catdaddyp

Top Rated Players (according to PFF) going into this game: OFFENSE: (150+ Snaps) RB- Simmons LG - Seymore RT - James WR - Norton RB - Kellom DEFENSE: (150+ Snaps) DE - Nunnally DE - Adler DT - Moore S - D. Lewis NB - Greenwood SPECIAL TEAMS: (40+ Snaps) S - P. Lewis S - Conroy S - Roach NB - T. Thomas LS - Reardon

Bump for Top Ratings update. - 4 out of 5 players on offense were on the OL. Also, Blanchard is now the top rated pass protector in the MAC at OT. - Each position had a player in the top 5 on defense.

There is no NIL budget. 2022 Freshmen Still on the Team: LB - Bryan McCoy (2023 All-MAC) WR - Bobby Golden (Starter) OL - Keylen Davis (Starter) OL - Tyhler Williams (Starter) RB - Charles Kellom (Part-Time Starter) DT - Kiawan Murphy (Two Deep) Transfer Portal Additions still on the Team: WR - Alex Adams (2022 All-MAC, but has been plagued by injuries since) CB - Devontae Golden-Nelson (Starter) JUCO Addition still on the Team: LB - Antavious Fish (Starter) 2022 Freshmen No Longer on the Team: OL - Ki’Marii Landers (Part-Time Starter) QB - Dijon Jennings RB - Anthony Stallworth TE - Marquell Darnell OL - Jourden Hale LB - Jaharon Griffin Transfer Portal Additions No Longer on the Team: ( * has been placed beside players who have exhausted their eligibility) WR - Daniel George (2023 All-MAC) * WR - Shocky Jaquel-Louis (2022 All-MAC) * OL - Anthony Whigan (2022 All-MAC) * S - Kerry Martin (2023 All-MAC) TE - TJ Banks (Starter) * DE - Victor Jones (Starter)* DT - Curtis Harper (Starter) * DT - Ravontae Holt (Starter) * QB - Jeff Undercuffler (Part-Time Starter) * RB - Clyde Price (Part-Time Starter) RB - Cam Wiley (Part-Time Starter) OL - Max Banes (Part-Time Starter) LB - Tim Terry (Part-Time Starter)* S - Nate Thompson (Part-Time Starter)* DT - Devon Robinson (Two Deep) S - Jaden Woods (Two Deep) TE - Caden Clark JUCO Additions No Longer on the Team: WR - Caleb Anderson (Two Deep) DT - Kyle Thomas (Two Deep) CB - Cam Threatt Losing 11 one score games is being competitive in those game, It’s just not winning.

Not much to report from this past weekend’s games… Week 6 Starters for new team: WR - Jasaiah Gathings (UCONN) = 78 snaps. 3 receptions for 29 yards. WR - Oran Singleton (Eastern Michigan) = BYE WR - Anthony Williams (Alcorn State) = N/A RG - Tony Georges (Kent State) = BYE RT - Jordan Daniels (Western Carolina) = N/A RT - Xavior Gray (Liberty) = N/A RT - Nate Williams (San Diego State) = 71 snaps. DE - Curtis Fann (Western Carolina) = N/A LB - Luke Bauer (Morehead State) = N/A S - Corey Thomas (Virginia) = 60 snaps. 6 tackles. S - Jaden Woods (East Tennessee State) = N/A Backups for new team: TE - Caleb Anderson (Alcorn State) = N/A DE - Ryan Johnson (Southern Miss) = 49 snaps. 4 tackles and a sack. LB - Jaharon Griffin (Alcorn State) = N/A CB - Tyson Durant (Washington State) = N/A S - KJ Martin (NC State) = 18 snaps. 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) DB - Rishad Hence (Eastern Kentucky)

Bump for update.

I don’t know if it’s a must win, but it would definitely go a long way in gaining some momentum and finishing the back half of season on a high note. That’s where the majority of our potential wins were going to come from anyway.

Blanchard moved into the #1 spot as the MAC’s top rated OT pass protector. Nunnally is also back in position to be be selected as All-MAC again.

Game thread and preview. QB: Hayden Wolff is in his second season with WMU and is currently completing close to 70% of his passes for 907 yards. He has thrown for 7 TDs vs 2 INTs. Wolff has been able to complete 75% of his passes when not pressured. When pressured, that number drops to 53%. RB: The Broncos have two excellent backs in Oklahoma State transfer Jaden Nixon and senior Zahir Abdul-Salaam. 2023 All-MAC RB Jalen Buckley is being slowly incorporated back into the lineup from injury. Nixon is 2nd in the MAC with 484 yards rushing and 6 touchdowns. Abdul-Salaam is 10th in the MAC with 225 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns. WR: Senior Anthony Sambucci has been the go-to target at WR. He has 22 receptions for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns. Senior Kenneth Wommack has gotten involved in the past two games and has 13 receptions for 111 yards. TE: Junior Blake Bosma is usually good for at least a few catches per game. He has 15 receptions for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns. OL: The OL is a veteran group that can be a punishing tandem with the RBs. They have also done a solid job of keeping Wolff upright this season. LT - Tedi Kushi (R. Sr.) LG - John Hofer (R. Jr.) C - Jacob Gideon (Sr.) RG - Addison West (R. Sr.) RT - Jack Sherwin (R. Sr.) DL: Junior Tyson Lee is a starter at one DE spot, while junior Corey Walker will likely start on the opposite side. Lee has 9 tackles and a sack. Walker has 10 tackles and 3 sacks. Iowa transfer Anterio Thompson and junior Mason Nelson start on the interior. Thompson has 15 tackles. Nelson has 13 tackles and 2 sacks. LB: Senior Donald Willis is having an All-MAC caliber season and is 7th with 43 tackles. His running mate is Jacob Wahlberg who has 28 tackles and a sack. DB: Senior cornerback Bilal Kone (we also offered in the 2023 portal cycle) is also having an All-MAC caliber season. Kone has 29 tackles and 5 PDs. Opposite Kone will likely be Tennessee Tech transfer Nyquann Washington. Washington has 9 tackles and 3 PDs. Senior Damari Robinson is the NB. He has 18 tackles and 2 PDs. Senior Tate Hallock starts at one safety spot, while junior Aaron Wolford starts at the other. Hallock has collected 31 tackles, 2 PDs, and 1 INT. Wolford has 21 tackles and 1 INT. K: WMU has utilized two kickers so far, but Butler transfer Luka Zurak has gotten most of the action. He is 4 of 5 on FGs and 16 of 16 on XPs. P: Redshirt freshman Ryan Millmore is averaging 43.1 yards per punt with 9 downed inside the 20 yard line. KR: RB Jaden Nixon is the main return man and is averaging 19.1 yards per return with a long of 27 yards. Breakdown: Offense - WMU’s bread and butter is running the football. The passing game is effective when the running game is humming. Wolff is not fleet of foot and can be limited by a pass rush and lack of run game. However, when he has time, Wolff can pick apart a defense. Defense - WMU’s defense has been hit or miss. They were soft against a not so good Ball State offense, but were much better the game before against Marshall. Akron and WMU are very similar in terms of defensive statistics, except WMU has only managed to create 5 turnovers thus far. Summary: This is absolutely a winnable game as these two teams seem evenly matched. It will likely come down to coaching and special teams play. WMU has had issues with their special teams coverage, so that could be an area where Zips gain an advantage on field position. If Akron can pull out a victory here, then go into the bye week and get some more players healthy, the back half of the season could get interesting.

I’m a week behind on this. Here are last week’s results. Week 5 Starters for new team: WR - Jasaiah Gathings (UCONN) = 57 snaps. 4 receptions for 27 yards. WR - Oran Singleton (Eastern Michigan) = 75 snaps. 7 receptions for 51 yards and a TD. WR - Anthony Williams (Alcorn State) = N/A RG - Tony Georges (Kent State) = 67 snaps. RT - Jordan Daniels (Western Carolina) = BYE RT - Xavior Gray (Liberty) = BYE RT - Nate Williams (San Diego State) = 71 snaps. DE - Curtis Fann (Western Carolina) = BYE LB - Luke Bauer (Morehead State) = 49 snaps. 4 Tackles. S - Corey Thomas (Virginia) = BYE S - Jaden Woods (East Tennessee State) = 68 snaps. 2 Tackles, 1 FF, and a PD. Backups for new team: TE - Caleb Anderson (Alcorn State) = N/A DE - Ryan Johnson (Southern Miss) = BYE LB - Jaharon Griffin (Alcorn State) = N/A CB - Tyson Durant (Washington State) = 51 snaps. 2 Tackles. S - KJ Martin (NC State) = 51 snaps. 7 Tackles and a PD. 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) DB - Rishad Hence (Eastern Kentucky)

QB: Finley only missed on a handful of throws (not counting the ones where he was pressured and had no chance) and was much better this week. He moved around well in the pocket and usually got the ball out quickly. Finley zipped a few passes that we haven’t seen a QB do since 2022 DJI. If Finley continues to play at this level, we’ll have a chance in the rest of our games. RB: Simmons made the most of his opportunities in both the pass and run game. I would have liked to have seen him get more touches (9 rushing attempts and 5 receiving). Kellom didn’t have as many opportunities this game. WR: I can only recall one drop. The WRs did a solid job blocking on the perimeter and caught almost everything that came their way. Norton had substantial yards after the catch. Golden played every snap due to Adams, Rush, and Walker being out. TE: Newell again played almost every snap. It’s too bad he wasn’t expecting the pass on the last series, as Finley put it right on him. OL: That was the best showing by the OL to date. Morris got the start at LG with Seymore listed as out. D. Thomas surprisingly got the start at RT, despite James’ recent play. (LG) Morris and (C) Williams played every snap. DL: That was also the DL’s best pass rush showing to date. Pressure came from all over. Nunnally, Adler, Dall, and Brockington each had sacks and the defense collected 9 tackles for loss. LB: McCoy and Fish were excellent. The defense as a whole tackled much better than last week. They had 20+ misses against Ohio and less than 10 this week. Spriggs and Benenge saw early snaps. Spriggs looked explosive and the light may be coming on for him. DB: There were a few glaring busts that led to explosive plays, but outside of that, the secondary was solid. Only 3 safeties played (P. Lewis, D. Lewis, Anderson). When either P. Lewis or Anderson came out the game, D. Lewis slid from NB to safety. Greenwood or T. Thomas filled in at NB. Reed and DeWalt backed up Golden-Nelson and Hunter. ST: Outside of a shanked punt, special teams were excellent again - even scoring a touchdown this game. Coaching: Unfortunately, it’s the same old song and dance. The team played well enough to win and had the lead/ were tied for a period of time. That’s now 11 games lost by a single score (slightly over 1/3 of total games played) during Moorhead’s tenure. He has to find a way to get this team over the hump. QB: Finley Bullock RB: Simmons Kellom WR: Norton P. Davis WR: Golden WR: Polk Granger TE: Newell Cravaack LT: Blanchard Shor LG: Morris C Williams RG: K. Davis Burrell RT: Thomas James DE: Adler Dall DE: Nunnally Richards DT: Lavea Kapongo Madden DT: Moore Brockington LB: Fish Benenge LB: McCoy Spriggs NB: D. Lewis Greenwood Thomas CB: Golden-Nelson DeWalt CB: Hunter Reed S: P. Lewis D. Lewis S: Anderson D. Lewis Top Players on Offense (25 Plays or more): RT - James (was RT D. Thomas) WR - Norton (was RG K. Davis) LT - Blanchard RT - D. Thomas (was WR Norton) RG - K. Davis (was QB Finley) Top Rated Players on Defense (25 Plays or more): DE - Dall LB - Fish DT - Brockington (was DT Kapongo) S - D. Lewis (was DE Nunnally) CB - Hunter Top Rated players on Special Teams: LS - Reardon S - P. Lewis CB - DeWalt WR - P. Davis WR - Golden

Big time recruiting weekend. Let’s hope Zips put on a show.

It’d be fun to see, but the big boys (SEC & BIG) would never go for that. A divide is certainly coming, but it won’t involve promotion and relegation in that fashion. All the G5 hustling is minor compared to whatever the “haves” eventually decide.

Sounds like it’s going to be UTEP (already announced) and current FCS member Tarleton State heading to MWC.

Bump for weekly update. Players that would likely be All-MAC if season ended today: WR - Norton TE - Newell LB - McCoy S - D. Lewis P - Book

BG Preview QB: Connor Bazelak is the man at QB this season after splitting reps last year. He is currently 2nd in the MAC in passing yards with 975 and is completing 65% of his passes. He has thrown 4 TDs vs 4 INTs. RB: Terion Stewart and Jaison Patterson are one of the better running back duos in the MAC when healthy. Stewart has totaled 270 yards and 4 rushing TDs in three games. Patterson has run for 151 yards and 1 TD. Neither back has been used much in a receiving capacity thus far. WR: Auburn transfer Malcolm Johnson has been the main wide receiver threat in 2024. He has collected 16 receptions for 159 yards and a TD. Running back Jamal Johnson also plays some receiver and gives the offense another playmaker. He has 13 catches for 107 yards. TE: Harold Fannin is not only the best TE in the MAC, he may also be the best receiving TE in the country. Fannin has amassed 37 receptions for 541 yards and 3 TDs. Senior Levi Gazarek is mostly utilized as an in-line blocker. OL: This group has only given up 3 sacks on the year. RT Alex Wollschaeger is having an All-MAC type season. LT - Billie Roberts (Sr.) LG - Nate Pabst (Jr.) C - Alex Padgett (Jr.) RG - Tunde Fatukasi (Sr.) RT - Alex Wollschaeger (Sr.) DL: BG usually runs a 3 man front (will bring down LB as 4th) on defense and has two All-MAC candidates along the DL. Anthony Hawkins has 23 tackles and 3 sacks, while Ali Saad has 16 tackles and 2 sacks. Beside them is usually Dontrez Brown (9 tackles and 0.5 sack). LB: At the linebacker spots are two All-MAC candidates in Jordan Shipp and Charles Rosser. Shipp has amassed 27 tackles and 3 sacks. Rosser has collected 22 tackles and 2.5 sacks. The third LB is Brock Horne who has 22 tackles and 0.5 sack. DB: Jordan Oladokun and Texas Southern transfer Ja’Corey Benjamin are the starting CBs. Oladokun has 13 tackles and 2 PDs, while Benjamin has 6 tackles, 3 PDs, and 1 INT. Opposing offenses have targeted Oladokun more in the passing game. Darius Lorfils, Northern Illinois transfer CJ Brown, and Avi McGary are the safeties. Lorfils has 11 tackles and 1 PD. Brown has 24 tackles and 1 PD. McGary has 9 tackles. Lorfils has had some tackling issues this season. K: Jackson Kleather is 13 of 14 on extra points and 4 of 6 on field goals. P: John Henderson is averaging 43.6 yards per punt with 8 punts downed inside the 20 yard line. KR: Tennessee Tech transfer Justin Pegues is averaging 29.2 yards per return and also has a 100 yard return this season. Breakdown: Offense - BG does an excellent job of keeping opponents off kilter with their balanced attack. Fannin is certainly the focus of the passing game, yet the ground game gets almost just as many opportunities. Defense - BG’s secondary is susceptible to giving up chunk plays against RPOs. The safeties, in-particular, can struggle at times. BG can also become overly aggressive and give up explosive plays. That’s about where the weaknesses end as they are an excellent pass rushing defense and generally tackle well. Summary: If BG is going to contend for the MAC, this is the year to do it. They will lose a load of veteran talent after this season. That said, they have shown a tendency to play to the level of their opponent over the past few weeks.

I don’t think we’ve offered, but might this weekend. He’ll be on campus for the BGSU game.

Bump for update.

Agreed, something has to change. Finley is not in a place to be able to carry this team without a run game. Otherwise, wins will continue to be hard to come by.

The comments about the OL not being physically good enough are simply not true. I went back and rewatched every offensive play. I counted 9 passes that were poorly thrown when the QB had a clean pocket. Also, several of the QB scrambles were unnecessary as the QB actually had time. I’m not saying the OL was perfect by any stretch, but they did enough to give the QB a chance. EDIT: This post isn’t meant to take a shot at Finley. He obviously has to play better and the coaches need to put him in more situations to be successful. Here’s every offensive play for anyone who cares to go back and rewatch. 1st Drive: Play 1 - RPO. Completed pass. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. Play 2 - RPO. Completed pass. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. Play 3 - Swing Pass. Completed pass. 5 man rush. Clean pocket. (Holding on WR) Play 4 - RPO. Completed Pass. 4 man rush. Clean pocket.. Play 5 - RPO. Completed Pass. 5 man rush. Clean pocket. Play 6 - Pass. Scramble by QB as he was already rolling right. Open WRs were on backside (left) of field. 6 man rush. Play 7 - Pass. Completed Pass. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. Play 8 - RPO. Completed Pass. 5 man rush. Clean pocket. Play 9 - False Start Play 10 - Pass. Scramble by QB. 4 man rush. No pressure for while. Play 11 - Pass. QB was sacked. Play was to go deep. Ohio jumped the hot route and QB had to scramble. Play 12 - Pass. Completed pass. Screen going both directions. 5 man rush. James set a block on the CB downfield. 2nd Drive: Play 1 - QB Read. Run. Blitzing safety made the tackle on RB. 5 man rush. Play 2 - Pass. Incomplete pass. QB had all day to throw and one hopped it to target. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. Play 3 - Pass. Completed Pass. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. 3rd Drive: Play 1 - RPO. Run by RB. Blitzing LB made the tackle. 6 man rush. Play 2 - Pass. QB scramble. QB stepped up into the pocket and then chose to keep himself. 4 man rush. Play 3 - Pass. Incomplete pass. Blitz was picked up by RB. QB errant throw to TE. 4th Drive: Play 1 - RPO. Run. LT missed block on DE that made the tackle. 4 man rush. Play 2 - Pass. Incomplete pass. QB under threw WR. Clean pocket. 3 man rush. Play 3 - Pass. Interception. QB stepped up into pocket, but instead of staying there, continued to roll left and throw an interception. 3 man rush. Clean pocket. 5th Drive: Play 1 - RPO. Incomplete pass. Pass threw slightly behind WR. 5 man rush. Clean pocket. Play 2 - Pass. Incomplete pass. QB stepped into the pocket and overthrew the deep ball. QB hit after he threw the ball. 4 man rush. (Penalty on Ohio) Play 3 - RPO. Completed Pass. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. Play 4 - RPO. Run. OL did not block up to either LB that made the tackle. 4 man rush. Play 5 - Run. QB draw that got blown up in the backfield by Ohio’s blitz. 6 man rush. 6th Drive: Play 1 - RPO. Completed Pass. QB was touched after he threw the ball. 4 man rush. Play 2 - RPO. Completed Pass. 5 man rush. Clean pocket. Play 3 - RPO. Completed Pass and Touchdown. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. 2ND HALF 7th Drive: Play 1 - RPO. Incomplete Pass. QB one hopped pass to WR. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. Play 2 - RPO. Run. C & G double teamed the DT who made the tackle and both decided to release DT to work to second level. 4 man rush Play 3 - Pass. Completed Pass. QB wanted to go deep, but it wasn’t there. No initial pressure. The LB (who the RB flipped) eventually got up and applied the pressure. 5 man rush. 8th Drive: 1st Play - Pass. Incomplete pass hit WR in the hands, but throw was slightly behind. 6 man rush. QB hit after releasing the ball. 2nd Play - RPO. Incomplete Pass. One hopped pass to WR. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. 3rd Play - RPO. Completed Pass on TE screen. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. 9th Drive: 1st Play - Pass. Completed pass to TE. 4 man rush. Pressure from LT and pressure from pulling C. QB hit after throw. 2nd Play - Pass. Fumble Recovery. QB dropped the ball on the snap and recovered it. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. 3rd Play - Pass. Sack & Safety. Couldn’t see what actually happened due to previous play replay, but looked like a blitzing LB got the sack. 10th Drive: 1st Play - RPO. Completed Pass to TE. 4 man rush. Pressure came from where TE released. 2nd Play - Pass. Completed pass to RB. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. 3rd Play - RPO. Incomplete pass. QB under threw WR. 5 man rush. Clean pocket. 4th Play - RPO. Incomplete pass. 6 man rush. Pressure came from LG. QB hit after throw. 5th Play - Pass. Incomplete pass. Catchable ball that was slightly high. 4 man rush. Pressure came up middle on RB blitz pickup. 11th Drive: 1st Play - RPO. Completed pass to WR (Bullock). Pressure from RT as DE had free release. QB hit on throw. 4 man rush. 2nd Play - Pass. Completed pass to TE. 3 man rush. Clean pocket. 3rd Play - Pass. Sack. RB was open, but QB didn’t see him and attempted to scramble. Pressure came through LG on a twist. 4 man rush. 12th Drive: 1st Play - QB read. QB kept and was tackled for loss. Looked like he should have gave to RB. 2nd Play - RPO. Pass completed to WR. Pressure up the middle on C, but DT never touched QB. 4 man rush. 3rd Play - Pass. Completed pass to WR. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. 4th Play - RPO. Run. 4 man rush. 5th Play - RPO. Pass completed to TE. 5 man rush. Clean pocket. 6th Play - RPO. Incomplete pass. QB under threw TE. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. 7th Play - RPO. Pass Completed to WR. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. 8th Play - RPO. Option run by TE called back due to penalty. 9th Play - RPO. Pass completed to TE. Pressure came from LT. QB rolled out and was hit as he threw. 13th Drive: 1st Play - Pass. Completed pass to WR. 5 man rush. Pressure came from C, but QB was not touched. 2nd Play. RPO. Run. 4 man rush. 3rd Play - Pass. Interception. Pass thrown into double coverage. Everyone was covered. 4 man rush. Clean pocket. 14th Drive: 1st Play - Pass. Incomplete pass intended for WR. Under threw WR. 3 man rush. Clean pocket. 2nd Play - Finley sacked. No idea what happened as the broadcast was showing the previous play. 3rd Play - RPO. Run. Four man rush.

QB: Finley has to play better. There were times where he ripped passes and displayed his arm, but there were far too many one hoppers or overthrows. What bothered me just as much as the inaccurate passes was his movement in the pocket. A number of the pressures could have been avoided if Finley had improved footwork/awareness in the pocket. Instead, his first instinct was to roll out. What’s even worse is when he rolled left and opened his body up for a big hit and potential injury. Decision making where the ball goes also needs to improve. There were times where Moorhead was clearly frustrated as it seemed Finley missed the open man. I couldn’t see what was happening downfield, so I have to assume there was something based off Moorhead’s reactions. I’m a little surprised we didn’t see Bullock at QB for at least a series. RB: Not much to say here. Simmons and Kellom had a total of 8 attempts between the two of them. I did see the backs upend/flip a few blitzers, so there was improvement in pass protection. Snaps for Simmons and Kellom were evenly distributed. WR: As mentioned earlier, I couldn’t see most of what was going on downfield, so it’s hard to say how much separation was actually occurring. I would like to see Norton have the ball thrown his way more often if it’s one-on-one coverage. Throwing to him when he’s triple covered isn’t the best idea. That said, a few balls hit his hands that had a chance to be reeled in and it didn’t happen. TE: Newell played almost every snap again. He caught 8 passes, including one for a touchdown. He’s an offensive weapon most MAC teams don’t have in the passing game. OL: This group struggled creating room in their limited rushing opportunities. Pass protection wasn’t great, but it also wasn’t nearly as bad as it seemed. Finley has to help out his offensive line. I always take OL PFF grades with a grain of salt, but this was - by far - the best rated pass protection grading for the OL. Subbing was tightened up this week. I believe T. Williams went the whole way at center and K. Davis played almost every snap at RG. Blanchard and James played about 75% of the snaps at LT and RT respectively. Seymore took most of the snaps at LG. DL: I’m only going to say this once so I’m not overly repetitive, but the amount of missed tackles by the entire defense was horrendous. We seem to have one game a year where tackling is awful. I don’t know how many sacks and tackles for loss we should have had today, but it was a fairly high amount. The odd/three man fronts really gave Ohio issues. Moore, in-particular, was wrecking things up front. Ohio’s IOL had major issues blocking him. Lavea had his moments too. After Cheatom went down, Kabbash Richards finally showed what he can do and I have to think he earned himself more playing time going forward. Zy Brockington and Dimitri Madden saw their first defensive action of the year. LB: Fish and McCoy played the majority of snaps. McCoy led the team in tackles with 14, but also had an uncharacteristic personal foul called against him. DB: The cornerbacks actually played well. They weren’t tested that often through the air and did a solid job coming up in run support. Safety play was not always up to par and gave up several explosive plays. Ohio kept getting matchups with their only receiving threat (Owen) against the safeties/nickelbacks. Anderson received the start again after doing some good things against South Carolina last week. T. Thomas saw his first defensive action. ST: Fantastic day from the special teams. Smith hit a 49 yard FG and Book continuously flipped field position on punts. Book may be our MVP at the moment. Coaching: In the end, this falls back on the coaches. The defense had a solid gameplan, but the missed tackles are mostly fundamental issues. The offense started off strong on the scripted plays and then struggled for most of the contest. The defense managed to create two turnovers and the offense couldn’t convert on shortened field position. I’m fairly confident in saying anyone who watched this game realized it was winnable and yet the proverbial ball was dropped again. It’s no longer a talent issue and the staff needs to get it figured out. Next up is Bowling Green. Many fans and pundits alike were anointing them one of the best teams in the MAC, despite their only win coming against an 0-5 Fordham. That may still end up being the case, but they did just lose to a previously 0-3 Old Dominion squad and are currently 1-3 overall. If we have any chance to go bowling, we probably need to win either Ohio or Bowling Green and one of those has already been taken off the table. QB: Finley Bullock (in other roles) RB: Simmons Kellom WR: Norton Davis WR: Golden Rush WR: Polk Granger TE: Newell Cravaack LT: Blanchard Shor LG: Seymore Morris C Williams RG: K. Davis Burrell RT: James Thomas DE: Nunnally Cheatom Richards DE: Adler Ball DT: Lavea Brockington Madden DT: Kapongo Moore Proffitt LB: Fish Summers LB: McCoy Spriggs NB: D. Lewis T. Thomas CB: Golden-Nelson White CB: Hunter Reed DeWalt S: P. Lewis Greenwood S: J. Anderson Greenwood Top Players on Offense (25 Plays or more): TE - Newell RT - James LT - Blanchard WR - Norton LG - Seymore Top Players on Defense (25 Plays or more): DT - Moore CB - Hunter DE - Richards DT - Lavea DE - Adler Top Players on Special Teams: TBA