Captain Kangaroo

The great thing is, when Groce leaves after this season, he can follow him without having to sit a year. I kid... Sort of... Is the year before a commit arrives on campus too soon to worry about him transferring? Or have I just been a Zips fan for too long?😄 🙃 Seems like a great catch. The reload after our 2024 Sweet 16 run looks to be fun too!

Crazy to have a soccer match on a Saturday night. I guess since Xavier doesn't have football, it makes sense. My son presently goes to UC. He may don his old Zips gear and make the 5 minute trip north for the match!

Wisconsin, Ohio, Miami (OH), Minnesota, Northwestern, Wake Forrest, Virginia, Kansas, Kansas State, Eastern Michigan, Duke, Kent State…all are teams with prolific droughts, spanning several years, that began winning. I’d list more, but I can’t justify the typing for someone who thinks Morgan State is in the SEC.

Here are a few random thoughts as we seemingly trudge into the second half of the season... The CMU game isn't a "must win." But is would be an "unbelievably a huge, uplifting win" game. Since 2018, any sort of Zips win has been followed with such a lengthy string of losses that you hardly remember it. We need a win in the worst way. Bullock is the obvious choice to finish the season. Undercuffler COULD win us a game or two...just as easily as he could throw us out them. Bullock has a chance to be the QB of the future, and this is the best opportunity for him to learn. And he does need to learn...he is far from a polished product. At least throwing the ball...running is a different story. He looks really good running the option near the goal line. And nifty when scrambling too. I'd LOVE to see him hit on a few long pass plays this week. I miss Alex Adams. He was such a difference maker last year. Drake Anderson is a good RB. But he doesn't break many tackles. I would love to see Kellom start getting some carries at Drake's expense. Like Undercuffler, Drake is a Sr and has had ample opportunity show his stuff. We're 1-5...time to get Kellom ramping up for 2024. Joe mentioned in his show that OL is the most difficult position to fill from the portal, since "everyone is looking for them, and there just aren't many out there." That why our OL discards were gobbled up by the likes of East Carolina and Liberty. If you're over 6' 2", 300 lbs, someone will take you. Losing Landers (grades) and Whigan (grad) didn't help us this year. I hope a lot of our incumbent guys stick around and get bigger/stronger for 2024. There's no guarantee anything worthwhile will magically appear in the portal. I still believe in Joe. Nothing in his past shows he won't turn this around. He can't be fired due to his contract ( I guess Kaulig could always buy it out). Guthrie would be a laughing stock if he fired such an accomplished coach only 2 seasons after undertaking The Mother of All Rebuild Projects. So he's back next year 100%. Heck...Faust and Owens got 9 years each. I knew a few guys from the Owens era. They always spoke of the frustration of the offense (who was always very effective), because the defense would be lucky to force 2 punts in any given game. "Do we have to put up 48 today to have a chance?" was a common jab at the defense by one OL. It's the opposite now. Other than a couple Irons runs, and maybe two Lingard breakaways...they've been really bad every week. No identity...no rhythm. No fun. What's the over/under on explosive plays by the Zips offense this week? I'd guess 1 or 2? In garbage time? That is the most puzzling thing about the 2023 Zips. This season has not been any fun. Ditto 2018 through 2022. A win against Kent, and either CMU or BG is the bare minimum I need to start feeling optimistic about 2024. Man, it would be nice to get a win in Mount Pleasant.

You could be right. Why not him? He’s been unstoppable.

A good reminder that, no matter how bad things get, there’s always someone worse off than you.

Cristobal could have used him tonight. What a colossal blunder vs GT.

They surrendered 280 yards and 4 TDs to a 1-4 NIU team’s running back on 13…yes, 13 carries. I can’t excuse that level of giving up.

The easiest, most uncontested 35 points ever surrendered to a 1-4 MAC team ever.

An Arthian effort thus far by the Zips. Really pathetic.

NIU gets 12 yards as easily, and as frequently, as we get 1 yard.

I sense an Undercuffler appearance in the near future.

Zips defense absolutely blows so far.

Dwight Smith…Jason Taylor…Charlie Frye…Dominik Hixon…Luke Getsy…Ulysses Gilbert…etc. all came to UA under the same circumstances and things worked out well for them. It is a great fit for the right student athlete. We need program builders. We need guys who were getting a raw deal at their former school, or who were under recruited out of HS and have something to prove. We need local kids who want to play for a coach like Joe Morehead, but who don’t want to travel to the likes of Oregon, Happy Valley or Mississippi to do it. Examples of programs who’ve been where Akron’s at now and turned it around are endless. Joe will turn the Zips into winners, and respectable crowds will follow. If you want to walk into a situation where the crowds already exist and you win week in week out, the Akron program isn’t there. You’re better off elsewhere. If you want a great shot at early playing time, great facilities, great coaching, and want to help build something, UA offers that opportunity.

Or, @Hilltopper sneaks his trumpet into the stadium and, just as Wiley begins his forward motion, hits a triple high C that causes the kick to careen right, landing in the bell of a band member’s sousaphone. The sousaphone player blasts it out, and it sails towards the goal where it double-doinks between the posts and drops through. Our in-stadium announcer yells “The punt is good!” Unfortunately our holder is called for unsportsmanlike conduct and the kick is nullified. A lightning strike in the distance causes a game cancellation and the Zips lose. Only in Akron…

Not exactly Jean Dixon predicting the Kennedy assassination, but I give him credit for being correct. 😀

Summarizing attendance and community/campus interest - We don't need to be, or compete with, Ohio State. We need to be like Toledo. Have 10k+ locals show up on home Saturdays. Have our students and community respect our program (rather than be embarrassed, or completely disinterested). Win our fair share of games. Have a magical 10+ win season every once in a while. That's the goal of a MAC program. The best thing that ever happened to UA Athletics was the building of Infocision, because it gave every administrator an excuse - "I wouldn't have built that stadium". If it sits 80% empty, it isn't their fault. I'm still waiting for the first AD to make any effort to fill Infocision to a respectable level. Instead we get exciting announcements on clear bag policies and body scanners. Instead of creating focus groups to increase football attendance, they create them to fabricate unimaginative logos.

We need wins. Whoever gives us the best chance for a “W” is who should be under center (or, in the shotgun).

Lingard, in the wildcat.🤘

NIU Message Board

The lack of wins thus far in 2023 is profoundly disappointing. And, I'm as beaten down and any remaining fan over the abject futility I've witnessed during my support of the program for the past 5 years. But I have zero doubt Joe Moorhead will turn this around. He has been incredibly successful at every stop along his college coaching career. Akron will be no different. He inherited the worst program in Division 1. If we were #130, we were lightyears behind #129, let alone #78. Joe needs to figure out an offense that can be effective with the talent he's got. And he needs to figure it out soon. It doesn't help that his QB room is now missing Irons, and stocked completely with unprovens and underwhelmers. But that's the cards he's dealt. We have very good WR's and RB's. That should be enough to win our share of MAC games. I love our defense. People forget that is was an achievement when Arth's teams could force a punt over 4 quarters. We've come such a long way on that side of the ball. I remember when MLB pitching coach Roger Craig was once asked, when his pitchers were getting shelled over an extended stretch, "As a 'pitching guru', how are you going to get your arms back on track?" Craig replied "Guru? Right now I ain't gooruin' worth a damn!" I have to believe Joe feels the same way about himself, and the Zips offense right now. He has higher standards than the results produced by that side of the ball so far. I'd hoped it was possible for Joe to completely pull us out of the Arth Abyss in 17 games, but apparently it may take a few more. It sucks, but I 100% believe he'll get it done.

Over the past 5 or 6 years I can't tell you how many times I've been in Lot 9 and had people in suits and dresses come up to me asking "Is this Hummel Funeral Home"? I always reply - "First, I'm sorry for your loss. And, no, this is actually an Akron Zips football game. Hummel is across the street."

Alex Adams was I full uniform but I don’t think he ever saw the field. He’s the guy I really felt would dominate this season and he’s been almost invisible.

Behm was in a walking boot on the sideline.

Zips not looking like “they’ve arrived “ today.