LoyalZIP

Wow. How many painful losses can UA teams put up in the span of one week? Absolutely a brutal way to lose. It looked like an incredible way to win before it became an incredible loss. I love how this team plays defense. Groce is truly amazing at getting guys to buy in on that end of the floor. Offensively, Castaneda really worried me in the first half, but he came out firing with confidence in the second half and looked a lot more comfortable. Trimble still looks just as streaky, but he played a lot harder on defense. Tribble was outstanding on defense. Walton looked a bit out of control, but made it work. Ali can create his own shot. No moral victories. I may feel good about the Zips heading forward, but that’s a game they should’ve won. Freeman owns his mistake on the blown coverage, and I hope that’s a strong learning moment for the still young former walk on. On to Point Park, see you at the JAR!!

There's a game tonight!!! I will likely have most of my focus on basketball, but will still have my eye on this one. Western Michigan is the most offensively skilled team Akron will play in the MAC, aside from maybe Kent. They have three receivers that I would dream of having. Skyy Moore, Jaylen Hall, Corey Crooms. Their QB Kaleb Eleby has been there forever and knows how to run the offense. And they can always give it off to Ledarius Jefferson, Sean Tyler, or Jaxon Kincaide. They're absolutely loaded, and I worry that this one could get ugly. On the other hand, they do give up a lot of points in spurts, so if Gibson can get hot and Norrils or Williams establish the run, Akron could keep up for a little bit. And WMU is always bound to do stupid things and play like a terrible football team, much like Akron does at times. Ball State went there and beat them 45-20 and they lost to an average Toledo squad 34-15. It's a weird football team, that's for sure. The thing that I will be paying closest attention to is how the team is motivated, if they're still playing hard, if the remaining coaches are going to play to win. It will be a looooong last three games if everyone mails it in. If things go well, they can walk away with pride and it could give these coaches a better image with some distance from Arth now. I'm really pulling for coach Rodriguez. He is such a cool story and he's come a long way in life, getting a win or two with the odds stacked against him would be so poetic, as he's done it all his life. The last couple times MAC teams have let coaches go mid-season, they've come back to surprise people to pull out a win. If I could have any of these last three, it would without question be on November 20. We can all hope. A MAC blogger I follow is rooting hard for Rodriguez, and I think a lot of people will. At least we have that! In games and situations like this where interest in Akron football is at low points for me, I think back to 2020 and all that was taken away from both Zips basketball and Zips football, and I will never take it for granted again. Go Zips!

So pumped for this game, it's like Christmas Day! I don't know much about Ohio State, but I do know that they are the most skilled team on the schedule this year, including WVU. I'm not thinking Akron is going to win, but this is a big opportunity to prove themselves in the national picture early. This is as stacked a roster that Akron has had maybe ever, they have 8-9 guys that could start anywhere in the MAC. With that said, I am very concerned about where the leadership comes from. There isn't really a signature guy that has worked his way up in the program from green freshman to leading the team. I think that's where a lot of problems we see early on are going to come from, hopefully to be corrected and figured out soon. Also, I don't know who the go-to guy is. Who do we trust to take the last shot down by 1 under 10 seconds to go? Those are my two biggest concerns. I'm iffy on overall perimeter shooting, but I think it will be more spread out this year once the team develops chemistry. In Groce we trust. Go Zips!

Babers is a fun name, but he didn’t recruit worth a damn at BG in his time there. He was blessed with a QB and roster the Clawson left them with and he continued the winning. That one’s a no from me. I wouldn’t hate it, but I would not be excited about it at all.

You forgot to mention that Game Day is in Cincinnati with a head coach that Tom Wistercill didn’t think was as good of a candidate to coach at Akron as Rob Ianello. He said no thanks, Luke.

Well said by both. I have heard this from numerous people at Akron over the years and if there was ever a time, it’s now. Other than Alford, I’m curious if Stan Drayton will get another look at it. Perhaps the WR coach at Pitt. I’m skeptical about his resume, but I did see an article that mentioned him.

Very well said. They can just be “football guys” which is why many don’t leave once they get there. I have no idea the likelihood of either former QB coming here, and I don’t really see it happening, but I think they’d be home run hires.

I recently discovered that video of the title game and re watched it for the first time since I was there, man that was cool! I I didn’t know there was a Marshall video, so I will have to do the same for that. Thanks! Go Zips!

He looked and sounded like a man that was feeling a bit overwhelmed, which I wouldn't hold against him. I wonder if Guthrie was the one who appointed him as the interim? Not sure how that process works, perhaps it was stated yesterday and I missed it. I'm all for it, though. He's a great story and I'm hoping he can surprise at least one of these last three opponents. And by that I mean the one from Portage County.

I guess it was never really public. A colleague of mine had worked with Getsy at a previous stop and was texting him throughout. Just said it was a very odd interview that felt like a waste of time. I read in an article yesterday that Getsy was in the final 3. That is not true. It's interesting, Williams wanted nothing more in his entire career than to hire a head football coach as a ND guy who played for the Browns. It's shocking that it went as poorly as it did.

Getsy vs. Frye is certainly an interesting thing to look at, whether either of them gets the job or not. I would absolutely love it and I think it would be very exciting even for fringe Zip fans that left with Bobby 1-and-11o. As far as resumes go, it's got to be Getsy hands down. He's currently the position coach of arguably a top 5 quarterback of all time, and he's been with that organization for 7 total seasons. He's been in both the college game and the pros for plenty of time. He was on Fleck's staff at WMU for a year and former Zip OC Joe Moorhead's staff at Mississippi State for a year. I would feel very good about that hire, as he's an extremely well-connected guy who has a lot of his career ahead of him still. Williams completely botched the interview last time around, and Getsy resented him for it and said he would never interview with Larry again. Hopefully he doesn't feel that way toward Akron. Charlie is by far more of the Akron guy, and I think he would be more likely to show interest. He's the best QB to ever play here and he won quite a bit. He seems to still have some good relationships with people at Akron, and he's been back to campus at least a couple of times since leaving. Frye-Day in 2015 was pretty cool. He would pour his heart and soul into this job, and Akron fans would be energized. As far as his coaching abilities, I have a lot more doubts. He's probably well-connected enough to put together a decent staff, and he's done pretty well as an OC in the MAC before he left for the Dolphins. I heard recently that he's their playcaller, which is interesting. Is Tua good? Who knows, there's no o-line down there to get a good read. Sounds like Akron, ha! While I don't really have any idea what direction Guthrie & Co. will go, these are two that I think would be pretty cool. With that said, I'd be fairly surprised if either ended up getting the job.

This spread might be north of 30 points.

The ignore function is a beautiful thing on this website, highly recommended. Saves a lot of time and headache.

I was just as shocked to see them that low as I was when they were picked 5th in the east before 19-20.

So many people who either very casually or don’t watch any Akron football have been throwing this name around at me since this morning, but I don’t see it. I understand the guy could very well be a damn good head coach at this level some day, but since moving on from D3, is his resume what we’re looking for? Toledo is not good right now. That’s a popular name in the northeast Ohio media circles. Arth was too, to a lesser extent. People like Sam recognize a flashy NeO name like that and say BINGO! In reality, people who follow this program and conference on a daily basis are far more skeptical. Akron could very well end up hiring Kehres and he’s amazing. Then I’d happily, very happily, admit to being wrong. But I don’t see it, not yet.

I never thought I would see part of a high school coach’s resume to get an FBS job be the attendance for an annual neutral site game between rivals, but here we are. 2021 is strange.

Thank you for sharing your insights, this is a great post! May I ask what has influenced your view of Guthrie so strongly thus far? He has certainly made his presence known by bringing in some senior staff. Also, I see Bubba hitting the portal quickly. Why would he play for a 3rd HC at Akron? I have zero doubt that he could go anywhere in the country and while he may not play everywhere, he can contribute to a position room with his amazing attitude and work ethic. I'd love to see him stick around, but do not see it.

I get the argument of riding out Arth. The trajectory is probably trending upward. To me, there have been far too many games in 3 season that tell me this just wasn't meant to be. Good Average Competent Bad football teams don't lose to 2019 UMass, especially by that margin. They don't get outgained by 600 yards against Ohio. They don't give up 69 points to Kent. They don't look like a high school team against 2020 Miami. They don't look like the Zips did against Temple, Bryant, Ohio, and Buffalo did this year. There were moments, of course. If you took someone who had never watched a second of Akron football and shown them the last 3 quarters against BG or the 4th quarter against Ball State, they'd be putting Arth's name into the pool in Baton Rouge. But reality is, through 27 games, which is ample time COVID or not, Akron has played in 3, maybe 4 games that I have left feeling okay with what I saw. That is not going to cut it. I've said it before, but look at NIU. That roster is unrecognizable from the 2018 season and they went 0-6 last year, but they opened 2021 with a win at GaTech and were undefeated in the MAC until their run-first QB threw for 500+ yards in a shootout loss to Kent last night. And don't even get me started on Kent. That s*** makes me sick. Akron could and should be so much better than it has been since Brookhart's prime. Akron was as well respected as any program in the MAC back then, and its been a doormat for nearly the entire league for over a decade. Yes, that includes the coach that went 1-6 against both BG and Ohio.

I wanted Arth to work out at Akron. It would have been a very cool story and he really is a good guy. I'm glad I got to meet him. But after watching a few spring practices in 2019, I predicted 0-12 and it looked far worse than I was even expecting. It never looked right and this is the right move. Guthrie's career hangs on this hire.

Oscar Rodriguez will be the interim

Oh boy....

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No Zips on the preseason 1st team. KJ Walton on preseason 2nd team. Joined by Keith Dambrot's best player at Duquesne, Sincere Carry, who is now a Golden Flash.

Coaches' Poll has been released.

What an interesting game. It's the first time during the Tom Arth era that Akron took a decent MAC team down to the wire at Infocision, which is so unbelievably sad. With that said, the defense for the most part played a "bend, don't break" game. The DBs kept their men close for a lot of the game, and were suffocating during the fourth quarter, holding Ball State on numerous 3rd down situations. My biggest gripe with the D is the pass rush. For one, they rarely ever get pressure, though they did get some last night. But even when they send a lot of guys, and they do get some pressure, the QB gets flushed and has W I D E open field ahead of him. Plitt ended up having 45 yards rushing, and at least two of those runs were on 3rd and long conversions. Run a QB spy in those situations. Offensively, the only thing you can really ask for is for Zach to hold onto the ball/go down inside the five. I feel so terrible for him, that kid wants to win more than anyone on the roster and he knows how big that blunder was. Man.....that hurts so bad. That one will hurt for years. Whether we win the last 3 or lose all of them by 20+. I could taste victory. As for more on the offense, the biggest non-fumble issue has become the penalties. So many false starts. A couple holds. Akron hasn't been too bad about that his year, and that slowed them down last night for sure. The offensive gameplan? Absolutely brilliant. I'm a big Gasser fan, as he's the only person on this staff qualified for his position. The playcalling last night was about as good as its been for this crew. The o-line played well and I think the playcalling set them up for it. They ran the ball hard and to every side of the line, and not every pass needed to be 10+ yards down the field. I don't understand how they've waited until now to unleash slants and mid-screens. I think three or four of our longest plays of the season have come on a catch and run like the ones Mathison had. It helps that we've got a QB that understands his role too. I was very pleased, though it was far from perfect. 60 minutes of that kind of offensive philosophy against the next two opponents could bring some good fortune. Again, I don't know why we've had to wait until week 10 to see it. This team has been so disappointing this year. Not only because of some of the continued blowout losses, but also because of the expectations. The expectations for every Zips fan at this point was to compete for the MAC East in November and to be fighting for bowl eligibility at the very least, but so many of Arth's beloved "great opportunities" have ended in disappointment. Temple--winnable nonconference G5. Up 14-0 get blown out Bryant--hopefully a blowout confidence builder. DJ Irons miracle TD breaks a 4th quarter tie to win by 21 Ohio--their worst team in 15 years. Promising early. Tied going into 4th q. Lost by 3 scores Miami--Winnable game after great BG win. Defense gives up a million points early and theres no chance. Buffalo--bipolar team that's beatable. Total ass-kicking. And now Ball State--one of the most experienced teams in the MAC. Chance to win, fumbled into the end zone again. Arth has failed. This team is underperforming left and right, and that makes losses like these sting even more. We just can't catch a damn break. If anything, this gives me hope for that game in two weeks. Hope. But, we're on to Western first. Go Zips.