catdaddyp

If it was only that easy… That said, there is a tremendous amount of talent in that area and some of our better players hail from there: RB - Simmons WR - Golden OL - Blanchard OL - James OL - T. Williams DE -Nunnally LB - Fish

OFFENSE QB: Finley was a mixed bag…again. At times, he threw some pinpoint passes and at other times he was just off. Finley completed 48% of his throws for 250 passing yards and a touchdown. Finley did finish the contest without an interception (despite putting the ball in harms way several times) and did not take a sack. Bullock was effective as a runner and collected 35 yards with 2 touchdowns on the ground. On the negative side, Bullock took a sack, fumbled, and also missed a wide open Cravaack for what would have been a touchdown. RB: For the first time this year, we leaned on the run game - rushing the ball a total of 45 times. Simmons and Kellom finished with over 100 yards rushing a piece. Simmons took a knock on his long run and didn’t seem the same on his two runs after that. Both backs were excellent in pass protection. WR: What a difference a week makes. After 8 drops against NIU, the wideouts caught almost everything that came their way. Norton made several incredibly difficult catches and finished with 5 receptions for 107 yards. The perimeter blocking may have been the best it’s been all year. TE: Newell and Cravaack had only a handful of opportunities in the passing game, but they were extremely effective as blockers. OL: The OL often struggled with Kent’s pass rush. We actually did a nice job of picking up 3rd down blitzes, but besides that it wasn’t always pretty. That said, our run blocking was some of the best it’s been this year. Center T. Williams was dominant against the interior of Kent’s DL and climbed to the linebackers multiple times. He easily had his best game of the season. DEFENSE DL: Moore consistently disrupted plays at NT/DT. Former Zips center Tony Georges was badly overmatched and there wasn’t anything he could do against Moore. The other defensive tackles were solid against the run. Madden managed to collect a sack despite our usual lack of pass rush from the DTs. The DEs did a nice job of containing the edges and forcing plays back to the LBs. Nunnally had one of his best games overall and added another sack. LB: Linebacker play was excellent outside of one gap bust where Summers filled directly beside McCoy. Even though Fish and Summers started the game, McCoy played the most snaps. Summers is coming along, but needs to pump the brakes on running his mouth so much to the opponent. That behavior will eventually cost us. DB: Reed and Golden-Nelson started at CB and are easily our best options at this point. Reed snagged his first interception of the season. Hunter, DeWalt, White, and Jarmen were the backups. J. Anderson returned from injury to start alongside P. Lewis. D. Lewis started at NB and backed up the safeties. Greenwood subbed in at NB. To say P. Lewis and D. Lewis did not have their best games in coverage would be putting it kindly. ST: G. Smith was perfect on FGs and XPs. He went 3 for 3 on both, with a long of 43 yards on FGs. Book did not have his best day, but did manage to pin one punt deep inside Kent territory. Coaching: This was easily the best coached and executed game of the season. There was an emphasis on running the ball and Akron collected 529 yards of total offense compared to 281 for Kent State. As well as the team played, we still had some pre/post snap penalties. Kent is a bad football team. They pretty much did what they’ve done all season, which is get the ball to their three playmakers on offense and hope for the best. We shut down the RB and instead got beat on a few explosive plays by the two WRs. Their defense was as advertised with a few passes rushers and terrible against the run. It’ll be interesting to see where they go from here as far as Burns is concerned. The “youth movement” doesn’t seem to work in today’s age of the portal. The better players will continue to go elsewhere and it’ll be a constant backfill of incoming freshmen. Drayton tried the same thing at Temple and he’s already out the door. Vegas pinned us at 3.5 wins before the season began. Maybe next week we’ll come out and play a clean game (for once this season) and give ourselves a chance to finish on a high note. QB: Finley Bullock RB: Simmons Kellom M. Williams WR: Norton P. Davis WR: Golden Rush WR: Granger Polk Mason TE: Newell Cravaack LT: Blanchard Shor LG: Morris George C T. Williams Mobley RG: K. Davis Burrell RT: James D. Thomas DE: Nunnally Cheatom Richards DE: Adler Dall DT: Moore Brockington Hull DT: Kapongo Madden Murphy LB: Summers McCoy LB: Fish McCoy NB: D. Lewis Greenwood CB: Reed White DeWalt CB: Golden-Nelson Hunter Jarmen S: P. Lewis D. Lewis S: Anderson D. Lewis Top Offensive Players: HB - Kellom WR - Norton HB - Simmons WR - Polk C - Williams Top Defensive Players: CB - Reed LB - McCoy DT - Moore DE - Nunnally LB - Summers

I went through all the coaching hires for G5 turnarounds (programs that won 5 games or less) from 2021, 2022, and 2023. The information below is in order by HC/staff pay, not performance. Joe Moorhead - Akron Base Pay = $620k Total Asst. Pay = $920k Previous Coach = 2-10 2022 = 2-10 2023 = 2-10 Current = 3-8 Terry Bowden - Louisiana-Monroe Base Pay = $435k Total Asst. Pay = $1 mil Previous Coach = 0-10 2021 = 4-8 2022 = 4-8 2023 = 2-10 Current = Bowden was fired. Kenni Burns - Kent State Base Pay = $527k Total Asst. Pay = $1.1 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 1-11 Current = 0-11 Lance Taylor - Western Michigan Base Pay = $850k Total Asst. Pay = $1.1 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 4-8 Current = 5-6 Jerry Kill - New Mexico State Base Pay = $550k Total Asst. Pay = $1.45 mil Previous Coach = 2-10 2022 = 7-6 2023 = 10-5 Current = Kill stepped down. Mike MacIntyre - FIU Base Pay = $750k Total Asst. Pay = $1.6 mil Previous Coach = 1-11 2022 = 4-8 2023 = 4-8 Current = 3-7 Clay Helton - Georgia Southern Base Pay = $805k Total Asst. Pay = $1.45 mil Previous Coach = 3-9 2022 = 6-7 2023 = 6-7 Current = 6-4 Don Brown - UMASS Base Pay = $882k Total Asst. Pay = $1.35 mil Previous Coach = 1-11 2022 = 1-11 2023 = 3-9 Current = Brown was fired at 2-8 Blake Anderson - Utah State Base Pay = $766k Total Asst. Pay = $1.6 mil Previous Coach = 1-5 2021 = 11-3 2022 = 6-7 2023 = 6-7 Current = 3-7 Kane Wommack - South Alabama Base Pay = $810k Total Asst. Pay = $1.5 mil Previous Coach = 4-7 2021 = 5-7 2022 = 10-3 2023 = 7-6 Current = Wommack is now the DC at Alabama Butch Jones - Arkansas State Base Pay = $825k Total Asst. Pay = $1.5 mil Previous Coach = 4-7 2021 = 2-10 2022 = 3-9 2023 = 6-7 Current = 6-4 Will Hall - Southern Miss Base Pay = $824k Total Asst. Pay = $1.6 mil Previous Coach = 3-7 2021 = 3-9 2022 = 7-6 2023 = 3-9 Current = Hall was fired at 1-6 Jon Sumrall - Troy Base Pay = $825k Total Asst. Pay = $1.7 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2022 = 12-2 2023 = 11-3 Current = Sumrall is now the HC at Tulane Sonny Cumbie - Louisiana Tech Base Pay = $1 mil Total Asst. Pay = $1.3 mil Previous Coach = 3-9 2022 = 3-9 2023 = 3-9 Current = 4-6 GJ Kinne - Texas State Base Pay = $1 mil Total Asst. Pay = $1.6 mil Previous Coach = 4-8 2023 = 8-5 Current = 6-4 Tom Herman - FAU Base Pay = $1 mil Total Asst. Pay = $1.7 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 4-8 Current = Herman was fired at 2-8 Biff Poggi - Charlotte Base Pay = $1 mil Total Asst. Pay = $1.7 mil Previous Coach = 3-9 2023 = 3-9 Current = Poggi was fired at 3-7 Jim Mora - UCONN Base Pay = $1.7 mil Total Asst. Pay = $1.9 mil Previous Coach = 1-11 2022 = 6-7 2023 = 3-9 Current = 7-3 Jay Norvell - Colorado State Base Pay = $1.8 mil Total Asst. Pay = $2.1 mil Previous Coach = 3-9 2022 = 3-9 2023 = 5-7 Current = 7-3 Stan Drayton - Temple Base Pay = $1.8 mil Total Asst. Pay = ? Previous Coach = 3-9 2022 = 3-9 2023 = 3-9 Current = Drayton was fired at 3-7 Brian Newberry - Navy Base Pay = $1.8 mil Total Asst. Pay = ? Previous Coach = 4-8 2023 = 5-7 Current = 7-3 Kevin Wilson - Tulsa Base Pay = $1.9 mil Total Asst. Pay = ? Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 4-8 Current = 3-7 Barry Odom - UNLV Base Pay = $1.75 mil Total Asst. Pay = $2.3 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 9-5 Current = 8-2 Alex Golesh - South Florida Base Pay = $2.5 mil Total Asst. Pay = $2.4 mil Previous Coach = 1-11 2023 = 7-6 Current = 5-5

Charlotte fired Biff Poggi.

Don Brown fired at UMASS.

Tom Herman fired at FAU. Didn’t finish 2 seasons. $4 mil buyout.

Stan Drayton out at Temple. Temple pays well for a G5, so they should be able to make a better hire this go round.

Week 12 Starters for new team: WR - Jasaiah Gathings (UCONN) = BYE WR - Oran Singleton (Eastern Michigan) = 53 snaps. 5 receptions for 70 yards. RG - Tony Georges (Kent State) = 66 snaps. RT - Jordan Daniels (Western Carolina) = 89 snaps. RT - Xavior Gray (Liberty) = 55 snaps. RT - Nate Williams (San Diego State) = 50 snaps. DE - Curtis Fann (Western Carolina) = 23 snaps. 2 tackles. DE - Ryan Johnson (Southern Miss) = 34 snaps. 1 tackle. LB - Luke Bauer (Morehead State) = 53 snaps. 3 tackles. CB - Tyson Durant (Washington State) = 46 snaps. 3 tackles. S - Corey Thomas (Virginia) = 19 snaps. 2 tackles. S - Jaden Woods (East Tennessee State) = 47 snaps. 7 tackles. Backups for new team: QB - Dijon Jennings (Weber State) = 5 snaps. 11 yards passing. WR - Anthony Williams (Alcorn State) = N/A TE - Caleb Anderson (Alcorn State) = N/A RT - Ronan Chambers (Auburn) = 20 snaps Have not played for multiple weeks: QB - Ryan Jankowski (UMASS) QB - Steele Wasel (Oklahoma) RB - CJ Price (Jackson State) OL - Ka’Marii Landers (Baylor) OL - Alex Robarge (Southern Illinois) LB - Andrew Behm (Southern Illinois) LB - Jaharon Griffin (Alcorn State)* DB - Rishad Hence (Eastern Kentucky) S - KJ Martin (NC State) *

Bump for update.

Another excellent episode.

I’m guessing losing to Lembo in his first season at Buffalo was the final nail.

Week 11 Starters for new team: WR - Jasaiah Gathings (UCONN) = 73 snaps. 6 receptions for 52 yards and a TD. WR - Oran Singleton (Eastern Michigan) = BYE RG - Tony Georges (Kent State) = 53 snaps. RT - Jordan Daniels (Western Carolina) = 69 snaps. RT - Xavior Gray (Liberty) = 46 snaps. RT - Nate Williams (San Diego State) = 96 snaps. DE - Curtis Fann (Western Carolina) = 37 snaps. 1 tackle. DE - Ryan Johnson (Southern Miss) = 33 snaps. 1 tackle. LB - Luke Bauer (Morehead State) = 60 snaps. 4 tackles. CB - Tyson Durant (Washington State) = 33 snaps. 1 tackle. S - Corey Thomas (Virginia) = 65 snaps. S - Jaden Woods (East Tennessee State) = 63 snaps. 7 tackles. Backups for new team: WR - Anthony Williams (Alcorn State) = 16 snaps. TE - Caleb Anderson (Alcorn State) = 15 snaps. 1 reception for 5 yards. Have not played for multiple weeks: QB - Ryan Jankowski (UMASS) QB - Dijon Jennings (Weber State)* QB - Steele Wasel (Oklahoma) RB - CJ Price (Jackson State) RT - Ronan Chambers (Auburn)* OL - Ka’Marii Landers (Baylor) OL - Alex Robarge (Southern Illinois) LB - Andrew Behm (Southern Illinois) LB - Jaharon Griffin (Alcorn State)* DB - Rishad Hence (Eastern Kentucky) S - KJ Martin (NC State) * Just a reminder, I’ve only included scholarship players that were here during Moorhead’s tenure. Players that left during the staff transition have not been included.

Game Thread and Preview: QB: Either former walk-on Tommy Ulatowski or true freshman walk-on Ruel Tomlinson will take the field against Akron. Ulatowski has completed 43% of his passes for 1,035 yards on the season. He has a 12 to 7 TD/INT ratio. When kept clean, Ulatowski completes 57% of his passes with 7 touchdowns to 5 interceptions. Under pressure he completes 26% of passes with 5 touchdowns to 2 interceptions. Tomlinson hasn’t played enough to give any true stat indicators. RB: Senior Ky Thomas leads Kent in rushing with 488 yards and a touchdown. True sophomore Curtis Douglas is the backup with 130 yards. Kent rarely utilizes the RBs in their passing game. WR: The Golden Flashes have two All-MAC receivers in redshirt sophomore Chrishon McCray and grad Luke Floriea. McCray is 8th in the MAC in receiving yards with 612 yards and 8 touchdowns. Floriea is 11th in receiving yards with 560 yards and 5 touchdowns. The rest of the receiving corps rarely see passes come their way. TE: Alabama transfer Charlie Skehan and Tiffin transfer Conner Muldowney are the starting tight ends. Both are used as blockers and have a total of 5 receptions between them. OL: Kent sports the worst OL in the MAC - by far. They have allowed 26 sacks in conference play, which is 10 more than the next closest team. They have also struggled to open running lanes for the backs. LT - Jimto Obidegwu (R. Jr.) LG - Mason Maddox (R.So.) C - Tony Georges (R. Sr.) (former Zip) RG - Chris Farrell (So.) RT - Dustyn Morrell (Jr.) DL: Grad Matt Harmon, junior Stephen Daley, and Buffalo transfer Kameron Olds rotate on the edges. Harmon has 49 tackles and 2 sacks, Daley has 43 tackles and 3 sacks, Olds has 39 tackles and 6 sacks. Kent State has become incredibly thin at DT. Notre Dame College transfer Lavell Gibson and Florida transfer Keenan Landry have combined for 22 tackles and a sack on the interior. LB: Grad Khalid Johns and true freshman Jayden Studio are the linebackers. They have combined for 81 tackles and an interception. DB: San Diego State transfer Dallas Branch and Monmouth transfer Jaylen Dotson are the cornerbacks. They have combined for 38 tackles and 4 PDs. Junior Josh Baka and sophomore Tevin Tucker and are the safeties. Baka is 10th in the conference with 73 tackles and also has 4 PDs . Tucker has tallied 50 tackles with 2 PDs. K: Junior Will Hryszko is 12 for 12 on extra points and 2 of 4 on field goals. P: Senior Josh Smith is 4th in the MAC in punting with a 42.3 average and a long of 61 yards. Offense - Kent is still working to find their “offensive identity.” Hard to do with a beat up OL that wasn’t that good in the first place. The Golden Flashes are also down to their 3rd and 4th string quarterbacks. Thomas, McCray, and Floriea can be offensive threats, but do not have much around them. Defense - Kent’s defense has the ability to rush the passer and are solid in the backend. However, they are horrendous at stopping the run and are extremely thin at defensive tackle. Summary: If there was ever a time to take advantage of a program at its low point, this would be it. Kent is beat up and struggling. They are dead last in offense and defense in conference play. This will be an opportunity to run, run, and run some more on a porous run defense. Will we take advantage? Kent has a few players on offense who can make plays, but they have struggled to score all season. Frankly, as long as our defense keeps the ball in front, Kent’s offense will likely find a way to botch it at some point during their drives.

Half of that came off 3 run plays. The key to beating NIU (under Hammock) is stopping the run and making them throw. There are only a handful of teams in the MAC who have attempted less passes than NIU. Two of them - Western and CMU - are also heavy run oriented offenses. In the end, “ifs” don’t really matter. We’re still finding ways to lose.