Captain Kangaroo

The nature of the event made is really tough to make any detailed evaluations. First...it began early? I arrived a little before 3 pm and had missed the first 10 game minutes. 🙁 The clock ran quickly...no commercial breaks...nuthin'. If you blinked, you missed a play. No video replay screen. You got one look at a play, and it was at the field-level view of the field house stands. Upper deck of InfoCision would have been much nicer. I was constantly flipping through my phone roster trying to match up new players numbers to their names. It'll be more informative to attend some of the August practices and scrimmages. I will definitely try to hit some.

Based upon a statistically-relevant sampling above, approximately 90% will not like it if it is script Akron.

"Script Akron" is a stock Nike font. It looks like the nostalgic dream of some guy in his 60's with z-e-r-o modern graphic design acumen. It's wholly unsexy. It's completely unimaginative. The stand-alone "Akron" visually connects to the city of Akron, and in no way associates with the University. I pray Guthrie has the acumen to sift through the scores of poor opinions and select something that looks cool on a helmet or t-shirt, looks cool next to our score on a televised event, is something the alumni and community can rally around, and sells a lot of merchandise.

Can’t believe any will end up at another D1 program. The Killer B’s (Boateng, Behm and Bubba) were the only returnees I’d have expected to make an impact in 2022. They’re all still in the Program.

Could you imagine being the intern responsible for updating the 2022 portal? What a thankless, horrible job.

Oddly...I don't think you missed a ton. I think Irons looks good. He throws the ball on a rope. Our DL didn't give him much pressure, so it is tough to determine if his ball security bug-a-boos are in the past. I have to believe a P5 transfer, or a "Dalton Williams 2.0" will be brought in as insurance...or perhaps to start. If we had to rely on Jankowski for any stretch of time in 2022, I'm not too confident we beat anyone outside of Saint Francis. Maybe we could...but it would be a huge risk entering the season with him as our #2. For the most part the OL fended off the DL. It's to be expected with the Freshman becoming Sophs, and our DL running the aforementioned vanilla schemes. No one seemed to get hurt. That's a big plus! Cory Smigel gets game MVP. He may hit some FG's from 41 or even 42 yards this season? 😉 No big, game-breaking runs. It does look like we'll be 4-deep in the backfield. No RB looked slow, or overmatched. I think the coolest thing was seeing the former players approach Coaches Ferri and Moorhead after the game and wish them well. Lots of warm hugs, smiles and well-wishes from the former players invited to show up. It was a great homecoming for those guys. I think the biggest concern going into the fall will be the DL. Not due to anything gleaned from the game...it's just the way it is. It was just fun to watch some Zips football amongst a "packed house." 🙂

Lead singer of Aerosmith! 🎤🎸

Seems like some honest conversations were had between coach and players following the spring game.

Latest I heard was UA will hold it on the soccer field, like they did in 2004. Just kidding. 😉

I will be tailgating prior to the game. Not sure if, since the game is indoors, that Lot 8 or 10 won't be a better choice.

BVP ends up at UVA Apologies if this was previously posted.

The former Nittany Lion appeared in 21 games over his career. After playing in every game of the 2020 season, Whigan was relegated to a smaller role and saw the field in 10 out of 13 possible games. Most of Whigan’s snaps came in a special teams capacity. Whigan committed to Penn State in August 2018 as a four-star recruit. He joined the team as a junior college transfer from Lackawanna College, which has been a hotbed of recruiting for the Nittany Lions in recent years. At the time of his recruitment, Whigan was the seventh-ranked junior college prospect in the country. The departure of another offensive linemen comes at a fragile time for Penn State football. Depth issues for the offensive line have been well documented this offseason, even prompting a format change for the 2022 Blue-White Game.

580 career wins don't carry the weight it used to.

Who knew Shocky Jacques-Louis was DJ Irons cousin?

This does make you appreciate Kwan's mom. Several years after her son graduated still feels like she's a member of the Zips "family." Guys like Kwan Cheatham, Dru Joyce, Joe Jakubik, Eric McLaughlin, Len Paul, Zeke Marshall, Bruce Weinkein ...they're "Zips for Life." A guy that feels he's too good for the Zips program, and bolts it rather than elevates it, is just a ship we crossed in the night. Next man up...

Ali who?

6' 9", 225 lbs. Seems like a big upgrade over Aziz. Now we need to replace Ali.

The spring game is never massively attended. Especially for a Program that won 7 games in the past 4 years. It will be a "Family and Friends" crowd on April 30th (not unlike most recent home games). For those that have kept the faith over the past 4 seasons, it will be a fun Saturday on campus. Once the new staff's work becomes evident to the general public in the form of MAC Championship expectations, the spring game will gain some traction. In the near future, if all goes as planned, a crowd of 4, 000 to 5,000 would be a hell of an achievement...but it's possible.

The Big Lewandowski Stumbled across this Post Gazette article. My mom's family is from Butler (Knoch HS).

Meh...he'll be in the transfer portal after 1 season, and be back in Akron for the 2024 opening day kickoff.

He bailed on Boals because he felt he was too good. Sounds like another Walton. I trust Groce will bring in a more team-oriented, less me-oriented, transfer.

Where is @Football grandma to chime in on the OL?

You are correct. Assuming Irons is "the man," I still don't see either holding a clip board, patiently awaiting their shot in 2024. I guess we'll see how it plays-out.

Valid concern! But the OL last season was atrocious and he could barely get past 1-Missisippi before someone was tomahawking his arm. If Joe can shore it up, I think Irons will be great. The entire OL returns and should be a year bigger and stronger. New recruits will provide depth and competition. And I think just by the nature of Joe's higher-level offense being less predictable, it'll greatly help the situation. If I'm wrong, feel free to bookmark this post and wave it in my face in early November. 😁

Other than Jennings, the "young guys" are sophomores. If DJI (Junior) is the man for the next 2 seasons, I'd expect Jankowski and Marousek will have transferred-out. Eager to see if what Marousek brings to the table. He's been really patient sitting behind Gibson and Irons. If Irons can get some protection I have to believe he'll be great. Strong arm, runs with purpose, tall, athletic, accurate. You never know what disenchanted P5 grad transfer QB becomes available after being leapfrogged by a younger guy. So one could show up at Joe's doorstep after spring ball. But count me among the many who feel Irons will be "the man" for the Zips when September rolls around.