catdaddyp

QB: Roggow is what he is at this point. Yes, it’s true that he was originally the third string quarterback, but that excuse needs to be put to bed. I maintain he is good enough to give this offense a chance to be successful when paired with a run game. We saw that for most of the contest, until he was asked to air it out in the last few minutes. The interception was not his fault as Roggow put the ball on the money and the receiver couldn’t bring it in. RB: I thought the offensive staff had an excellent game plan until the first drive where we went down. The plan seemed to be lean on the run game and pick our spots in the passing game where Roggow could have success. Then, for whatever reason, we decided not to give the ball to the best player on the field and instead pass for three consecutive downs. That led to a failed fake punt and the game crashing down on us. Gant had 162 yards and should have been given the opportunity to keep carving up a Kent defense that simply could not contain him. Instead, call it coaches outsmarting themselves or whatever phrase is suitable here and we handed the game away. WR: Despite our wideouts having a decent day, they needed to have a great day. Mason dropped one that should have been a touchdown, and Williams batted one in the air that led to an interception. Both of those plays needed to be made, and they weren’t. There was also a false start on a wideout that had nothing to do with the play that was being run. We have a quarterback who desperately needs his receivers’ help, and they need to play up to their potential. TE: Alexander and Cravaack set some crushing blocks this game. They may not have been utilized much in the passing game, but they were vital reasons why Gant often had massive holes to run through. OL: I know I’ve said it a number of times already, but this OL is not built to be a one-dimensional passing team. They were strong in the run game throughout the contest but fell apart at the end when Kent was allowed to tee off on Roggow. I know Lyons had a holding penalty, but I also want to point out he has been playing his tail off and is having what should eventually be recognized as an all-conference season. DL: The defensive line was solid. They did give up a few short-yardage situations, but some of that also falls on the back seven filling and finishing tackles. My biggest gripe with this group was the inability to get DeSheilds down in the backfield. There were times when the DL had him on the run or were able to get a hand on him but just couldn’t finish the play. Their pressure certainly bothered DeShields, and Kent’s two running backs were held to a combined 54 yards. LB: Outside of a missed tackle leading to a long touchdown, linebacker play was actually pretty good. In fact, the trio of Johnson, Nunoo, and Curtis have been bright spots on a defense that has struggled to stop explosive plays throughout the year. DB: In most games this season, passing coverage could be excused - to an extent - due to the lack of a pass rush. This game, however, DeSheilds was pressured plenty throughout the contest, and our secondary flat out stunk. The number of times our defensive backs did not get their heads around on passes is inexcusable. That falls directly on coaching. The PIs calls were legitimate penalties. The only positive I have to say is the DBs were mostly solid in run support, but that was also against one of the worst rushing offenses in college football. ST: Kickoff and punt coverage were actually pretty good. However, the fumble on kickoff return and the confusion on how to fair catch were difficult to watch. The missed chip-shot field goal was yet another addition to the special teams woes we’ve unfortunately come to expect. I will say, however, that the 50 yard make by Stire and the 56 yard punt by Castle was nice to see. Final Thoughts: 15 penalties for 165 yards and two turnovers. We’re an undisciplined team that won’t beat anyone playing like that, including a less talented Kent squad. 422 yards of total offense can’t undo consistent self-inflicted wounds. Yes, we’ve had some injuries to some important players, but it’s the staff’s job to get the best out of the players that are available, and that isn’t happening. QB: Roggow HB: Gant Patrick Williams WR: Williams WR: Burris WR: Mason TE: Alexander Cravaack Hook LT: Slayden LG: Smith C Lyons RG: Jones RT: Gould Mann DE: Frazier Abor DE: Durham Waye DT: Hull Williams Brown-Demery DT: Mixon Kavals LB: Johnson Jones LB: Nunoo Curtis NB: Branch Moss CB: Thomas Hobson CB: Newsome Hobson S: Davis Branch S: Hunter Flowers Top Rated Offense: HB - Gant WR - Mason QB - Roggow WR - Burris LG - Smith Top Rated Defense: LB - Johnson DT - Williams DE - Abor LB - Curtis S - Hunter

QB: Redshirt junior Dru DeShields is the returning starting quarterback. He isn’t having as good of a season as he did last year, but he hasn’t had much help from the run game either. DeShields has thrown for 1,145 yards and 4 touchdowns compared to 6 interceptions. He has also rushed for 189 yards and 3 touchdowns. He has performed about the same in a clean pocket as he has under pressure. Where DeShields has really excelled is on passes 10 yards or less, as he has a completion rate of 70% in that range. Beyond 10 yards it drops to 45%. RB: The usual starter, Illinois State transfer Mason King, missed the last game, allowing freshman Brandon White to get the start in his place. The two backs have combined for 393 yards rushing, but have rushed for only one touchdown. WR: Redshirt sophomore Wayne Harris, senior Da’realyst Clark, and former Kentucky transfer Ardell Banks are the main targets at receiver. Harris is on pace for an All-MAC season, with 31 receptions for 396 yards. Clark has 273 receiving yards, while Banks has add 206 yards. TE: Redshirt junior Hunter Hopperton will line up all over the place. He is mostly utilized as a blocker, but every now and then, he’ll see a pass come his way. OL: The offensive line has struggled to create much running room and has also been hit or miss in pass protection. LT - Moustafa Daoud (R. Fr.) (6’6 300) - Transfer from JUCO LG - Dustyn Morell (R. Sr.) (6’4” 290) C - Ben Midea (Jr.) (6’2 320) - Transfer from St. Francis RG - Cecil Wilson (R. Jr.) (6’4 320) RT - Mofe Adewole (R. Sr.) (6’3 275) - Transfer from Robert Morris DL: Redshirt sophomores Antonio Bottiggi and Jaihein Roy are the starters at edge, while numerous players have rotated along the interior. Freshman Dion’Dre Taylor and Robert Morris transfer Camden Wilborn started at defensive tackle last week for the Flashes. Despite the heavy rotations, Kent’s defensive line has accumulated 8 sacks this season. LB: USF transfer Rocco Nicholl returned to Kent this offseason and has recorded 33 total tackles with 3 sacks. He is usually flanked by Kentucky transfer Hayden Dawahare, who has 35 total tackles and 2 sacks. DB: Redshirt junior Angelo Stockstill and redshirt senior A’tiq Muhammad are the starting cornerbacks. Sophomore Trey Rubenstein starts at nickelback, while sophomores Derrick Jackson and Joel Cordoba start at safety. The secondary has been solid in conference play against the pass, but has yet to do much in the way of forcing turnovers. ST: Da’realyst Clark is an all-conference returner, although he hasn’t been able to break one longer than 27 yards this season. Sean Leonard is 3 for 8 on field goals and 9 for 9 on extra points. Redshirt freshman Jake Stoeckel averages nearly 43 yards per punt, with a long of 59 yards. Keys on Offense: Run the football and stay balanced. Kent has a solid defense, but they tend to spend a lot of time on the field and will wear down. Akron needs to sustain drives on offense and not beat themselves. Keys on Defense: Keep everything in front and make the tackle. Kent has struggled to finish drives and put points on the board. The more plays the Flashes have to run, the more likely they are to goof up. Final Thoughts: The Zips have more talent, but the Flashes are a scrappy bunch. Akron needs to jump ahead early and force Kent into uncomfortable situations. In the end, this game may come down to which team hurts itself the least.

The tight end was lined up on the line of scrimmage. For him to be an eligible receiver, the wideout next to him needed to be lined up off the line of scrimmage. Since the wideout was also lined up on the line of scrimmage he “covered up the tight end” making the tight end an ineligible receiver on that play. On the plays I was referring to, Miami was releasing one DE forcing him to make a decision. The DE is usually taught to square up and squeeze down. If he doesn’t squeeze down enough, he leaves a gap. If he squeezes down too much, he’ll leave a gap on the opposite side and probably get caught up in the “trash”. Our DEs kept getting caught in what I refer as no man’s land and allowing gaps on both sides of them. In regards to the “last back” this is for a defensive player on the backside that probably can’t see where the ball is during the mesh and has to make a decision to either hit the QB or RB. I recall Durham choosing to hammer the QB as the QB let loose of the ball to the RB. Earlier in the game (I think it was Durham again) chose the RB and the QB pulled for a nice gain. If he had stayed with the last back both times, one of those plays would have been a loss. Instead, both went for gains.

QB: Roggow is not at the level where he can win a game without run support. His two worst outings have come when the run game has either been limited or somewhat ineffective and he’s thrown the ball over 30 times. Not to say Roggow didn’t have any good moments, because there were plenty of times where he displayed excellent pocket awareness and got the ball out on time. The problem was that the end result of those passes often wasn’t good enough. Not many teams are going to win a game by tossing four interceptions. RB: Gant ran hard, but there just wasn’t much room to work with on the interior. However, there were a handful of outside runs that worked well, including Gant’s touchdown run. I felt this was a game where Patrick’s availability would have been beneficial, as he tends to perform better on the outside runs than Gant. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option, and Miami usually shut down the interior with just their base defense. WR: When the offense becomes one dimensional, the receivers must help the quarterback. Drops reared their ugly head again, and Miami dominated the 50/50 balls in the air. This receiving corps has too much talent to not come down with more of the balls thrown their way. There’s frankly no excuse for these guys to not help out their quarterback more on a day where he was struggling. I also want to point out the one pass play to the tight end where the receiver covered him up and caused the tight end to be an ineligible receiver. Things like that simply cannot happen. TE: I intentionally separated the tight ends from the wide outs, as I thought Cravaack and Alexander had a strong outing. Cravaack hasn’t performed as well as he did last year, but hopefully this performance will serve as a springboard for the rest of the season. Alexander has been Mr. Consistent all year and played well again. OL: Pass protection was excellent for much of the game. Eventually, it broke down some as the offense became more one-dimensional, but overall, nice job to this group in that area. On the flip side, push in the run game was almost non-existent. Injuries finally caught up to a unit that had been playing the same five guys for the past few games. At one point, backups were in at left tackle, right tackle, and right guard. DL: I actually thought the defensive line, as a whole, played decently. There were a few issues, like edges not squeezing down enough and leaving some wide-open gaps, as well as tackling the wrong back at the mess point, but overall, I thought this unit did fairly well. As far as tackling the wrong back at the mesh point, we used to coach that if you were unsure, go to the last back, and the Zips did that. It just ended up being the wrong choice in the end. Sometimes that is going to happen. I do want to point out that Durham had a standout day. It’s frustrating to imagine what this defensive line could have looked like with a healthy Abor on the opposite side. LB: This is tough because I thought the linebackers played well for much of the game. Unfortunately, the handful of times they didn’t, lead to some of Miami’s biggest runs of the season. Johnson was uncharacteristically shoved off by Miami’s running back, which led to a touchdown. On another play, Johnson and Nunoo took bad angles that resulted in another huge run by a Miami ball carrier. The way we lined up against Miami often required the linebackers and safeties to come down and fill the gap as the last line of defense. When we failed to do that or make the tackle, things turned ugly. DB: My only gripe with this group is in run support, and that’s a big gripe. Miami’s quarterback wasn’t a threat to throw the ball. Yes, he did make one perfectly placed touchdown pass, but that was really it. Everything else was either short or usually off-target. That meant we had to be stout in run support, and when we weren’t, it was glaring. ST: Outside of a nice return on kickoff, it was a rough day for this crew. A shanked punt at a crucial point in the game, another short punt, and a missed long field. I may be missing something else, but I think I’ve already listed enough. Final Thoughts: This game could have had a very different outcome. The Miami team we played yesterday did not have the same firepower on offense they had earlier in the year. Had we not self-combusted and wasted opportunities to potentially take and build on a lead, I don’t believe Miami had the quarterback to bring them back from a deficit. Our defense was already getting home on a number of passing downs, and forcing Miami to lean on the passing game would have changed the outcome. Instead, this team yet again, had a high number of self-inflicted wounds at critical moments. There is enough talent on this roster to be competitive and possibly win a few more games, but as long as we continue with this undisciplined nonsense, it won’t happen. Clean it up, Zips. QB: Roggow Beals HB: Gant Williams Curry WR: Williams Myers WR: Burris Hills WR: Mason Louis TE: Cravaack Alexander LT: Slayden Gould LG: Smith Puckett C Lyons RG: Hampton Falkner RT: Jones Gould Mann DE: Frazier Waye DE: Durham Waye DT: Hull Williams Ross-Graves DT: Mixon Kavals LB: Johnson Jones LB: Nunoo Curtis CB: Hobson CB: Newsome NB: Branch Moss Al. Branch S: Davis Moss S: Flowers Hunter Top Rated Offense: C - Lyons TE - Cravaack WR - Burris HB - Gant TE - Alexander Top Rated Defense: S - Moss NB - Branch CB - Newsome DT - Hull S - Flowers

Williams slaps the Miami player right in front of Moorhead and he doesn’t say a word???

That’ll do it. Safety comes up with his head down and completely whiffs on the tackle. Touchdown. Defense was in place for the stop and poor form gives Miami another long run.

And we’re now rolling with backups at LT, RT, and RG.

And then we come right back with a holding penalty. Right on cue. Come on….

Fantastic onside kick. Well done.

Roggow didn’t even see the LB. But another interception was bound to happen when throwing the ball this much.

Looks like ESPN gave Ross-Graves’ half sack to Hull. Poor guy’s position coach won’t play him and then when he does play, ESPN doesn’t give him credit. Now he’s hurt. Tough day.

We shouldn’t be down 10 judging by almost any halftime metric, but here we are. Hopefully, Roggow can get back on track because we can’t get any push on the interior for the run game. Not sure why we’ve gone away from outside zone.

Looked like a block in the back on that big run. Good hold by the defense after that though. Durham is whipping an OT that has been pretty good this year.

The unnecessary stuff we do to kill our own momentum is mind blowing.

Johnson finally misses a tackle and it turns into a TD. Frazier has not been doing a great job squeezing on the other side.

Pretty sure Kavals just shoved Hull into the RB for the tackle.

Good job by the defense. Tibs threw out a new look on that third down stop. Great job by the OL in pass protection and Roggow throwing the ball. Also, well done by the receivers catching the ball. I shouldn’t have to say that, but there have already been too many drops this year. Keep it going Zips

Looks like Thomas is out too. Probably means we’ll see Branch slide out to corner and Flowers at nickel some more. May not be a bad thing.

Bump for update.

QB: Fort Hayes (DII) transfer Caleb Heavner is the current starting quarterback, having ascended into the roll due to injuries. Heavner has thrown for 329 yards and 1 touchdown to 1 interception. When kept clean, he’s completed 59% of his passes, but that number drops to 37% under pressure. Heavner will also run the football, totaling 114 yards and a touchdown on 33 attempts. RB: Monmouth transfer Rodney Nelson is the main running back. Nelson has 206 yards on 55 carries. So far, none of the backs have produced the amount of explosive plays that Miami has been accustomed to in recent years. WR: Bethune-Cookman transfer Maleek Huggins, redshirt junior Lynel Billups-Williams, junior Damarion Witten, and redshirt sophomore Braylon Isom are the main targets at wide receiver. Huggins leads the group with 309 yards, but the passing game has been fairly balanced in spreading the ball around. TE: Redshirt freshman Brendan Loftus usually sees the most snaps at tight end. The tight ends are rarely involved in the passing game, with the group combining for just 10 targets all season. OL: The offensive line is a solid unit. However, when the quarterback holds on to the ball too long or makes poor decisions, it can make this group seem subpar. LT - Eric Smith (6’6 306) (R. Sr.) - All-MAC LG - Greg Smith (6’4 300) R. So.) C - Kris Manu (6’1 300) (R. So.) RG - Jacob Schorsch (6’5 300) (R. So.) RT - Evan Malcore (6’6 305) (R. Sr.) - Northern Illinois Transfer DL: North Texas transfer Zhaiylen Scott and redshirt senior Grant Lyons are the usual starters at edge. Redshirt junior Roosevelt Andrews and redshirt sophomore Brach Rice are the starters on the interior. These four have produced 7.5 sacks, and Andrews is on pace for an all-conference season. LB: Kent State transfer CJ Young, South Alabama transfer Blayne Myrick, and redshirt junior Malcolm McCain are the starters at linebacker. McCain is likely on track to be All-MAC. DB: Senior Mychal Yharbrough and Indiana/Northern Illinois transfer Amariyun Knighten are the starting cornerbacks. Redshirt freshman Desmon Yharbrough and Northwestern transfer Dillon Tatum are the safeties. Knighten has been the best of the bunch and will likely be lined up against our best receiver. ST: Redshirt junior Kellen McLaughlin is 8 of 12 on field goals and 17 of 17 on extra point attempts. Senior Pierse Stainton averages 43 yards per punt, with a long of 62 yards. Freshman Scoop Smith has already taken a kickoff return back 98 yards for a touchdown. Keys on Offense: Miami’s defense is going to dare the Zips to throw the ball on first and second down. Akron must stay balanced and continue to rely on Gant and Patrick, even when the numbers may not always be in our favor. The RedHawks are going to pressure on passing downs and are really good at disrupting plays during those times. If Akron becomes one-dimensional, it could be a long day. Keys on Defense: Don’t beat ourselves. Miami is not elite on offense this year, but they can put up points with help from opponents’ mistakes. The Zips’ defense needs to play a clean game and be stout on key downs. Final Outlook: Miami usually has our number, and even though the Zips have a chance to pull out a victory, I’m still going with the RedHawks to win it at home.

QB: Roggow easily played the best game of his career. The redshirt sophomore looked comfortable and confident, making a number of really nice plays. For the most part, Roggow made the right decisions with where to deliver the ball and when to give on the RPOs. Most importantly, he protected the football, and I can’t remember a single pass having a chance of being intercepted. RB: I loved the staff’s determination to stick with the run game. Gant and Patrick combined for 28 rushing attempts compared to Roggow’s 24 passing attempts. Gant made several big-time runs and collected over half of his yards after initial contact. The best runs came off of what we used to call “Y Wham,” where the TE pulled and hit up in the A/B gap, in essence acting like a fullback. Patrick didn’t have as many opportunities, but that’s ok, as Gant was having a strong day. I did see Patrick come off the field complaining about a foot issue, and he did not see any action after that. WR/TE: PFF credited the receivers with only one drop, but I saw multiple drops. Not every pass was dead on the money, but there were several catchable balls that were not caught. Blocking on the perimeter was decent from what I could see, including the very first play on offense where Williams set a key block on a defensive back. Alexander also set a great block on M. Williams touchdown catch. OL: Outside of a handful of plays, Roggow usually had plenty of time to throw the ball. My only gripe - and this isn’t just tied to the OL - is we didn’t score off of either turnover. There were false start penalties on the first plays of both drives that immediately backed us up and eventually led to giving the ball back to EMU. DL: The defense created the most pressures it has all year and also saw much more rotation than we’ve recently seen. Kavals was nearly unblockable in the fourth quarter, and that, combined with his other performances, has probably earned himself a nice payday heading into next year. Enjoy watching him while we have him. LB: Johnson was seemingly every where again and may not have missed a tackle. He was credited with 16 total tackles. Credit to Jones for initially missing a tackle, then getting back up and hustling to create a fumble. Nunoo also made a couple of nice plays. DB: The defensive backs weren’t perfect by any stretch, but they played well enough to give the team a chance. A few of the pass interference calls were questionable at best. I’ve been critical of the DBs this year, though a bright spot may have been found. Flowers was excellent when lined up in the box as either a nickleback or, in essence, a third linebacker. He hasn’t been great playing in coverage as a safety this season, but he was extremely active and effective in the role he played against EMU. The staff needs to explore using him in that capacity more often. Flowers also recovered the forced fumble. Davis had an interception at deep safety and would have likely had another had it not been batted away by a cornerback. ST: The punt block was a major gaffe, as no one even touched the player that blocked the punt. Kickoff return was also underwhelming. Schramm hit a 40-yard field goal but couldn’t quite hit the game winner from 47. It had the distance but turned just as it reached the upright. Final Thoughts: Zips played well enough to win and, honestly, should have. I was able to attend the game, and everyone I was with couldn’t stop talking about how fun the last six minutes were. The stadium had a buzz about it and demonstrated what Akron games could be with a consistently competitive product. It’s disappointing we couldn’t come away with a win. QB: Roggow HB: Gant Patrick M. Williams WR: Williams Myers WR: Burris Hills WR: Mason Louis TE: Alexander Cravaack LT: Slayden LG: Smith C Lyons RG: Hampton RT: Jones DE: Durham Waye DE: Frazier Waye DT: Hull Williams Brown-Demery DT: Mixon Kavals Ross-Graves LB: Johnson Jones LB: Nunoo Curtis Hocker CB: Thomas Hobson CB: Newsome Hobson Galloway NB: Branch Moss S: Davis Branch S: Flowers Branch Somerville Top Rated Offense: TE - Alexander QB - Roggow RB - Gant WR - Burris WR - Williams Top Rated Defense: DE - Durham S - Flowers CB - Hobson DT - Williams LB - Johnson

QB: Noah Kim is playing well in what is presumably his final season. The former Michigan State and Coastal Carolina transfer started his collegiate career in 2020. Kim has thrown for 1,187 yards and 8 touchdowns against 3 interceptions while completing nearly 63% of his passes. Kim is excellent when his isn’t pressured, completing almost 69% of his passes, compared to just 38% when pressured. RB: EMU will utilize three different backs depending on the situation, with sophomore Amareon Blue and seniors Joey Mattord and Braydon Bennett all seeing significant playing time. Blue has been the main man as of late, rushing for 309 yards and 3 touchdowns on 60 attempts. WR: Senior Benson Prosper and sophomore Harold Mack have become the focal points following the injury to All-MAC receiver Nick Devereaux. The duo has combined for 47 receptions for 525 yards and 3 touchdowns. If Devereaux returns, he’ll make the passing game even more dangerous. TE: All-MAC selection Joshua Long and senior Tanner Lemaster handle most of the snaps at tight end. Unlike most tight ends, Long is a legitimate threat in the passing game, as he already has 22 receptions on the year. OL: The offensive line has been pretty good in pass protection, giving up only 8 sacks on 205 attempts. However, they have been inconsistent when it comes to run blocking. LT - Tyler Brumfield (6’6 305) (Sr.) LG - Guzzy Kayed (6’3 316) (Jr.) - Transfer from St. Francis C - Nicholas Gallegos (6’3 294) (Gr.) RG - Dennis Strey (6’7 312) (Gr.) RT - Elijha Payne (6’6 315) (Sr.) - Transfer from Delaware State DL: Sophomore Quincey Byas and seniors Carter Evans and Ronn Hardin are the main edge threats. The trio has combined for 4.5 sacks. Seniors Peyton Christian, Makhi Gilbert, Joseph Oluwayemi handle the majority of snaps on the interior. LB: Junior Elgin McDuffey and senior Zach Mowchan are the starters at linebacker. Mowchan leads the team with 50 total tackles, while McDuffey has amassed 23 total tackles. DB: Junior Caleb Dobbs starts at one corner with JUCO transfer Rayquan Adkins on the opposite side. All-MAC defensive back Bryce Llewellyn is the starting nickleback. Seniors Juan Salas and Davion Williams fill out the safety spots. ST: Junior Rudy Kessinger has made 5 of 8 field goals and 16 of 17 extra points. Junior Daniel Hull is averaging 43 yards a punt with a long of 60 yards. Keys on Offense: Stay on the field and ride Gant and Patrick as much as possible. Limiting EMU’s opportunities will be important. Their offense can be inconsistent, but they did enough to put away a seemingly improved UMASS squad, and no Zip fan wants to see our secondary on the field against a pass heavy offense any longer than necessary. Keys on Defense: Find a way to get off the field. The “bend but don’t break” philosophy has been completely broken the past two games and needs to be corrected. Things can’t get worse from here, so the only two ways to go are to either improve or continue to make the same mistakes. Final Thoughts: Nothing about this matchup screams win for this Akron squad. However, I’m sticking with my preseason prediction of an Akron win. EMU is on their second consecutive road game and coming off a high of beating a UMASS squad that seemed to be pretty good. This is a prime let down spot for EMU, and the Zips are due for a rebound game.

I’m not against a move being made. However, I don’t think this is the time to do it. Maybe once bowl contention is officially taken off the table. College football has changed so much even since Moorhead was hired. At first, he was able to take advantage of the portal with all of his, and the staff’s, connections to immediately upgrade the roster talent. He was also able to scrap the terrible incoming prep class that was in place and add some quality high-level prospects. Since then, NIL has come into the picture and changed the landscape even more. So not only are we at a disadvantage in athletic funds—including lowly paid assistants—but we are also at a disadvantage when it comes to the portal. I was talking to someone the other day who turned down a job at EMU a few years back, and he was raving about a few of our coaches—RB and TE in particular. He mentioned that those are the types of coaches who could have easily left and gotten P4 gigs, but they’ve chosen to stay for personal reasons. He also brought up one of our former CB coaches—Bell—as an example of how so many coaches are taking internal athletic jobs, like analysts at bigger programs, because the pay here is so poor. Moorhead hasn’t nailed all the assistant spots, but he’s done a pretty good job over his tenure. Whoever the next hire is will have an extremely difficult job filling out a worthwhile staff while also keeping those coaches in place. My biggest issue with Moorhead is that his teams at Akron have seemed to underperform their talent level every year. Looking just across the way at Kent, there is a coach who has a roster with substantially less talent and generally puts them in a place to be competitive. That, however, does not seem to be the norm these days, and while that could happen here, the odds are against it. All that said, something needs to change to make this a competitive program year in and year out.

QB: Someone on staff thought it would be a good idea to ask a “third string quarterback” - Moorhead’s words - to come out slinging the ball, on the road. Someone else - or maybe even the same person - upped the ante and decided we should come out not only throwing the ball with our third string quarterback, but to go five wide, with no threat of an RPO, on the very first play. I rarely question this staff’s ability to design plays, but there were some drives that left me completely lost today. When I said earlier this year I thought Roggow would keep us competitive, that was under the assumption he would be accompanied by the run game. Such was often not the case. Roggow was in over his head, and it showed. RB: I had flashbacks of frustration today when the staff would waste Lingard for portions of the game. Or when a back would make a great run, then rush again for only a handful of yards, followed up by no rushing attempts for a number of plays later. Yes, Gant and Patrick combined for 133 yards, but much of that came when the game was already getting out of reach. Why we don’t lean on those two more, regardless of the opponent, is beyond me. I know we had a lot of one-on-one matchups with the receivers today, but our backs are too good to not involve early and often. WR/TE: I believe there was only one drop. There were several plays where I noticed multiple receivers open around the same area, and Roggow basically split the difference and didn’t get the ball to either one of them. On one of the sacks, it looked like the receiver who was the main target was still talking to the sideline as the ball was snapped, leading to the play being fouled up. Those types of things cannot happen. OL: Plainly put, this line struggles when we become one dimensional. They opened some lanes for the backs and gave Roggow time for portions of the game. At other times, it wasn’t so pretty. The false starts are inexcusable, especially for centers. DL: Our lowest rated defensive lineman - according to PFF, and I don’t disagree with their take - continues to play the most snaps. I don’t understand the rotation, or lack thereof. We started off fine in the first quarter and then things gradually got worse as the game wore on. We have more bodies on the roster, it seems like some other guys should get a shot, and some of the backups like Williams and Kavals should also play a bit more, especially in a game like this. 56 snaps for our worst performing lineman is….something. LB: I thought one of the few bright spots on defense was linebacker play. Johnson and Nunoo seemed to be everywhere. Curtis also had a couple standout plays. Unfortunately, they can’t do it all. DB: I’m not sure if our defensive backs can play much worse. The cornerbacks were fine in coverage, but they didn’t help enough against the run. I remember one of the CBs just bumping shoulders with the ball carrier, who then ran for I don’t know how many yards into the endzone. Our safety play was flat out horrendous against the run. In a game like this, angles and gap filling are so important and we did both poorly. I’m not sure how we’ve gotten to this point, as these guys saw significant action last season and we also have the same defensive back coaches. If things don’t get cleaned up soon, we won’t win another game because we simply won’t be able to outscore anyone. ST: Outside of the blocked field goal, it was a solid day for the special teams. QB: Roggow RB: Gant Patrick Williams Curry WR: Williams Myers WR: Mason Hilburn Louis WR: Burris Hills TE: Alexander Cravaack Hook DeReese LT: Slayden Gould LG: Smith Archer C Lyons Mobley RG: Hampton RT: Jones Gould DE: Frazier Waye DE: Durham Kavals DT: Hull Kavals Brown-Demery DT: Mixon Williams LB: Johnson Jones LB: Nunoo Curtis Hocker CB: Newsome CB: Thomas NB: Branch Moss S: Davis Flowers S: Hunter Flowers Highest Rated Offense (20 snap min.) RB - Gant WR - Burris LT - Slayden LG - Smith RT - Jones Highest Rated Defense (20 snap min.) LB - Johnson LB - Curtis LB - Nunoo CB - Thomas DT - Hull

QB: The Chips have mostly used a two-quarterback system with former Northern Arizona transfer Angel Flores as their main rushing threat and redshirt sophomore Jadyn Glasser as a passing option. Against Miami(FL), CMU tossed senior Marcus Beaman into the mix as well. When the Chips do pass, it’s usually a quick and fairly short outlet, as only 15 attempts have been thrown beyond 10 yards this season. The Chips utilize their run game and short passing options by using a lot of pre-snap motion and misdirection to create opportunities to methodically move the ball down field. Flores has thrown for 123 yards on 33 attempts, while completing 57% of his passes. He’s also thrown two interceptions, with zero touchdowns, and has been sacked 4 times. Flores has run for 320 yards and 3 touchdowns on 63 rushing attempts. Glasser has thrown for 112 yards on 29 attempts, while completing 62% of his passes and has the same touchdown to interception ratio as Flores. Glasser has been sacked 5 times. Beaman hasn’t had as many opportunities and has thrown for 40 yards on 8 attempts. RB: Holy Cross transfer Jayden Clerveaux is the starter at running back, with Liberty transfer Vaughn Blue as the main backup, though the Chips will rotate in multiple backs. Clerveaux and Blue have combined for 244 yards on 49 attempts. Keep in mind that is less than Flores’ rushing total at quarterback. WR: Langston Lewis is a former All-MAC wide-out that hasn’t done much this season. In fact, the entire receiving corps have been less than impressive, albeit with limited opportunities. No receiver has more than 7 receptions or more than 46 receiving yards. There have been zero receiving touchdowns on the year. TE: Four different tight ends will be utilized depending on the formation and down. They are usually not counted on for anything more than blocking, but sophomore Myles Peters does have 3 receptions for 14 yards. OL: The offensive line is big and experienced, with all five starters being seniors. However, they have been next to terrible in pass protection and are built for the run game. LT - Jacob Booth (6’5 295) (Sr.) LG - Jacob Russell (6’4 300) (Sr.) - Former Valparaiso Transfer C - Losini Maka (6’2 315) (Sr.) - Georgetown Transfer RG - John Iannuzzi (6’4 320) (Sr.) - Former Columbia Transfer RT - Martin Koivisto (6’7 295) (Sr.) DL: JUCO transfer Jaxson Cherry and Cornell transfer Max Van Fleet are the starters on the interior, but will also bump outside depending on the alignment. Sophomore JJ Douglas and senior Korva Demma start on the edges. These four have amassed 42 total tackles and 2.5 sacks. LB: Junior Xavier White and Central Washington transfer Brett McCalla are the starters at linebacker. The duo has combined for 60 total tackles. Weber State transfer Mayson Hitchens also plays a high amount of snaps. DB: Bethune-Cookman transfer Matthew McKenzie and Campbell transfer Donovan Philord are the starters at cornerback. Junior Jaion Jackson starts at nickleback, while Wyoming transfer Justin Taylor and Northern Colorado transfer Darrell Bryant start at safety. Bryant and Taylor each have an interception on the year. ST: Sophomore Caden VanHuis is 2 for 3 on field goals and 5 of 6 on extra points. Former Illinois transfer Declan Duley is averaging nearly 43 yards per punt, with a long of 63 yards. Keys on Offense: The CMU defense has actually been fairly stout. It’ll be on the Zips offense to get ahead early and maintain a lead. There likely won’t be as many offensive opportunities due to the fact that the Chips want to use up the clock and limit opposing team’s possessions. Keys on Defense: Despite Akron’s struggles against the pass, CMU isn’t going to hurt anyone through the air. The Chips are going to try to run, run, and run some more. The Akron defense will likely face one of its most physical challenges this week and can’t wear down as the game progresses. Final Thoughts: I picked CMU to win in the preseason, but due to the Chips still struggling to find a suitable quarterback, I’m going with the Zips this game. The CMU offense can be downright anemic at times. Defensive line depth is my biggest concern for Akron, so that is an area to keep an eye on. Weather is another factor here - the sloppier the conditions, the better off CMU will be. Hopefully, it’ll be a clear fall day.