Dr Z

Discuss one or more of your answers below. If you like, make a Fearless Forecast™ in this thread.

I noticed this game is on ESPN+

Congratulations to@blueandgold ? Only member to guess the Zips would only rush for 40 (or less) yards, predicted a win by more than six for the Chips, and predicted Nate Stewart would lead the Zips in receiving. Impressive.

Miscellaneous Game Notes: I'll start with special teams, because they were atrocious last week. Did Boogie lose his (kick/punt) return job, or was he injured? I saw him dressed and on the field. Either way Michael Mathison looked good on kick returns, averaging 30 yards a return. Alvin only had one chance to return, but the punt was covered well. Seems like the Zips changed their punt scheme to get some easy ones off yesterday. Good move. A long of 40 on 6 tries is not good, but at least there were no five yarders. Fitschen nailed a 40 yarder on his only chance. And congratulations to Cory Smigel. Fantastic on-side kick. That kick was better than most on Sunday's that I watch. Most improved unit from week to week. I really liked the way Kato's game has progressed. He is playing well with no running game, little protection, and surprising drops from his receivers. Why was Kato skating around the field so much? Did he have the correct cleats? Did something change? Seemed like he could have been more effective on multiple runs, but he slipped. It's a jailbreak on the right side of the offensive line right now. Something needs to change. I would probably put a TE on that side for some help. If I were playing the Zips, I would only rush three on obvious passing downs, that's all it takes to get pressure. This should be our number one practice issue this week. To give the line a little break, we played a ton of 00 personnel yesterday. Kato has little time to make a decision with no back or tight end. Nice to see Alvin back at safety making plays. Just watching him play the game is worth the price of your home ticket. Davon'te Jest had another good game. His motor was going for four quarters. I thought #94 DL John Mitchell looked good. I'm not sure how many snaps he got, but when he was in, I saw some penetration. He might need more snaps. I noticed Justin Sampson out there once. He had a great spin move and got to the QB, but it was a quick pass. The Zips had nine rushing attempts by three different running backs for a total of ten yards. Nice to see the team play hard again in the second half. Can we put a first half together? I opened a draft folder for Tony Poljan yesterday. I know an NFL team he could help right now. He is impressive, blocking and receiving. What a catch radius. Converted QB.

Boogie hurt?

I’ll predict that today is the day that Nate’s hard offseason work is going to (statistically) pay off. Big day. ?

If your going to post about Bowden, do it in a Bowden thread.

" ... They’re a pretty aggressive defense. When they’re bring pressure, they’re coming. They’re timing up blitzes. Their linebackers are hitting it on the run, so we have to do a good job of being ready for some of the pressures they’re going to bring.” I watched part of a practice this summer where Kato was using a deceptive snap count to counter the above. Maybe we'll see that play out today. ?

“Score prediction? I don't do score predictions. I've never done them.” ?

Look for Alvin to return to his old position this week.

Feel free to explain thoughts to one or more of your answers below. I like the Zips to win a close one. My Fearless Forecast™ is the Shawn Featherstone scores a TD.

The game is going to stream on flofootball. I have to admit, I have never heard of it. $12.50 a month though, more than ESPN+, but much less content. Maybe ESPN+ will eventually pick up. I think the "rule" used to be, tv schedules don't have to decide until 10 days before the game.

I think some sort of pass rush would help our secondary most.

Although Ulysees did not get a snap on defense his first game, he led his team with 23 special team snaps.

Dustin Burkhart has earned MAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the East Division. Burkhart had a career-best 217 receiving yards on the day. The last time an Akron receiver had more than 200 yards was in 2007 by Jabari Arthur, who had 223 yards. Burkhart’s 217 receiving yards rank second on UA’s all-time receiving yards for a game behind Arthur’s 223.

I agree well done. The article points out the two issues that left a lasting impression on me. The Zips need to work hard to fix the punting game, and the running game. One should be easy, the other is not so easy. Go Zips!

No winners this week.

Keep in mind, the third question is combined rushing and receiving total. Kato rushes for 82 yards. Brandon Lee rushes for 40, and has another 50 receiving, Brandon wins with 90 yards total. My apologies if anyone was confused. I should have made it clearer.

Discuss answers below.

UGIII interview about making the team at the beginning of this video:

I'll guess, GT asked coach Arth about the players not making the trip after the the presser. Coach Arth responded by saying he thinks they will play, but it's out of his hands. PS I have no inside info, I'm just guessing by reading the above.

Trevor was asked about, nobody questioned Alvin or Jest. Suspensions and injuries sometimes show up on Don Best, but Akron isn't even listed. College football coaches are not required to list injuries.