LoyalZIP

So heartbreaking. Most heartbreaking loss since OU in 2016. Up there with Kent in 2014. Akron football is pain. Zips have a QB though. Silver lining. Too little too late. Night folks.

8:19 into the 3rd

The only thing I trust about the team is the inability to close out a half defensively

There's not a ton I have to say in preparation for this game. Before the year started, this is one I circled as a guaranteed loss with the defending MAC Champs bringing so many guys back. Following the Buffalo loss, I'd be shocked if a single player had interest in competing in this one. I hope I'm wrong. Keep an eye on Justin Hall for Ball State (WR). He's made a catch in every game in his career and he's a cool all around story. He started at Ball State when they were the worst team in the MAC in 2017. The Zips beat them by a final of 31-3 on a gorgeous homecoming afternoon. Ball State -19.5 all day long. Go Zips.

I’m not thrilled with how that went tonight. I wasn’t really expecting anything in particular, but it got a little too ugly and the Zips looked a little too out of sorts. It’s clear as of right now that there’s not really a defined leader, which is disappointing. With the personnel on the roster, I’m confident that it will be a very successful season, but I just didn’t see what I really wanted to tonight. Maybe that’s just a product of being thrown into the wolves, I don’t know. Ohio State isn’t gonna be any easier. Trimble air balled a wide open three. Other than that, I thought he was uncharacteristically aggressive on the defensive end, which made me very happy. Enrique pulling the trigger on a three and making it was also very cool. Other than that, I got nothing. I’m very surprised there wasn’t a single minute for Wynn or Kalle (that’s his name, right?). Isn’t that what these games are for? I didn’t like Clarke/Castaneda starting. Not at all. That lineup was whack. I’d like to see XC/Walton/Ali/Freeman/Aziz as a big lineup as the season goes on, especially if Enrique could be a Deng Riak type perimeter shooter, which I don’t see why he couldn’t but it’s far too soon to tell this year. It could be a slow developing season, but I still feel very good about this team’s potential. In Groce we trust. Go Zips! Still 0-0!

Maybe the guys were too comfortable with the whole “exhibition” label and it’s kind of led to them looking lost. Maybe Groce has a lot more work to do with this team than we thought, he did say after all he wasn’t too happy with their last scrimmage either. They’ve got a lot of improving to do before they head to Columbus in 10 days.

VCU. Fire Groce.

Zips look very raw. Not a terrible defensive effort overall, WVU playing well. Nothing to be too concerned about yet.

Aziz looks a step behind indeed.

I rarely complain about officiating, but man this is brutal. Hopefully it toughens up the Zips if nothing else.

Not a fan of that lineup that started. Hopefully an exhibition lineup.

Great post, @Let'sGoZips94 !!! All very well said. My eyes will be glued to everything, but the two factors I will be paying the most attention to are Castaneda and Aziz. Ever since Aziz made it onto campus last year, Groce's eyes would light up whenever he was asked about him. I wish he would have been able to contribute more last year as a rim protector, that would have helped that group a lot. Now with a proper offseason program, I am pumped to see what he can do for this program. As far as XC goes, he will need to contribute as a scorer filling in for all of the offense that LCJ took with him. That's not to say he needs to average 20+ points, as he can be better about getting his teammates involved in the offense to a point of increased production. However, the Akron offense of the last two seasons has been guard dominated, and hopefully he can maintain the perimeter threat in addition to getting Trimble and Ali good looks. Hopefully one other shooter can step up as well. I'm just excited. Aziz, XC, KJ Walton, maybe one of the freshmen. There's a lot of new faces and old faces I'm very excited about. Even though this one doesn't technically count, it still feels like Christmas day to me! Time to finish what we started 2 years ago! GO ZIPS!!!

Keith’s father Sid passed away yesterday. It was always a cool to see him around and to see their father/son relationship and the influence it had on Keith as a coach. Check out this cool photo of them that was posted on social media

This I actually understand. Irons, with his mobility, was sacked 12 times. I don’t know if Gibson would have survived, and I think that’s why he was pulled.

As the season began and Akron looked improved to an extent, I had some hope that Arth would convince me that we were a year away from him making some kind of breakthrough. However, after a glimmer of hope against BG that made me forget how atrocious the Ohio game was, I am fully out on Arth once again. I get that his freshmen are still underclassmen, but they have a lot of experience at this point for being so young. The offensive line is just as porous as it was in 2019, though there are a couple of flashes of good protection. The defense still gives up a billion points. I would agree on the QB play being a good bit better, but still not consistently good, the running game has shown flashes, but the best RB since Dennis Kennedy flared out with a legal issue and since then it's been a revolving door with a couple of good performances. I think the receiving corps is good enough to be considered decent in the MAC, but Saturday saw a horrible performance from them in their few chances to catch the ball. And overall, the penalties and lack of discipline are starting to show up again. I do not think Arth is by any means getting worse, or the team is getting worse, it's just far too similar to what we've seen for I think 26 games now. Saturday was nothing short of appalling. There was zero hope of a win and the Norrils TD was simply a spritz of mild deodorant. Buffalo, who hired this coach 5 months ago and was without its best running back, looked like the Alabama Crimson Tide against what is undoubtedly an improved Akron roster on paper. Throw in the second half against Ohio, first quarter against BG, and pretty much the entire Miami game, and you can very clearly see a lack of competence. If you're brave enough to go to the Ball State game, make your way down to the front row behind the Akron bench, closer to maybe the 10-15 yard line on either side. You'll get as clear a look as you can possibly get of the coaching staff, particularly when Akron is on defense. You should hear how helpless Feeney & Co. are and you should see the horrid body language on the players after giving up another quick and easy score. Let's look at the other MAC programs who hired head coaches before the 2019 season. BG and NIU. BG was in a closer situation to Akron having fired their coach instead of him leaving. Sub par 2019 seasons, BG beat Akron 31-6 and NIU beat Akron 49-0. Last year, Akron went 1-5 and BG and NIU combined to go 0-11 or 0-12, I can't remember exactly but the point still stands. All three programs are loaded with young players, and BG did fairly well in the transfer portal going into 2021. NIU has the best record in the MAC and BG and Akron are in the basement all with an unreal amount of freshman. NIU has found the kind of players they need and they don't try to do too much or prove any points. They just play their game. If you get the chance, go watch them play at Kent on 11/3. It could be a good one and you can see what a couple of successful rebuilds look like. Sorry for rambling. To make a long story a lot shorter, Arth has had adequate time to at least set a foundation of success, but given how 3 of the 4 MAC games have gone this year in addition to the Temple destruction and Bryant scare, it is clear to me that he is not capable of getting Akron to a place of sustained success. We are too far along to be losing MAC games by 35 points. Next up, he has the red hot defending MAC champs coming to town, then a trip to Pitt's only loss, then hosting his rival who has no other goal then to kick his ass. I have a hard time seeing any of these games be close. That's why I'm out.

Well said on Guthrie. He is a go-getter and he doesn’t want to be at Akron long. He wants to right the ship and make a couple of good hires then move on up the ladder, it’s exactly what this mess of a department needed. I’m looking forward to see how he manages this football situation. The hire could literally make or break his career, that’s the kind of pressure I like to see.

That 66-5 game was on the road, even that one would have been worth leaving despite a 4+ hour drive. Oddly enough, the year before in 2010 on October 23, the Zips lost to WMU at Infocision 56-10, trailing 35-3 at half time. Saturday was the 11 year anniversary of that game, and we saw nearly the same exact thing happen.

First, I'd like to say I didn't know it was possible for a team to play so consistently poorly at home. That makes absolutely zero sense to me. Infocision is the Taj Mahal of MAC football stadiums and for almost its entire existence, teams so often come in and just destroy Akron. Its so sad to see such a lifeless team that still has (by Akron standards) not terrible crowds come out lay such a fat egg just two weeks after a promising win. In case you ever want to know what being dominated at the line of scrimmage looks like, fire up the replay of this game. As bad as Irons was, and he was BAAAD, he nor any other QB would have had any chance to do anything. Other teams will follow Buffalo's game plan moving forward, and this isn't going to be the last time we see so many sacks. The offensive line continues to look like one of the worst I've ever seen, and there is no hope that it will improve. Defensively, there was nothing surprising there. I had to count to make sure Akron had 11 players on the field a few times, how a Buffalo tight end can take a 4 yard drag route 50 yards is way over my head. I didn't even think that was humanly possible. I don't think the math adds up. Anyway, I'm happy for Norrils. He started the first game of the year and you see why, he's one of the few D1 players on this roster. That was cool to see. With that said, on behalf of Guthrie I'd like to thank Tom Arth for making the decision to let him go even easier and more justifiable. I would suspect it will come once the season officially ends, but this is not going to continue, nor should it, especially at this rate.

This is honestly crazy even by Arth standards. Pathetic.

OU game all over again. They figured out how to run and now the games over. Feeney sucks.

Kent forced approximately 7,000 turnovers in the first few games of the year to mask the stench of their D up until the last couple of weeks. Statistically, I believe they give up more yardage than Akron. And Akron's scoring defense agains the MAC has been bad, but not Kent bad so far. I'm not going to get ahead of myself, but I too think Akron should be able move the ball against them. Also, on Gibson/Irons, I wouldn't mind that being the QB attack. Give Gibson the bulk of the snaps and then use Irons as a runner in shorter yardage situations. Hell, put him out at receiver and run a double pass or some goofy s***. I mean, a 6'5 dual threat QB who is a pretty darn good thrower shouldn't be left to rot on the bench even if he isn't the best QB on the roster. He's an asset. In the Temple game on Akron's first drive, Arth put him in once Akron reached the red zone to perhaps keep Kato from getting decapitated in running situations. Plus, a guy like that adds a whole new dynamic to the offense. Akron unfortunately can't be picky with such a terrible offensive line. They'll need to be creative in situations, and they've got the QBs to do that. We shall see.

The first not-so-great weather game at Infocision Stadium this season could be an interesting one. Buffalo falls under the same umbrella as Miami does in my eyes over the last 5 years or so, granted they've had a bit more sustained success. They've had a string of running backs for nearly a decade that can torch you. Remember back to 2016 when Jordan Johnson led a terrible Buffalo team to a dominant Thursday night victory over Akron that haunted that Zips team the rest of the way. The rosters are completely different now, but the strategy to run it down the opponents' throats is still what Buffalo does best, even with a new head coach. QB-wise, I personally do not think that Akron or Kent losing a local kid in Vantrease to Buffalo meant much. He has been a fine game manager for a successful program, but the main focus of this team has been to run the ball throughout his entire career, so he's never done anything impressive through the air. In fact, if Buffalo had some semblance of a passing game, they could be a top MAC team. They scored 28 points in the third quarter at Kent by running the ball, that's insane. And QB incompetence ended up biting them at the end once they gave up the lead. After an 0-2 start and a big comeback against Ohio (SO embarrassed we lost to them, especially so badly), they stand at 1-2 in need of a big win. If you argued that Akron has the better QB heading into this one, I may not fight back. He may not be as proven as Vantrease, but he's shown that he can be a good bit better. Plus, Akron has the advantage in the receiving corps, which feels weird to say but I think is true. The Bulls defense rates average to below average in the league, so the Zips could put up some points, emphasis on COULD. Also, the Bulls rush defense gives up a lot of yards on the ground, so perhaps the mess we have at RB could get some good reps in. With all that said, Buffalo has Kevin Marks (game time decision, injury) in the back field and they have Dylan McDuffie in the back field, and they have Ron Cook in the back field. That three, possibly two, headed monster should wear down the weak defensive front of Akron en route to a controlled victory for the Bulls. I hope I'm wrong, but I think their pedigree will prevail. On the flip side, Akron seems to do well against Buffalo when playing them at home. If my math in my head is correct, Akron is 3-1 agains the Bulls at Infocison, with the lone loss coming in what I think was Zach Gibson's first career start in 2019. In that game, the Zip defense gave up one touchdown and the UB defense scored two for the 21-0 win. A "great opportunity" as Tommy likes to say. Well, what are you gonna do about that opportunity then, coach?

You know, listening to Brandon Staley press conferences I've noticed they sound a bit like Arth's. From the "you knows" to even having what seems like a similar voice. It seems like a match made in heaven, how long until after Arth is fired is he in LA? Also, during what I think was the post game interview with Joe Dunn last week, the following string of words came out of Arth's mouth and it gave me a good chuckle--"you know, I don't know, you know?" Just amazing 🤣

This should be the year this team finally breaks through and makes it to Cleveland. No excuses! I need to see some player development. Toward the end of last year, M. Neitzel and Layne Ferrell developed into key contributors to make a near disastrous season look a little bit better. Support this team!!

I’m genuinely curious, did someone hack my account and post a bunch of Arth love on my behalf? Everyone is accusing me of being pro-Arth! This is getting out of hand! Thank you for the laugh my friend. I’m sorry that I expect a team that beats Northwestern to not be at the bottom of the MAC East. I apologize for the lofty expectations for ol’ Terr-Bear. My bad. Perhaps I should have lowered my expectations like you. I’m officially retiring from the stupidity of this thread. Goodness gracious.