catdaddyp

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.

Bump

I may have jumped the gun on Abor out for the season. Sounds like he may be able to come back at some point. Who knows how effective he’ll be, but whatever he can give us has to be better than what we saw today.

I don’t think it’s a talent issue. I know at least one of those blown coverages put the safety and defensive end in an impossible spot. UNLV was able to overload that side of the field and the QB had all day to throw. I haven’t gone back to watch the other busts and probably won’t. The feed constantly going out was ridiculous. My concern is that we’ll see more busts and chunk plays if we can’t figure out a way to get some sort of pressure on the quarterback. Although, it may not matter as much against CMU as they usually don’t throw the ball much.

The offense had over 300 yards on the day and could only muster 10 points. There were so many wasted opportunities that could have made this a competitive game. QB: Roggow threw some nice balls and had a number of good moments in his first start. That said, he did have a few errant throws, and both of his interceptions came off of plays where the ball probably never should have been thrown. The first interception was on a bad snap from the backup center, where Roggow picked it up off the ground and made a rushed decision. The second was on one of the last series of the game where he threw it deep and was off target to the receiver. RB: Gant and Patrick combined for 123 yards on the ground. They ran hard, protected the football, and usually gave the offense short distances to work with on third down. One caveat though - Gant’s pass - could have been a touchdown, but it was tipped and turned into an interception instead. WR/TE: I don’t recall any major blunders by the receivers. Blocking was ok and the receivers caught the ball when it came their way. OL: I thought the OL had one of their best games. There was usually running run for the backs and pass blocking was strong, despite there being three sacks. One of the sacks was on Roggow not recognizing the blitz as UNLV brought more than could be blocked. The second was on a chase down backside where Roggow could not outrun the defender. I did not see the third as I think it was during one of the many tv disconnects during the program. Honestly, I thought UNLV would come out and attempt to run the ball down our throats. When they didn’t, I was initially relieved. Then it became apparent why they chose not to run it as often as they could… DL: The pass rush was about as ineffective as I’ve seen it. I thought we were about to have something special with Abor and Durham coming off the edge, but then we lost Abor for the season. None of our blitzes hit home either. LB: I thought Nunoo played well. Outside of that, Johnson and Curtis did some good things against the run. However, we were out of place, or a step slow, against the pass way too often. DB: That’s as bad of a performance as I’ve seen under this regime. The busts and inability to make plays when we were actually in position was flat out bad. The lack of pass rush certainly didn’t help. ST: Mixed bag here. 1 for 2 on field goals and nothing of note in the return game. Castle did have a punt of 63 yards though. QB: Roggow RB: Gant Patrick WR: Williams Sivon WR: Burris Sivon WR: Mason Hilburn TE: Alexander Cravaack LT: Slayden Shor LG: Smith C Lyons Mobley RG: Hampton Archer RT: Jones Gould DE: Durham DE: Frazier Waye DT: Hull Kavals DT: Mixon Williams LB: Hocker Johnson LB: Nunoo Curtis NB: Branch CB: Thomas CB: Newsome Galloway S: Davis Flowers S: Hunter Flowers * For the first play we went with 5 DL with Williams on and Thomas off. Top Rated Offense (20 snap minimum): WR - Williams WR - Mason TE - Alexander RT - Jones QB - Roggow Top Rated Defense (20 snap minimum): DT - Hull CB - Thomas (I have no idea what PFF saw here. This will likely change during the week) DT - Kavals NB - Branch LB - Johnson

Noon ESPN+

QB: Auburn transfer Jackson Arnold is a dual threat with the ball in his hands. He’s thrown for 601 yards and two touchdowns, and has run for 132 yards and 3 touchdowns. Arnold has yet to throw an interception, but he has fumbled three times. Interestingly, when Arnold does throw the ball, he has actual been better when being blitzed than when he has not. He’s completed almost 67% of his passes against the blitz compared to 56% when not blitzed. That said, Arnold has been known to hang on to the ball too long and take the sack instead. RB: Senior Jai’Den Thomas is the leading rusher with 224 yards and one touchdown. 166 of those yards have come after contact. He also has 7 receptions for 52 yards. WR: Oregon State transfer Taz Reddicks leads the team in receiving yardage with 120 yards on 8 receptions. Sophomore Kayden McGee is next with 103 yards and a touchdown on 5 receptions. UNLV spreads the ball around a good bit despite who is listed as a starters. TE: Arizona transfer Keyan Burnett is the main option at tight end with 7 receptions for 75 yards, though the Rebels will rotate several players at the position. OL: The offensive line has allowed 11 sacks, with 10 of those coming to Memphis and North Texas. LT - Alekai Afoa - 6’4 295 (Jr.) (JUCO) LG - Colton Thomasson - 6’8 325 (R.Jr.) (Baylor) C - Griffin Scroggs - 6’3 330 (R. Sr.) (App State) RG - Amare Taase - 6’4 330 (R. So.) RT - Jackson Brown - 6’6 310 (R. Jr.) (Pittsburgh) DL: Redshirt freshman Kal-El Togafau starts at one edge with sophomore Andre Porter on the opposite side. The duo has combined for 10 total tackles and 2 sacks. Junior Lucas Conti is an interior starter that will also be slid outside. Redshirt freshman Eliah Logo typically lines up at nose tackle. LB: Holy Cross transfer Cam Santee and former Arizona transfer Kamuela Ka’Aihue start at linebacker, and have combined for 35 total tackles. DB: Seniors Denver Harris and Quandarious Keyes start at cornerback. Former UCONN transfer Mumu Bin-Wahad starts at nickleback, with senior Jake Pope and sophomore Tre Fulton at the safeties. Opposing offenses have targeted Keyes twice as much as any other player in the secondary. ST: Junior Ramon Villela has gone 2 for 3 on field goals and 6 for 6 on extra points. Kennesaw State transfer Matt Choules averages 43 yards per punt, with a long of 64 yards and 7 punts downed inside the twenty. Keys on Offense: Get the ball out quickly, don’t cause unnecessary setbacks, and attempt to establish the run game. The Rebel defense has talent, but has steadily become worse at tackling as the season has progressed - according to PFF. Keys on Defense: UNLV wants to run the ball and will utilize their quarterback, running backs, and wide outs in their ground game. If the Rebels get ahead, it may be hard to recover. Akron has to stay focused on their keys as UNLV will use some type of shift or motion on almost every play pre-snap. Final Thoughts: I wouldn’t go as far to say the Zips are the better team, but it is certainly a winnable game. Despite the Rebels playing poorly at times, they still have a talented roster. The Zips will need to play well to give themselves an opportunity to beat a team that looked primed to be one of the best in the G6, during the off-season.

I don’t have much to say about this one. The score line should have been better, but we hurt ourselves. I’m hoping we are relatively healthy for next week. QB: Without CBs legs, our run game basically went out the window. Roggow made some nice throws, but the offense shifted to a more traditional setup with Roggow running the show. RB: There weren’t that many opportunities and even less running room. Gant also fumbled once. WR/TE: The drops were drive killers. Can’t have those and expect to beat/compete with many teams. OL: The line couldn’t get consistent push in the run game and allowed pressure 31% of the time according to PFF. DL: I’m not sure what Abor’s status is, but he was a menace lined up both inside and out. Having Durham on the opposite side made a difference. Frazier and Kavals continue to progress. LB: Johnson and Nunoo were really good and easily had their best games as Zips. DB: Our nicklebacks and safties struggled, as did most cornerbacks not named White. I’m guessing White will miss at least several weeks from here. Galloway did seem to have some good snaps today, so we’ll see if he gets more action next week. ST: Patrick’s blunder came at a tough time and basically sealed any chance of making this a competitive contest. Castle had a solid day punting the ball with a long of 52 and three downed inside the 20. QB: Broughton Roggow Beals RB: Gant Patrick Williams WR: Mason Louis Hilburn WR: Hills Burris WR: Williams Myers TE: Alexander Cravaack Hook LT: Slayden Shor LG: Smith Falkner C Lyons Mobley RG: Hampton Archer RT: Jones Shor DE: Abor Kavals Watkins DT: Mixon Kavals Davis Ross-Graves DT: Hull Williams Brown-Demery DE: Frazier Kavals Watkins LB: Johnson Hocker LB: Nunoo Curtis NB: Branch Moss CB: Galloway White CB: Thomas Newsome S: Flowers Hunter Somerville S: Davis Hunter Top Rated Offense (15 snap minimum): QB - Broughton C - Lyons RT - Jones RB - Gant RB - Patrick Top Rated Defense (15 snap minimum): DE - Abor LB - Johnson DE - Durham DE - Frazier LB - Nunno

We’ll have to agree to disagree on this then. His other option would be to let him go and with no whistle who knows what that play turns into. In all my years of coaching I’ve always taught to play through the whistle, no matter the level. I’m frustrated for the player for blowing up the play, making sure he finished it, and then getting penalized for the refs not doing their job.

White’s knee looked like it stay locked in the wrong direction after being hit on that replay. He probably won’t be back for a while. Unfortunate for him.

Yet they called it verbatim “personal foul, after the play was over” when a whistle hadn’t been blown.

As encouraged as I was in the first half, despite the drops and penalties, I’ve been equally discouraged this half.

He was playing through the whistle. The refs should have blown the whistle. That’s not a rule at any of those levels unless the whistle is blown. Rewind it and see if you hear a whistle blown. He threw the RB to the ground. He didn’t land on him and it wasn’t a QB.

Absolute BS call on Kavals. There was no whistle and he kept playing.

Despite the score, I’m actually really encouraged by the 1st half. Abor and Durham are going to wreck shop in MAC play. Abor has been used inside and out, and has been a terror for the Minnesota OL. Having Durham on the opposite side has made a difference. I liked what I’ve seen out of Kavals too. D. Frazier has looked good dropping into coverage, which isn’t a surprise as he played LB in high school. Blitzes are mostly hitting home this game. Though when we don’t get pressure on Lindsey, our secondary is getting torched. Minnesota has done an excellent job freezing our nicklebacks and safeties with their RPOs. There was one play where Branch was caught completely flat footed - he didn’t even move as he wasn’t sure who had the ball. I thought offensive playcalling was excellent, but the drops and penalties killed us. Let’s see what the second half brings.

QB: Junior Jake Lindsey has thrown for 543 yards with a 69% completion rate and no interceptions. Surprisingly, he’s only thrown for a single touchdown over a two-game span. Lindsey isn’t much of a threat to run and rarely has to when playing behind Minnesota’s massive offensive line. RB: Senior Darius Taylor hasn’t had a ton of opportunities thus far, but he’s still a bigger back that can do some damage. Taylor has 71 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns to go along with 36 receiving yards. WR: Former Miami of Ohio transfer Javon Tracy leads the team in receptions and yards, collecting 12 catches for 149 yards. He is also the punt returner and has taken two back for touchdowns. Cincinnati transfer Noah Jennings is second on the team with 10 receptions for 145 yards. TE: The Gophers don’t target their tight ends much in the passing game but senior Pierce Walsh does have four receptions. OL: The offensive line rarely allows pressure on the quarterback and has given up only two sacks this season, both against Mississippi State. LT - Nathan Roy (6’5 305) LG - Greg Johnson (6’6 325) C - Ashton Beers (6’6 320) RG - Tony Nelson (6’6 325) RT - Daniel Shipp (6’5 295) DL: The Gopher pass rush has been about as anemic as the Zips’, however, that doesn’t mean Minnesota is lacking in talent. Senior Anthony Smith plays both inside and out. Former Cal transfer TJ Bush has one of the defense’s two sacks. Against MSU, junior Jaylon Hicks started on the interior, as did senior Karter Menz on the edge. LB: Seniors Maverick Baranowski and Matt Kingsbury start at linebacker. The duo have combined for 22 total tackles. DB: Michigan State transfer Aydan West and former Iowa transfer John Nestor start at the cornerback positions. Seniors Kerry Brown and Aidan Gousby, along with sophomore Zack Harden, are the starters at safety and nickel. ST: Tom Weston is the main punter and averages 38.3 yards per punt with a long of 45. Minnesota has used two different kickers on field goals, and they have gone 3 for 3. Beckham Sunderland has put 11 of his 13 kickoffs in the endzone. Keys on Offense: Find a way to keep drives moving and take care of the football. MSU’s mobile quarterback really hurt the Minnesota defense, and it would not be a surprise if CB came out of this game as Akron’s leading rusher. I’m not sure if the Zips OL will be able to consistently get push on the Gophers defensive front, so CB’s legs may have to make up for that. Keys on Defense: Force turnovers and keep the ball in front. Stopping Minnesota’s run game should be the main priority as I’m not sure the Zips defense will be able to get much pressure on Lindsey. In essence, force the Gophers into long, multi-play drives in the hopes they goof up. Final Thoughts: I don’t like this matchup, and there aren’t many areas where the Zips will have the advantage. As a comparison, Minnesota is bigger and more physical than Wake Forest. Akron will need to play at a very high level and have some help from Minnesota to pull out a win.

QB: CB’s scrambling ability makes such a difference for this offense. Not only that, the majority of his passes were on point, and he looked more comfortable than he did last week, albeit this game was against much lesser competition. My one suggestion to him at this point would be to make the first defender miss and then slide down in the open field. He will not make it through the season taking those kinds of hits. Roggow once again came in and looked really good. Two of his passes in particular were absolute strikes, put right on the money. Regardless of who the opponent is, those throws were impressive. If something were to happen to CB, I feel good about Roggow’s ability to move the offense when needed. In my opinion, Roggow compares favorably to Finley. He may not be quite as physically gifted, but he seems to make better decisions with the ball. RB: Gant and Patrick looked healthy and explosive. The two combined for 148 rushing yards, with 90 of those yards coming after contact. They also added 85 yards through the air. Toss in CB’s rushing, and that’s 219 yards on the ground. If either Gant or Patrick had another top-end gear to hit in the open field, they’d both be playing for P4 schools right now. WR: While the receivers weren’t targeted as much this game, there were no drops. An unusual amount of passes went to the backs and tight ends. Overall, the perimeter blocking was good as well. Outside of the one fumble, this was a solid, workmanlike day for the wideouts. TE: JUCO addition Elijah Alexander played very well. He held up as a blocker and also took advantage of his opportunities in the passing game. We’ll need the tight ends to continue to develop as they are an important part of this offense. OL: For the most part, the offensive line bullied the RM defensive front, and there wasn’t much thrown at them that caused confusion. However, there are a few sticking points. I was very complementary of Hampton at RG last game, and while that holds true again in the run game, he was also the direct cause of two sacks. The first came as Asher Wilson beat him so badly off the snap, he was left standing flat-footed. The second came off a total whiff on a blitz (or maybe twist? I can’t recall for sure). The good news is those sequences can be cleaned up. The other concern I have is when Slayden comes out the game at LT. Gould has looked overwhelmed, and Shor hasn’t played up to his potential since he arrived. I’m not sure what the answer is outside of hoping Gould improves quickly. Either that or leave Slayden in for the entire game. DL: The good news is the defensive line manhandled the RM OL. Dahvon Frazier seemed to be in on everything and easily had his best game as a Zip. Perhaps the light is finally turning on and he’s ready to take the next step. We’re going to need more of that as the season progresses. Abor flashed what he can do on passing downs when matched up one-on-one as he exploded around the edge for the Zips only sack. Hull was a load for RM to handle on the interior, and I also noticed he was often one of the first ones to congratulate the offense and special teams on the sideline as they were coming off the field. Kavals and Waye had their moments again. I think Kavals is going to be really good. It’s too bad we only have Waye for a single season. Williams didn’t play as much this game, as he looked to have a cast on his hand. Now for the bad: Pass Rush. Yes, RM was focused on getting the ball out quickly, but on the times when Akron should have been reaching the quarterback, it happened far too little. This area must improve. LB: Johnson and Curtis were really good. I also noticed Nunoo flying around, though I think he slipped off a few tackles. In any case, this group is coming together nicely. DB: White is really coming along. I would not be surprised if he ends up All-MAC at this rate. Safety play was also solid. I think it was Tairan Davis who had the diving interception wiped off by what looked to be a questionable holding call on another defender. T. Thomas had a terrible day in coverage. He got beat on the long touchdown and also gave up a PI. It’s a safe bet future opponents are going to come after him until he improves his play. ST: Special teams were excellent in every area today. Final Thoughts: The Zips handled a RM squad that really doesn’t have the talent or depth to match up for four quarters. Hopefully, this win is a building block that will help with next weekend’s matchup against a far more difficult opponent. Depth Chart QB: Broughton Roggow Beals RB: Gant Patrick Williams Curry WR: Ma. Williams Davis WR: Burris Hills Myers WR: Mason Louis Hilburn TE: Cravaack Alexander Hook LT: Slayden Gould Shor LG: Smith Falkner Archer C Lyons Mobley RG: Hampton Falkner Fox RT: Jones Gould Mann DE: Abor Waye Watkins DE: Frazier Waye Ridley DT: Hull Williams Ross-Graves Brown-Demery DT: Mixon Kavals E. Davis LB: Johnson Reeves Jones LB: Nunoo Curtis Hocker NB: Aa. Branch Moss CB: White Galloway CB: Thomas Newsome S: Davis Flowers Somerville S: Hunter Jarmon Top Rated Offense (30 snap minimum): QB - Broughton RB - Gant C - Lyons TE - Alexander LT - Slayden Top Rated Defense (30 snap minimum): S - Davis CB - White LB - Johnson DE - Abor DE - Frazier

I’ve added the times and networks for our opponents games.

We were planning on going, but my family wont have the patience for a long drive just to sit in the rain.