a chance at slowing down UAB’s offense.

I made a mistake on defense. J.Frazier should have been yellow.