catdaddyp

Didn’t see this one coming. When Moorhead was asked about any players that haven’t played much potentially redshirting, he responded with “coaches do the redshirting.” I think even he is finding out the game is changing.

LB Malachi Mercer committed to Columbia.

Regardless of my feelings on the situation I was just using Carolina as an example as I have inside sources there. Martin ultimately got fired this offseason and then quickly landed with UMASS. The BOT basically gave Martin one more year and then gave way to the AD.

I like how Moorhead chuckled and lit up a little when talking about the true freshmen OL. He knows it’s only a matter of time before we are really good up front. Not sure who George is afraid we’re going to lose. Doubt any of the P5 transfers would transfer back out and it’s unlikely any of the freshmen would transfer out at this point. I think the more likely scenario for anyone who transfers out is to go D2 or nowhere at all. Irons probably would be the exception.

Depending on the school, sometimes the boosters and board have as much control, or more, over the hire/fire. I can tell you Ray Tanner was heavily pressured (some claim told) to hire Shane Beamer at South Carolina. Tanner also wanted to fire basketball coach Frank Martin a year ago and was flat out shut down by the board of trustees.

Great News! Edit: I thought it originally said early.

Agree about both Jimbo and Oregon. Don’t discount South Carolina though (another turnaround situation). They are currently flying under the radar despite being ranked. Carolina has an explosive (former 5 star) running back in Marshawn Lloyd who is playing as well as anyone in the country. In a few weeks they will likely be 7-2 going into the Swamp. If they find a way to beat an inconsistent Florida team they will be 8-2, at home, against Tennessee. They’ve come a long way from their slow start to the year.

I’ll keep up with this list as much as possible. At least until things spiral out of control with portal entries.

Out of the guys on the roster now: WR - Adams OL - Landers LB - McCoy I’m looking forward to seeing how a host of others on the roster continue to develop. If we had a healthy pass rush and more productive depth at cornerback, we’d likely be at least 3-1 in MAC play. If the defense was consistent, Irons probably wouldn’t have been in forced situations to lead a long drive for the win. The program isn’t far off considering we’ve been competitive in conference play with what will be Moorhead’s least talented roster.

I am “half full” in certain situations. Ask my opinion on programs like South Florida, Charlotte, Nevada, Hawaii, UMASS before the season began and you would have gotten a much different take from me. Arth was not offering the same type of players this staff is. Can’t land upper level players if they aren’t identified and offered. I closely follow turnaround situations that have competent staffs. Hence my interest in Akron (plus my fairly recent move to Ohio). I watched Akron’s games last year, but wasn’t invested as I didn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel with what was happening. Moorhead’s hiring changed the direction of the program. As far as Karriem goes, he could probably be viewed as a late bloomer, but when his recruiting picked up Illinois really put on the full court press.

Saboor Karriem committed to Illinois (as expected). We didn’t stand much of a chance in landing him due to a number of factors (NJ pipeline, #1 rated defense, development of DBs, etc), but it shows the staff’s ability to identify high level talent.

Another frustrating loss, but to be honest Kent State’s program is further ahead right now. That was the first MAC game, this season, I thought the other team was superior in talent across the board. Offense: - Landers, Banes, Georges, Whigan, Williams were the starters from left to right. I’m really excited for what Landers will be down the road. That kid’s upside is impressive. Unfortunately he didn’t seem to be 100% from the start. - At this point, if Norrils isn’t going to be involved, I’d prefer Price to receive all of the snaps at RB. He may not be a breakaway back, but he always gains positive yardage when he’s not immediately hit in the backfield. - Outside of the obvious plays that were made, it was nice to see Anderson get involved some more at WR. Naim made a tough grab when he had an opportunity. Not sure what’s happened to Williams. - I guess Irons is what he is at this point. The offense goes as he goes and he hasn’t been able to get it done in crunch time. Defense: - Holt is easily our best defensive lineman. Shame we don’t have him for another year. - Bubba seemed to be on the field the majority of the game on defense. - I like the way the 3 safeties Thompson, Martin, and Woods continue to progress. Lewis had a solid game. Hence was moved to S when Martin went out for a few plays. - We need more help at CB and if Golden-Nelson doesn’t come back, we probably won’t have it this year. Amankwaa held his own against some really good WRs. - Nice to see a few kickoffs go for touchbacks. - Not sure how Kent’s freshman QB was rated a 2 star by Rivals. I thought we had the more disciplined team, but in the end it didn’t matter. The two turnovers were costly and we again gave up some big third downs on defense. I’m sure the team will keep fighting and sooner or later get over that hump.

I assumed for Gibson it was about getting closer to home and the opportunity to play at the P5 level. I don’t believe he had any P5 offers coming out of HS. His brother also plays for GT now. I was amused when it basically turned out to be a trade with Mumpfield and Shocky. Glad Mumpfield had the opportunity to play P5 ball, but really pleased we landed Shocky. Shocky has surpassed my expectations.

Yeah, he looks a little lackadaisical in some of those highlights. I’d be worried if he had heavy feet that could hinder his development, but fortunately that’s not the case. I’m sure all of that will get cleaned up in fairly short order once he arrives on campus.

Steele Wasel’s midseason highlights.

No doubt Bubba’s play has been head and shoulders above the rest of our LBs. Behind him, it’s clear that McCoy and Terry are the next best options. Fish has all kinds of athletic ability, but it’s anybody’s guess as to what he’s going to do on any given play. However, I suspect he’ll be a good one before it’s all said and done. I was at the game with a buddy who doesn’t mince words and he turned to me at one point and asked “How in the **** did that guy get an offer to play D1 ball?” All I could do was shrug. I won’t say who he was talking about but I’m sure you can figure it out by process of elimination.

Thanks! Added. Looks like another guy Moorhead recruited while at Mississippi State. I like the offer. On a side note, his partner on the DL is DT Elijah Davis who is an absolute monster.

DT James Thomas will be announcing his commitment on 10/30.

Wasn’t sure where to put this, but Ogbonna has hit the portal.

Rewatched the game and really focused on the defense. I was wrong about Amankwaa and the edge busts. He only had 1, which led to a TD run. The other busts were by Durant, Lewis, and Terry but weren’t TDs. Amankwaa was actually really good besides that one play. Best performance by a DB to date I’d say. We hurt ourselves a few times against the run when our DT’s decided to “get skinny” in an attempt to make the play, instead of holding their ground against the double team. It then opened up big gaps and allowed the OL to get to the second level. If they are going to split the double teams, they must make the play, otherwise it leaves the rest of the defense hanging out to dry. Really impressive footwork by CMU’s RBs. Bubba probably had his best game of the year. The other LBs were active and filled better than any other time this season. Unfortunately, there were more missed tackles than there should have been. Martin probably had his best game of the year. He only had one poor run fit which led to a big run. Besides that, he was solid in pass coverage and the most physical I’ve seen him in run support. Woods missed a couple tackles and nearly hurt himself leading with his head down on one play, but was a pleasant surprise outside of that. Our DTs did not get much pass rush and our DEs struggled to beat the OTs one on one. We gave up a TD when we brought 5 and then Bubba thought the RB was staying in to block so he came too, which made 6. The QB managed to get the ball out to the RB and away he went. Not getting a consistent pass rush, even when blitzing, is hurting us. Teams that base out of the 4-2-5 usually expect the front four to create pressure by themselves and that definitely is not happening. I don’t know if there is a fix to the pass rush this year, especially if the guys playing are the best we have on the roster. I like the blitzes we run and our players have gotten better at disguising them as the season has progressed, but we get beat (often badly) when we don’t get to the QB.

I think you meant Group of 5 (G5 in FBS) in your original post instead of FCS? I believe the only FCS schools in Ohio are Dayton and Youngstown State.

Ill create a Rivals profile when I get a chance. The staff has been on fire with offers the past two weeks for classes up to 2026. I haven’t had a chance to catch up. Also, saw a ton of recruits at the game this past Saturday.