Captain Kangaroo

Offense and defense both made big plays. Best the Zips have looked in recent memory. Finally showing some depth, experience and talent.

Yes. 🙂

I was able to attend today's scrimmage. It was offense (blue)/defense (white), just like last week. Below are some notes and pics - #15 Ben Finley continues to impress. Had a couple nice TD tosses. Zips fans will find this kid an absolute breath of fresh air. Unflappable...doesn't get rattled after a bad pass or a WR drop. Accurate. A different level of QB than we've seen in an Akron uniform for a while. You will all love him. Ben can run if needed...but we gotta keep this kid healthy. Ben zips one over the middle. Tahj started the scrimmage. Other than a couple spot appearances by Wassel and Ruggow towards the end of practice, he and Ben split the reps. In the right situations, Tahj is dangerous. He was wearing the "can't hit me" green jersey today, so rushing attempts aren't all that informative...but he obviously is a handful for a defense when he decides to use his feet. Steele got only a series or two, but did toss a TD. Ruggow got one series. He'll definitely benefit from a redshirt. Not a knock on him...he's just got a lot to learn. #22 Charles Kellom had a great day. He looks like he will definitely contribute this year. Two receiving TD's! (this one off a Finley swing pass). Nice TD celebration by Charles & Co. #22 pulled in a 35 yard TD on a 3rd and 18 from Ben Finley. This was Steele's 5 yard TD toss to Adrian Norton. At the 5 yard line, lined up behind redshirt Fr. TE Aiden Diaz, Hester scampered around the left tackle for a rushing TD. Hester had 2 TDs today, and the OL lifted the diminutive RB to the sky. #17 Justin Campbell, a Ball State transfer, had a couple nice grabs, including this one over the middle from Tahj. The defense made some big plays today. Here, #11 Davonte Golden-Nelson jars the ball loose for a turnover. Here you go, @taylormade28 🦾 Big Ben meets with Soph. WR Paul Davis and Charles Kellom after Kellom's long TD reception. Steele Wasel had the "best hair award" last week. Hester nabs the honor this week. Great day for Blake. He got a lot of opportunities, and delivered the goods with a couple TDs. This OL sat out todays scrimmage. A familiar face is again prowling the Akron sideline. The scrimmage concluded with a pick six of Tahj Bullock by #13 Freshman Rodrick Hunter! Joe was as positive as I've ever heard an Akron coach after the practice. He emphasized he felt they got better today. He told the team they should be very pleased with how they executed. Pleased, but not satisfied.

Zips baseball may not win, but apparently they can fund-raise?

Once was 110% committed to Wofford. Then Iowa State. Then OU.

I would be shocked if it were even 10% of that number.

Too bad Dawson left. He'd have felt right at home with the new guys.

I'll get a better one next time, I promise.😀

I didn’t make enough notes on the OL and DL. My excuse- it was spring ball for me too…I haven’t done anything like this for a game or practice since before the pandemic. 😷 😀 I will make that a priority if I can attend this coming Saturday.

He's what I could glean my first look at the 2024 Zips - Ben Finley saw the field as the #2 QB behind Tahj Bullock. It won't be long before he assumes the #1 position. He hit receivers downfield, whether they were open or in traffic. He moves the chains. Looking forward to watching him in an upcoming scrimmage. Seems like a nice kid too. From observing the player interaction on the sidelines, the other players seem to like him. Finley tosses one deep. Finley reads the D. Myles Walker reels in a 40 yard TD pass from Finley. Noah Perez is still hanging around. Steele Wasel saw a fair amount of action. He seems more confident this season. More purposeful with his actions. It wouldn't shock me to see him pass Tahj as the #2 QB at some point. Tahj received a fair amount of PT Saturday, but seems to be a distant 2nd to Finley in the QB race. Steele tosses a screen pass. David Jester arrives too late to block a PAT. Look out for Bennett Adler this year. I thought he was somewhat of an unsung hero last season. Solid, durable. And sneaky-strong. I'd predict 5-6 sacks for him in 2024. #36 Dante Jackson handled most of the punting today. Very windy...you couldn't tell much from what came off his foot. Adrian Norton handled the punt return duties. With mixed results. He misjudged one that bounded over his head. Braydon Ruggow saw some action. As expected, he looked overwhelmed. Tossed a bad ball on an out pattern that should have been an INT. Missed a wide open seam route for a TD. Nowhere to go but up for him. 😀 Joe speaks to the 4 QB's who saw action today. A little chilly, but overall a really nice day for an outdoor scrimmage. I wish I had hair like Steele. Owen Wiley lines up for a PAT. Then, my camera battery died. Other notes - Finley pulled in a high snap and hit Adrian Norton on a quick slant for a 7(?) yard TD strike in the second half. Perfectly placed ball, and Norton showed nice hands pulling it in while also keeping his feet inbounds. After the play he took his helmet off and got flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. Joe was pissed and stopped the practice to forcibly remind every player they can cost their team a game with their reactions to adversity, as well as prosperity. Not much news on the RB front. Marquese Williams saw a few carries. He's a little guy. In the post practice mid-field gathering Joe singled out Fish and McCoy as guys that have been outstanding so far. He also brought in three of his former players (not Zips) to say a few words to the guys. He also mentioned the portal opens on Monday, and if any player isn't fully committed to turning the Zips program into a winner, they should use it. Joe also voiced the players can't be thin-skinned. They need to listen to bad stuff in order to improve. Overall, to me, Joe's leadership style strikes a nice balance of being very direct and honest with the players, while also letting them know how much he cares about them and their success.

Yes. Busy day afterwards so I will post some pictures and thoughts tomorrow morning. My big takeaway of the day was - Finley is accurate. Short and long throws, in traffic, he hits his target.

Every spring game is full of vanilla formations and plays. Now-a-days it's a Marketing event more than anything else. Lee Owens would run Ben Ruhlin 25 times in the spring game, and people would be expecting Ruhlin to be our star back in the fall...only to be disappointed when he got only a handful of mop-up carries the entire season. It kept Brandon Payne and Bobby Hendry healthy tho. Finley's already enrolled. He'd need to sit if he transferred again. He's not going to go through the hassle of appealing sitting out another season just to transfer to Appalachian State or UAB. He's the odds-on favorite for the starting job here. There were some people, me included, 😀 who saw something special in Enrique Freeman even as a freshman. Soft hands, great footwork...relentless motor. I guess that's what I look for in a spring game...young guys that exhibit the tools to be a contributor one day. Breakaway speed, a WR that makes a circus grab or two. Just getting a chance to see some of the new players in person and see how tall, cut, fast, strong-armed etc. they are is interesting and fun.

I agree. I hear they will be scrimmaging on Saturday. Hope it’s true.

I've heard from multiple people that Ben Finley is looking very good. My goal is to attend the Saturday morning practice. If it works out I'll take some notes and pictures.

At the pre-season event Guthrie stopped by our group and said hello. We told him about the past post-season banquets and how well attended they were. He said had no idea such a thing was done before, and wrote himself a note to look into reactivating it. Maybe he lost the note.

Forget it. Every nimrod, drunk and psychopath has internet access.

If you’re looking for Akron tie-ins to the championship game tonight- Fletcher Loyer is the son of former mid-80’s Zips player John Loyer. Our own @ZipWatcher holds degrees from both UConn and Purdue.

Big hire for former UA AD Hunter Yurachek. Letting him walk after Rhoades left was a huge mistake. Obviously he'd have moved on from UA at some point, but he'd have stayed here for a several years and done some great things.

I assume that’s the combination of all sports?

Seems way more along the lines of Tre Chapman 2.0 to me. And most others, I think. It’d be great if he proved me wrong. But…

I give B Artis an “F-“ in commitment.

Who knew? 🙂

Good for Dru. It's a gamble for a bb program in a multi-bid (more often than not) conference to take a flier on a guy with zero HC experience...but what do they have to lose? Worst case, they wait another 47 years to get into the tournament. I'd rather take my chances with a guy like Dru than dig up some HC retread that had marginal P5 success. Wonder what the future holds for McNees and McFadden?

Duquesne comes to mind. This issue isn't the scandal itself, it's the fact that you don't need to leave your couch to get into some serious gambling debt now-a-days. Today, gambling on sports goes hand-in-hand with watching it. You used to need to go to Vegas or Atlantic City...now you pull your phone out of your pocket. I'm not an anti-gambling guy. It only bothers me to see it now promoted like cigarettes used to be through the 70's. To people with a certain addictive make up, it's just as dangerous.

I think it was the Cavs coach the other day that complained about the fans in the stands yelling at him to keep his starters on the court in a blow-out in order to cover the spread. The next government bail out will be for the soon-to-be millions of destitute gamblers.