2014 Season in review

[LZIp]

What a sour end to the season, eh Zipsnation? After starting 4-2, the Zips finished 1-5 against the easiest MAC schedule we have had in years. Same record as last season and let our horrible rivals end any chances we had at receiving a bowl bid.

Trying to look at positives (while still disappointed), we did finish 5-7. Strictly looking at records, which is all that really matters, we did not progress or regress as a program. Bowden's first year here, we did not progress as a program with our record and we only had one direction to go- up. The next season we saw a nice jump. We also had probably our best win in program history going down to Pitt and really controlling them and playing a great game. We shut down their great RB and contained their star WR. They are playing for a bowl game this week. We also had some disappointing losses. I think this is a fair assessment of where our program is right now; good enough to beat some programs that we shouldn't but not good enough to beat teams that we should consistently.

I think to continue the progression of the program, there are some changes to be made. 1- It is time to show the OC the door. Let's take a look at stats over the 3 seasons of the Bowden era.

Year 1- We had the 61st ranked offense in the nation.312 passing yards/game, 114 rushing, and 26 points. Keep in mind that this is with a career FCS back up QB who had obvious limitations to his game. Not a knock on Dalton, just is what it is.

Year 2- 109th ranked offense in the nation. 219 passing yards/game, 122 rushing, and 20 points. Ironically, we managed to go 5-7 with these stats.

Year 3- 87th ranked offense in the country.255 passing yards/game, 118 rushing yards, and 22 points.

The offense has regressed since Milwee has taken over, and he has had more developed talent to work with. Pohl who once looked promising in his first real playing time in that last game of 2012 against Toledo has won us some more games than we are used to, but just "some more" isn't good enough. He he not improved in my eyes. There needs to be an open QB competition and I believe there will be. I think we will have a nice QB come out of the pack with Chapman, Kincaide, Woodson, and even still Pohl. I hope that Pohl stays with the program if he loses the job. We all saw how not having an experienced back up can derail a season. Pohl doesn't deserve all of the heat, though. WRs had way too many drops and the running game was inconsistent. I am confident and excited to see Alexander getting carries next season.

I am happy with what Amato has done with the defensive unit. I still would like some more depth in the secondary. I did think that Givens, Scott, Ford, and Durant had good seasons. Both starting corners returning is nice.

In summary, the season was not what we wanted, but isn't a complete disappointment. It's important to remember how bad this program was when Bowden took over. We were still working with players who played under Ianello. I can deal with one year of stagnation, but its important to keep moving forward. The bottom line is that Bowden and Co. need to bring in better talent. Western Michigan has turned it around fairly fast. Why? Well I think they have a nice coach in Fleck, but they have also done some really nice recruiting!

[ZachTheZip]

My review of the offense:

[GP1]

My review of the sseason is we have 5-7 talenttale and 5-7 coaching.

[MaxZIP]

Bowden is still ahead of pace for his vision 2020 plan. Win the mac by 2020 includes winning at least one more game each year as he stated after the 2012 season.

[GP1]

Bowden is still ahead of pace for his vision 2020 plan. Win the mac by 2020 includes winning at least one more game each year as he stated after the 2012 season.

Funny post.

Makes me sad.

[Lee Adams]

Bowden is still ahead of pace for his vision 2020 plan. Win the mac by 2020 includes winning at least one more game each year as he stated after the 2012 season.

2020!!!!!??? What the? Just because Bowden said 2020 doesn't mean thats appropriate! What kind of nonsense is that? This team just got done losing to OU,Ball State,Buffalo and Can't in the MAC. None of those teams is above .500 for the season. This team played far worse in the second half of THIS season against a very easy MAC schedule. The hell with 2020. This coaching staff,whomever is around next season needs to have this team to at least 5-3 in the MAC. There is plenty of physical talent available to do that. Whether there is on the sidelines,we will see.

[MaxZIP]

2020!!!!!??? What the? Just because Bowden said 2020 doesn't mean thats appropriate! What kind of nonsense is that?

I made the vision 2020 plan up last year after Bowden came out with the mission statement to win at least one more game than the previous year...his version of improvement. By that math, a 1 win 2012 season would put them at 9 wins by 2020. 9 wins should be enough to compete for the MACC coming out of the east. So he is actually ahead of pace :-)

[MaxZIP]

Sights of 2014: Do you think Terry's hair was stained while trying on chrome helmet when they were still wet from painting...mystery solved!

[GP1]

Sights of 2014: Do you think Terry's hair was stained while trying on chrome helmet when they were still wet from painting...mystery solved!

The thought of another year of orange hair makes me sad.

[GP1]

Just real quick because talking about this team bores me to death at this point.

Akron still has a talent problem. It should have been obvious after the Marshall beat down, but we were lulled into believing we were better than we were because we beat Pitt. Pitt will lose to Miami today closing out a 5-7 season with their best win against a bad Va Tech team that lost to Wake Forest last weekend. We have a weak arm QB. We don't have enough talent at WR to get separation and make big plays and our RBs have limited talent as well. Our DLine collapses at the least little bit of advanced competition and our LBs were frequently not adequate. DBs were OK. We are every bit the 5-7 team our record shows. When your current talent is better than your recent past talent, fans can believe their team is better than they are and I think that happened to many of us this year.

How to correct the problem? Well, it has been 8 seasons since our last winning season. We have only had 6 winning seasons in the 28 years (21.4%) of D1A football at Akron. I don't really know how a school ever really attracts even top notch MAC players across the board with this history. We'll get some, but not enough to become a top team. We are a lot more like the program that beat us yesterday than even a BG or Toledo. This is a huge problem that nobody seems to want to talk about. We are picking at minor details, but never really focusing on the big problem, which is chronic losing and the impact it has on our program. We are like doctors who can't connect a person's high blood pressure, coughing and general poor breathing ability to their three pack of day smoking habit.

28 years, countless "building processes", tens of millions in facilities and here we are?.?. The more it changes, the more it stays the same.

[Lee Adams]

I made the vision 2020 plan up last year after Bowden came out with the mission statement to win at least one more game than the previous year...his version of improvement. By that math, a 1 win 2012 season would put them at 9 wins by 2020. 9 wins should be enough to compete for the MACC coming out of the east. So he is actually ahead of pace :-)

It does sound like something Bowden would say. Are you a lawyer by any chance?

[skip-zip]

The season in review:

The one thing that sticks out at me is that nearly EVERY game had an unexpected outcome.

I didn't think we'd nearly get shut out at Penn State, especially after a great opening drive.

I didn't see us getting thoroughly dominated by Marshall at home, and then go out and beat Pitt convincingly on the road?

I didn't think we'd come out flat and struggle against Miami, and do the same for more than a half against EMU.

The best and worst offensive halves of the season...both in the same game? (Ball State)

The blowout loss at Buffalo was a complete mystery.

And then bounce back to dominate UMass, with a ton of passing yards, on a January-like day?

The loss at Ken+ was just unthinkable.

[Lee Adams]

The season in review:

The one thing that sticks out at me is that nearly EVERY game had an unexpected outcome.

I didn't think we'd nearly get shut out at Penn State, especially after a great opening drive.

I didn't see us getting thoroughly dominated by Marshall at home, and then go out and beat Pitt convincingly on the road?

I didn't think we'd come out flat and struggle against Miami, and do the same for more than a half against EMU.

The best and worst offensive halves of the season...both in the same game? (Ball State)

The blowout loss at Buffalo was a complete mystery.

And then bounce back to dominate UMass, with a ton of passing yards, on a January-like day?

The loss at Ken+ was just unthinkable.

What was unexpected about losses to Marshall,PSU,BGSU? Nothing. The Howard game was meaningless. Did you expect more from the Marshall game just because you didn't realize that Marshall had significantly upgraded its program since the last time we saw them at the Rubber Bowl? If you expected different outcomes against OU,Ball State,Buffalo,BGSU and Can't State then you were drinking the kool-aid that some others were trying to sell.

[Balsy]

I have to say I agree with Lee Adams.

[GP1]

I expect winning. If my expectations are too high, I need to find something else to do with my time. No reason for this team only winning five games.

[skip-zip]

What was unexpected about losses to Marshall,PSU,BGSU? Nothing. The Howard game was meaningless. Did you expect more from the Marshall game just because you didn't realize that Marshall had significantly upgraded its program since the last time we saw them at the Rubber Bowl? If you expected different outcomes against OU,Ball State,Buffalo,BGSU and Can't State then you were drinking the kool-aid that some others were trying to sell.

Try reading my post more carefully. Please tell me where I said that I expected us to beat Penn State, BG, or Marshall?

And...YES....I at least expected us to at beat OU, Can't and Buffalo. Drinking the cool aid? You're giving quite a bit of credit to some bottom-tier MAC teams if you think we all were dreaming if we thought we should beat them.

[Ham]

I remember the "friendly" 7 on 7 that we had against Mt. Union a few years ago. We got embarrassed against D3 talent. It takes time to turn things around, but I would think that by now, we would have some receivers who could get some separation and a QB who could consistently deliver the ball. I am hopeful for next year. I saw our transfer QB play a game for Roosevelt a couple years ago. I hope he will be forced to convert to WR where I think he will be a serious big play threat. Will someone step up and take over at QB? Kinkade enrolled early and got an extra spring practice. Maybe he will deliver next year.

[UA1987]

Disappointed with the record this year, but not ready to take down the flag. Our offense is a Spread type so I didn't quite get all of the comments that we should have changed and run the ball like we were a Power I offense after Pohl's injury. Changing to a running game would have been like ordering our light brigade to charge into a full frontal assault (see Tennyson). We just weren't muscular enough up front. Problem was, Woodson was not the player to lead us at that time. Chisholm was injured too. When both Pohl and Chisholm were back healthy we were a decent offense again. Some might say, 'but we ran all over Pitt'. Not really, as Hundley broke some big plays, but of our 21 first downs 13 were via the pass. We only ran for 129 yards in the Pitt Game. In the end, the Pitt game made the season for me and I enjoyed watching all of the games win or lose (even the Can't one that got out of the bag). I expected more later on after the 4-2 start, but depth due to injury and last year's graduation and some coaching decisions this year contributed to the 1-5 second half of the season slide. I believe the loss of Tank hurt a lot and how Jeff Bowden kept it together after the loss of his son I don't know, but now it is time to move on. We will be fine.

[Lee Adams]

Try reading my post more carefully. Please tell me where I said that I expected us to beat Penn State, BG, or Marshall?

And...YES....I at least expected us to at beat OU, Can't and Buffalo. Drinking the cool aid? You're giving quite a bit of credit to some bottom-tier MAC teams if you think we all were dreaming if we thought we should beat them.

You are trying to say???

[Jrship35]

. I believe the loss of Tank hurt a lot and how Jeff Bowden kept it together after the loss of his son I don't know, but now it is time to move on. We will be fine.

+1 on that one ....................

[ZipsBurgh]

Not sure if this was mentioned elsewhere, but Grantland showed a little love for Jatavis Brown. Granted it was in their list of "Patrick Willis All-Stars", which are the best players on bad teams, but still. Here's the link.

[ZippyRulz]

http://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-football/2014/12/10/7364723/akron-zips-football-season-recap-what-happened

"I am positive that the injury to Kyle Pohl ruined the season. He was playing his best football when he went down and he didn't look the same after the concussion. His performance all year was relatively disappointing.

Another factor that may have led to a losing record was the absence of an emotional leader in Alan "Tank" Arrington. Tank was the offensive line coach for the 2012 and 2013 season. He got on the players when they didn't have a good attitude. When someone wasn't doing what they were supposed to do, Tank got on their back. Every player listened to him. Tank lost his life in a car accident in Mississippi last December.

........

Kyle Pohl will likely return, but don't be so sure that he will be the starter behind center next season. Also, nearly the entire receiving corps will return for the 2015 season. Zips fans should have confidence in that group of talented players.

Finally, I want to let Akron fans know that better things lie ahead. Yes, it was another losing season, but Terry Bowden has this ship moving in the right direction. Yes, they had an easy MAC schedule, but losing is part of the growing process. Hang in there folks, things will improve."

[Dr Z]

Four of the "super six" transfers get mentioned at the 14 minute mark for those of you unaware.

QB Tra'Von Chapman

DB AJ Coney

DB Larry Hope

DE Jamal Marcus

RB Donnell Alexander

DT Rodney Coe

"We need to do things offensively more productive, that's where we need to step in and look at it really close" --coach Bowden

[LZIp]

thank for sharing Dr. Z. Very informative. Always enjoy listening to Coach Bowden speak/

[RACER]

from the press conference.bowden seems happy with the defense. going into next year chuck is running that show.

we will probably have the best dl akron has ever had.grice , pittman,marcus, and coe.marcus and coe both ran 4.6 40 yard dashes in high school.coe has gained alott of weight since then,but shows he has size, and speed.we are coming off the number 1 defense in the mac from last year.seems like there is going to be some changes on the offensive side of the ball.he seems to be high on the rb transfer from csu,and qb chapman.sounds like we don't have much depth on the o-line though.i still don't think pohl was healthy after

he was hurt.alott of times players lie to coaches about how healthy they are so they can play.