Game 3- Bryant

[Spin]

Well let’s all celebrate this win. 
 

We don’t know when our next chance will be…

[Zipmeister]

Three observations

 

After watching today’ s game against Bryant, I firmly believe the Zips can turn in a winning record next season. Heck, they could even go undefeated. All they have to do is keep their current squad together, drop to FCS, and carefully schedule against the worst teams in the division.

 

Looked like a pretty good crowd in attendance today; on espn3 it looked like there were 100’s of butts in the seats.

 

Bet the U is earning hundreds and hundreds of dollars covering seats with big advertising banners.

[Zipmeister]

On 9/17/2021 at 12:18 PM, Captain Kangaroo said:

Difficult game to handicap. 

 

Zips are terrible. Bryant is a bad FCS program.

 

Zips pull away late and win 31-16.

 

I don't care how bad the rest of the MAC appears to be, I still don't see a second win on the horizon. Mathison is the only Arth recruit that is proven to be worth the price of admission. Offense or defense. That's not enough. Hope I'm wrong.

 

Are you a Warlock or what?

Edited September 18, 2021 by Zipmeister
.

[clarkwgriswold]

4 minutes ago, Zipmeister said:

Three observations

 

After watching today’ s game against Bryant, I firmly believe the Zips can turn in a winning record next season. Heck, they could even go undefeated. All they have to do is keep their current squad together, drop to FCS, and carefully schedule against the worst teams in the division.

 

Looked like a pretty good crowd in attendance today; on espn3 it looked like there were 100’s of butts in the seats.

 

Bet the U is earning hundreds and hundreds of dollars covering seats with big advertising banners.

This misery is all on the schedule maker!

[NWAkron]

Fun game.  Impressed how the team (DJ) held it together when things got really scary in the 3rd quarter.  DJ had a good interview after the game.  Maybe that crazy drive was an inflection point for Arth and the team.   Go Zips!

[Let'sGoZips94]

How many years of eligibility does Irons have after this year? I really like him. He could be a really special MAC QB if given enough time/talent around him.

 

I like our WR corps. A nice big body would compliment them well. 

 

Our RBs run very hard. Ball security is an issue, though.

 

Defensively, at least we have Bubba. 

 

Bottom line: this had to be a convincing win and it wasn't. 

 

 

[NWAkron]

9 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

How many years of eligibility does Irons have after this year? I really like him. He could be a really special MAC QB if given enough time/talent around him.

 

I like our WR corps. A nice big body would compliment them well. 

 

Our RBs run very hard. Ball security is an issue, though.

 

Defensively, at least we have Bubba. 

 

Bottom line: this had to be a convincing win and it wasn't. 

 

 

Couple blown plays in red zone, but Zips had like over 500 yards of offense.

[1981 grad]

I usually don't post anything in football because I do not want to be negative and lets face it, the last 3 years have been difficult.  Although the competition was not division one, I enjoyed todays game.  This is the first game in a long time that I can remember a Zip receiver not dropping a ball.  Further, the one handed grab in the end zone was fantastic and the long touchdown pass was a good throw and catch.  Irons was simply too quick for Bryant and made some nice runs that simply will not happen in division one.  The running game looked decent and our back and recievers usually did not go down on first contact.  Can someone tell me why on fourth and one we cannot put a quarterback under center and used our superior size to get one yard.  

Edited September 19, 2021 by 1981 grad

[dre22era]

I can't be happy about this game

Sorry

 

[K-Roo]

Does anyone know what Arth did or said to get the unsportsmanlike penalty.  At least he finally showed some fire today.  At exactly the wrong time. But still.   

[LZIp]

W. Enjoy them when you can. Hope we didn’t get too beat up and can make it through next week without getting unhealthier. Walk on Blake Hester was getting reps at RB at the end. Started the season with at least 4 scholarship RBs and may be down to 1 with Norrils going out yesterday.

[NWAkron]

8 minutes ago, K-Roo said:

Does anyone know what Arth did or said to get the unsportsmanlike penalty.  At least he finally showed some fire today.  At exactly the wrong time. But still.   

That had to be a moment when Arths career flashed before his eyes.   From what I gathered from someone around me at the time was that the refs didn't reset the play clock after the recovered fumble (or started it early)..which I guess caused the quick snap on 4th and 1.    To those in the stands it looked like another Arth screw up...maybe he was right but that was a grim few minutes.  As he said after the game, DJ saved him.

[NWAkron]

51 minutes ago, K-Roo said:

 

 

Edited September 19, 2021 by NWAkron

[LoyalZIP]

As appalling as most of that game was, it was still a nice feeling to win and I hope everyone celebrated accordingly! Yes, we are at that point unfortunately, but there was no repeat of Gardner-Webb, so thank the good Lord.

 

The biggest issue yesterday was very clearly the inability to finish drives on both sides of the ball. The defense only gave up 146 yards and the offense gained 514. If you had told me before the game we'd see those numbers, I would have predicted something like a 42-7 victory. Instead, the defense gave up 5-11 third downs and often couldn't get off the field when a MAC defense against that caliber team should be shutting the opposition down. Offensively, they failed to convert on any points deep in Bryant territory I believe 3 times. Unacceptable. Despite the 300+ difference in yardage, Time of Possession was just about equal. That explains why this game was up in the air for 2 quarters too long. 

 

If DJ Irons wasn't pulling a Michael Vick impression, I think Arth would have been fired this coming Monday. The offensive line is so bad, and the receivers, who I think are decent, couldn't get open, so he was forced to put his body on the line more than he should have needed to. Plus, his arm looked real good. The frozen rope to Mathison on the first score was an excellent ball. 

 

I'm not one to pile on to referees much, especially in a sport like football where I believe the structure of the officiating crew can eliminate a lot of error. But that crew was not good. At all. The botched fumble call at the end of the first half was absolutely infuriating. It's not an excuse for Akron to fail to put the ball in the end zone when deep in the territory like they did a couple of times, but that was clear and obvious that it wasn't a fumble. How the replay official didn't kill the game right there and overturn that call is one of the most puzzling things I've seen by a crew. Either somebody was asleep at the wheel or they had Bryant +14. I couldn't believe my eyes, I'm sure that crew will get a nice talking to. And as for the penalty on Arth, that could have very well been the nail in his coffin at that time. And he was right to complain, as for the penalty, it was probably deserved. But it sure was nice to see some fire.

 

One final thing off that last point, yesterday showed me that Arth and this staff are simply terrible motivators. It wasn't until the Irons rescue TD run that the entire team seemed to believe in themselves. They even forced a damn turnover! I couldn't believe it! If they came out of the gate with that energy and maintained it when things don't go their way, this team would be much better. And that starts at the top. With that said, I would be pleasantly surprised if this team does win another game. I don't trust the staff and I haven't seen enough from the defense as a whole and the offensive line to make me feel good about beating any beatable team. That's a sad fact. I don't see Guthrie putting up with that either, with his personality I'm sure he's collecting money right now for whatever buyouts he may need to cover.

 

Go Zips! 

[EG765]

47 minutes ago, LoyalZIP said:

As appalling as most of that game was, it was still a nice feeling to win and I hope everyone celebrated accordingly! Yes, we are at that point unfortunately, but there was no repeat of Gardner-Webb, so thank the good Lord.

 

The biggest issue yesterday was very clearly the inability to finish drives on both sides of the ball. The defense only gave up 146 yards and the offense gained 514. If you had told me before the game we'd see those numbers, I would have predicted something like a 42-7 victory. Instead, the defense gave up 5-11 third downs and often couldn't get off the field when a MAC defense against that caliber team should be shutting the opposition down. Offensively, they failed to convert on any points deep in Bryant territory I believe 3 times. Unacceptable. Despite the 300+ difference in yardage, Time of Possession was just about equal. That explains why this game was up in the air for 2 quarters too long. 

 

If DJ Irons wasn't pulling a Michael Vick impression, I think Arth would have been fired this coming Monday. The offensive line is so bad, and the receivers, who I think are decent, couldn't get open, so he was forced to put his body on the line more than he should have needed to. Plus, his arm looked real good. The frozen rope to Mathison on the first score was an excellent ball. 

 

I'm not one to pile on to referees much, especially in a sport like football where I believe the structure of the officiating crew can eliminate a lot of error. But that crew was not good. At all. The botched fumble call at the end of the first half was absolutely infuriating. It's not an excuse for Akron to fail to put the ball in the end zone when deep in the territory like they did a couple of times, but that was clear and obvious that it wasn't a fumble. How the replay official didn't kill the game right there and overturn that call is one of the most puzzling things I've seen by a crew. Either somebody was asleep at the wheel or they had Bryant +14. I couldn't believe my eyes, I'm sure that crew will get a nice talking to. And as for the penalty on Arth, that could have very well been the nail in his coffin at that time. And he was right to complain, as for the penalty, it was probably deserved. But it sure was nice to see some fire.

 

One final thing off that last point, yesterday showed me that Arth and this staff are simply terrible motivators. It wasn't until the Irons rescue TD run that the entire team seemed to believe in themselves. They even forced a damn turnover! I couldn't believe it! If they came out of the gate with that energy and maintained it when things don't go their way, this team would be much better. And that starts at the top. With that said, I would be pleasantly surprised if this team does win another game. I don't trust the staff and I haven't seen enough from the defense as a whole and the offensive line to make me feel good about beating any beatable team. That's a sad fact. I don't see Guthrie putting up with that either, with his personality I'm sure he's collecting money right now for whatever buyouts he may need to cover.

 

Go Zips! 

I was at this game yesterday, from start to finish. Motivation from the coaches didn’t seem to be lacking IMO. Motivation from the fan base, was. Fans sat down as they entered the field from the locker room at the beginning of the game, as the exited the field at halftime, and as they won the game at the end. Fans create hype...hype creates motivation...there was no hype from the fan base. I enjoy seeing the few fans that are on their feet cheering for their team. That lacks here at Akron. Give these boys some hype and make it exciting to run out on that field and play some good ball. 

[Blue & Gold]

DJ did a nice job checking down & targeting the TE.  

Haven't seen that in years.

 

[ZIPFAN21]

The Arth penalty was him complaining that the play clock was not reset to 40 sec and he was forced to call a TO in the 3rd quarter.  I continued to yell at the official until he had enough.   15yds.  Then next play botched snap.  Thankfully, the quarter ended and everything called down and DJ bailed the coach and the team out with a spectacular run to start the 4th quarter.   

[LoyalZIP]

5 hours ago, EG765 said:

I was at this game yesterday, from start to finish. Motivation from the coaches didn’t seem to be lacking IMO. Motivation from the fan base, was. Fans sat down as they entered the field from the locker room at the beginning of the game, as the exited the field at halftime, and as they won the game at the end. Fans create hype...hype creates motivation...there was no hype from the fan base. I enjoy seeing the few fans that are on their feet cheering for their team. That lacks here at Akron. Give these boys some hype and make it exciting to run out on that field and play some good ball. 

 

I was there too. 1-19 since the beginning of the 2019 season will do that to a fan base. I'm surprised as many showed up as they did. And Zips fans are a long-suffering bunch. 14-14 with a terrible FCS team going into the 4th quarter is nearly impossible to get excited for. If the coaches were good motivators, you wouldn't need to care about Joe Akron in the stands keeping track of the Ohio State game play for play on the ESPN app. If the coaches had those boys motivated like, say Sean Lewis does with his, that game would have been over after 1 quarter. 

[72 Roo]

Criticizing the fans for the players lack of motivation is one of the most absurd posts I've seen on here in years. Our fans have been conditioned to expect the worst and the football program has delivered. 1-19 does that. There is nothing wrong with our fans. Just go a few 100 years over to First Energy Field or the JAR and you will find places that the opposition absolutely hates to visit. Anyone who has ever played sports at a high level knows motivation comes from within. The fans can add to it a little, but they can not create it. When our players get a competent leader and staff we will see their belief and motivation grow exponentially. As LoyalZip has said look to Kent to see the truth in this. They were worse than us for years. Now we envy their program and coach.

[Blue & Gold]

All things considered, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the size of out last 2 home crowds. 

[Zipmeister]

15 hours ago, Blue & Gold said:

All things considered, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the size of out last 2 home crowds. 

 

Are you saying the attendees tended to be large people, or that there were lots of people in attendance?

What were both the official paid attendance and butts-in-seats number for the Zip's s home games so far?

I realize way too many teams (including the Zips) routinely achieve the 15,000 average attendance required to maintain D1status with smoke and mirrors, but I worry Akron doesn't have anyone with the magical skills needed to continue this charade much longer.

 

[Spin]

On 9/20/2021 at 9:01 AM, Zipmeister said:

 

Are you saying the attendees tended to be large people, or that there were lots of people in attendance?

What were both the official paid attendance and butts-in-seats number for the Zip's s home games so far?

I realize way too many teams (including the Zips) routinely achieve the 15,000 average attendance required to maintain D1status with smoke and mirrors, but I worry Akron doesn't have anyone with the magical skills needed to continue this charade much longer.

 

 

It reminds me of the Ted Stepien Cavaliers at the Big House on the Prairie. I was there when they quoted attendance at 1500, and was amazed half would be no-shows. TBH it did snow a lot there. My and my buddy snuck up to the loge level and the security guard came over. I thought we were going to get a quick ride back down the elevator. He talked with us for an hour. He was lonely. A fan called the ticket office and asked when the game started and he replied "What time can you be here." I don't doubt that happened...