Kent vs Western Michigan

[Section210Zip]

Could this be the biggest upset no one saw 

[Section210Zip]

Kent is up 14 to nothing

[zipsrule]

Western drives, but now 4th and goal.  FG attempt.

[zipsrule]

Now 14-3

[Section210Zip]

Ok now Kent looks like kent

[kreed5120]

Regardless of how this game plays out Kent, despite using their 3rd string QB and being without their defensive leader, is playing WMU much tougher than we did.

Edited November 9, 2016 by kreed5120

[GoZips88]

Nice effort by Kent State to stay competitive for 3/4 of the game. WMU pulling away late. No bowl for Kent.

[Captain Kangaroo]

10 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

Regardless of how this game plays out Kent, despite using their 3rd string QB and being without their defensive leader, is playing WMU much tougher than we did.

Good for them.

 

Akron 31   Kent 27

 

[kreed5120]

Serious question. Are you not even a little bit concerned with our inability to compete with the best of the best in the MAC even though teams with less talent can?

 

[3rd&twenty]

13 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

Serious question. Are you not even a little bit concerned with our inability to compete with the best of the best in the MAC even though teams with less talent can?

 

I'm a lot concerned. I didn't watch the entire game last night, but the times I did watch, I saw a much less talented team playing with heart and fire, something that I have really not seen too much of from the Zips this year.

[akzipper]

Eastern Michigan, Kent and even Georgia Southern played WMU tougher than Akron did. It's embarrassing to get blown out by good MAC teams, let alone mediocre/bad ones like Toledo and Buffalo. Bowling Green only has 1 win all year and I wouldn't be shocked if we lost. 

[Captain Kangaroo]

1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

Serious question. Are you not even a little bit concerned with our inability to compete with the best of the best in the MAC even though teams with less talent can?

 

Serious answer - I don't have the least bit of concern that an undefeated Western Michigan team drove 6 hours to play a sorry Kent team in the cold rain, and overlooked them for a couple quarters. We beat Kent, at Kent, with our back up QB. That game holds more comparative weight to me.

 

I hate that Toledo and WMU whipped our butts. It sucks to watch that in your own stadium. But what can you expect given our situation (recent program history, graduation losses, injuries)? I feel we're exponentially better off than 5 years ago, and progressing at a decent clip. IF we can get any semblance of a defense next season, we can have that great year we're all waiting for. The offense will be awesome. 

 

If we don't address or defensive needs next season, it will be a crime. And I'll probably put some really good season tickets back on the market...cause I can't take much more.

[skip-zip]

I wish WMU had "overlooked" us for 3 quarters also.  

 

I'd agree with C. Kangaroo and say that I'd much rather judge Akron vs. Kent based on how we played against each other, rather than how each of us performed against someone else.  But, it does concern me a bit that everyone else seems to be playing WMU better than us.  I hope we can look back when this is all over and just chalk that up to a really bad game, much like the BGSU game last year.  

[kreed5120]

Yeah, I mean one has to remember that was Holley's 1st game ever as a college QB and Akron got the ball back with 59 seconds down 3 points to a team they should have beaten easily. We did just enough to win and that's fine by me. I'll take the "W" any day of the week. I'm not trying to say Kent is better, but they clearly play with more heart. If we played with their effort, we would have beaten Buffalo (certainly at least wouldn't have lost by 3 TDs) and wouldn't have lost to Toledo and WMU by a combined 72 points in our own house.

 

Perhaps what we are missing is that on the field leader like Holley who is willing to lay it all out there and inspire his teammates to just give that extra 10% effort.

Edited November 9, 2016 by kreed5120

[skip-zip]

I actually felt like we showed a lot of effort and laid it on the line against Toledo, for at least the first half.   We're just a little short on talent right now.  I hope I see more of that desire tonight.  

[kreed5120]

To be fair I actually only followed that game on my phone while watching the World Series. I intended to watch the replay at a later time, but didn't bother given how lopsided the final score was.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Did Kent burn any pre-game oars? 

[Captain Kangaroo]

Regarding "Why we can't hang with Toledo?" - I'd add:

 

Our previous two coaches prior to Bowden are:

 

1.) Fired from UA. Selling Software.

2.) Fired from UA. Fired from Kansas. Coaching WR's at Buffalo

 

Toledo's previous two coaches:

 

1.) Hired-away by Illinois

2.) Hired-away by Iowa State

 

Putting it mildly - The table wasn't quite set as nicely for Bowden as it was for Coach Candle. One came in to rebuild Hiroshima. The other came in to comparatively maintain the Bahamas.

[g-mann17]

13 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

Did Kent burn any pre-game oars? 

No but I heard they did kidnap a rocket.

[kreed5120]

13 minutes ago, g-mann17 said:

No but I heard they did kidnap a rocket.

 

[kreed5120]

1 hour ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

Regarding "Why we can't hang with Toledo?" - I'd add:

 

Our previous two coaches prior to Bowden are:

 

1.) Fired from UA. Selling Software.

2.) Fired from UA. Fired from Kansas. Coaching WR's at Buffalo

 

Toledo's previous two coaches:

 

1.) Hired-away by Illinois

2.) Hired-away by Iowa State

 

Putting it mildly - The table wasn't quite set as nicely for Bowden as it was for Coach Candle. One came in to rebuild Hiroshima. The other came in to comparatively maintain the Bahamas.

 

This is year 5 meaning Bowden has recruited every player on this roster. I can see giving him a small buffer as year 1 and year 2 would have been extremely challenging for him to recruit. That still means next season we need to start seeing some sophomores and juniors producing.

 

It might not be this year, next year, or the year after but at some point Ianello would have been gone long enough that we can no longer use him as an excuse for Akron not doing better. This is the MAC where teams go from worst to 1st all the time in a matter of a few years.

 

Edit: Personally, I think we HAVE to make a bowl this year to keep that momentum moving forward then need to be serious MAC contenders next year. Next year our offense should be better than this years and the defense can no longer blame inexperience. When you line your team up where one side of the ball is filled with senior talent and the other is mostly returning those are suppose to be your peak years. There will be some amount of growing pains the year after.

Edited November 9, 2016 by kreed5120

[skip-zip]

There's been pretty significant growth.  One year of a little bit of a setback isn't going to alarm me.  If it's not just a setback year, and we were to continue to erode next year, I will be alarmed.