catdaddyp

Wilson is gone now too.

Bump for update. 9 out of our 11 FBS opponents will be bowl eligible this year.

Agreed can only beat the teams on your schedule. However, if strength of schedule doesn’t matter, chances are the best teams aren’t actually getting in. Have to wonder what record almost every team in the SEC (not named Miss. State or Auburn) would be if they played Indiana’s schedule.

I’m not convinced Indiana is deserving of a CFP spot. They’ve beaten one school with a winning record - Washington. Maybe 3 if Michigan and Nebraska win today. Talk about the stars aligning with a cakewalk schedule.

Another good episode.

I think we are on the hunt for 2 more DTs and a WR to close out this prep class.

Bump for update. Norton, McCoy, and Book are likely 1st Team. Nunnally and D. Lewis are likely 3rd Team. One of Golden, Moore, Kapongo, or P. Lewis will probably also make 3rd Team.

No for Akron. And no for the SEC. I’m not sure if other conferences have made a final decision. MAC and SEC will still be at the 85 scholarship limit. It’s just a 105 roster cap.

Not a portal offer, but first significant MAC portal departure. CMU’s Bert Emanuel announced he’s hitting the portal.

Last game of 2024 for Zips football. QB: Former Georgia Tech transfer Tucker Gleason left the game against Ohio with an injury. Assuming Gleason is healthy, he will be the starter. Otherwise, redshirt sophomore John Alan Richter will start. Gleason has thrown for 2,168 yards, 20 TDs vs 7 INTs, and completes 60% of his passes. When kept clean, Gleason is incredibly efficient - completing 72% of his passes and throwing for 15 TDs vs 3 INTs. Under pressure, Gleason completes 37% of his passes and has thrown for 5 TDs vs 4 INTs. Richter is the less mobile of the two quarterbacks, but perhaps the better passer. He has thrown for 497 yards, 4 TDs vs 0 INTs, and has a 64% completion rate. RB: Surprisingly enough, Toledo has actually run the ball for less yardage than Akron in conference play. The 2024 Toledo squad splits snaps between four backs - true sophomore Connor Walendzak, Georgia transfer Sevaughn Clark, redshirt senior Jacquez Stewart, and redshirt junior Willie Shaw. They have combined for 969 yards and 6 touchdowns. The backs will be utilized in the passing game. WR: Toledo will roll out two of the better MAC receivers in redshirt senior Jerjuan Newton and true junior Junior Vandeross. Newton is the 3rd leading receiver in the MAC with 56 receptions for 868 yards and 10 touchdowns. Vandeross is the 8th leading receiver in the MAC with 62 receptions for 679 yards and 4 touchdowns. TE: Former Western Michigan transfer Anthony Torres takes the majority of snaps at tight end. He may be the best pass blocking TE in the conference. Torres is 4th amongst tight ends in receptions with 21 catches for 280 yards and 7 TDs. OL: Toledo had to fill a few vacant spots from last year’s OL. They have been solid in pass protection, but have struggled to consistently create holes for the backs. LT - Allen Jones (R. Sr.) (Prairie View A&M transfer) LG - Carter Fouty (R. Jr.) C - Jakob James (Sr.) (Ohio State transfer) RG - Ethan Spoth (R. So.) RT - Cole Rhett (R. Fr.) DL: Former Maryland transfer Deshawn Holt and redshirt senior D’Andre Ragin are the defensive ends. Holt has 38 tackles and a sack, while Ragin has 38 tackles and 3.5 sacks. Redshirt seniors Darius Alexander and Cavon Butler are two of the better pass rushing defensive tackles in the conference. They have combined for 68 tackles and 5 sacks. LB: Redshirt seniors Daniel Bolden and Jackson Barrow are the linebackers. Bolden is 9th in tackles with 82 total and 1.5 sacks. Barrow has 61 total tackles and 2 sacks. DB: True juniors Avery Smith and Nasir Bowers are the cornerbacks. Smith is 2nd in the MAC with 13 PDs. He also has 45 tackles and 2 interceptions. Bowers has 32 tackles and 2 interceptions. Senior Maxen Hook and former Penn State transfer Jaden Dottin are the safeties. Maxen Hook has already exceeded the 100 tackle plateau with 104 total tackles. He’s also collected 2 interceptions. Former wide receiver Jaden Dottin has played in only two games on defense this year. True sophomore Braden Awls is the nickelback. Awls has 65 tackles and 3 interceptions. K: True freshman Dylan Cunanan has yet to miss an extra point on 34 attempts. He is 13 of 16 on field goals with a long of 54 yards. P: True sophomore Emilio Duran is 9th in MAC punting. He averages 41.3 yards with a long of 70 yards. KR: Jacquez Stewart is the most dynamic kick returner in the MAC and has already taken one back 98 yards for a score. Offense: Toledo has rushed the ball more than only one team in conference play….and that is Kent State. The Rockets rely heavily on their passing attack and average a few yards shy of 250 yards per game. That’s good for 4th in the MAC. Defense: Toledo has been slightly better against the run than Akron in conference play. Toledo allows 167 yards rushing per game, whereas Akron allows 171 yards rushing per game. The Rockets fielded an elite secondary in 2023, but have since lost some prime talent and their defensive backs coach. The 2024 secondary is still very good, but Toledo has allowed 195 yards per game through the air. Akron allows 228 per game. Summary: Some will say Toledo has played a more difficult conference slate than Akron. While that may be true, let’s take a look at common opponents and scores. With the exception of NIU, it is the same result and similar point differential in all the games. Buffalo Toledo = Loss 30-15 Akron = Loss 41-30 Ohio Toledo = Loss 24-7 Akron = Loss 30-10 Bowling Green Toledo = Loss 41-26 Akron = Loss 27-20 EMU Toledo = Win 29-28 Akron = Win 25-21 NIU Toledo = Win 13-6 Akron = Loss 29-16 My point to the above is that while Toledo most certainly has more talent than us from top to bottom, they have not played up to their potential. In fact, some of Toledo’s players have publicly questioned their teammates’ effort through the course of the season. We can question plenty of things about the 2024 Akron team, but hustle/effort has always been there. This is an opportunity to change the public perception of where the program is headed. If the Zips can play a clean game, and Toledo treats this as a walk through, we’ll have a chance to go into the offseason with momentum. A season ending win, coupled with a potential 3-1 start in 2025, would slingshot the program to where most of us thought it would be when Moorhead was hired.

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 = 4-8 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 = 0-12 Lance Taylor - Western Michigan Base Pay = $850k Total Asst. Pay = $1.1 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 4-8 Current = 6-6 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 = MacIntyre was 4-8 and fired. Clay Helton - Georgia Southern Base Pay = $805k Total Asst. Pay = $1.45 mil Previous Coach = 3-9 2022 = 6-7 2023 = 6-7 Current = 8-4 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 = Anderson was fired. 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 = 7-5 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 = 5-7 GJ Kinne - Texas State Base Pay = $1 mil Total Asst. Pay = $1.6 mil Previous Coach = 4-8 2023 = 8-5 Current = 7-5 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 = 8-4 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 = 8-4 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 = 8-3 Kevin Wilson - Tulsa Base Pay = $1.9 mil Total Asst. Pay = ? Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 4-8 Current = Wilson was fired at 3-8 Barry Odom - UNLV Base Pay = $1.75 mil Total Asst. Pay = $2.3 mil Previous Coach = 5-7 2023 = 9-5 Current = 10-2 Alex Golesh - South Florida Base Pay = $2.5 mil Total Asst. Pay = $2.4 mil Previous Coach = 1-11 2023 = 7-6 Current = 6-6

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.