Offical Akron vs Penn Game Thread

[Quickzips]

Just a few post game thoughts. Not too bad of a game considering the fact that the rain basically killed our bread and butter (the passing game).The Good-LOVED our run defense. Their big bruiser back wasn't going much of anywhere most of the game.-Kennedy looked pretty good when he wasn't already wrapped up by the time the ball got to him.-We were able to make some improvements as the game went along it seemed like.-Few new guys stepped up that I liked. David Harvey impressed me at WR, Poindexter looked pretty good at TE and I forget the LB's name that recovered the fumble but he was looking good too.The Bad-Jabari basically shut down. The frosh was really the most impressive of our WR's, that doesn't bode well IMO.-Tackling. Seemed like far too often we were content to just hit guys and not wrap up or try to make arm tackles. Granted those guys were slippery but watch Penn States Defense the way they hit you and follow through on the tackle. That was how you do it.The Ugly-Offensive line. These guys are 4 seniors and 5 returning starters? Looked like a bunch of pee-wee leaguers out there. Out of position, stupid penalties, no pass blocking to speak of. If this becomes a trend we are in trouble.-Secondary. What the HELL was with giving Penn States recievers 15 yard cushions all the game? I know they have speed, but come on this is another veteran group. They just looked so tenative and afraid of getting beat deep that they were getting beat underneath all day. When Penn State did go deep, they still got beat. At least take away the short game if your gonna get beat long most of the time anyways.-Special teams. It wasn't just the Frosh punter (who didn't do TOO bad for his first game in bad conditions), it was an all around poor effort. Poor return coverage, fumbled punts, confussion on kick returns. Man do we need guys like Hixon, Swiger and Sullivan back. I'm afraid this is gonna hurt us as much as anything this year.All things considered I'm not feeling TOO bad about this one. Looking at what NC State is doing right now I really think we can and should beat them next week.

[fear the brown roo]

I am glad we are not out of it only down 2 scores we are still in this, cut down on the penalties, and better pass protection and we are in a position to win the game. On a positive note this is the toughest team we will play all year and the score is 17-3

i agree. the season is far from lost and this is just one game. there will be much improvement.

[RACER]

compared to two years ago this team is 10 times better than the team that played penn state.the defense played well considering the offense did not do much. it could have easily got out of hand,but our defense did not quit. the play calling on offense kinda of confused me. we kept trying to run the ball on first down. the o-line needs some pass work. i was disappointed considering there are 4 seniors on the line. to many dropped balls. i loved some of the new guys on defense. nothing against some of the guys we had last year ,but i don't think theyll be missed. the new players robinson,jones,williams i thought played pretty well considering it was their first game,and against penn state.we finally have some big guys in the middle (robinson, kiki) who can stuff the run.

[ZachTheZip]

Our run defense has improved greatly. We held Tony Hunt to 35 yards on 14 carries. Our pass defense needs some work, though. Morelli was 16 / 32 with 208 yards and 3 TDs. Penn State's overall offense was 288 yards. Compared to the MCB, that is pretty good since Penn State is much better that Memphis.For reference, Getsy war 22/42 with 160 yards and 1 TD. Not bad considering how much pressure he was constantly under. Kennedy had 25 carries for 59 yards and 1 TD.

[sgm405]

Well here's my random thoughts...- Not too sure what I thought about the personal foul call on the first drive. To me, it didn't seem like enough...did anyone see anything else then two linemen getting into it a little bit?- The Zips played very stupid football in the first half. Some silly mistakes/penalities really cost them. The good news is some of it seemed to go away as the game progressed...can we rack that up to nerves? - Liked what I saw from J.D. A couple of really ballsy calls made by our coach today. And he kept teaching, even when it was obvious the game was lost. - I liked what I saw from Dennis Kennedy. Ran the ball pretty well and was a good receiver out of the backfield. - Bad weekend for the MAC...only a few games were even close.- How bad were those announcers today? - Was I the only one not overly impressed with Morelli? I mean, he made a few good throws...but most of the time he had all day to throw and wide open receivers. He made a few pretty bad throws, considering the protection he had. I mean, he looked good...but he didn't wow me by any means. - Bad day for OSU haters. Looked pretty damn good...and I heard they got the big TV too. - I'm very confident in this team moving forward. I'm thinking 9-3...and a win next week vs. NC State. - Can't sucks.

[Dan Kadar]

Here are a couple thoughts:1. Driving alone to Penn State blows.2. Tailgating with Penn State fans does not blow.3. Standing a few feet away from Joe Paterno as he praises the Zips and JD Brookhart also does not blow.4. Getting kind of lost, but not really, on the way home from Penn State blows. Especially when it's raining the entire time.

[fear the brown roo]

i know w're a better coached team than this. they're making JD look like an idiot. getting beaten is one thing but to piss down your leg is another. maybe they'll get their heads out of their asses in the second half.

ok, i was too critical of the team. i watched the tape 4 times. pissing down their legs and embarrassing themselves was too harsh. mental mistakes and breakdowns were there and had they not had those, we hang with penn state easily. very nice effort, especially by the d-line. JD is certainly no idot. just thought the team's breakdowns in the first half made them look like a poorly coached team which i know they are not. i'll take JD and this team any day.

[ZachTheZip]

I bet JD will work on those mental mistakes next week. The team will watch films and be much improved before heading to NC State. Happy Valley in a rain storm with 111,000 screaming fans has got to be one of the most difficult places in the world to open the football season at. Especially against a Penn State team as good as the one we faced yesterday. I think the whole situation can be pretty scary for some of the new guys on the team. I noticed that the offense had trouble hearing each other when the crowd was really into it. If we can play as good as we did under those circumstances, we can be competitive anywhere and against anyone. Only two games this year really concern me, and those are at CMU and at Toledo. After yesterday, though, I think we should put up an excellent fight. JD makes some great calls, even when it looks like we are donw and out for the game. I love his (and the team's) never-say-die attitude.