LoyalZIP

Wow, how about that. I’m disappointed, but I suppose I can’t fault the guy.

4-0 Zips at half

BG hiring Arizona Deputy AD Derek van der Merwe as their new AD. They've started MAC play 3-1. Will it be enough to save Loeffler's job? I think he's benefitting from a really bad MAC, anything less than bowl eligible and he's out. But they're just 2 wins away. It will be interesting to follow.

Massive news. He looks to be running a pretty similar offense as we’ve got here. Must be why they went after him so far. On a lot of the plays, it appears the competition is such that he doesn’t need to try so he doesn’t move his feet and just flicks it out there. Not a fan of those. But on plays where he’s tasked with making reads and moving around, he looks very promising. And I didn’t expect to see accelerating like that, he can turn on the jets quick. With him coming in early, we could be looking at Irons vs. Steele for 2023.

This week's advanced box score: https://collegefootballdata.com/boxscore/401416628 The Zips regressed big time in scoring opportunities (Remember, this is when the team advances the ball inside the opposing 40-yard line). They had consistently been scoring TDs in the red zone and cashing in on short yardage situations. This week (and the fumble last week falls under the same category), they failed to score TDs when they needed them to be TDs. There were a couple of picks thrown, a 22-yard FG, and a 4th & 1 run stuffed at the line. Had they been perfect in scoring opportunities (VERY rare), they would have scored 25 more points. Of course, that is unrealistic, especially for a team with growing pains. In 7 trips inside the 40, Akron scored 20 points. Kent only got inside the 40-yard line 5 times, including getting a punt at the 27. Kent very clearly won the ever-important field position battle, which has really killed the Zips dating back to the Liberty game. That said, they still had a plethora of chances to win the game, but let it slip out of their hands.

So true. And 21-0 against healthy Kent, you could still lose that game. But 21-0 against a QB they're hiding with easy throws and handoffs, Zips would have had to try to lose at that point. Muffed punt against BG, <1 minute TD drive given up to Ohio, 2 missed FGs to end the half against CMU, now a nice 75-yard TD drive erased with a bad play on special teams. There was no doubt in my mind Kent was going to end the half with a TD. May as well have just let them score on the first play so the Zips would have another shot. That damn interception is the thing I can't get out of my head. From where I was sitting, I was already jumping up in the air celebrating once the receiver got open. Going back to the replay, it's hard to tell if Irons had a window to throw it (wish we could purchase all-22), but I feel like if he would have read the route a second or two sooner, it would have been a massive TD for what would have been our largest lead of the season, against a Fr. QB and an overrated Kent team that thrives on momentum. I don't want to reduce the game and the season down to that play because who knows what would have happened anyway, but 2-6, 1-3 with the Wagon Wheel in possession and the same record as Kent 8 games into this new era of football could have been ours. If the Zips take the life out of the Kent sideline there, the story may have written itself. Oh, to be an Akron football fan.

Next recruiting class

Love the topic @GP1 and great answer @LZIp If I had to vote for a future player, I would also say Wasel. He seems to be pretty highly touted and committed pretty early in this staff’s tenure. I’d like to see Dijon Jennings get a few series’ at QB as the season winds down here. I don’t necessarily expect him to be the QB of the future, but it would be nice to see how he looks as a true freshman. I would also agree on Biggs, he was as solid an RB as we’ve ever had. For the Bowden years of getting close to over the hump, it’s Jatavis Brown. An underdog from the start, undersized, softspoken leader but a badass in every sense of the word. He won Akron a few games single-handedly, his game @ Miami in 2015 may be the best single-game defensive performance by a Zip of all time. On this roster, I like what I see from Adams. He’s very explosive, and he gets open a lot. Hopefully he’s gotten over the dropsies and can get more shots in the open field this year. We’ve got him a couple more years too. 3-9 would be a huge moral victory for this staff, as much as I hate to say that. 2-2 in this final stretch after all the crap we’ve been through for 4 years, that would be tremendous. I truly think they will win another game, I just couldn’t tell you which one. They’re just so close, yet so far.

It’s true, at least this year. The whole league is bad, but the east is actually less bad than the west. It hasn’t happened in a long time, and kind of came out of nowhere.

We are one resilient/stupid bunch 😂😂

Hopefully hitting the portal hard, though it takes games to build chemistry. And while it was pretty bad most of the year, it was getting better in short yardage run situations the first couple weeks of MAC play, and that just was not there today, especially when it needed to be. It would have been nice to take the reigns and control that game by going 100% in those early scoring situations. If that had been the case, maybe we could see what this team looks like when it strategically runs the ball to control the pace and make things tougher on the opposing QB so they have to beat you through the air. Instead and in true Akron fashion, all hopes to build on the early lead quickly turned into a deficit, in large part due to self-inflicted wounds. And when that happens, the only hope is to throw the air out of the ball. It’s been fairly successful against MAC defense, but has struggled mightily once the field shrinks. Once UA scored the TD to take short lead with a couple minutes to go in the 2Q, you could pretty much write the script up in your head of how the rest of that half and the game was going to go. Crazy to see them continually lose like this.

Well. There’s yet again no reason Akron should have lost that damn game. Kent couldn’t get anything going early on, and the offense choked by throwing a horrible pick that should have been a TD, then failing to put the ball in the end zone inside the 5 yard line. Could have easily been 21-0 Zips, forcing that QB to air it out and win it with his arms. Alas, more of our beloved growing pains. I thought Joe called a pretty good game, just couldn’t get the run game going again. Having a MASH unit OL was certainly the equalizer today, compounding the run game struggles and QB who struggles to escape a collapsing pocket. Only issue I had with playcalling was the situation at the end, poor clock management. And the failed 4th down could have been seen from the moon. I get having confidence in your guys, but at some point you have to be realistic that it’s a very big ask to get half a yard push with this line out of the shot gun. Under center, snap to DJ, hug the ball, fall forward. If not that, a play-action dump off to a tight end would have converted 100% of the time, with a chance to slip into the end zone. And the officiating was fine and certainly not to blame for the loss, but without going back to see it, it felt criminal not to get the PI call in the end zone. Akron and Kent fans alike were blown away that the flag wasn’t thrown. Anywell, 0-4 halfway thru MAC play, 3 losses by a score. A muffed punt, a stupid fumble, and a bad pick away from being in the top half of the MAC East, but without a single win they still feel so far away. One of these days they have to break through, right? Have to win the wheel in 2023. Absolutely have to. Go Zips.

The picks kept us from taking control. A couple bad play calls and a missed PI. Margin for error strikes again. Damn it.

Damn it damn it damn it. Plenty of chances again.

Horrid officiating. Horrid play calling. Wasn’t meant to be.

Can’t execute s***

Need some luck. Come on.

Achilles ends of halves. Especially with that horrid kickoff and coverage.

GOOOOOOOOD MOOOOORNING!!!! BEAT KENT!!!!!

The public has hammered the Zips this evening. Line opened at Kent -20. Was down to Kent -19 a lot of the week, -18.5 this morning, and now down to -15.5. Gonna be a fun morning in Portage County!

What moron over there okay’d this?!?! I can’t stop laughing 😂😂😂😂😂 75-55 b******!!!!!!!

Our old pal

This will be an awesome opener. And I can already see the meltdown that ZN will have if the Zips drop it. Some folks will probably blame the Point Park and Wheeling game from last year. Anyway, the title defense starts now. It’s been 20+ years since someone not called Buffalo repeated in Cleveland. The Zips strike me right now as a team that would be kind of like that 2016 UB team. Lose a few big pieces from a title run, adds a few big contributors, but everyone forgets about you when you underwhelm a little bit based on expectation. Then you’re right back at the end raising the trophy. Did you see Toledo got a point in the first AP poll of the year? UT may very well end their tournament drought this year. But they lost Rollins and added a couple nice transfers. But they’ve still totally choked in the MAC semis back to back years. But nobody ever seems to take that into account, and they’ll probably be the preseason favorite again. Whatever. Love me some Groce basketball, and the weather is telling me it’s time to see some Zips basketball!

Zips Live is Joe Dunn free! 😂 I do love hearing him talk about past Zips games though, he and Moorhead could have a nice back and forth re-living some of the 04-08 Kent moments.