catdaddyp

He may end up there at some point. I’m guessing part of his recruiting pitch was that we have both cornerback (and nickel) positions up for grabs and that T. Thomas could come in and play immediately. We may have the best slot tandem in the MAC this year with Adams and Golden. I’m curious to see how Myles Walker and Anthony Williams fit into the equation. Also, will Gathings bounce back? I know A. Williams and Gathings weren’t in the slot, but Gathings looked good before his injury last year.

Terence Thomas is an impressive athlete.

I went ahead and added full classes and not just “players to know.” Only 4 high school commits and 10 JUCOs still need ratings for the entire MAC. I’m still pushing for those and think we’ll be able to get all the prep players rated, but the JUCOs are not as likely. The transfer portal is a different beast and I know all the players in the portal will not receive ratings.

Temple, Buffalo, and NIU are updated.

I may be wrong, but I think this event is purely for the Tom Lemming (magazine?) photo shoot. That being said, it’s a great way to get recruits on campus to show off what Akron football has to offer. Even if it’s not in an official capacity.

Yep. Rivals used to go by the average rating, but changed that some years back. On a different note, a number of the JUCOs still do not have ratings. Rivals does not place as high of importance on JUCOs. I bring that up because we will likely sign another JUCO or two that may not receive ratings. It will increase our overall team points (and possible ranking) but drop our average.

Ok, I think I got the Northern Illinois situation straight. Pretty sure they have about a dozen walk-ons. Once the PWOs were removed, it dropped their class to 8th. Here is how Rivals views the HS/JUCO signings. There are still some commitments I’m trying to get rated.

Antonio Smith Hudl Film. As things stand, I’d say we have a good chance at landing Smith.

I believe Bowling Green. He’s from Westerville, OH.

JUCO DE Antonio Smith will visit next month.

Similar offer type of offer list as McCullom.

Already has offers from over half the MAC and two P5 schools (Illinois and Pittsburgh).

Saw this earlier today and got excited. No doubt in my mind Wasel is going to put up big numbers once his mechanics are cleaned up. No one better in Ohio to assist with that than Brad Maendler.

Offer out to DE Richie Hagarty. Former Miami (OH) commit. He then transferred to SIU and will have two years of eligibility remaining. Offer out to CB Courtney Eubanks of North Dakota State. He also has two years of eligibility remaining.

Updated recent Rivals ratings for all the teams. A handful of prospects still need a rating. As far as Akron is concerned: Lingard = 3 star and 448 Portal Ranking Jones = 3 star and 519 Portal Ranking Rabah = 3 star and 667 Portal Ranking Hunter = 2 star and 867 Portal Ranking Tallandier = 2 star and 1003 Portal Ranking D. Thomas = 2 star and 1004 Portal Ranking Terence Thomas probably will not receive a portal ranking due to the way the system is setup. He really should be considered a freshman as part of the 2023 class, but since he technically enrolled and was briefly on the team at Purdue he is considered a transfer. Frank currently does not have a profile to link as he was not considered a D1 prospect out of high school, so he will also not receive a rating.

Job, family, and distance won’t allow for season tickets but I will make one game this year. Aiming for the Northern Illinois one.

Offer out to German native Keon Rohe. Offensive tackle.

I guess it would depend on how much UK wanted out of it, assuming they do/would. You’re right, $2 mil (or more) is pushing it, but I would love to see Akron set the line. $700k-$1 mil is more likely. Financially, it probably makes sense for UK to buyout this game and replace it with a home game. UK fans will travel for sure, but its a bit demoralizing when the opponent’s fans are able to drown out the home fans. As far as it being a game day environment and less morgue like, it very well could be the highest attendance of the year depending how UK is projected for the 2024 season. That being said, I’d love to be proved wrong and see Zips fans come out in droves against any team on the schedule.

Great kid who has more home responsibilities than any kid his age should. We’d be fortunate to land him. Already has P5 offers from Kentucky and Boston College.

Cruising other MAC message boards and they sound similar. Not many fan bases happy with the schedule.

I’d rather Kentucky just pay a few million and buy that game out. I don’t want to see Kentucky fans turn InfoCision into a home game. Maybe if the Zips are rolling in 2023 like I expect, Akron fans will hang on to their tickets when that game comes around.

Agree, they aren’t on the level of Ohio State…yet. But I’d say they are ahead of Auburn (fired their coach) and Michigan State programs that took a step back. Carolina also shell shocked Tennessee and Clemson to close out the regular season. They lost to Notre Dame in the bowl game, but both teams were missing key players so it wasn’t exactly a true matchup of the teams that closed out the regular season. Where Carolina has struggled is consistently winning and not dropping games to weaker conference foes they should beat. That’s the mark of a program that’s building though. They are on the cusp of taking the next step and most national pundits will be surprised.

While I appreciate the optimism (and some here would probably call me an optimist) Akron is not going on the road and beating a South Carolina team in front of 85,000 fans (at least not while Shane Beamer is there). I’ll be at that game and I hope most Zips fans also make the trip. I can tell you from experience Williams-Brice can get to a fever pitch and cause the stands to sway. It’s one of the best venues in the SEC and they are still sinking millions of dollars into the stadium and surrounding areas. If anyone is interested, take a look at the upgraded facilities on YouTube when you have a chance. Carolina is quietly becoming a power in the SEC (similar to Illinois in the Big 10). To give an idea of their momentum, their 2024 recruiting class is ranked #8 with five 4 star prospects already committed.

Probably a lot. I’ll be surprised if that game actually happens at Akron.

Regardless of when, where, and what time these games are played, there is no reason to not go bowling this year. Morgan State should be an automatic win and good chance to win 4 straight from the NIU-Kent stretch. Win one more and that’s 6 for bowl eligibility.