Spring Football

[LZIp]

He is a redshirt Freshman.

He will be a redshirt Soph. next season.

Oh jesus, enough with the semantics. He is a redshirt sophomore. He already completed his redshirt freshman season.

[K92]

KP16 is a Sophomore. He utilized his redshirt in Ianello's 2nd season & he backed up DW13 last year.

[Blue & Gold]

George Thomas: What to look for in the Spring Game.

Edit: Try this link.

[LZIp]

George Thomas: What to look for in the Spring Game.

Edit: Try this link.

Thanks. Pumped for some football. Go Zips!

[akzipper]

So I take it they aren't streaming video online of the spring game? Probably a smart move trying to get people down to the stadium to watch.

[ZachTheZip]

Did anybody go to the Spring Game? Or to the forum with the AD beforehand?

[Lee Adams]

Did anybody go to the Spring Game? Or to the forum with the AD beforehand?

Went to the game. Nice day for a change. Still not many fans. Briefly, for what its worth Pohl looked fine. There are some RB's to push Chisholm. They were using him in the passing game. He looks like a WR,frankly if he learns to catch the ball.

On defense,sorry Jamel Turner doesn't appear to have a clue. He wasn't around the ball and he looked like he was avoiding contact. But,not many points scored. The D did look a little quicker.

This team will be hard to evaluate until it plays another team with some more talent on both sides of the ball.

[Blue & Gold]

George Thomas: Spring Game summary.

[skip-zip]

I left the game with a couple of thoughts:

1) I thought the passing game execution was awful at times. Way too many throws that should have never left the QBs hands.

2) Does the low score give us hope that there could be some defensive improvement?

3) I wanted to see more of Franco at QB (he got hurt). He looks like an exciting player, particularly with his feet.

4) We have a kicker who can hit from 58 yards out? Unfortunately, that was by far the highlight of the day.

5) I saw some decent pass rushing.

6) A few backup RBs had some decent runs that caught my attention.

[skip-zip]

Duplicate Post - Please Remove

[gozips19]

I'll just post a couple of things that stood out to me.

KP16 looked ok. Made a couple of nice reads and showed off his arm early. Was taken out in the second half as he got dinged up.

The back up QB's looked awful. Someone mentioned Franco and his feet but that's the only thing he showed. The other guy was even worse. Hoping the kid from PA can step in and be the back up.

The O line looks bad right now. Lets hope some of the new guys coming in can contribute right away. A few people said this and I agree that Pughs may be the most important player for Akron this year. Not the best sign as he gets hurt every year.

The linebackers looked really good. Showed some speed getting to the ball and delivered some nice hits. Brown is going to be a ball player. If CJ can get eligible this will be the strength of the team. All of you Rossi supporters should know that he's back with the 2's.

Saw nothing exciting from most of the receivers. Although Chambers made a few catches.

Secondary looks to be improved. Happy to see Cunningham starting opposite Freemen. This could be a nice tandem.

Pres played mostly with the 1's and applied some pressure. In fact, the line as a unit did a good job of getting to the QB. Not sure if that is a sign of overall improvement for the DL or if the OL is just that bad.

2 50+ fg's today!!! wow. now if he can just learn to kick to the closed end side of the stadium.

Thought the crowd was decent considering the team is coming off back to back 1-11 seasons. The weather, for once, helped bring some extra people.

Great seeing everyone in lot 9 can can't wait for the season to start. The only thing i can say for sure is that the food in lot 9 will be stellar!

[Zipmeister]

KP16 is a Sophomore. He utilized his redshirt in Ianello's 2nd season & he backed up DW13 last year.

Somebody needs to understand the difference between a calendar year and an academic year.

[johnnyzip84]

Having seen a few practices this spring, I really wasn't surprised by much of anything I saw yesterday. My previous comments on the LBs speed, back-up QB problems, O-Line depth, etc made the outcome an easliy predicable low-scoring affair.

Between TB's comments in the video and in GT's column, there are two very interesting and telling tidbits:

1) In the video, TB mentions 2 O-Linemen who will join the team in the fall with D-1 experience. I was one of the one who thinks Pughs is a key player to the success of this season. KP16 is probably the most important, but Pughs is right behind him and they really go hand in hand.

2) In GT's column, TB makes a public acknowledgment that he would love to have a 5th year (graduate) Sr QB transfer in and give KP16 some competition. Easton has decent accuracy (which is why I think he was playing ahead of Franco who looked a bit wild to me in various scrimmages), but has a weak arm, doesn't move well and makes erratic decisions. Franco's ability to move was about all I saw to have any hopes that he might contribute. I hope he fully recovers from the injury and considers a transfer to a lower division. Unless a 5th year transfer emerges, I think the back-up QB job is Tommy Woodson's to lose.

Here are a couple other random observations from yesterday:

A - I was disapponted at first that they didn't allow KP16 to run from the pocket much, as this has been something he has shown an ability to do in limited action last season and during the spring. But it became obvious that the staff (rightfully so) did NOT want him taking any unnecessary risks of injury in a meaningless contest. Good call.

B - The offensive timing is still shaky. Even some of the handoffs were not performed with confidence. Some of this is attributable to the O-Line's injuries/depth, but I think KP16 and the RBs/WRs need more work in this area. It's a long way from the quick hitting, fast paced offense we saw early in 2012. I think they can still approach that style in 2013, but a few players (new or existing) will have to step it up.

C - I liked seeing the use of the TEs a little more, punctuated by Ritossa's TD catch. Suel wa so dominant over the middle that it might take a comination of D'Orazio and the TEs to approach his contributions.

D - The arrival of WRs Traylor-Bennett and Wolf in the fall is important. WR is a spot where a talented player should be able to contribute early. I believe it's going to be largely up to them to stretch the field.

E - Zach Paul's kickoffs were encouraging, as they were mostly high and deep. I thought he had a much stronger leg than Stein until I saw Robert nail those 50+ yarders! I've long liked the way Stein's kicks get "up" quickly. Now he has added some length as well. I believe with the wealth of speedy LBs, special teams will be much improved in 2013. Skolmuch did fine as the long snapper yesterday, even adequately mimicking Adam Steiner's memorable quick jaunt downfield in coverage after the snap.

F - Like gozips19 says, Lot 9 will be a blast yet again this year. Keener's bacon-cheeseburgers with pulled pork were outragious. Zipgrad01's lobster tails posing as shrimp were world class.

I'll hold off on any season predictions for now, because so much hinges on players who are not yet with the team. But I think there are reasons to be encouraged.

[K92]

Somebody needs to understand the difference between a calendar year and an academic year.

Sometimes the first game of the season is before fall classes start. In those games, I guess there are no Seniors.

[Zipmeister]

Sometimes the first game of the season is before fall classes start. In those games, I guess there are no Seniors.

You are correct sir, and also there are no freshmen.

[akzipper]

All I remember from last years spring game was Clayton Moore's long run. Seemed like our offense didn't seem very impressive then, but when it came time for real games they had improved. Hopefully the same can happen this season. I'm not worried about the offense, since this team's success will all ride on how well the defense plays.

[K92]

You are correct sir, and also there are no freshmen.

Sure there are...freshmen that will be sophomores once school starts.

[K92]

My reflections...

Kicking game has made large strides from the recent past.

Linebacking corps looks solid and deep.

I was a little puzzled with the DE/DT inside/outside swaps in the second half.

Sure hope Pugs gets healthy.

Sure hope Pohl stays healthy.

Those Zippy cookies were pretty tasty.

Looks like the food in lot 9 will be good as usual. JohnnyZip had another platter of peppers. So good. ZipGrad's steroid shrimp were a huge hit again, but I gotta tell ya...the apple pie his aunt made was as good as it gets. Definitely the treat of the day!

[johnnyzip84]

The PD's EA wraps up the spring game (and another one from those rivals to the east....just ignore).

On the hunt: Bowden made it clear after the spring game the Zips are not done adding faces. He said there will be "eight to 10" new faces coming by fall camps, either transfers, fifth-year players and/or JC transfers.

Joe Dunn shoots and scores!

"We need more depth, quickly," Bowden said. And while he could not name names, he said there would be players coming to anchor both the offensive and defensive lines. "A couple of BCS transfers that have played are coming in," he said.

Welcome, Mosee McCray!

Bowden made it clear after Saturday's scrimmage he will gladly take a fifth-year quarterback again, even though he has praised sophomore Kyle Pohl as his No. 1 QB all spring.

Somewhere, Zips Win! is smiling

"If we had somebody come in, Kyle Pohl needs to prove he can win that position," Bowden said. "He needs competition. He needs to win his position. If we bring someone in, and they can compete and start at that position, Kyle has two more years after that. The thing is, he [a transfer] better be pretty good, because I think Kyle is a pretty good quarterback."

I agree Stay healthy, KP16!

[Zipmeister]

Sure there are...freshmen that will be sophomores once school starts.

I knew I could get you to see the light sooner or later.

GO ZIPS

[ZachTheZip]

RE: A graduating QB who is looking to transfer...

[akzipper]

Clint Trickett is probably the skinniest QB I have ever seen in college football. Would have to say he has the build of most kickers.

I think it would be tough to get a 5th-year transfer. Most likely if they are leaving their current school, they are looking for a starting position. The impression I get is that Bowden wants someone to push Pohl not take his position.

[LZIp]

RE: A graduating QB who is looking to transfer...

Nice find. The fact that he is from FSU is very intriguing.

Clint Trickett is probably the skinniest QB I have ever seen in college football. Would have to say he has the build of most kickers.

I think it would be tough to get a 5th-year transfer. Most likely if they are leaving their current school, they are looking for a starting position. The impression I get is that Bowden wants someone to push Pohl not take his position.

My impression is that Bowden wants to win and will play whoever is best.

[Dave in Green]

At 6-3, 185 pounds, no wonder he looks skinny! I'm sure it's happened before, but I can't ever recall seeing a college football player graduating academically from one school and still having two full years of athletic eligibility. Apparently he's visiting Auburn, so he has his sights set high on where he wants to play.

[akzipper]

At 6-3, 185 pounds, no wonder he looks skinny! I'm sure it's happened before, but I can't ever recall seeing a college football player graduating academically from one school and still having two full years of athletic eligibility. Apparently he's visiting Auburn, so he has his sights set high on where he wants to play.

We'll he's from Florida, so I'd assume he'd want to stay at a bigger school down south. If he's graduated does that mean he gets to play immediately? regardless of how many years it actually took.