Game 8—Central Michigan Chippewas

[Phootss]

I am never about anyone losing their job but it is time for Akron to move on from Aj Milwee.  We all know that guy at work that moved up the ranks way too quickly without learning their trade first.  The Zips will need to lean on the offense next season after all the players on defense graduate after this year.  

Time to move on....

[CDMac]

I’ve been quiet on the board recently while I finished my (2 month) deck project, but I’ve been keeping an eye on the ebb and flow of fan reactions (and processing my own).  We have been to every game so far this season - Including the lightning-cancelled Nebraska kerfuffle.

 

I’ve read and agree with a lot of the statements of HOPE - hoping our defense was good enough to keep us in games while the new faces on offense could get in sync; hoping that our recruiting classes would start to pay dividends in better depth when injuries arose; hoping that the Zips could put it together and have that magical season.  And this season has already had several highs and lows.

 

The defense is even better than anticipated and the offense appears to need more work to get in sync than initially imagined.  Add injuries into the equation and it’s a brutal reminder that a football season can be as much about attrition as it is about the X’s and O’s.

 

Early in the year, I shared the belief that our offense would eventually be better than last year because I felt like, while the new faces were inexperienced, the new parts appeared to be talented and potentially more dynamic as a group. 

 

Last year we lived and died by the deep ball and the big play and we lived more often than died (at least in conference play). I felt like this season we were a more well rounded group (they all had different skill sets) that would be better able to attack opposing defenses in ways we couldn’t last year. While we have lived and died by the big play (even though we’ve seen far fewer than last year), I still feel like we are better equipped to have offensive diversity and not rely on the deep ball to bail us out.  I have seen glimpses here and there, but they still haven’t quite put it all together - as evidenced by our last place “Points For” ranking in the conference.

 

AR has been through a similar situation in his high school career where they transformed to a truly diverse and complex offense that was hard to defend.  It can happen - it takes some risk and there are some lumps, it requires trust from coaches and openness to collaboration - but it can pay off!

 

We were also at several Spring and Fall scrimmages and, not that it was my personal preference, I could get my head around why the coaches started KN1 - he helped the team get to the MACC game last season, he’s shown potential and ability, and they rightfully expected that a young QB with half a season under his belt would get better with more live game reps. 

 

The first scrimmage in the Fall that KN1 was “benched” by TB for getting into a skirmish with teammates was a watershed moment for a few reasons. AR got his first reps with the 1s, and he stepped up in the scrimmage and showed that he could lead this team (went 10-14, 71%, 177 yards 3 Tds) - it was after this scrimmage that TB stated AR was “pushing” KN1 and we had a real QB competition on our hands. 

 

As we all know, game reps are king to the development of any player - and particularly at the quarterback position. The Morgan State game was the first live game reps AR had in two years. He threw a pick in that game which was a good decision, as far as where to go with the ball, but was under thrown allowing the safety to get over to the ball. In the Miami game, for the read option - RB and QB aren’t on the same page as far as whose taking/giving the ball. It wasn’t a deal breaker because it was in mop-up duty but just goes to show with every QB, you have to allow for time to acclimate. 

 

I’m not sure what’s in store over the remainder of the season and whether they will give AR a shot to play with the ones, get game-week prep in line with being the starter going into the game, etc.  AR does bring a set of skills which helps an offense’s overall efficiency - the pace and rhythm with which an offense operates when he’s under center can be a difference maker.  And even though he may not be perceived as “explosive” - he can be an effective runner, as TB has said. 

 

KN1 has demonstrated some nice things this year. However, I think he sometimes tries to protect the ball too much and it becomes a detriment. It appears that he mitigates the risk he sees on the field by pulling the ball down and running.  I’d imagine the coaching staff has made it very clear they want the QB to take care of the ball and I think sometimes KN1 looks at a play and says, “don’t like it”, pulls the ball down and tries to get what he can with his legs.  This “indecision” can manifest as him holding the ball too long (which I see as a common complaint) but I think it’s more about him trusting his legs more than his reads.  However, today I saw something I haven’t seen a lot of.  On one play KN1 kept his eyes down field instead of running. He climbed the pocket, and hit his guy over the middle of the field.  

 

So there’s room for both young QBs to grow and that’s the challenge: finding the guy that can make the plays that are there to be made. You’re going to take your lumps with both young QBs - all QBs to be honest.  I watch a lot of QBs and even Rodgers throws some head scratchers from time to time. It’s the nature of the beast.

 

I think coaching is mostly about risk mitigation. Most coaches are conservative to a fault realizing that a lot of games come down to who make less mistakes - as evidenced by the W/L ratio of teams winning the turnover battle. 

 

I would like to see the offense run more route concepts with a primary read to the middle of the field, running clear outs help the receiver get open - especially against cover 2.  This has been effective - KN1 hit Dre on that type of concept a couple times today. 

 

I will continue to hope that our offense will find a way to gel, even though that may not prove out in the overall record, MACC or bowl game appearances.

 

TL;DR: Offense is young. They will make mistakes but also grow. Go ZIPS!  Fear the Roo!

Edited October 28, 2018 by CDMac

[Dr Z]

This shouldn't be surprising to anybody that watched the game, or even peeked at the box score. Lako had a career-high 23 tackles, two TFL, a fumble recovery, and a pass break-up. I wonder how many fans recognized that this was going on during the game?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[zippy5]

23? Holy crap

[zippy5]

https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/play-index/pgl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=game&year_min=2000&year_max=2018&order_by=tackles_total

 

That's tied for the 15th most in a game since 2000. Most of any Zip in that time period as well. Wagner had 22 against FIU in 2008. A decent amount of those games are against option schools where linebackers really rack up the tackles, so really dang dadgum impressive.

Edited October 29, 2018 by zippy5

[Dr Z]

Not taking anything away from 40's accomplishments, but, I think part of the Chips offensive game plan was to avoid 5. I think 40 made the most of his opportunities, and then some. Congrats to him! 

[Section210Zip]

 

 

 

[ZippyRulz]

CMU coach is canned

[Sergeant Zip]

On ‎11‎/‎24‎/‎2018 at 5:36 PM, ZippyRulz said:

CMU coach is canned

 

Mike Stoops continues to be connected to CMU as well as Ferris State's head coach Tony Annesse, Mark Staten (Mich State), Matt House (Kentucky), and Mike Yurchich (Ok State). 

[kreed5120]

Stoops and Luke Getsy are both guys I'd like for Akron to interview.

[zippy5]

Getsy would be interesting. Stoops - DC at Oklahoma.. Do they actually have a defense to coordinate?

[kreed5120]

13 minutes ago, zippy5 said:

Getsy would be interesting. Stoops - DC at Oklahoma.. Do they actually have a defense to coordinate?

Oklahoma defense actually regressed when they let him go. For Stoops I'd like Akron to interview him because he's a local guy (from Youngstown), his dad coached at Cardinal Mooney for years so he has local connections, and he has prior head coaching experience. I'm not saying I'd give him the job, but I think he's worth at least a look.