Lee Adams

On the 'belt tightening' subject, as soon as my wife and I walk in at gate 1 what do we see? Already long lines at concession stands. As we walked by I was looking at all the concession stands that were closed. That was most of them. Pretty much long lines all thru the first half at least. The point? The athletic department seems to want to pinch pennies when it comes to customer services as others have pointed out. I heard people grumbling after having to stand in line so long. If your someone who attends games occasionally or rarely, you don't want to see people waiting in long lines to get a pretzel or a beer or whatever. That isn't a way to get people to return especially when they have to watch a bad product on the field. Oh and remember they stopped giving season ticket holders food coupons several years ago. Seems a bit of 'penny wise and pound foolish to me'.

Wasn't going to post this season. But... Went to the game and for 1Q I saw a good RB running behind some decent blocking by the O-line. Problem was the when Temple adjusted and shut down the running game Akron didn't or couldn't adjust. All Temple did was sit back in a 2 deep, played a 3 or 4 man front and their linebackers and corners were able to react to stop the run or clutter up the secondary. Akron couldn't pass block, receivers were running into coverage and both Kato and Irons were afraid to throw the ball. Coaching staff didn't help with some of the play calling. I don't think either Nelson or Irons are real comfortable as pocket passers. Seems that maybe if you ran some play action like the Browns do with Mayfield and get them out of the pocket they might be more effective. Defense doesn't look a lot different, still not much pressure. That could have been a nice win for a struggling program. Next week might be the only other chance this season. Gulp!

Has anybody heard what if any attendance restrictions will be in place this season? I e-mailed the ticket office last week and never got a reply.

The P5 schools need to separate themselves from the rest of the D1 schools. Even Cincy couldn't beat a half assed SEC team. Lets get the MAC's, AAC's , Sunbelts etc. into there own playoffs. Stop the delusion that it is necessary for those schools to get stomped on every year just for a pay check and to get kids beat up. The Akron's of the world need the cash. Thats another problema. Fans could give a flying U know what to watch Akron get beat by OSU by 4 TDS.

Agree that there will be competition at QB. Though I am not sure that at this late date Nelson is really going to be in the mix, at least initially. I thought he might get some PT last season but he never got on the field. Gotta believe if Arth thought he was going to be a longer term answer he would have played him. Not sure what was going on there. Also agree that better QB play will not only help the offense but also a very shaky defense. Score more points consistently. Gibson appeared to be very one dimensional and did not consistently make good decisions. The QB still needs to be able to bail out the defense with his feet. Want to see Irons on the field to see if he can more of a threat than Gibson appears to be. The O-line will grow. They can already run block adequately in front of a decent RB. Better QB play will help them.

Bowden took the program as far as he was going to take it. He got it back to somewhat a level of respectability. But, it was time to try to go to the next level in the MAC.

This guy should have at least been given a chance to take the program into D1. Would he have been better than Faust? Who knows. But he ran the last consistently winning program at Akron.

I still have some hope for the O-line for next season. Right now they can not pass block competently. They can run block but when your defense can't help control the game you lose the ability to utilize your decent run game. And, Gibson hasn't really shown the ability to help carry the team when they can't run. Again, I am surprised that the D hasn't shown much improvement over 6 games. Are the players that bad? Are the coaches not able to 'coach 'em up' or come up with competent game plans on defense? What do we thinl?

Agreed. I understand that the AD doesn't make the big decisions about the overall direction of the football program. If the administration decides that the financial situation is really dire, its decision will go far beyond whether coaching changes need to be made. I am sure it is hoping some 'sacrifice' games get played next year so some big paydays come in. If not what happens?

I guess I was surprised that another QB showed up in the last game of the season. Arth has seen enough of Gibson already to know if he will improve to the point where he can be even competent in the MAC. Otherwise, Arth better start now to figure out his next QB. Guess under the circumstances, short season, eligibility changes I might have worked in other QB's during the season to get a better idea of which direction to go next season.

I was hoping the defense had actually progressed to the point where it could help control a game against a decent team. Obviously BGSU was even worse than we thought. Only thing the O-line can do even close to competently is run block. But Akron only ran the ball 24 times other than the QB's.!! Only threw 18 passes.!!!!!! The defense is absolutely no help to this team. Buffalo only had to throw the ball 10 times because Akron's defense can't control a decent run game. Somebody said Akron should make Vantrease beat 'em. He didn't have to. Arth is going to have to take a real hard look at the coaches on the defensive side of the ball. He is also going to have to take a hard look at the upper classmen who are playing on the defensive side next season. They are not getting it done against good teams. Looks like Gibson may be on the way out. Problem,, break in another new QB next season. I am very disappointed in the lack of improvement even over 6 games. Thought it might be a little better. But right now Arth doesn't have enough players capable of playing at the MAC level. With Bowden apparently coming off the books early next year, the athletic department is going to have to make some more hard decisions next year.

If Akron's offense can't control the ball to some extent, either approach is how you say, moot?

I agree with part of this. Looks like Dollard will be the best SINCE Biggs. Don't agree that he didn't have talent, however. And, J.D. brought in some other important pieces to supplement what Owens had left him. Getsy was a big part of the reason that team did what it did in '05.He was a good game manager for J.D.'s offense. So was Hixon, and some of the O-line. Certainly can't argue that Biggs, by example was a leader on that team. That was still my favorite Akron team since they went D-1. Maybe the current regime can pull this thing together so the Zips can become competitive again.

I certainly don't expect a Zips win. As I said elsewhere, hope the defense plays as if it is continuing to improve and doesn't allow UB to get big plays early. At least keep the game reasonable in the first half. Might have to try to control one aspect of the UB offense and hope for the best. With the secondary being as leaky as it has been, may want to send reinforcements there and try to make Patterson carry most of the load for them. Obviously he can do that. But Akron just can't give up a lot of quick scores through the air if they want to keep it reasonable. On offense Zips MUST run. Gibson is not ready to carry the load against a team like UB. Might even go with some 2 back and extra TE on a regular basis to beef up blocking. Throw to the backs and TE's. Try to run, dink and dunk to keep the defense off the field as long as possible. A decent performance against UB even a loss, helps for next season.

I thought about Kennedy also. Think he was a transfer from OSU, not sure. Thing about Kennedy was he didn't always show up on every play. He also ran too much east-west at times. Didn't like to hit the holes hard. He got better during his senior year. Biggs had no fear running inside and showed up every play. Looks like Dollard has that same attitude and is bigger a little faster than Biggs. Hope Arth can put some better offensive pieces around him next season. Whoever the QB is will have to take some heat off the run game. At least there is hope on that side of the ball.

Only things I want to see from the UB game are 1) improvement of defensive play over what we saw in the WMU/KSU and Miami games, 2) play from the O-line that doesn't make every offensive play look like a jail break for UB's defense and 3) and a QB who can play with more composure when plays break down. Doubtful Zips beat UB.That would be way too much to ask. But, they could gain a lot of confidence by at least playing well against a really good team and not getting blown out early. At the very least run the ball consistently and try to keep the defense off the field as much as practicable. Tall order.

They list Dollard a 5-11/ 205#. Is he fast enough to play on Sunday's?

Certainly the best since Brett Biggs in '04-'05.

I am picking Akron. But, I wonder if this could turn into a track meet by accident. We know Zips' defense is bad. Can't imagine BGSU defense is better. Neither team has anything to lose. Both looking at this as its only possible win this season. Might have been fun to watch in person.

Early this AM heard Phil Steele talking about this on one of the local sports talk shows. On the football side sounds like what most people already knew. The P5 schools call the shots in football. They haven't needed the NCAA for a long time. If those schools go off on their own it may help the Akron's of the world. They can play at their own level. Reorganize conferences. Maybe set up a legitimate playoff system amongst conferences of similar competitive levels. Lets see what the big boys do. Lets see what schools survive the current situation.

We can go back and forth on whether the current situation is because the 'cupboard was bare' when Bowden was let go OR because the current staff has not recruited well and has not used the 'talent' that was left properly. Back in 2004 when Brookhart was brought in after Owens' departure he had some good talent brought in by Owens, used it and started recruiting some missing pieces. I believe Owens even had at least a .500 season or better in 2003. Certainly that cupboard wasn't bare. J.D. decided not to do a complete tear down. He brought in some transfers and JUCO's and hit the jackpot in 2005. Never quite lived up to expectations after that though. J.D. even admitted he made some mistakes in recruiting after 2005. Bowden left some decent players on the roster upon his departure. Not enough to win consistently but definitely serviceable at this level. Unlike J.D., Arth has decided to do a teardown and get the underclassmen playing experience. It takes longer. But if it works, or hopefully WHEN it works there should be more consistency on the field. Right now with young players and new assistants at several positions not to mention the crazy season progress has been limited. I am not making excuses for the way Arth chose to rebuild. Right now it looks bad especially on the defensive side of the ball. Depending on what next season is going to look like Arth is going to have to make a choice. Either 'bite the bullet' one more season or bring in a few more JUCO's and transfers to try to kick start it. As I said before in the MAC you eventually have to fill in with those types of recruits to a greater or lesser degree. I think at the end of this season he will know better which of his guys can play and coach at this level and which ones he will need to replace.

! step forward 2 steps back. The Defense is a broken record week after week. Can't stop the run or pass. They constantly look lost. One would expect even with an undermanned squad there would be some improvement at this point. Coaches aren't coaching them up or making adjustments. That might normally call for some changes on the defensive side of the ball in the off season. But...what competent D coach would want to walk in to the mess That is the Akron D and possibly ruin a career. Not much light at the end of that tunnel. Surprised Miami didn't hang 'half a hundred' on them. Still think the offense can be competent with improvement in the O line and at QB. However its obvious unless Akron can run and run and run the passing game can not carry the offense. Other than Gibson's sack yardage they only ran the ball 15 times for 25 yards? They were down 24-0 at half and only threw the ball 27 times for 141? Can't play catch up that way. Miami knew Gibson couldn't carry the offense and planned to take Dollard out of the game. They did. No adjustments from the coaches apparently. Arth is going to stay with Gibson for now. But, if he doesn't improve they are going to be breaking in a new QB next year. Again, changing the offensive staff isn't likely to bring in high quality coaches. Who would come. Where is Jim Dennison when you need him?

Right on about the LB's. Not physically up to par even for the MAC. No shutdown DB. Where is Dwight Smith when you need him(LOL). But, please don't go back to Nelson at this point. His train left the station 2 years ago.

If I had to guess Arth might be tempted to improve his defense with a couple of transfers/JUCOS just to support what appears to be a developing offense. At the MAC level almost have to do that at some point. Not to the extent Bowden did it however. If Arth can coach up a QB, whomever that may be, the offense should be significantly better than under Bowden and..... Assuming a full schedule is played sometime in 2021,obviously not certain, if Arth finds a competent QB, they will be competitive next season.

I realize that a lot of people here are again frustrated. I have been frustrated for a number of years. Not just the last 5 or so. That said, There are a few ways a new coach can inherit a program. 1)A coach can inherit a stocked program from a successful coach who moves up. 2)He/she can inherit a program form a coach who was fired or 'moved on' because the program was possibly underachieving or not able to develop a consistently winning program. Maybe some decent talent but not enough to win consistently. 3)Finally, a coach can inherit a program that has very little talent capable of performing at the level the school wants to play at. I think we can safely say Akron was not a program Arth inherited from a successful coach, stocked with talent that was consistently posting winning records. Maybe depending on your viewpoint one could make a case for either 2) or 3) in the case of the Zips. I guess I would lean toward 2). That said ,the incoming coach then has to decide how he/she wants to rebuild/build his program. Either pretty much tear it down and build mainly with new recruits. Or, keep some of the players on the roster and bring in lots of transfers and JUCO's. I think Bowden chose the latter mostly. It appears Arth has pretty much chosen the former. That takes longer, obviously. Right now he is having more success on the offensive side of the ball. That figures since he was a QB at the college and pro levels. The defense obviously hasn't caught up yet. The game ready talent either is there and not game ready or pretty much isn't there. Unfortunately, the events leading up to this season placed new coaches rebuilding programs at a big disadvantage to more established programs with established coaches. Arth is still evaluating talent. The rest of this season should tell him several things:1) Does the defense have enough promising talent to make him believe that there will be significant improvement next season with the players he has. Or, will he need to recruit transfer/JUCO's to bolster that side of the ball more quickly. 2) Is Gibson the QB of the future and can Arth 'coach him up' to the point where can become a serviceable MAC QB with the talent around him on the offensive side of the ball. I don't think Kato Nelson is going to get anymore significant playing time save for injury. Could be wrong but, with what 3 games left doesn't seem like that would be real productive for the program. And 3) Arth is going to have to decide if his assistant coaches are up to the task, or not then make the appropriate changes as necessary. I am still hopeful given what the offense has done with a dominant ground game and QB who is still find his way. Just hope we get a full season next year.