catdaddyp

https://x.com/zipsfb/status/1694349856611905787?s=61&t=_TFqePY4lFXUo5BavIxA3w

It’ll be interesting to see how the dollar amounts change in the coming years as NIL collectives siphon some of those contributions away.

Another take on Temple. Might be worth a background listen or if you’ve got nothing else to do.

I’m excited to see what the OL does this year. Anxious to see what young guys like T. Williams, K. Davis, and C. Lyons give us on the interior. I still think Williams and Davis will be starters. Definitely a typo on Thomas. He has to be in the 300lbs range. I’d guess Jones, Lavea, Thomas, and Robinson will be the four that collect the most snaps at DT. Need those guys to pickup where Holt and Harper left off.

Takeaways from the limited clips of the 2nd scrimmage and other media: - Seems Gathings is in line to start in SJL’s spot. - Looks like DJI is still running with the 1s. Maybe there is also significant rotation with Bullock that we haven’t seen? - Clip of OL Colin Lyons running downfield. He’s a guy I thought would help us last year, but was hampered by injuries. - RB Drake Anderson seems to be in a number of highlight clips during fall camp. - I’m guessing nothing has been settled along the DL, but the main cast that keeps popping up are DEs Ryan Johnson, CJ Nunnally, and Antonio Smith as well as DTs Kyle Thomas and Devon Robinson. - Looks like Fish and McCoy are the likely starters at LB.

https://x.com/zipsfb/status/1693370169685352563?s=61&t=_TFqePY4lFXUo5BavIxA3w

Depending on who you talk to will get you wildly different views on this year’s team. I’m very bullish on Akron and think the team will take a major leap in the win column. Similar to Temple, Akron was playing their best football towards the end of last year. Even with a roster that wasn’t quite up to par with most opponents, Zips lost 5 conference games by a score (7, 6, 6, 3, 1). The major flaws were lack of pass rush (dead last in MAC play with 13 sacks), giving up sacks (last again with 36), run game (averaged less than 100 yards per game on the season) and inconsistent CB play. On the bright side, Zips led the conference in passing yards per game on offense and improved the run defense by 140 yards per game vs the previous season. Zips collected the #1 Comprehensive recruiting class in the MAC (according to Rivals) during the offseason and kept significant losses to a minimum. Outside of graduation, key losses were LB Bubba Arslanian, DT Ravontae Holt, and LT Ka’Marii Landers. The offense should be more explosive in the run game with the additions of former 5 star RB Lorenzo Lingard and Arizona transfer RB Drake Anderson, while the passing game that averaged almost 300 yards per game in conference should be just as effective. The offensive line may not be elite, but should be improved. There will be a noticeable difference in athleticism along the OL. Defensively, Zips will field a strong group of safeties and CB play will be much improved if the spring game was any indication. There is a chance all five starters in the secondary will be former P5 players. The linebacker corps is fairly young and/or inexperienced, albeit talented and physical. The DL is where most questions still remain. There was an overhaul of players this offseason, which was probably needed. Five JUCOs and three transfers were added. Another situation where the athleticism (and also length) has been improved. However, who starts there or even plays the most snaps is anyone’s guess at this point. The biggest difference between this season and last is the amount of talent throughout the roster. I would pit Akron’s depth against any other team in the MAC at this point. That may sound crazy in year 2 of Moorhead’s tenure, but the portal has opened up another avenue of flipping roster talent that wasn’t available just a few years ago. Also, a mark of a strong coaching staff is the development of players and improved performance throughout the season - something we saw from the Zips last year. To close out the season, Akron held the top rushing team in the MAC (NIU) to 89 yards rushing and followed that up by limiting Buffalo to 27 yards rushing. Most casual observers seem to have issues getting past the name on the jersey and think this will be the same ole Akron. Of course, those same observers don’t follow recruiting so that’s not a surprise. Like you mentioned, week 1 can be fluky sometimes. It’ll be interesting to see how this one plays out. I suspect both teams will be improved by the end of the season and it’s unlikely a loss by either side will be much of setback. On a side note, Joe Moorhead’s Fordham teams went from 6 wins in his first year to 12 in his second year. That’s FCS ball and may not directly correlate to MAC play, but does go to show Moorhead knows what it takes to drastically change the direction of a program. Looking forward to this game and hope both teams avoid any major injuries and also give the staffs significant insight that will help with the rest of the season.

Here’s the link for the preview of the 2023 schedule that I started a while back. I still need to complete Morgan State, UK, and Indiana, but it has returning players, additions, etc listed.

Just stumbled across this interview from media days. Coach Moorhead was brutal honest. Definitely get the feel of he’s tired of talking about it and ready to hit the field.

Was hoping for more from the scrimmage. One thing that did stand out is #99 Devon Robinson about midway through when #4 Ryan Johnson is tackling #21 Drake Anderson. Robinson runs into the frame and really looks the part physically. In a few clips later it looks like Robinson was in Irons face as the pass was completed to Adams. Would be huge if Robinson lives up to his potential this year.

Don’t want you to feel like your post is being ignored. Unfortunately, I don’t have much to provide outside of the clips from social media and what I saw in the spring game.

It was just a link of some of the football players showing off their dance moves. Looks like the link was deleted and reposted later in the day.

What a massive hole the OL created here. Wonder who won? RB Anderson or S Martin who is about to fill.

Yes, exactly my point. Just fyi, 2019-2021 was under a different coaching staff. Less than 30 players remain on the roster from that regime. Anyway, I’ll stop at this point. Everyone is welcome to their opinion. We are obviously at different ends of the spectrum here.

I guess “realistic” is in the eye of the beholder. Below are other MAC teams that have made similar leaps in the win column that I’m expecting for this season. There is no hype for this program outside of myself, some others on the board, and two media outlets that actually follow MAC football to some degree. Even Joe Moorhead has been very coy this offseason. He clearly knows he has something cooking. Every other outlet and fanbase seems to think Akron will be a bottom dweller again, yet not a single one of them have actually paid much attention to what this staff has done on the recruiting trail since they’ve been here. Also guessing they didn’t watch many of the games last year… CMU: 2018 - 1 2019 - 8 EMU: 2015 - 1 2016 - 7 Kent: 2018 - 2 2019 - 7 Miami: 2009 - 1 2010 - 10 NIU: 2020 - 0 2021 - 9 Ohio: 2021 - 3 2022 - 10 WMU: 2013 - 1 2014 - 8 If the casual fan could get past the name on the jersey, they might see “realistic expectations” may not be so realistic. As for the diatribes of Ohio, I haven’t lived here long enough to have an informed opinion.

Sleeve of Texas A&M’s NIL fund shut down. Sounds like they’ll be playing by the rules now. Just to add a little context, most P5 schools have some type of NIL resource department. They are only allowed to educate and let athletes know about the opportunities that are out there. They cannot directly facilitate a deal. The resource department can educate the collectives, but what the collectives do from there is on them.

Count me impressed! Also looks like Rivals needs to remove Idaho and add Jacksonville State and Sam Houston.

John Young. OL transfer from Kentucky.

That’s an interesting idea about NFL on Fridays and Saturdays. It wouldn’t go that well in the SEC foot print (especially on Saturdays) but maybe elsewhere.

Good question. For some reason Rivals has always just listed the top 100 teams.

I don’t believe we are counting on any freshmen to start this year. The #1 ranking included HS/JUCO/ and portal. Last year, we had two portal players become All-MAC and another two are preseason All-MAC this year. It’s happening….

The 2023 Composite Ratings have been posted and linked here. FYI, Akron is #1 in the MAC. Doesn’t fit a narrative of poor recruiting…

Right. Kent is listed as 1st in the transfer rankings, as you mentioned. That one goes by total points, similar to the HS/JUCO rankings. Can’t argue their portal class was much better than their HS/JUCO class. Better than Akron’s? Doubtful, but we’ll see.