catdaddyp

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

Solely pass blocking: Blanchard = 2nd best OT Morris = 5th best IOL Seymore = 8th best IOL

Last season’s highlights vs Ohio.

WEEK 4 Starters for new team: WR - Anthony Williams (Alcorn State) = 5 snaps. 1 reception for 3 yards. IOL - Tony Georges (Kent State) = 47 snaps. OT - Jordan Daniels (Western Carolina) = 66 snaps. RT - Xavior Gray (Liberty) = 69 snaps. RT - Nate Williams (San Diego State) = BYE DE - Curtis Fann (Western Carolina) = 59 snaps. 5 Tackles and 0.5 Sack. LB - Luke Bauer (Morehead State) = 44 snaps. 1 Tackle. CB - Tyson Durant (Washington State) = 66. 5 Tackles. S - Corey Thomas (Virginia) = 46 snaps. 2 Tackles. S - Jaden Woods (East Tennessee State) = 46 snaps. 3 Tackles and 1 Fumble Recovery. Backups for new team: QB - Dijon Jennings (Weber State) = 3 snaps. WR - Oran Singleton (Eastern Michigan) = 30 snaps. 7 receptions for 81 yards. WR - Jasaiah Gathings (UCONN) = 36 snaps. 1 reception for 5 yards. TE - Caleb Anderson (Alcorn State) = 22 snaps. 1 reception for 7 yards. RT - Ronan Chambers (Auburn) = N/A DE - Ryan Johnson (Southern Miss) = 23 snaps. 4 Tackles. LB - Jaharon Griffin (Alcorn State) = 5 snaps. 1 Tackle. S - KJ Martin (NC State) = N/A DNP: 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) DB - Rishad Hence (Eastern Kentucky)

Agreed. I’d also forgotten we were up 14-3 at the half last year.

ESPN Bottom 10 If Zips win Saturday, its likely the last time listed. Last two matchups vs Ohio: 2022: 55-34 Ohio win. Rourke torched us for 427 yards and 3 TDs. Bangura rushed for 90 yards and 3 TDs. 2023: 25-14 Ohio win. Rourke passed for 208 yards and a TD. Bangura rushed for 121 yards and a TD. We’’ll find out if Navarro/Poulos and Tyus are as good as Rourke and Bangura.

Johnson was named a team captain last year too. My guess is that things haven’t panned out quite the way he thought they would at Southern Miss. Losing Johnson hurt from a pass rush perspective, but in the end it allowed Adler to get the developmental snaps he needed. Amankwaa leaving in 2022 hurt when we were in desperate need of a consistent cornerback. I’d be surprised if we lost many this year as almost everyone on the roster was recruited by Moorhead. Only 9 remain from the previous staff and that includes walk-ons.

Below are players that have seen significant action during one or multiple games this season. I also labeled if they committed from the portal (TP) or JUCO. I’ll be curious to see how soon some of the more inexperienced players see the field against Ohio. We were rolling guys out there as early as the 2nd quarter against South Carolina. I think Spriggs may have also gotten a few snaps in the first quarter when McCoy briefly came out the game. QB: Finley (R. Jr. - TP Bullock (R. Jr. - TP) RB: Simmons (R. Jr. - TP) Kellom (R. So.) WR: Walker (R. Jr.) Rush (R. Jr. - JUCO) Golden (Jr.) Granger (Jr. - TP) Norton (So.) Polk (R.Fr. - TP) Davis (R. Fr.) TE: Newell (R. So. - TP) OL: Blanchard (R. Sr. - TP) Thomas (R. Sr. - TP) Seymore (R. Jr. - TP) Shor (R. Jr. - TP) Burrell (Jr. - JUCO) Davis (R. So.) Williams (R. So.) Morris (So.) James (R. Fr.) DE: Nunnally (Sr. - JUCO) Adler (Sr.) Richards (R. Sr - JUCO) Dall (R. Fr.) Cheatom (R. Fr.) DT: Kapongo (R. Sr. - TP) Lavea (R. Sr. - TP) Moore (So.) Murphy (R. So.) LB: Cooper (R. Sr. - TP) Fish (Sr. - JUCO) McCoy (Jr.) Spriggs (R. Fr.) Benenge (Fr.) CB: Golden-Nelson (R. Jr. - TP) Hunter (R. Jr. - (TP) DeWalt (R. Jr. - JUCO) Jarmon (R. Jr. - JUCO) Reed (R. So - TP) White (R. Fr.) S/NB: P. Lewis (Sr. - TP) D. Lewis (R. Jr.) Greenwood (R. Jr. - TP) David (R. Jr. - TP) Anderson (R. Jr. - JUCO) Johnson (R. Jr.) Roach (R. Jr.) R. Hunter (Fr.) K: Smith (R. Jr. - TP) P: Book (Sr. - TP) KO: Jackson (R. Sr. - JUCO)

Moorhead said Finley was fine and wanted to give Bullock some reps at that point in the game. Finley definitely took his share of hits though.

Moorhead basically did the same as Sanders, except over a 2 year period. He brought in 35 players in Year One and 41 players in Year Two. To your point about QB, it’s been misfires. Undercuffler and Jennings in Year One. Bullock and Wasel in Year Two. It seems like Year 3 finally hit the mark with Finley and Roggow. Irons was already here and became an All-MAC QB in 2022, but the injuries completely derailed him the following season. Turning play-calling over last year didn’t help either.

Game thread and Ohio Preview QB: Ohio will play either Parker Navarro (68.5%, 547 yards passing, 2 TDs vs 4 INTs) or JUCO signee Nick Poulos (43.5%, 135 yards passing, 0 TDs vs 1 INT). Navarro was held out last week against UK, so Poulos got the start. Both are dual-threat QBs as Navarro has 107 yards rushing and 2 TDs. Poulos has 62 yards rushing. RB: Northwestern transfer Anthony Tyus leads the MAC in rushing with 391 yards and 4 TDs. He is averaging 6.9 yards per carry. 2023 signee Ricky Hunt is the backup (I thought he was the 2nd best RB in the 2023 MAC class). Hunt currently has 138 yards rushing, 1 touchdown, and averages 4.2 yards per carry. WR: Northern Arizona transfer Coleman Owen is 2nd in the MAC receiving with 25 receptions for 336 yards. 2023 signee Chase Hendricks is second on the team with 10 receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown (I thought Hendricks was the best WR in the 2023 MAC class). TE: 2023 signee Mason Williams is the starter at tight end. Ohio has not utilized the tight ends as much as Akron in the passing game, but Williams does have 6 receptions for 59 yards. OL: It looks like the offensive line has started all 4 games together this season, so Ohio seems to have some consistency up front. LT - Carson Heidecker (R. Sr.) LG - Davion Witherspoon (R. Jr.) C - Parker Titsworth (Gr.) RG - Christophe Atkinson (Gr.) RT - Jacob Dennison (R. Sr.) DL: Nevada transfer Marcel Walker-Burgess (19 Tackles, 1 Sack, 1 INT, 2 FF) started against UK. North Dakota transfer Ben McNaboe (17 Tackles, 0.5 Sack) was another starter. Kaden Schmitz is another edge to watch as he already has 2.5 sacks on the season. On the interior is Cincinnati transfer CJ Doggette (9 Tackles) and Bralen Henderson (7 Tackles). LB: Bucknell transfer Blake Leake leads the team in tackles with 29. Shay Taylor has started 3 games and collected 14 tackles. DB: Tank Pearson (14 Tackles and 1 INT) and Roman Parodie (12 Tackles) are the starters at CB. 2023 signee DJ Walker (17 Tackles) has played mostly NB. Northern Colorado transfer Dustin Johnson (26 Tackles) has been one starter at safety, while Austin Brawley (28 Tackles) has been the other. K: 2023 signee Gianni Spetic has been perfect on field goals and extra points going 5 for 5 and 7 for 7, respectively. P: Jack Wilson is averaging 43 yards per punt with a long of 56 yards. KR: Tank Pearson is averaging 20 yards per return with a long of 31 yards. Breakdown: Offense - Ohio wants to run the ball and have the personnel to do so. Despite having one of the top reception leaders in the MAC, Ohio has not been overly impressive throwing the football. The offense has also turned the ball over a total of 8 times. Defense - The Bobcat defense has struggled to create turnovers and are similar to Akron in terms of pass rush. Ohio’s 6 sacks puts both teams near the bottom of the MAC going into Week 5. Ohio is also statistically near the bottom of the MAC against the pass. What does that Mean? Ohio’s strength is running the football, whereas Akron’s weakness has been stopping the run. Akron’s strength has been throwing the football, as Ohio’s weakness has been stopping the pass. This game will probably come down to turnovers, field position, and special teams play, as the two teams seem far more evenly matched going into this game than in 2022 or 2023.