Lee Adams

Please explain why Navy would be a "great" matchup for Akron!

Please explain.

The squawk about what this team 'should' do gets mundane. They need to take advantage of a mostly season great performance by the defense as well as a relatively soft MAC schedule. Ya play the cards you are dealt. 'Should' they win today? Its easy to say they 'should'. If the coaches don't try to make these guys do more than they have been doing well they 'should' handle Miami. Worry about UB,a tougher game,next week.

As it turned out Matt Johnson didn't have to throw the ball all over the yard. BG was able to win and control the game on the ground. Johnson was effective. Licata was bad early but he warmed up later on and got UB back within striking distance. UB has a hard time running it appears. But, beware UB on 11-21. Not likely Akron will score a lot of points. So, the secondary can't become vulnerable as it has a tendency to do. If the front can keep Licata moving and not let him establish the pass AND the Akron offense doesn't turn oover the ball..... I remember 2008 at the Bowl. Last game there How many OT's? Buffalo won and pretty much killed the rest of the season for the Zips. One at a time!

How is CMU 'mediocre'? They beat Akron on the road(how bad are the Zips then?) Other than OK and Pitt and BGSU(they blew out the Zips) CMU may be the best team Akron plays all season. Thank the schedule makers in the MAC for that) And, CMU loses to the team in the West, the overwhelmingly better division from top to bottom, in the MAC that was ranked in the top 25 because of its wins earlier this season. Yep, NIU beat Toledo. NIU certainly isn't 'mediocre'. Depending on what happens tonight and the next 3 weeks,CMU has a 'chance' to win the MAC west don't they? Akron right now is 'mediocre' at best. If they win out come up with another definition.

Thankfully Chuck's defense has progressed faster than the other guy's offense. The last two weeks have been impressive for the D. Even in the loss to CMU they held a good QB in check. Jatavis Brown has been a force. Hope he gets a look in the pros. Problem is he is kind of a 'tweener. Hopefully he can transition to safety. At least in the second half they got the ball to Hundley enough to take some pressure off Woodson. Hundley is really a trooper. He is there no matter what. Its been obvious for weeks that the Defense would have to 'win' games. Thats not going to change now. Stay with Woodson. Don't make him do more than he can do Somebody above used the word 'cupcakes'. Akron doesn't play any cupcakes in the MAC. They are not that good. Stay awake and get by Miami. Then you have a much better team in Buffalo. Another really solid QB(Licata) with an offense that can run better than UMass. Right now they are probably last in line for bowl games in the MAC. Too many better teams in the west. Plus Buffalo has a shot. Hope OU keeps losing and the Zips beat Can't at the end. 7-5 not 6-6 gets a bowl.

Nobody here has to 'try' to get a coach fired. If anyone thinks that what is written here will get a football coach fired,please get back on your meds. The numbers at the end of this season will determine if Bowden stays or heads back home.

Not about 'the line' its about the program.

Pratt is not a viable option. Never has been. Can't catch or get open consistently. Davis is decent but he is small. Keep him on the field with Lane. But, Lane is NOT great as someone said elsewhere.

Lets assume that the statement that Akron could not drop its football program to 1-AA or D-2 w/o 'taking' those other sports with it is accurate. And,lets assume that 1-AA doesn't significantly help the financial situation. Since some folks over on Buchtel Ave have already apparently made noises about 'de-escalating' sports programs,we may not want to dismiss this talk out of hand. For instance,would a drop to D-2(which is essentially where Akron came from) result in significant savings for the athletic department? What are the obstacles to making such a move in one or multiple sports? What do you do with Infocision? Well,considering there is only actual seating on the East and West sides and some of the west side is exclusive seating there could be ways to cut back capacity and use some of that space for other purposes. Football is a huge expense for the AD. Its going to get the scrutiny over the next couple of years. Obviously,the soccer and B.ball programs have performed at consistently higher levels than the football program. A move to a lower level would be devastating for B.ball and soccer. But, the new regime has already vaporized the baseball program without batting an eye. Scarborough says he needed the baseball field to build a main entrance to UofA off Exchange. If thats the type of thinking that is going on over there,I wouldn't say any decision is not possible. Hope it doesn't happen,but...

First of all we all know that saying Akron 'should' be favored in and/or win its last 4 games is pretty meaningless especially based on recent history. At this point its not cliche to say you better play them one at a time. As noted,3 of those teams have decent to at least good(or better) QB's. CMU has one of them. That team is playing well in the better MAC division. Buffalo with Licata has a very serviceable QB. UMass while not showing results in the record has a QB capable of causing problems for an Akron defense that has been lit up through the air. Miami,eh! Can't is always a tossup even when it should not be. Maybe Akron has used the off week to shore up the pass rush and pass D. Maybe the also have continued to emphasize running the ball and cutting down on the 'empty' plays. If Akron doesn't take advantage of a weak MAC schedule this season to get to at least 6-6 there will be some long looks at the program by the NEW AD and new Prez. As far as a bowl game,with the wins they have it will take 7-5 minimum unless another better MAC team completely flames out. A win over CMU would really be significant. There are going to be some holes to fill especially up front on the defense after this season. I keep looking at the offense and wondering when the lights come on for the coaches and the players. Given time AND some better lets say input from the offensive coaches,Woodson seems to have enough upside to develop into a serviceable MAC QB. But,he needs more time and more help. Trick or treat on Halloween?

Did the Board of Trutsleess already recommend a move of the f.ball program to a lower level?

59-10; 3.7 yds/play by the offense(either they were playing a great defense or the play calling was really bad); 500+ yds given up by the D; over 7yds per play given up by the D:9 penalties for 75 yds......and on....

Another ugly loss to BG and to a good MAC team. Oh,and Can't won on the road. Anyway,by the numbers. On the offensive side there is 41 rushes for 158. On the surface that doesn't look too bad. Hundley had 69 on 16 carries. Passing 15-30 for 104(Woodson was 13-28) and 2 Woodson picks. Now those splits wouldn't be bad. They tried to run to control the ball. But,they had 4 total T/O's and could only put up 10 points. None in the 2nd half. And,they were already down by 18 at half. Too many 'empty' plays being called and run. 262 total yards,71 plays at 3.7 per play. BG ran 'only'75 plays but had over 500 total at 7.1 per play. But,stick with Woodson. Lets see how he bounces back. Pohl is not the future. The defensive numbers are a train wreck. 59 points,thats half a hundred + again. 412 yards passing. 5 passing TD's. No picks. A porous pass defense is still porous. Lewis had 118 with 2 TD's. BG had 120 on the ground. No fumbles. 9 penalties for 75 yards is also a killer. But,thats the Zips. Someone said it a week or so ago,wrong kind of D being played by Akron to slow down BG. I think the Akron D has been sufficiently exposed against good teams thus far this season On the TV show earlier in the week Bowden sounded more hopeful than prepared or confident. His players played like they were too hopeful and not well enough prepared. Nobody will get fired during the season or at least should not. But, Bowden's group has shown again that they are not up to the challenge of beating the really good MAC programs. The rest of the season will be difficult simply because of the 2 losses to the two of the better teams in the MAC not to mention the East. Whether they can run the table and get to 7 wins is now highly questionable. Fortunately the MAC schedule this year is relatively easy. CMU is the toughest game left,except for Can't. Anything less than 6 wins will certainly invite a lot of scrutiny at season's end.

What is 'the turning point' when the opponent puts up half a hundred plus on you...again?

No one dad gum it can justify the losses this coaching staff has been responsible for in crucial games. Akron has become BGSU's whipping boy. Oh,thats not to mention OU. And,they can't beat a mediocre OU team at home. Don't blame this on the players as some here will try to do. Bowden has had long enough to get beyond these types of butt whoopings. Hell Amato isn't the biggest problem even thoguh the D is overrated. Penalties,empty plays etc are coaching at this point. A program doesn't get waxed like this without looking at preparation. Bowden will likely be back next year. But what happens then? OK so if the highly unlikely happens and it won't that they 'win out' so what?

Yes they can, PREPARATION/

In response to someone above,Akron ran the ball 53 times against EMU. Threw it 22. Thats more than 2:1 run. I am not sure what the definition of 'ball control' is in some quarters but maybe Akron did it by accident last week. The BG defense may not be as stout as OK,OU or Pitt,but those guys will be more than happy to run 80-90 plays,throw it 40 times and hang half a hundred on you to win. Its not plain and simple that the defense has to make some stops against BG. The Akron offense has to make the BG defense stay on the field AND give the defense field position to work with. If you have to punt a few times to flip the field do it. DO NOT put Woodson in a position where BG can unload the rack on him. He is not ready to take over a game at this point. Shoot,I would go so far as to put Grice on the field on offense out in the middle of the field. If he can get 3 yards on first down thats manageable. Make BG load up inside to stop him,run with Hundley or Alexander or pass off of him.They only have to do it a few times to get the defense to pay attention. Woodson has to be willing to throw the ball away or eat it if necessary. No turnovers. And the offensive coaches have to be patient and not get greedy with their play calling.

Since the dust has settled a bit lets take a look. Great that they beat a team they should have beaten. Thats a start. On the offensive side: 53 rushes for 228 according to the NCAA site. Hundley:17/119,Alexander:21/78 and Woodson went for another 70 or so. Passing:14/22. To state the obvious the coaches committed to the run and kept running it because they needed to and they could.. The result was that Woodson didn't have to 'win' the game through the air. He could make throws he is capable of making at this early stage of his career. He didn't have to panic and try to force the ball too often. Unless Woodson is injured at some point in the future Bowden needs to run him out there the rest of the season. And,the coaches need to at least for now commit to running the ball first. Use the two backs as they did against EMU. Get the O-line used to run blocking for 40 plays a game. Defensively, its hard to tell. It gave up 100+ to one back and had some trouble with a decent QB. But the D was able to control this game enough to allow the offense to continue to run the ball and not be forced to throw it 40 times. BGSU,a whole 'nother animal'. Performing at a much higher level than EMU,obviously. Offensively,Akron can not get into a shootout,again obviously. Running the ball will be even more important this week. Akron CAN move the ball on the BGSU defense IF the offense can stay out of scramble mode early. Slow the game down with the run even if it means trying to play field position at times. Run the ball 40 times if the game stays close. But,if Akron's pass defense gets porous and gives up big plays and has to play against that up tempo for long stretches,ouch. Obviously the defense will have to play its best game of the year. Amato likes to have people playing very aggressively. That might be problematic against BGSU.

Obviously you did 'berate". I am certain Bowden the attorney doesn't need you or anyone else on this site to 'defend' him. He can certainly and necessarily can do that himself. And,again you have recruited how many DI QB's? And whomever you are, who is the starting QB in 2016? And is that person on the roster? I did not berate Bowden. I just do not have the same OPINION of his performance after 4 seasons that you do. Thats fair. Ad hominem attacks usually indicate lack of substance. But thanks for 'poi ting' out our differences. See you on 10-31.

You have recruited how many? Please enlighten. Decent players tend to learn from mistakes. Maybe Woodson will learn maybe not. He certainly has not had enough playing time to make that determination. But I don't think he was dismissed from a DI program for bad behavior either. I could have missed that however. And, after 4 years apparently Bowden 'a top notch coach' has not been able to recruit a decent DI QB to Akron either. Or at least we apparently have not been introduced to him yet. By the way whomever you are,you don't have to 'listen' to me. And you certainly don't need to personally attack anyone on this board. Just say you disagree and state why.

If you wanted an example of how good coaching can make a difference in a close game,you saw it today. Solich and his staff were better prepared in pre-game planning,in game defensive and offensive play calling and having the right personnel on the field at the right time. Solich made 2 TD's stand up and Bowden couldn't figure out a way to put his guys in the right circumstances to score even one TD. Don't blame Woodson. The coaches put the offense in poor circumstances especially with early play calling and a couple of puzzling decisions in the second half. Bowden wouldn't run the ball in the first half. We were remarking that OU was pretty much playing that 2 deep zone with their CB's one on one and letting the LB's react pass or run. Until Akron finally put Hundley in the backfield OU didn't have to compensate for the run. Their LB's were taking care of Woodson when he ran. Remember,Woodson is essentially a first year QB as far as any consistent playing time. Pohl is not a viable option this late in Bowden's tenure. Let Woodson play unless he gets hurt. Akron is not going to win the division now. They are not going to climb over BGSU and OU even though they drew two of the lesser western division teams. Unless these guys figure out a way to go 5-3 in the MAC there could be some interesting decisions coming at the end of the season.

Knowing that Bowden had Woodson as the #3 QB on the depth chart at the start because he has not been able to recruit a QB he 'likes' in 4 years should make everyone wonder. Lets just say this,if Akron doesn't play mistake free ,that means penalties,fumbles,picks,Solich will again beat Bowden. This is THE statement opportunity for this program under Bowden. Too bad the weather will be shitty and no Akron fans will be there.

Not unless they beat OU tomorrow.

Again,this is a potential statement game for Akron. Win,and you have a realistic shot at the division. Lose again to OU,at home,not much hope of catching both BGSU and OU. Going to be rain and chilly. OU will have fans. Will Akron?