Game 3 Thoughts

[Captain Kangaroo]

I made the trip to Knoxville with my wife. It had been a couple years since I'd made a Zips road trip, so I was overdue.

 

Irons was indeed fantastic. Amazing he could move the Zips against a top SEC defense, with no threat of a running game whatsoever. It seems Gibson made the smart move transferring to Georgia Tech. It is probably better to sit the bench close to home, rather than do it 600 miles to the north. 

 

It'll be interesting to see what Joe tries in order to kick start the Zips running attack. Norrils can break some tackles. Like others have said, I'd like to see him get a crack at a few consecutive series.

 

Bungling in the red zone was costly. Missed FG, dropped passes, fumble...a shame the Zips never gave themselves a chance to make Tennessee sweat a little. And for my wife and me to cheer a little. 

 

If Irons got UA Player of the Game for his valiant performance coming off an injury, co-POTG would be Noah Perez. Off the bench, as a 140 lb true freshman, hits two FG's in front of 90,000+ hostile fans.

 

I think there were 50 names from the 2021 roster that weren't on the 2022 roster. Even with 32 scholarships to give, that's an impossible number of holes in the dike to plug. Cornerback recruiting seems to have been the primary victim of that numeric impossibility. 

 

Being outscored 115-6 in the past two games is beyond rough. But Arth and Larry Williams left a huge mess for Joe and Co. to clean up. They'll get it done, but turning around a D1 football program that has beaten no FBS programs outside of BG in the past 4 calendar years is not an overnight process. You don't plant a garden on Monday, and eat tomatoes on Friday. 

 

The Tennessee fans were predominantly nice. Fun environment. Result aside, we had a great time. Beautiful day in the south. Ate too much. Drank too much. That's what life's all about. 😁

[Zipmeister]

6 hours ago, catdaddyp said:

The only team I’d say that has played a more difficult schedule is South Carolina. Vs Georgia State in week one (hasn’t lived up to their potential), at Arkansas in week 2, vs Georgia in week 3. Granted Carolina is further ahead in their rebuild than Akron, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell from this past Saturday. Not only did Carolina lay an egg, but Georgia looks to be legitimate. I thought Alabama was the clear cut favorite before the season started, but it looks like Georgia is right up there with them…again. Stetson Bennett at QB - wow. He made me a believer.

We definitely have the second toughest opening 4 game stretch in the MAC

Our schedule wasn't nearly as tough as the schedule faced by Kent State, but it was pretty darn tough.

[catdaddyp]

17 minutes ago, Zipmeister said:

We definitely have the second toughest opening 4 game stretch in the MAC

Our schedule wasn't nearly as tough as the schedule faced by Kent State, but it was pretty darn tough.

4 game stretch absolutely. Kent is going to be stomped and the scoring won’t stop until UGA decides to take their foot off the gas.

Edited September 19, 2022 by catdaddyp

[Dr Z]

4 hours ago, TennesseeZippy said:

 

 It was Aaron Murray who was the color commentator. He was the one who kept suggesting that Irons transfer. One time, it may have been a joke.  Mentioning it over and over again is unprofessional and irritating.

Thank you. I guess you could dm him if you really wanted. @aaronmurray11

[catdaddyp]

 

[LoyalZIP]

20 hours ago, catdaddyp said:

 

 

These are a joy to watch and listen to. I had to stop watching the Arth ones, just awful nothing every week. Joe brings it here discussing playing those kinds of opponents, the QB's role in the run game, and emphatically states that Noah is our kicker. This guy gets it, Akron is on the rise!!!

[catdaddyp]

- Joe continues to hammer home the point we were outmatched or “out gunned” against MSU and Tenn.

- Said we left 21 points out there with the missed scoring opportunities and turnovers.

- Said Nate Thompson had his best game yet. He was decent in week 1, struggled in week 2, and had his best game in week 3.

- Thompson is playing the boundary safety since he’s a larger guy at 6’3” 210 and is needed more for run fits.

- Said Whigan has been the most consistent OL. Nate Williams has done a good job at RT. Daniels at LT has helped but he still needs to get stronger.

- Blake Hester has done a nice job on special teams.

- 3 Running Back rotation with Wiley, Price, Norrils.

- Clearly happy with Noah Perez calling him “my guy.”

- Mentioned obvious players from last game like Shockey-Louis, Adams, Grimes, Bubba.

- Intentionally held off on designed run plays for Irons against Tenn.

 

Edited September 21, 2022 by catdaddyp

[Let'sGoZips94]

On 9/19/2022 at 3:53 PM, Dr Z said:

Thank you. I guess you could dm him if you really wanted. @aaronmurray11

 

"Hey Aaron - I know you're a failed, once-promising NFL prospect. I can't imagine how hard that must have been to deal with as you held a clipboard for millions before being offered hundreds of thousands of dollars to hop in the booth to commentate on your safe space - SEC football.

 

Anyways, the SEC isn't everything, bud. The list of non-SEC QBs, even non-P5 QBs, to have more successful football careers than you and countless other SEC/P5 QBs is too long to list. Just keep that in mind before you continue to unprofessionally clamber for a G5 QB to transfer to your beloved SEC or P5 school. 

 

Sincerely,

 

Every Zips Fan That Had to Listen to Your Garbage Commentary on Saturday"

 

z.i.P.S. No I didn't send this - I don't have Twitter. 

 

On 9/20/2022 at 12:52 PM, LoyalZIP said:

 

These are a joy to watch and listen to. I had to stop watching the Arth ones, just awful nothing every week. Joe brings it here discussing playing those kinds of opponents, the QB's role in the run game, and emphatically states that Noah is our kicker. This guy gets it, Akron is on the rise!!!

 

Arth's media sessions were like the current Browns regime. Unwilling to answer anything in detail because they're not smart enough to realize the opponents already know their mistakes due to how simple/basic they are. 

 

JoeMo knows he's smarter than 99% of the coaches on the opposing sideline, and isn't afraid to actually answer the media's questions. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by Let'sGoZips94

[Zipmeister]

On 9/19/2022 at 4:48 PM, catdaddyp said:

 

 

What do all George's question have in common?

 

Ummm.

[MangoZip]

On 9/19/2022 at 2:44 PM, Zipmeister said:

We definitely have the second toughest opening 4 game stretch in the MAC

Our schedule wasn't nearly as tough as the schedule faced by Kent State, but it was pretty darn tough.

Kent has a tougher first four games: at Washington, at Oklahoma, at Georgia and home vs LIU

[Zipmeister]

2 hours ago, MangoZip said:

Kent has a tougher first four games: at Washington, at Oklahoma, at Georgia and home vs LIU

 

Thank you for repeating what I posted two days ago. I feel better knowing that you agree with me.

[MangoZip]

16 hours ago, Zipmeister said:

 

Thank you for repeating what I posted two days ago. I feel better knowing that you agree with me.

lol...i read that wrong!

[Lee Adams]

On 9/18/2022 at 10:11 PM, bigjim said:

What is the color of the sky in your world?  When you lose by 57 points and do not score a TD, nobody looks fantastic.  Please post the cool aid recipe that you are drinking so I can be an endless optimist.  Irons is probably the best option we have, but the game was an embarassment.  Irons was successful on short passes, but he did nothing to put the Zips in position to win.  I see other MAC schools scoring multiple TD's on other FBS opponents.  Also, lowly BG beat Marshall who beat ND who played competitively with the Suckeyes.  Also, Eastern Michigan beat Arizona State and Akron is awful, to be polite.  I hope that the fortunes change, but I see no improvement over Arth.

Go Zips!!!

Little to be gained from 'sacrifice' games except the paycheck. Kids get hurt,fans get discouraged etc. Franly, I would have held Irons out of the UT game to let him heal. I am waiting to see how competitive the Liberty game is. After seeing some of the MAC wins from last weekend, I am wondering just how many wins the Zips might pick up in the MAC. If the Liberty game is competitive thats a better barometer than MSU or UT. If not...

But, there are areas where these guys are playing better than last season. I think Irons has improved and I am not a big Irons fan. Generally, the offense seems to be moving the ball better. But,until they establish a consistent run game and the O line learns how to pass block its still gong to be tough to score enough.

The defense seems to have a few serviceable parts but not enough to to help control a game.

Again, justwant to see a more competitive team in November than we are seeing now.