LoyalZIP

You’re exactly right, I feel bad for getting sucked into that nonsense again. Gotta ignore it, but it’s so hard sometimes.

Ohio State is ranked #17 in the first AP Poll.

Handel's is a great call! What flavor?

Yes, thank you for stating the obvious. What about any of my posts indicates that Arth is a successful coach at Akron? Please, show me. You fail to recognize any nuance in these discussions and it’s mind blowing. Truly mind blowing. It isn’t Arth vs. Bowden. It’s Akron vs. Akron. Neither end of tenure Bowden or Tom Arth should be coaching at Akron right now. I’m happy for Terry. He’s in a place where he seems he can do well. And the big difference on his sideline? That punk he had calling plays while at Akron isn’t with him anymore, and he shouldn’t have been here after the 2014 debacle. Instead, there was some success but it never reached its full potential. GO ZIPS!

Exactly! Finally you get it, losing to a bad team without a head coach to all but lock up a 2-6 MAC record is unacceptable. About damn time you come around.

https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401020784 Zips also led this game in naps taken on the sideline. Happy Senior Day! But but but but Northwestern!!! Morons.

I appreciate it. The transfer portal would do this program absolute wonders. Of course, this would sort of include Dollard but that’s besides the point. 2 P5 transfer on either the offensive or defensive line would be exactly what they need. Watching Kent get throttled yesterday, I was in amazement at WMU’s ability to control the line of scrimmage for all 60 minutes. They have outstanding talent at QB, RB, and WR, but the difference was made at the line. And I keep waiting to see Akron establish that with their youth, who is gaining more experience week to week, but all of these Zagorski recruits may just be busts. And that resets the clock once again. How do you speed up that clock? The portal!!!

What is there to say about this game? It's about what I was expecting. That's a decent MAC football team, and Akron's performance the prior week was both a combination of fluky and BG being horrendous. I learned a few things yesterday. Number one is the obvious. The defense remains pathetic. The defensive backfield is helpless against good quarterbacks. And we still have Drew Plitt, Dustin Crum, and Kaleb Eleby on the schedule. Yiiiiikes. Big play after big play. It just wasn't stopping. Feeney must go. That's all there is to it. Another thing I learned is that the passing game might be okay. This is the first time in back to back weeks of the Arth era we've seen them perform. There was certainly a lot of garbage time yardage, I'll give you that. But I have confidence in Gibson when he drops back. His decision making has come a long way, and he moves around well. Mumpfield continues to be an absolute monster. Next, the run game is rather weak. I haven't yet missed Teon Dollard this season as much as I did watching that game yesterday. Yes, the line is terrible. But that fumble was very costly, and there was simply no forward push for most of the day. You will not be good if you can't be successful there. A couple more I'll put into this one bullet point. The penalties yesterday reminded me of the football I watched from 2012-2018. Completely unacceptable and that's on the coaching. It hasn't been a problem this year until yesterday (not counting sideline penalties), Akron had usually been a fairly disciplined team. In addition to poor discipline--special teams/return teams. What the hell? How many people on this board knew about the dropped fair catch rule to begin with this year, and now we've seen it twice! Catch the freaking ball!! That's 3 dropped kicks in the last two weeks. Not okay. Also on kick returns and offense in general, when there's a situation where there is a lead blocker, the lead blocker looks so lost I feel like I'm watching peewee. I think Tony Grimes was a lead blocker for a return yesterday and he just jogged up the field looking lost as 4 RedHawks stormed by him to take Mathison down for a bad return. The full back missed every single block during the Bryant game too. And those were the only times I was actually paying attention to stuff like that, I can't imagine how much more of that junk happens. As I said yesterday, I believe Akron is an improved football team from the past two years, but Akron is still a bottom 3 MAC team and that's unacceptable. If Arth doesn't get at least one more win, I won't feel any optimism moving forward. I could potentially be sold on one more year of Arth for the sake that so many contributors on offense are freshman or sophomores, but if Matt Feeney remains on that sideline after this season is over, I will have seen all that I need to. On to Buffalo.

Playing like a bad football team overall, which is a vast improvement from most of the Arth era. There are chances so far. The Hester fumble was very disappointing, and the D is looking like it’s former self.

Tight End U!

Give up a first down on a 3rd &10 run. Beautiful.

Mid 50s and looking pretty clear for the game down there today. It’s a beautiful day to once again be excited for Zips football! I’m thinking we see Gibson start today, he’s got to. Go Zips!

I really don't know what to think about this game. There are so many things going on. For example: Is the D for real? Is Gibson for real? Does Gibson even start? Do we have a running back? Do we have an O-line? And those are only the questions I have about Akron! As for Miami, who is the QB? Who is the RB? Who is catching passes? Will the playcalling be conservative again? Is the defense actually decent? Both teams are in somewhat similar places so far this year, at least in MAC play. Both fanbases are kind of fed up with the quality of play and in general are pessimistic about where things are going. Looking at Miami, they have been in a really weird place the last 5 years or so. Ever since they began the 2016 season 0-6 and then won their final 6, they've been in what feels like a MAC football purgatory of both being a very good MAC team, yet a very underwhelming and not scary MAC team. They won the MAC title in 2019, but not one time has that program seemed like a championship program. All I can really say about them is they have some of the better players in the league, and have for a few years, but they're just not that impressive. With that said, if they repeat their embarrassment of Akron from last year, I would not be the least bit surprised. Chuck Martin, though perhaps on his way down there, built that program up slowly and with a foundation of very good talent, eventually leading them to that MAC title. At the same time, he has been prone to big time hiccups just as much as he is big wins, with Akron nearly pulling out the upset here in 2019 as 30-point underdogs. For Akron, and Tom Arth specifically, there is a big opportunity in this game to further create an identity for the program. Last week was the first time I could look at that sideline in 3 seasons and say that I was happy with what I saw. I'm curious as to what the motivation was going into that game, or what it was during the catastrophic first couple of drives when it looked like BG was going to run away with it. As fun and as dominant a win as that was, I'm still not really sold on this team. It was almost too fluky, specifically with the amount of turnovers, and as Captain said, BGs point total in regards to field position. The second half was a lot more promising from an offensive standpoint, as Akron really did dominate. But, it all came out of nowhere and not a soul expected it. Was it a fluke? Damn, I hope not. I remember the final year of the previous staff. Coming off an East title. You think you have a QB. You have confidence going to Nebraska...canceled. Kill Morgan State. Fluky Northwestern win. Give a good Iowa State team all they can handle. 2-1 going into BYE week with Miami waiting at Infocision for homecoming. F L O P. Got destroyed while favored on homecoming. And it was all downhill from there. My level of hope going into that game is similar to my level of hope going into this game. Same opponent, different arena. A win, and there's a chance Akron football matters in the 2021 MAC East race with Buffalo coming to town, which sounds so stupid. A loss (moreso a blowout), and we may be back to same old Arth, same old Akron. I am hopeful, and I'm very, very excited to see what happens! GO ZIPS!

I'll throw out a few final thoughts before I move on to looking at the Miami game. This win felt just about as good as any win we've seen in the last 5 years or so. They didn't have to eek it out like the Bryant game, they stepped on the throat and were clutch. That's awesome. And I would love to look ahead with optimism, but I still have seen a lot of flaws that one half of awesome football can't and shouldn't cover up. Let's not forget, a God awful Ohio team dismantled this defense 8 days ago. I love 5 turnovers, hell I would love just 2 a game. But those turnovers were the reason we were able to win that football game. They still gave up a lot of yardage before they eventually just took the ball away every time out there. McDonald is much improved, but you still can't allow him to move the ball so easily in the first half like that. Same with the running game. If you caught any of that Kent-UB game last night, you got a glimpse of what both of those offenses can do to you. What am I saying? Not everyone is as bad as BG, teams are going to move the ball on you, 5 turnovers against BG won't matter when you're playing an offense like Kent. As for Gibson, I believe he is Arth's favorite player on the team, and I will continue to not have any clue why Kato Nelson started the first two games this season. That is a question that MUST be asked on the Tuesday presser. Inexcusable. Irons and Gibson seem to have similar skill sets. I'm fine with either starting next week, obviously assuming Irons is good to go. The line play was really good, and hopefully they find their groove and make a little something happen here. The bodies are there, it's just up to the staff to make it work. I don't miss coach Z. Hester is a nice little back, but the lack of depth there is a concern. Who is left after him? When the offense is in rhythm, running the ball becomes much easier, and Akron ran the ball at a championship level yesterday. In order to be a good team, you must run the ball well. That was promising. I haven't been this confident about pass-catchers in a long time. Mathison and Mumpfield are both All-MAC caliber, with Mumpfield emerging as one of the best in the league lately. Throw in Qualls, Brank, and hopefully more Ognenovic (sickeningly late for him to get his first touch of the year), and you might be on to something. Coach Arth must continue to coach like his a** is on fire. Get fired up, let the boys play with swagger while playing disciplined. Don't overthink things. It's really simple. There's potential on that sideline, we've all seen it now. No excuses in Oxford. Win. The. Damn. Game.

Gotcha, both Adam and Nate are tremendous! And while the season hasn’t gone exactly as planned, this team has as much potential as any Akron team has and I’m very excited for future challenges!

All love, this is my favorite team in all of sports, and the expectations have been raised for next week! No excuses, we’ve seen the potential and there’s absolutely no reason this team doesn’t compete for a win in Oxford. Go Zips!

Assuming it was Nate Newhouse? Great guy! Glad you enjoyed, they will certainly have better performances down the line. They host Penn State this coming Wednesday!

If you're unfamiliar with the game in general, it's a great way to get into it! I recommend parking in Lot #2 next to the JAR. Walk over to the stadium and grab a ticket. I'm not entirely clear on the prices for single games as a season ticket holder, but I think a reserved seat would be in the $20 range but others might know better. GA obviously cheaper, but a better view might be helpful. It should be a really fun environment tonight and beautiful weather, it'll be a great night! My favorite thing about soccer games is the feeling of connectedness with the University. The stadium is beautiful and sits smack in the middle of campus, and the student showing, though not what it used to be, is really cool to see, especially after a win. Enjoy!

No matter how pathetic BG is, man I am PROUD of this team. The goal line stand early gave them life when things seemed to be heading for the tipping point. And obviously Gibson was a tremendous shot in the arm. They played hard and motivated when they got down, maybe the coach speak is paying off?? Ha! This is a sign of life. It should be at least the third win of the season, but we'll take this all day long. When you play with swagger and confidence, you have a chance. As coach Lasso says, "Believe." Let's celebrate, Zips fans!

5 Turnovers!!!!!

I cannot believe what I'm watching, if this stands....

A rare well-executed kicking play today. 3:54. BG has 1 timeout left.

GET OUT THAT PENCIL!!!

Uh oh

Far from over. Need a long drive here, points would be nice too. Simply need to regain control of the pace. Come on boys.