Captain Kangaroo

Zips need to retire Enrique’s jersey every week. Big home crowd already!

The first words my wife said to me at 6:55 am this morning - "It's Enrique Freeman Day!"

2 years eligibility remaining Barely saw the field in 3 years in Happy Valley (2 + redshirt).

I'll go with the team that plays with more physicality.

Every guy in the Zips Top 10 wants to be playing 30+ minutes per game. And other than Nate, no one is really close. If Harris wouldn't have bowed-out, the disparity would be even worse. You can't bitch about PT when your team is 19-5 and running roughshod over the MAC. You just accept your role and enjoy winning. It's 2025...if you value getting 30 minutes PT over winning, transfer to EMU. No Zip seems to be racing for the portal? Definitely speaks to the culture (overuse word, but it applies here) that Groce has created that so many talented players have embraced a defined role and sacrificed personal stats to win. Can't argue with that. At the MAC level, we have an embarrassment of riches on the offensive side of the ball. True statement. That kid busted his ass...did his best to put the Bronco's on his shoulders.

Considering our budget restrictions, is there an off-brand Red Panda...maybe a Pink Koala? On a tricycle, with paper plates? Could we get the Blatz Light Daredevils to perform some antics on pogo sticks?

I don't think Freeman stymied Castenada's development? Tribble went from 8.6% to 35.7% from behind the arc with Freeman last year. We had zero threats from the perimeter last season. Sammy Hunter was streaky at best, and he was the best shooter we had. We really had no option but to ride Enrique night in night out. Give me an NBA caliber low post player + the guards and wings we have today any day of the week.

Our issue is height. Didn't need a newly-fabricated stat ("effective height?") to figure that out. Our interior is Lyles, Marvin and Okonkwo. Lyles is small, Okonkwo if offensively challenged, and Marvin is about 186 lbs. Too bad we don't have Freeman this season...it would have been a hell of line up posting him down low, him with our guards and wings on the perimeter. I still have nightmares thinking about how Saint Mary's sliced and diced us earlier in the season. We were helpless to stop them. Luckily the MAC doesn't have anyone similar. Our outside shooting has come a long way over the course of the season. Other than Marvin and Okonkwo, any of them can go off on a 3-point tear. I think that can carry us to another MAC championship banner. But is it enough to win an NCAA tourney game? It's nice to have those concerns, and opposed to the rest of the MAC.

Their loss. The unwashed masses don’t need no stinking salads anyhow.

Row 1 wins the Piada giveaway for the 20th consecutive home game! What are the odds?!

I dunno…I thought something was fishy when the Tennessee Chattanooga fans and Administrators were doing cartwheels through town the day Williams announced he was paying them money to take Arth (a whopping 9-13 in 2 years for the Mocs) off their hands.

a.) They show it by not attending Zips games, and wearing OSU gear. I guess it's "tough love?"

I agree it can appear to be a figurehead position...of sorts. $300k/yr base salary is a pretty nice haul for a figurehead...I wanted some noteworthy, positive results from him if I'm UA. It didn't work out. Like an offensive lineman, you hardly know a great AD is there when he's doing his/her job. I knew Guthrie was there. But that's water under the bridge...a new AD is on the way...hope springs eternal.

The main thing I gleaned from the video is - we're looking for a new AD. Happy to hear it...with the Budget-cut-a-palooza we've recently endured I wondered if we'd just let an intern run the ship for a year or two.

The coaches allegedly hate these games. And there's also a certain segment of fans who wish-away the season in anticipation of 3 days in Cleveland. And that's fine. I really enjoy "measuring stick" games against like-competition. This Groce team has a lot to prove. They completely whiffed in the early OOC schedule. Yeah they were on the road...yeah it was a new group of players that needed to gel....yeah the teams are near the top of their respective conferences...etc. etc. etc. We lost every. Single. One. If we are going to have a shot at winning a 1st round NCAA game, we need to not only challenge ourselves with a tough OOC schedule, we need to start beating some of these teams. It's been proven that whipping downtrodden Buffalo, pathetic EMU and soon-to-be-Horizon fodder NIU doesn't prepare the Zips for squat. The bracketbuster was great. How else could I drive 20 minutes south of Hudson to see Top 25 team in the JAR? Nevada, VCU...great mid-majors like Oral Roberts and Creighton? I've seen crappy BGSU teams for 30 years. It is refreshing to see someone like Arkansas State, South Alabama, James Madison, etc. on our schedule. Beat South Alabama handily at home, like we should, and grow a bit. Prove something. We've lost 80% of our measuring stick games in the past. We always have a great MAC record. We'll have another one in 2025. Outside of our SWAC and OAC cupcakes we have yet to really ascend in OOC games. We're Kings of the MAC...which is great...but that's been our ceiling for 20 years. I'm greedy. I want more. Beat South Alabama by 15, run roughshod over the MAC, and beat somebody in the Big Dance.

So the athletic department printed out thousands of 2024-25 deck parking passes for a free lot? If it was Guthrie’s idea, it adds up.

Jags Message Board

Marvin brings energy! Need a little more of him in the second half.

Sometimes, if your boss is busy promoting himself, he doesn't have time to pay attention to the "little things" immediately at-hand...like promoting the Zips.

I saw Emoni Bates play, and he HAD to be throwing games. No way an NBA draft pick could perform so horribly.

The conversation would need to start yesterday. "Joe...we want to keep you at Akron. You know our situation...our pockets aren't deep. We understand NIL and the portal are paradigm shifts in the college football landscape that weren't factors when you accepted this job. While the wins aren't there yet, we're happy with your progress and want it to continue. We've invested a lot in facilities and feel we should be competitive in the MAC, and in G5 overall. Tell us your 4-year plan to make the Zips competitive, and what would make you feel good about signing a 4 year contract extension to enact it?"

He came here to do a job, and unlike Guthrie he's not running away. There isn't one person on the planet that doesn't see Joe could have had a P5 OC position making 4X what Akron's HC position pays. Yet he came "home" anyhow. I can see where people take the negative narrative...it's unfathomable in this day and age to see a guy sticking to his word despite facing some incredible unexpected adversity. Winning at Infocision is a monumental task that only got worse with the advent of paid players. I'm rooting for Joe to continue the small, positive steps he's made in making the Zips a respectable program. If anyone thinks Joe is struggling to turn the Zips around, wait to you see the next budget-friendly coach UA tries to hire on the cheap once he ultimately departs. If Infocision was Dairy Queen, I predict our next cheap AD gives us an Ianello-Arth-Faust Sundae with sprinkles.

Former Zips grad assistant Nick Caley is the new Texans’ OC.

Thankfully the clear bag policy was mentioned.

Seen more detailed promos in my day….