catdaddyp

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

Thanks for the kind words. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere regardless of Moorhead’s status. Sure, Moorhead coming to Akron and my family’s move to Ohio may have sparked my initial interest, but now I’m in it for the long haul. My kids look forward to going to an Akron game with me every year, and I’d be thrilled if any of them ended up attending Akron someday. It’s also been a pleasure meeting some of the posters here in person. I’m going to go on a bit of a rant here with my disappointment on how things have gone since Moorhead took over. Like I’ve said before, there are certain turnarounds in college football I really enjoy following. The two other programs I’ve kept an eye on are South Carolina and Illinois. Forget for a moment that they’re P4 and Akron is G5—the similarities are still there. All three were sitting in the bottom third of their conferences when their current head coaches took over. None of them are near the top of their conferences in NIL money. And the general consensus from the media and most college football fans was that it was impossible to win at those schools. Fast forward a few years, and two of the three are sitting in the top 11 nationally, depending on which poll you look at. All three schools have also assembled excellent staffs. Just the other day I was talking with a colleague who played at Bowling Green and later coached at Syracuse. We got on the topic of MAC football, and unprompted he mentioned what a great staff Moorhead has put together at Akron with limited funds. I had to agree. The flip side is recruiting. Because without great players, it really doesn’t matter how good the coaching is—wins will always be hard to come by. I’ve coached for well over a decade and also worked on the recruiting services side of things. From my perspective, Moorhead has brought in a lot of talent, but it just hasn’t translated into wins yet. Recruiting services will disagree, but here’s some context: most analysts have little to no football background—they’re writers. They put too much stock into measurables and camp performances without pads. On top of that, programs with long track records of success almost always get the benefit of the doubt with rankings. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a kid commit to South Carolina as a two- or three-star, only to decommit, flip to Georgia or Alabama, and suddenly get bumped to four stars. Same story with Illinois versus Michigan or Ohio State. I say all this because Akron football seemingly has what it needs in place to win right now—and just isn’t. I can’t explain why the offense looked like year one with a brand-new staff when this is year four with a returning starting quarterback who has the physical tools to make just about every throw at this level. I don’t have an issue with Moorhead being open about what the program is lacking financially. What I do have an issue with is the lack of wins despite a dramatically upgraded roster compared to when he took over and a really strong staff in place. All that said, I’m still hoping this week is the spark that finally gets the long-awaited wins rolling—and that I look foolish for even posting this. It’s past time.

Bump.

This will probably be my shortest postgame take of the year. QB: Finley was under pressure most of the night, outside of just a handful of snaps. He tried to hang in the pocket and deliver some throws. The problem was his receivers, who were credited with eight—yes, eight—drops. The silver lining is that some of the staple throws he hit consistently last year were on target again in this game. RB: Patrick and Gant took advantage of their chances whenever they weren’t being met in the backfield right away. I’m genuinely excited about what this duo can bring the rest of the season. WR: Just a brutal showing from this group. They did the work to get open but too often failed to finish the play. Not every throw is going to be perfect, but receivers can’t afford to drop the ones that hit them in the hands. There’s simply too much talent in this room to put out the kind of performance we saw last night. TE: Cravaack was on the field for every tight end snap but spent most of the night being used as a blocker. It was a tough outing overall, and it’s clear Newell has been missed. OL: I don’t know the exact size, weight, or length differences between the two sides of the line, but we looked clearly outmatched in those areas. Our OL not only seemed physically undersized against Nebraska’s front, but we were also slow on pulls and often whiffed on the oncoming defender. On top of that, there were moments where we looked completely confused about assignments or couldn’t hold blocks long enough for the play to develop. The second half against Nebraska’s backups went better for obvious reasons. DL: The defensive line held its own for parts of the game but wore down as things went on. We weren’t able to generate much pressure in the first half, though once the game was out of reach, we did manage to flush or get to the quarterback a few times. The short-yardage stands we came up with, similar to last week, are a positive sign and bode well for this group moving forward. LB: The secondary falls into this category as well—we had some run fits break down and a few busted coverages. The linebackers struggled at times to shed blocks, and against a team like Nebraska, that’s going to lead to big plays. Tackling, once again, was solid early but slipped as the game wore on. DB: I thought Reed and DeWalt held their own throughout the game. The rest of the secondary, though, consistently had a tough time against an offense loaded with playmakers and a scheme that kept putting us in difficult situations. ST: When it rains, it pours. We had a blocked field goal, a missed field goal that drilled the upright, and an eleven-yard punt. If there are any positive takeaways here, it’s that Hills looks like a returner who has the ability to take one to the house against lesser competition. Coaching: No, we don’t have the horses to keep up with Nebraska. That said, going two straight weeks without a point—with an offense in its fourth year and the most overall talent at the skill spots since Moorhead arrived—is flat-out unacceptable. Defensively, Nebraska took advantage of any defender even slightly out of position. Once the depth rotations started, things were bound to get ugly. Just one guy out of place was enough to give up a big play, and it happened too often. I know everyone wanted to see a better showing—myself included—but at the end of the day, this was a payday game and doesn’t mean much beyond another loss. Even with the lopsided score, we seemingly walked away without injuries and can now shift our focus to a winnable matchup next week. Hopefully, the staff can use the film to teach some lessons on busts, leverage, and the like, but outside of that, this one can be flushed. QB: Finley M. Johnson RB: Patrick Gant Marq. Williams WR: M. Williams Grear WR: Walker Mason Louis WR: Polk Monteiro Hills TE: Cravaack LT: Motley-Simmons J. Moore LG: McManus Archer C Lyons Morris RG: A. Jones K. Davis RT: King Mann DE: Durham D. Frazier DE: Dall J. Frazier Murphy DT: Laventure Mixon Duncan DT: Hull Murphy Musika E. Davis LB: Cooper Spriggs Boswell LB: Summers Hocker Benenge NB: AL. Branch Stepney AA. Branch CB: Reed Kamara CB: DeWalt Jarmon S: Anderson Hunter S: DiMarco AL. Branch KO: Wiley K: Wiley P: Castle B. Johnson Top Rated Offense (20 snap minimum): (QB) Finley (RT) King (HB) Patrick (C) Lyons (RG) K. Davis Top Rated Defense (20 snap minimum): (CB) Reed (LB) Cooper (CB) DeWalt (NB) AA. Branch (DT) Musika

Outside of our shellacking, Bryant took down UMass and Long Island knocked off EMU. Rough.

Absolutely.

We still don’t generate much pressure on the quarterback, but this is easily the most reliable tackling group we’ve had under Tibesar.

Mason has to make that catch.

UAB/Navy on a delay, but UAB’s offense looks legit. Their defense… not so much.

I created the depth chart myself by using PFF and what I saw during the game. Although, I only listed a player in one position. For example, even though M. Johnson played multiple positions on offense, I only listed him once. PFF isn’t always correct in their ratings or positions played, but it’s the best resource I know of, especially when I’ve made the decision to not go back and rewatch the game. Patrick ended up being the highest rated player on offense with Summers the highest rated on defense. PFF will go back in and revise their ratings later in the week.