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.

OFFENSE: QB: Not the best night for Finley. Not only did he struggle with accuracy, but there were multiple times where he either didn’t see an open receiver underneath or just chose to make the more difficult throw. Even though there were a few passes that could have been picked, Finley did not throw an interception. A “feat” that has occurred only one other time this year (against BG). Bullock was swarmed every time he came in the game. NIU did a great job of locating him and cheating in his direction. RB: Simmons ran hard, but the run game was an afterthought. He averaged 4.7 yards per carry on 12 attempts. Kellom didn’t have as many opportunities as Simmons and also did not look quite as explosive. WR: On a night where Finley struggled with accuracy, his receivers didn’t help much. Officially 8 drops. It’s hard to win that way. TE: Newell and Cravaack were a bright spot. The duo combined for 4 catches for 67 yards and may have had their best blocking performance. OL: I recall only two occasions where the OL flat out got beat in pass protection. Outside of that, Finley usually had plenty of time to throw the ball. Blitz pickups were the best I’ve seen to date. Two of the sacks were on Finley, not the OL. Run blocking could have been better, but it also wasn’t terrible. After having their worst game of the season, RG K. Davis and RT James bounced back with what may have been their best game of the season. DEFENSE: The defense gave up 6 explosive plays for the entire game, which is actually not too bad. Unfortunately, the bad is that 4 of those plays went for touchdowns. We played a ton of bear front (5 DL) and man. It limited the NIU rushing attack from gashing us for chunks at a time, but led to 2 passing touchdowns where the backend looked completely unprepared. We also looked unprepared on one of the WR sweeps for a TD. The other rushing touchdown came from a missed tackle on a gap fill. DL: Kapongo, Brockington, Moore, Adler, and Nunnally gave the NIU OL all they could handle. Those 5 were consistently stymieing blocks and allowing the backend of the defense to run free. That was one of our DL’s best games. LB: McCoy was, yet again, all over the field and finished with 11 tackles. He’s been incredibly good in MAC play. Summers saw his most extensive action and finished with 6 tackles. The light seems to be going on for him. (Summers was a late JUCO addition in the 2023 class.) Fish and Spriggs played, but neither made much of an impact. DB: Reed and DeWalt started at CB with Golden-Nelson and Hunter filling in. I believe it was DeWalt who allowed one of the early touchdowns and was subsequently replaced by Golden-Nelson. P. Lewis and D. Lewis started at safety with D. Johnson as the backup. That was the second straight week one of the starting safties left the game with an injury and we promptly allowed a touchdown. ST: We had the one punt gaff early on and then played relatively well considering the wind and rain. WR P. Davis was the new punt returner and fair caught the ball without issue. Coaching: Offensively, I thought we got away from the run game too early - especially when we struggled with accuracy and drops in the passing game. Even though we were mostly getting 2 to 3 yards a pop on runs, 3rd and 5 is much more manageable than 3rd and long. Besides that, there were numerous times receivers were running free underneath and we didn’t take advantage. Often, the play calls seemed to be there, but our execution was terrible. Defensively, I thought it was a solid game plan in the fact that explosive plays were limited. However, the major issue we looked completely lost on 3 of the explosive plays that went for touchdowns. Also, we finally had a game where penalties were next to nothing (no personal fouls and only 1? false start) and instead get hit with multiple substitution violations. How that happens coming off a mini-bye week is beyond me. In the end, it’s the controllable aspects of the game we lost again and that continue to cost us football games. QB: Finley Bullock RB: Simmons Kellom WR: Norton P. Davis WR: Golden Rush WR: Granger Polk TE: Newell Cravaack LT: Blanchard Shor LG: Morris Seymore C Williams RG: K. Davis RT: James Thomas DE: Adler Dall DE: Nunnally Cheatom DT: Moore Murphy DT: Kapongo Madden DT: Brockington Richards LB: Fish Summers LB: McCoy Spriggs CB: Reed Hunter CB: DeWalt Golden-Nelson S: D. Lewis D. Johnson S: P. Lewis D. Johnson (NB): Greenwood Top Players on Offense: RT - James RG - K. Davis LT - Blanchard WR - Polk WR - Rush Top Players on Defense: LB - Summers LB - McCoy CB - Golden-Nelson S - P. Lewis DT - Brockington

Norton catches that one and it’s his 2nd TD of the night. Instead, turnover on downs…

I don’t think he’s participated in a game all season. Not sure what’s going on there.

Yeah, David has been hurt for a while and Anderson eventually won the spot. This is a particularly bad game to be missing pieces up the middle of the defense (Anderson & Lavea).

Out: WR - Adams WR - Mason WR - Walker DT - Lavea LB - Cooper S - Anderson S - David

Bump for update.

Week 10 Starters for new team: WR - Jasaiah Gathings (UCONN) = 38 snaps. WR - Oran Singleton (Eastern Michigan) = 76 snaps. 8 receptions for 103 yards. 1 rush for 9 yards. RG - Tony Georges (Kent State) = BYE RT - Jordan Daniels (Western Carolina) = 75 snaps. RT - Xavior Gray (Liberty) = 86 snaps. RT - Nate Williams (San Diego State) = 55 snaps. DE - Curtis Fann (Western Carolina) = 40 snaps. 2 tackles. DE - Ryan Johnson (Southern Miss) = BYE LB - Luke Bauer (Morehead State) = 41 snaps. 1 tackle. CB - Tyson Durant (Washington State) = BYE S - Corey Thomas (Virginia) = BYE S - Jaden Woods (East Tennessee State) = 53 snaps. 6 tackles. Backups for new team: WR - Anthony Williams (Alcorn State) = 34 snaps. 2 receptions for -9 yards. TE - Caleb Anderson (Alcorn State) = 31 snaps. 1 reception for 9 yards. S - KJ Martin (NC State) = N/A DNP: 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)

That was my thought as well. Almost every new AD wants to make their mark on football - or whatever the major program is at the particular school. I went through all the coaching hires for G5 turnarounds from 2021, 2022, and 2023. If the new AD thinks he/she is going to come in and immediately make a splash hire, they are in for a rude awakening with the resources we have. These are (more or less) in order of coaching staff pay: Joe Moorhead - Akron Base Pay = $620k Total Asst. Pay = $920k Previous Coach = 2-10 2022 = 2-10 2023 = 2-10 Current = 2-7 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 Base Pay = $527k Total Asst. Pay = $1.1 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 1-11 Current = 0-9 Lance Taylor - Western Michigan Base Pay = $850k Total Asst. Pay = $1.1 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 4-8 Current = 5-4 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 = 3-6 Clay Helton - Georgia Southern Base Pay = $805k Total Asst. Pay = $1.45 mil Previous Coach = 3-9 2022 = 6-7 2023 = 6-7 Current = 6-3 Don Brown - UMASS Base Pay = $882k Total Asst. Pay = $1.35 mil Previous Coach = 1-11 2022 = 1-11 2023 = 3-9 Current = 2-7 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 = 2-6 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 = 5-3 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 = 1-7 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 = 3-5 GJ Kinne - Texas State Base Pay = $1 mil Total Asst. Pay = $1.6 mil Previous Coach = 4-8 2023 = 8-5 Current = 4-4 Tom Herman - FAU Base Pay = $1 mil Total Asst. Pay = $1.7 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 4-8 Current = 2-7 Biff Poggi - Charlotte Base Pay = $1 mil Total Asst. Pay = $1.7 mil Previous Coach = 3-9 2023 = 3-9 Current = 3-6 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 = 6-3 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 = 6-3 Stan Drayton - Temple Base Pay = $1.8 mil Total Asst. Pay = ? Previous Coach = 3-9 2022 = 3-9 2023 = 3-9 Current = 2-6 Brian Newberry - Navy Base Pay = $1.8 mil Total Asst. Pay = ? Previous Coach = 4-8 2023 = 5-7 Current = 6-2 Kevin Wilson - Tulsa Base Pay = $1.9 mil Total Asst. Pay = ? Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 4-8 Current = 3-6 Barry Odom - UNLV Base Pay = $1.75 mil Total Asst. Pay = $2.3 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 9-5 Current = 6-2 Alex Golesh - South Florida Base Pay = $2.5 mil Total Asst. Pay = $2.4 mil Previous Coach = 1-11 2023 = 7-6 Current = 4-4

Game thread and preview: QB: QB is one of the positions coach Hammock has struggled to aptly identify talent, as NIU would likely be undefeated with better QB play. Junior Ethan Hampton has been the main starter with former walk-on Josh Holst also collecting snaps. Hampton has completed 60% of his passes and thrown for 1, 256 yards. His current TD to INT ratio is 11 to 5. When kept clean, Hampton completes 65% of his passes and has thrown for 8 TDs vs 3 INTs. When pressured, Hampton competes 38% of his passes and has thrown for 3 TDs vs 2 INTs. RB: NIU has a deep stable of RBs. Leading rusher Antario Brown is 5th in the MAC in rushing and may miss the game due to injury. Former Iowa transfer Gavin Williams is 10th in the MAC in rushing. True freshman Telly Johnson is a downhill runner who gashed WMU for 141 yards and 2 TDs. NIU will likely give us a heavy dose of both Williams and Johnson. WR: WR is another position where coach Hammock has struggled to consistently identify talent. However, there are a few players who can make plays. Former Eastern Illinois transfer Cam Thompson is 17th in receiving yards with 372 and 3 TDs. Senior (and former walk-on) Trayvon Randolph has 275 yards. TE: Former JUCO Grayson Barnes is a weapon in the passing game. He is often moved around and the majority of his receiving damage comes between the numbers. Barnes can be a difficult matchup for linebackers and safeties. Brock Lampe and Tristan Tewes are typically blockers that sometimes will be used in short yardage passing game. OL: NIU is built similarly to a traditional Big10 type team. The Huskies have the 2nd best OL (only behind WMU) and the best DL in the MAC. The OL is a big reason why NIU’s run game is so effective and that an average QB talent can be successful. The NIU OL has given up only 5 sacks in conference play. LT - Evan Malcore (R.So.) LG - JJ Lippe (R.Sr.) C - Logan Zschernitz (R. Sr.) RG - John Champe (Sr.) RT - Thomas Paasch (R. Fr.) (I thought Paasch was one of the best offensive linemen in the 2023 MAC recruiting class) DL: NIU sports the best defensive line in the MAC. Senior DeVontae O’Malley and junior Skyler Gill-Howard may be the best two defensive tackles in the conference. The duo has combined for 68 tackles and 9.5 sacks. Juniors Roy and Jalonnie Williams are the defensive ends. They have combined for 55 tackles and 5.5 sacks. LB: Senior Jaden Dolphin may be an All-MAC candidate. He has 46 tackles, 2 PDs, and an interception. Flanking Dolphin is SEMO transfer Christian Fuhrman. Fuhrman is tied for second on the team in tackles with 43 and has also collected an interception. DB: Senior Javaughn Byrd and redshirt sophomore Jacob Finley are the cornerbacks. Byrd has 20 tackles and 2 PDs, while Finley has 25 tackles and 7 PDs. Redshirt freshman Santana Banner and senior Nate Valcarcel are the safeties. Banner is tied for second on the team in tackles with 43. He has also collected 3 PDs and an interception. Valcarcel has 36 tackles, 5 PDs, and 2 interceptions. Senior Jashon Prophete is the nickel (or “Huskie” if that term is still used). Prophete has 33 tackles. K: Senior Kanon Woodall is 23 of 26 on extra points and 12 of 18 on field goals. P: Senior Tom Foley is last in the MAC in average per punt at 37.6 yards. Offense - Coach Hammock may do a better job at covering up inadequacies than any other coach in the MAC. NIU is built to run the football and will do that no matter what. Most of the passes are shorter and have easier route concepts for the quarterbacks. About 65% of pass attempts will be thrown under 10 yards by the NIU offense. Defense - As mentioned above, the defensive line is better than any DL in the MAC. The rest of the defense is good enough. NIU consistently applies pressure with 4 rushers and leads the MAC in sacks. The DL is a major reason why NIU is ranked first against the pass, as their DBs typically don’t have to cover for long. Summary: NIU has not lost a game by more than 7 points this season. The Huskies utilize a ball control offense with timely passing. Points will be at a premium this week for Zips. If there is a weakness in the NIU defense it’s on the perimeter and getting the Huskies defense running side to side as opposed to letting the defensive front get up field so quickly. If Akron defense can hold up, we’ll have a chance. A lot of pressure will be on the middle of the defense as NIU does a tremendous amount of pulling with their OL and TEs. Any loose gap assignments or missed tackles will likely lead to big plays for NIU’s backs.

Kent is an absolute mess. I’ve listened to many of Burns’ pressers and find it fascinating how he continues to change course of action. Now it’s play the young players and focus on 80/20 HS to portal recruiting. That won’t work in any turnaround situation due to the portal and NIL. The better players will jet and it’ll be a cycle of incoming freshmen to fill the void.