Captain Kangaroo

Every so often someone will post on the drain the football team is on the athletic department. Just doing some basic math on the 2024 season - 1.8 million for Ohio State 1.0 million for Rutgers 1.5 million for South Carolina $750,000 for the Kentucky buyout $670,000 ESPN contract Total revenue: $5,720,000 (plus whatever donations, ticket sales etc. are generated) While pulling in all that cash for UA, football lost their training table and have had severe limitations put on the recruiting budget. Grad assistants are another cut someone'd mentioned earlier. How are we supposed to compete?

I’ve talked up Finley a lot based upon his performance in the two summer scrimmages. It stinks that he got pummeled in the OSU game and didn’t get a chance to go much beyond “2 Mississippi” before he got snowed under. He didn’t get a chance to show what he can do, which is move the chains and stretch the field. I hope he gets that chance on Saturday, but I’m not super-confident. I was a little disappointed in Norton’s effort on the ball that hit his back shoulder and got picked off. The DB wanted the ball more than he did. He needs to be more dialed-in this week. Can the OL make some holes for Simmons and Kellom? That would go a long way in helping our passing game. Our D will show up. Can our offense give them a breather before they get gassed? It’s all in the hands of the OL. And, a reasonably healthy Finley.

First time Fred Mertz has received a shout out on ZipsNation. 😀

And a score

I went to the Guardian's game last Saturday. The smell of pot is everywhere. I was at Sam's Club earlier in the day. The meat department might as well have been a dispensary. I really didn't foresee when pot was legalized that it meant you're basically going to smell it 24/7 wherever you go. Especially downtown.

Would you rather have Tahj, now with a full year in Joe's system, or a random Undecuffler-like journeyman? Neither is a great choice, but I think Tahj is about the best #2 we can expect in this day and age. Maybe he moves to the slot WR next season? If he had any aspirations of playing in the NFL, that's what he'd need to do.

Message Board for the Team that Can't Beat Michigan

Channel 19 is reporting an upcoming groundbreaking on the Deshaun Watson School of Massotherapy

There goes the osu paycheck.

I think it was a good, thorough assessment of the team. Zips fans will like Finley. He has some of Charlie Frye's traits, with the ability to both run and pass. He is slight of build, so hopefully he knows how to slide too. If he gets time in the pocket, he will hit WR's downfield. The Nunnaly, Fish, McCoy trio is our best hope to slow down Ohio State. They are three Big 10 caliber players. Bennett Adler looks to be in great shape. He's my all-MAC sleeper pick. Our OL is a complete unknown. I hope they surprise me. Their performance, and the injury bug, at the two most critical factors in the 2024 Zips going 3-9, or 6-6. We'll hit on 70% of our FG's this season. Who kicks them remains to be seen. I see Norton as the #1 WR this season. Adams is a question mark. He was not a factor in the scrimmages I watched. I think the other guys are solid, and Finley will have no problem finding open WR's to throw to. I like our DL in MAC play. Good size, depth and experience. CB's are a small concern. I like our safeties. If Kellom and Simmons stay healthy, we will be better at RB than last year. Both are capable of seamlessly replacing Lingard, and upgrades over Anderson. The fun starts on Saturday. Hope we get out of it injury-free, while having punched the Buckeye's in the nose a couple times.

I think he’d look worse if he was sporting that Arby’s A.

*Ahem* I believe that's a Ralph Lauren hoodie he's sporting.

I'm skipping attending the game. Paying a couple hundred bucks to bake in 87 degree heat and watch osu fans dance to Hang on Sloopy 50 times as the Zips get smoked ain't my idea of a fun Saturday afternoon. I still think the Zips 2024 win total resides between 4-6. I think we'll have a decent season. But when the opponent's starting CB makes as much money as your schools entire football budget, it ain't a fair fight. OSU 58 - Akron 10

Am I the source?

I have heard the same thing. By comparison - The NIL cost of an Ohio State starting DB (not even a QB) is identical to the Zips entire football budget.

I think 6 regular season wins is as good as we can realistically hope for, considering 3 of our initial 4 games are P5 road contests. Our offense will put up points as long as Finley is healthy. Our defense is solid. 6 wins is possible. 5 regular season wins is probably expected. I like this team. These are "Joe's Guys" now, and it's Joe's system. Year #3 needs to be a marked step up in the results column. 5 wins = .500 in the MAC, and I'll take that. 4 regular season wins is the bottom acceptable level. We haven't won 4 or more games since 2019 so as lame as a 4-win season seems, it would double our best effort since Bowden was here. The toughest thing to evaluate n August is - when our offense does something great, was the defense terrible, or is our offense actually good. Bowden's later teams fooled me on more than one occasion when his offense looked acceptable...but it was only because they were going up against a terrible Zips defense. In the regular season, guys that were August All Stars did nothing when the real season began. My gut feeling is - Finley is the real deal. He's fast, elusive, great pocket presence, and a strong arm. Joe has given him Carte Blanc to throw the ball downfield with abandon, and he's really good on those throws. Our WR's are really good. Kellom and Simmons are solid, tough backs. The OL opened some nice holes for them. We have TE depth. My only hesitation is our OL. They looked fine on Saturday, but the QB's wore a green "you can't hit me" jerseys. All OL's look great when the QB can't be sacked. Defensively, I can't tell if our CB's struggled on Saturday, or if our WR's are just that good. I think it's a bit of both. I like our safeties. LB is the strength of the team. Our DL had nice size and athleticism. I think we are a solid MAC team. Not Toledo...but definitely in the middle of the pack. The days of being #12 or #13 in the MAC should officially be over.

Tahj got one series with the 1st string. The rest was predominately with the second unit. He's throwing the ball downfield more than before. I like that Ruggow looked comfortable. Threw two TDs and moved the ball "well enough". I'm sure they want to redshirt him. But if Tahj struggles, I think #6 is constantly improving and could could hold down the fort if needed. Bubble wrap Finley.

It is really tough to keep track of the OL and DL sets in my situation. I really don't know the players numbers yet (there's maybe 40 new faces, plus some guys have changed numbers). The big guys roll up their shirts so you can barely read their numbers. And I'm running up/down the field trying to get some pics. No replays or announcers. No buddy next to you to ask "what happened?". Whatcha see is whacha get with my solo, amatuer reporting. 😀 Zips football is like a Yeti sighting. You've hear rumors it exists, but all you have to prove it is my grainy black and white footage of Joe Moorhead looking over his shoulder as he walks past that log.

I forgot to mention - Finley did throw an INT in the 2nd half that was returned about 40 yards. Pretty sure it was Rodrick Hunter (Fr from Georgia). See bottom left of the A logo, #13 breaking on the ball. I though out secondary looked very good. 3 INT's. But I guess you never know until you go up against someone other than your own offense.

#10 Ben Finley is the hands down #1 QB. He began the scrimmage with a 20 yard pass to Adrian Norton, then a 30 yard TD to Norton. A severely blown coverage nets #88 TE Jake Newell an easy TD Ben sprinted to the endzone to celebrate The OL acquitted itself well today. The starters were #55 Blanchard, #58 Burrell, #56 Davis, #54 Williams and freshman Jayvin James at RT #15 Terrance Thomas broke up this pass intended for Adrian Norton. It was one of the few times Norton was stopped on Saturday morning. Isiah Jones made a nice over the shoulder TD catch in the back of the endzone. Boding well for the future, it came courtesy of a nice Brayden Ruggow toss. Jordon Simmons got a lot of PT today. He looks to be the #1A RB. Kellom looks to be #1B. Simmons breaks the goal line for a 10 yard TD. Tahj looked better today than in the spring, but there is no QB competition. He'll likely get some early season opportunities as we try to keep Finley as healthy as possible for MAC play. But he's entrenched at #2. Tahj moved the team down the field, but an ill-advised pass was snatched by Syracuse transfer Aman Greenwood and taken the distance for a pick 6! Like the Zips, the scoreboard remains a work in progress. Oddly enough, it's probably as effective right now as it was the past 2 seasons? Joe addresses the team after the scrimmage. Overall he was happy. He liked the physicality. I agree, as there were some hard hits, and tough running. It was a noticeable ramp up from the spring. He like that the defense generated 3 turnovers, and made several stops on 3rd and short. A few final words from the Coach before the players hit the shower. Owen Wiley hits a FG. We seem in MUCH better shape with special teams this year. The FG/XP holds were flawless. #47 and #99 hit some solid FG's. #99 and #36 both nailed KO's into the endzone. #95 Castle had some great punts. #37 Garrison Smith (McNees State transfer) kicked two second half FG's (both < 30 yards). Hoban's Grant Gainer pulls in a swing pass from Brayden Ruggow and waltzes into the endzone. #3 Jarvis Rush (Jr. JUCO from Mississippi) eyes a deep ball from Ben Finley... ... and pulls it in for the TD! A guy I am very high on is #9 Paul Lewis III (Safety). He's all over the place on coverage, physical against the run, fun personality...you will LOVE him. Shown here dapping up #13 Rodrick Hunter. Adrian Norton, celebrating after a Finley TD pass, can't be stopped in 2024. He seems to be Finley's go-to guy. He has great hands, and uses his body to shield-off defenders really well. #7 Alex Adams showed so much promise 2 seasons ago. If he could regain his 2022 form, the Zips could have a hell of an aerial attack. Other notes: Marquese Williams, the Minnesota transfer, seems to be the #3 RB. #29 Jordan Castleberry got some carries, and also scored a TD. Starting DL was #95 Andre Proffit, #90 Demitri Madden (UTEP), #16 Fr. Dahvon Frazier and #94 Kabbash Richards Bennett Adler is wearing #1 this year!?

Amen.

Like everyone else! I LOVE this kid!

He’s using the “Z” logo?I want this kid in a Zips uniform soooo badly!

So this is the benchmark for a great AD nowadays? I’ll be impressed when he rescinds his Arby’s “A” logo, and puts 20k butts in InfoCision for a game.

Arkansas Pine Bluff must have already been booked?