LZIp

I think you're onto something with this. I noticed it some at Auburn, but was willing to give it a pass. Coincidentally, we scored on Auburn when this OL wasn't in. I noticed it again yesterday....when the play breaks down, it starts with a certain OL getting beat on the outside the majority of the time. He doesn't seem to do well pass blocking in space. As for other thoughts on the game, Feeney just might be this staff's Milwee. I don't like the 4-2-5. We have DL who can't get off blocks or put pressure on QB. Puts a lot of pressure on our LBs...and the extra DB doesn't seem to make much a difference considering QBs seem to complete passes at will on us. We apparently changed up strategy on DL by going "smaller or more athletic" this year, including bringing in a number of transfers who haven't yet made a difference. I though they should have brought in a transfer DB to upgrade the position opposite of Watts, and it still would appear to be an issue. Kelley-Powell, a Michigan transfer, hasn't made a single play since he's been here. Any time we force the offense to punt, it seems like a miracle. Temple ran a very vanilla offense yesterday. Same 2-3 running plays with a couple pass plays mixed in.

I don't believe I've yet posted the scholly chart this season, but here's my best guess of where we appear to be at. 73 scholarship players in total, 12 under the "normal" max of 85..likely 25-ish less than teams who had a lot of seniors come back due to last year not counting against eligibility. We have one senior - Kato - who is clearly under scholarship. I'd imagine there are a few under scholly we don't know about, but those would be players who started as walk-ons who won't ever contribute outside of special teams. I'll be disappointed if there is some sort of multi-score loss tomorrow, and likely even a loss in general considering we should be going against a true freshman QB who has never completed a pass and a team that doesn't seem much more talented than us. Just feel its important to note we are still very young and under manned compared to a lot of teams we are playing. Zips Football Scholarship Chart.xlsx

Nice to see that the program has seemingly returned to form.

It being on Bally sucks...haven't found a way to watch it yet as I am a "cord cutter".

Nice weather, winnable game, convenient time, big recruiting weekend, should be a nicer crowd (at least for us anyways). Lets get to the game tomorrow Zips nation!

Anyone get any updates watching Zips Weekly last night ( @bigjim) ? My guess is we aren't going to hear anything about QB ahead of time.

He would have played a lot at RB possibly, not at WR.

When did Auburn take out some or most of their starters? Unless they did it the same time that Kato was taken out, discounting DJ's performance is a moot point because Kato would have had reps against the back ups as well. Kato has had approximately 3 good games in his long career here - his first start against Miami I believe it was, against OU to win the division, and against Northwestern.

We've got the popular surplus sale, free tuition giveaway, students with +2 free tickets, free tickets to high school students, and free tickets with military ID this week. Doing their best to get people there.... https://gozips.com/sports/2021/9/5/gameday-index.aspx

Go watch Kent then, traitor. Expecting Arth to be Caleb Porter is laughable.

At least watching the game last night, it appeared we escaped Auburn serious injury free. Temple got slaughtered by an upward trending Rutgers team, but a Rutgers team that has nowhere near the talent as Auburn. Temple brought in Georgia transfer D'wan Mathis at QB, who somehow has a worse QBR than Kato last week, as well as a host of other P5 transfers. Does Arth go with Irons or Kato? I know this board's opinion...and the decision could end up costing him his job. This is the type of game we need to win to give us some hope that the program is trending upwards. I'll be there and I encourage everyone else to as well.

Like everyone else, Irons was the real bright spot IMO. Whether it was a mix of starters or pure 2nd stringers, I thought he was impressive. He is definitely the future and should be the present. Watching Kato attempt to run the offense was tough. I was surprised Norrils was the main back over Williams, but I thought Norrils looked solid. Arth has spoken highly of him this year and now I understand why. Curious to see how Williams looks playing at our level of competition. WRs were fine and its tough to get too much of a gauge on the OL. Kickers looked good. The new punter (Slike) booms it. Its a welcomed change compared to what we've dealt with the past few years. On defense, nobody stood out on the DL. We couldn't generate any pressure. Boateng is a nice upgrade next to Bubba. Nobody in the defensive backfield made any plays either. The game was what we all expected. At least there seems to be some hope at the most important position and we didn't get shut out. Temple is the real gauge next week. It appears to be a winnable game.

If it makes you feel any better, this game has a much better chance of being competitive then vs OSU.

Let’s be real here. We are playing Auburn in a season with low expectations. My hope is to make the game competitive for at least a half, come out injury free, and see some players to get excited about when we are playing our level of competition. Go zips!

They did release the pregame notes, but not depth chart to be found within it. "Gamesmanship" would be my guess, but not like it would make a difference

Ovi

Too bad. https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/college/zips/2021/08/31/university-akron-running-back-teon-dollard-officially-off-team/5664295001/

He is now no longer listed as a member of the coaching staff.

Don't really understand why he beats around the QB position.

A couple things the new AD is doing to fill the Info. Seems like more than we ever saw from Larry W, I think.

For anyone interested in following media: Zips Live most Tuesdays at 7 on 640 WHLO starting today. https://gozips.com/news/2021/8/28/general-zips-live-airs-tuesday.aspx Zips Football Weekly on Bally Sports Great Lakes on Thursday evenings

$hit. I forgot about him....he would be a big loss as well it seems...lets hope its just another case of our media team not being up to par, but the fact that they were removed doesn't look good....

Dollard is no longer appearing on the roster...

I think we may have had a little better outlook this year if everyone wasn't given an extra year. We have virtually zero senior contributors, especially outside of Kato, so we were returning essentially everybody regardless. Now everyone with their much more experienced teams return everyone as well who wasn't good enough to go pro. That will change next year, but we'll still have everyone, with another year of experience, and another recruiting class where the staff can address holes for immediate help as well as provide more depth (and hopefully get up to the 85 scholly limit finall). If we are only winning a few games still next year, time to throw in the towel IMO. Looking forward to seeing our players develop and hopefully pull off an upset or two this year as well as win the games we should.