Game One

[LZIp]

4 hours ago, ZippyRulz said:

Call me crazy but I'm going to take the Zips and the 48.5 points at MSU next week..

 

Is that really the line? I'd buy up to 49 if so just to be safe, but still like it.

[Blue & Gold]

 

[Blue & Gold]

 

[LZIp]

8 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

 

From the article:

"

Plenty more adversity came their way in the overtime when Irons was sacked on the first play for a 9-yard loss. He responded by finding Jacques-Louis for 28 yards and, two plays later, running back Cam Wiley was in the end zone for the winning score.

 

Plenty more came their way in the overtime when Irons was sacked on the first play for a 9-yard loss. He responded by finding Jacques-Louis for 28 yards. Two plays later, running back Cam Wiley was in the end zone."

 

Good job ABJ.

[LoyalZIP]

Some more focused thoughts on the game last night. It's a much longer road ahead than I was expecting, but I shouldn't be surprised. Last night was a good wake up call for sure, but it's great to come out with the win. If these guys get slaughtered in all three of these buy games, I will have a bad, bad feeling about any bowl chances, which is fine. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

 

Xavior Gray was not good at all at LT. Once Daniels got put there, things got a little better. I also recall far too many passing plays where either the center or LG was immediately stood up and pushed back a few yards on the snap. Imagine what that will look like next week, or the week after. The thing I'm most looking forward to for the future is the Moorhead recurits getting in and making an impact here. And the playcalling was okay, but three straight runs up the middle for a 3-and-out made me want to pull my hair out. I thought DJ had a decent game, and actually threw a few really nice deep balls that were defended well. It's just so hard when the pocket collapses almost immediately. 

 

Defensively, I saw an improved DB unit from the past few years, but still a long way to go there. There were a few instances on QB rollouts where things opened up, but I'm rather pleased overall with them, considering I was expecting much worse. There still isn't much of a pass rush, though the front 7 actually began to make a few plays once they stopped blitzing every damn play. That was driving me bonkers. 

 

And special teams. Punt and kick coverage was great, but a blocked PAT and missed 39 yard field goal are mistakes this team can't afford to make as the season moves on. If it nearly costs you the game against St. Francis, it will cost you the games against BG and Ohio. Also, Gettman punted pretty well, losing Slike was big and he did a fine job. 47 average, long of 62!

 

The post game presser is on YouTube. I caught it before bed last night, and it put me to sleep in a much better mood. Zero coach speak and a lot of honesty from Joe. And George asked him some good questions. There is hope to be had with this program, it will just take patience.

 

And as for the game experience, it flat out sucked. That was no fun at all. The music sucked, the pre game video didn't work, the music didn't work most of the time, no third down bell, none of the familiar noises and sounds that help give that stadium life from time to time, and the VIDEO BOARD SHOWED NO VIDEO. Pathetic. If I didn't love Akron football, there's no way I'd go back to a game this season. It was almost awkward sitting in the stands through all of the silence and dead air. No more Pritt Entertainment Group, a company made up of alumni that love doing what they do to make those games palatable. Imagine if last night had been a blow-out, just how painful that would've been. This is a massive failure by the AD and athletic department. I've been to better produced Akron Public games at InfoCision. That was not a D1 experience last night and they should be ashamed of themselves. It's year two of this new regime, and this is the time to gut everything and totally take the fan experience away? What could have been a great opportunity to showcase the program, showcase the stadium, showcase the Akron football experience, fell COMPLETELY flat and I am embarrassed. I'm glad the PA announcer told us what the electrifying play of the day was, if only I could have actually watched the clip. PATHETIC. 

 

The next home game will be homecoming against BG. If they don't get their heads out of their you-know-where by then, we're going to have yet another batch of disappointed alumni that come to a game never to return again. Think small, be small.

 

P A T H E T I C.

[zipsrule]

38 minutes ago, LZIp said:

From the article:

"

Plenty more adversity came their way in the overtime when Irons was sacked on the first play for a 9-yard loss. He responded by finding Jacques-Louis for 28 yards and, two plays later, running back Cam Wiley was in the end zone for the winning score.

 

Plenty more came their way in the overtime when Irons was sacked on the first play for a 9-yard loss. He responded by finding Jacques-Louis for 28 yards. Two plays later, running back Cam Wiley was in the end zone."

 

Good job ABJ.

Proof reading is overrated.  🙂

[kreed5120]

A few take aways I had.

 

1) Why was this game on a Thursday when it wasn't even televised? Why not have it on a Saturday so more students and alumni could attend?

 

2) The offensive and defensive lines both need lots of work. We were out played on both fronts by an FCS school.

 

3) I had us winning 4-5 games this year, but after this game I'm going to revise that to 2-3. I'm still on board with Moorhead, but I feel I might have overestimated how fast he'd be able to infuse talent, particularly in the trenches.

[Hilltopper]

The video board is barely functional. There are no parts avaiable to make it work. Remember the fire from a few seasons ago? They have solicited bids for a new one. The good news is that the overall structure is in great shape. If anyone has 1.4-2 million $$$ laying around that they would like to donate for this upgrade please contact the AD.

[LoyalZIP]

10 minutes ago, Hilltopper said:

The video board is barely functional. There are no parts avaiable to make it work. Remember the fire from a few seasons ago? They have solicited bids for a new one. The good news is that the overall structure is in great shape. If anyone has 1.4-2 million $$$ laying around that they would like to donate for this upgrade please contact the AD.

 

Right, a problem nobody could see coming for nearly a decade. 

[Captain Kangaroo]

Most high schools have video scoreboards now a days. And you get stat updates too. 
 

InfoCision doesn’t/can’t. It is embarrassing. 
 

If there was a fire, why wasn’t that covered by insurance?
 

 

[zipsrule]

8 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

If there was a fire, why wasn’t that covered by insurance?
 

 

Great question.

[clarkwgriswold]

I think we can safely conclude that the talk of bowl eligibility for this season was premature and an unreasonable expectation.  The program is building from the ground up.  It's going to take much longer than one season to rebuild after years of decay.  3 or 4 wins would be a huge improvement.

 

I trust that Morehead is the guy and that improvement will come but I don't think that improvement will be demonstrated in many wins this season given what I saw last night.  St. Francis is supposed to be for the Zips football program what Concord is for the basketball program- a warmup and walkover, not a nail biter.  Patience....patience....patience....

 

As for the game day experience, shame on UA for not doing better.  They had months and months to get it right and failed to do so.  That being said, give me good football and I can do without music, videos....and even an announcer.

 

It was nice to see Morehead wearing his best from the Bill Belichik sideline collection!  GO ZIPS!

[morris buttermaker]

I was not at the game---can someone give an honest opinion of the number of fans that were there

[clarkwgriswold]

9 minutes ago, morris buttermaker said:

I was not at the game---can someone give an honest opinion of the number of fans that were there

 

8,752

    Best Regards,

          Charles Guthrie

[LZIp]

Fortunately 1 game, and even a loss to a lower level team doesn't make or break a season. Northwestern played in the B1G championship the year we beat them. Pitt lost to WMU last year, but won the ACC Championship.

 

Last night was scary but we won. There is no denying we have more depth, experience, talent, better coaching, and better strength from last year. It will take the guys some time to gel. Luckily for us, our first 3 games are pretty predictable and don't mean much for the season. The first real glimpse we'll have at what we'll get come conference play will be vs Liberty...just stay relatively healthy and compete vs MSU and Tennessee in the meantime.

 

[gozips19]

What I liked: WRs...they are open a lot and made some nice plays for Irons

TE see above comments

Jones: Can be all MAC

Wiley: yes he missed some lanes but looks like a solid back

 

What I don't like: O-Line...oh boy! Happy they subbed out Grey. While massive, he's too slow

Back half of the D. I don't see this improving much so JoMo better figure out how to score a lot of points

Irons: He's the most important player on the field and in JoMo's offense the QB needs to make quick reads and be crisp with his throws. Irons did neither of them well and I'm not hopeful he will figure it out. Looked very similar to last year. 

He let the pass rush get to him and bailed on plays too quickly. He missed wide open receivers often and when he did find them he was not accurate. 

 

Love the play calling from Morehead yesterday. He sets his guys up to hit big plays. Let's get through the rest of OOC relatively healthy and will out some Ws in conference. 

 

 

[GP1]

Akron won a game it should be able to win and that's great. The problem is, SFU is an average IAA program and even in an off season we should be able to win with relative ease. Improvement is needed...and fast, or it could be another loooooong season for Zips fans.

[Blue & Gold]

The morning after and my mind is still blown that whoever was operating the Bell Button couldn't figure out how to push it during 3rd downs... and not when the Zips were on offense.

[Blue & Gold]

3 hours ago, LoyalZIP said:

And as for the game experience, it flat out sucked. That was no fun at all. The music sucked, the pre game video didn't work, the music didn't work most of the time, no third down bell, none of the familiar noises and sounds that help give that stadium life from time to time, and the VIDEO BOARD SHOWED NO VIDEO. Pathetic. If I didn't love Akron football, there's no way I'd go back to a game this season. It was almost awkward sitting in the stands through all of the silence and dead air. No more Pritt Entertainment Group, a company made up of alumni that love doing what they do to make those games palatable. Imagine if last night had been a blow-out, just how painful that would've been. This is a massive failure by the AD and athletic department. I've been to better produced Akron Public games at InfoCision. That was not a D1 experience last night and they should be ashamed of themselves. It's year two of this new regime, and this is the time to gut everything and totally take the fan experience away? What could have been a great opportunity to showcase the program, showcase the stadium, showcase the Akron football experience, fell COMPLETELY flat and I am embarrassed. I'm glad the PA announcer told us what the electrifying play of the day was, if only I could have actually watched the clip. PATHETIC. 

 

The next home game will be homecoming against BG. If they don't get their heads out of their you-know-where by then, we're going to have yet another batch of disappointed alumni that come to a game never to return again. Think small, be small.

 

P A T H E T I C.

[Blue & Gold]

On the bright side, our punter kicked some ass last night 

[1981 grad]

I watched the game on TV and my first thought was how many commercials can you put into a football game?

 

My 2nd though was the DJ often looked like the third best quarterback on the field.  The commentators kept complimenting the St. Francis quarterbacks on how they kept their eyes downfield when they were scrambling looking for receivers.  They did not make the same comments when DJ scrambled.  He seemed to struggle when he was flushed out of the pocket and that was most of the night.  Also, poor decision making on fourth and 8 when he seemed to give up on throwing and ran the ball for 4 yards.  Throw the ball and give your receivers a chance.  The 4th and one where he audibled and almost ran out the clock was ridiculous.  Akron should have killed a timeout.  He had some good throws and some nice scrambles but also missed some easy throws.

 

My last thought was that this looked like a game between 2 evenly matched teams.  I did not think that we had the better athletes except maybe at wide received.  Akron did not dominate the offensive or defensive lines.  I really liked St. Francis play calling.  Is St. Francis that good or are we just that bad.  I guess time will tell.

[Section210Zip]

The amount of commercial breaks was ridiculous. We got the momentum at the end of the 3rd. The kids were all excited on the side lines and the fans were into it. After only 2.03 of game time to start the 4th and there was already 8 min of commercial breaks, the momentum was gone. 

 

I think the audio/visual issues probably made this worse. There was no fill during the breaks. In today's age, this isn't an expectable game experience. 

 

The stadium looked really good. There was a real new feel to it.

The firework show after the game was great. I was actually impressed. 

[Zipmeister]

4 hours ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I think we can safely conclude that the talk of bowl eligibility for this season was premature and an unreasonable expectation.  The program is building from the ground up.  It's going to take much longer than one season to rebuild after years of decay.  3 or 4 wins would be a huge improvement.

 

I trust that Morehead is the guy and that improvement will come but I don't think that improvement will be demonstrated in many wins this season given what I saw last night.  St. Francis is supposed to be for the Zips football program what Concord is for the basketball program- a warmup and walkover, not a nail biter.  Patience....patience....patience....

 

As for the game day experience, shame on UA for not doing better.  They had months and months to get it right and failed to do so.  That being said, give me good football and I can do without music, videos....and even an announcer.

 

It was nice to see Morehead wearing his best from the Bill Belichik sideline collection!  GO ZIPS!

 

Apparently you are forgetting what several posters have pointed out; Northern Illinois went from last place in the MAC west to the MACC in one year. The Zips are still tied for first in the east; GO ZIPS.

[InTheZone]

Irons has a lot of physical tools. That's about the only good thing I can say about him at this point.

 

Kid needs coaching I was hoping he would get with the new staff.  Maybe he's beyond help.

[GP1]

5 hours ago, LoyalZIP said:

And as for the game experience, it flat out sucked. That was no fun at all. The music sucked, the pre game video didn't work, the music didn't work most of the time, no third down bell, none of the familiar noises and sounds that help give that stadium life from time to time, and the VIDEO BOARD SHOWED NO VIDEO. Pathetic. If I didn't love Akron football, there's no way I'd go back to a game this season. It was almost awkward sitting in the stands through all of the silence and dead air. No more Pritt Entertainment Group, a company made up of alumni that love doing what they do to make those games palatable. Imagine if last night had been a blow-out, just how painful that would've been. This is a massive failure by the AD and athletic department. I've been to better produced Akron Public games at InfoCision. That was not a D1 experience last night and they should be ashamed of themselves. It's year two of this new regime, and this is the time to gut everything and totally take the fan experience away? What could have been a great opportunity to showcase the program, showcase the stadium, showcase the Akron football experience, fell COMPLETELY flat and I am embarrassed. I'm glad the PA announcer told us what the electrifying play of the day was, if only I could have actually watched the clip. PATHETIC. 

 

The next home game will be homecoming against BG. If they don't get their heads out of their you-know-where by then, we're going to have yet another batch of disappointed alumni that come to a game never to return again. Think small, be small.

 

P A T H E T I C.

This is the best description of events surrounding a game I did not attend I have ever read. Well said. How people feel while at a game, in part, is what you might consider to be the "customer satisfaction". My customer satisfaction requirements, in order, are:

1. Good football. For me, squeaking out a win against an average 1AA team is not very satisfying. 

2. Good parking. There is pretty good parking around The Big Dialer. Beer provides me with plenty of entertainment so I don't really look to anyone else to provide me with any entertainment while I get loaded.

3. Good food. I'd love a report on the quality of food at the stadium.

4. More beer. Is the beer in the stadium good?

5. Clean bathrooms. I'm a stickler for a clean bathroom. Were the bathrooms clean because points 2 and 4 lead to the bathroom.

6. Was the stadium generally clean?

7. The other stuff. This is are where the scoreboard comes into play. I shouldn't go to a D1 football game and see a semi-functioning scoreboard. All the other bells and whistle such as sound effects don't do anything for me. I find most of it stupid, but people like it and I'm pretty good at ignoring it.

 

If they got points 1-6 right, I'd be cool with missing on 7 unless it was just as horrible as described. If I was a casual fan, it wouldn't keep me from attending a future game.