Game 4 Thoughts

[catdaddyp]

Overall, I thought it was the best game we’ve played and took another step in the right direction. 

 

Offense:

- Some self-inflicted injuries with the drops again.

- Irons seemed to press too much at times and was responsible for some of the sacks that could have been avoided by getting rid of the ball sooner.

- The OL majorly struggled against the stunts from Liberty’s DL. In particular Daniels, Banes, and Williams. No doubt opponents will test us with those in the future.

- I thought Wiley had his best game and ran hard, but I’m disappointed in the lack of opportunities for Norrils.

- We still struggle to create opportunities in the run game in the traditional sense and are having to make up for that with sweeps and screens.

- Ka’Marii Landers saw his first action filling in when Daniels went out. His potential and athleticism was exciting to see.

- JoeMo called some great plays that didn’t get executed for whatever reasons.

 

Defense:

- Johnson may not have many stats, but he seemed to be everywhere Saturday. Johnson was dropped into coverage from the edge position, rushed the passer, and was moved inside to DT on obvious passing downs (along with Morton). He also took on some crucial blocks in the run game so others could make the play.

- Bubba had another monster game.

- Outside of the two coverage busts, this was by far the best game our secondary has played as a whole. I don’t think Hence was fully responsible for that first bust as it looked like we were in cover 3 and the S should have rotated over.

- Speaking of safeties, the trio of Thompson, Martin, and JKP were excellent tackling in the open field and helping in the run game this week. Sure there were a handful of mistakes, but overall well done.

- Thomas started at defensive tackle beside Harper and did a really nice job.

- McCoy got the start at LB, but it was Boateng who saw the most action at LB with Bubba.

- A lot of players saw PT on defense Saturday and every one of them did something good at some point.

- Both Terry and Golden-Nelson were MIA this week. Not sure what’s going on there.

 

Special teams played well in all areas. Missed the long FG, but Perez doesn’t seem to have the leg strength for that….yet.

 

I feel great about going into MAC play after this game. Liberty exposed some of our weaknesses, but player development is clearly happening. 

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by catdaddyp

[Lee Adams]

1 hour ago, catdaddyp said:

Overall, I thought it was the best game we’ve played and took another step in the right direction. 

 

Offense:

- Some self-inflicted injuries with the drops again.

- Irons seemed to press too much at times and was responsible for some of the sacks that could have been avoided by getting rid of the ball sooner.

- The OL majorly struggled against the stunts from Liberty’s DL. In particular Daniels, Banes, and Williams. No doubt opponents will test us with those in the future.

- I thought Wiley had his best game and ran hard, but I’m disappointed in the lack of opportunities for Norrils.

- We still struggle to create opportunities in the run game in the traditional sense and are having to make up for that with sweeps and screens.

- Ka’Marii Landers saw his first action filling in for one play when Daniels went out. The play was a bust but his potential and athleticism to get out and block in space was exciting to see.

- JoeMo called some great plays that didn’t get executed for whatever reasons.

 

Defense:

- Johnson may not have many stats, but he seemed to be everywhere Saturday. Johnson was dropped into coverage from the edge position, rushed the passer, and was moved inside to DT on obvious passing downs (along with Morton). He also took on some crucial blocks in the run game so others could make the play.

- Bubba had another monster game.

- Outside of the two coverage busts, this was by far the best game our secondary has played as a whole. I don’t think Hence was fully responsible for that first bust as it looked like we were in cover 3 and the S should have rotated over.

- Speaking of safeties, the trio of Thompson, Martin, and JKP were excellent tackling in the open field and helping in the run game this week. Sure there were a handful of mistakes, but overall well done.

- Thomas started at defensive tackle beside Harper and did a really nice job.

- McCoy got the start at LB, but it was Boateng who saw the most action at LB with Bubba.

- A lot of players saw PT on defense Saturday and every one of them did something good at some point.

- Both Terry and Golden-Nelson were MIA this week. Not sure what’s going on there.

 

Special teams played well in all areas. Missed the long FG, but Perez doesn’t seem to have the leg strength for that….yet.

 

I feel great about going into MAC play after this game. Liberty exposed some of our weaknesses, but player development is clearly happening. 

 

Didn't watch the game but watched a lot of highlights and perused the stats.

The bad: 1)Secondary still looks lost at times. On one Liberty TD the receiver stood between 2 DB's who were at least 5 yards away from him. 2) Defense still doesn't get much pressure and then gave up 152 on the ground against second and third stringQB and RB. And, gave up big play on the ground in the second half. 3) Zips had 52 yards on the ground? Still no consistent run threat from RB's or Irons. Joe has to get that fixed or the wins going forward will be few and far between.3) Irons is not or can not use his legs. If he is still hurt and can't run he takes away half his game. I said before Joe should have held him out of the UT to heal. 4) Had to throw the ball 52 times (29 completions). Irons is not that type of QB. Has to be a run threat to keep the D from teeing off on the rush. Several times he held the ball too long and created sacks. He is taking way too much contact.

Now, the second half looked much better in certain areas. The D tightened up a little. They had chances in the second half but gave up couple of big plays. The D got some pressure.  Jacques-Louis had nice return.

They are making some progress. But until they can control the ball on offense, the defense will keep getting exposed.

After seeing some of the MAC scores from the last 2 weeks I am not as confident as some about wins in conference. BGSU won again. Buffalo beat EMU. OU won. Maybe waht the Zips need is finally getting a home game. This Saturday will tell us a lot about the rest of the season.

 

[catdaddyp]

17 minutes ago, Lee Adams said:

Didn't watch the game but watched a lot of highlights and perused the stats.

The bad: 1)Secondary still looks lost at times. On one Liberty TD the receiver stood between 2 DB's who were at least 5 yards away from him. 2) Defense still doesn't get much pressure and then gave up 152 on the ground against second and third stringQB and RB. And, gave up big play on the ground in the second half. 3) Zips had 52 yards on the ground? Still no consistent run threat from RB's or Irons. Joe has to get that fixed or the wins going forward will be few and far between.3) Irons is not or can not use his legs. If he is still hurt and can't run he takes away half his game. I said before Joe should have held him out of the UT to heal. 4) Had to throw the ball 52 times (29 completions). Irons is not that type of QB. Has to be a run threat to keep the D from teeing off on the rush. Several times he held the ball too long and created sacks. He is taking way too much contact.

Now, the second half looked much better in certain areas. The D tightened up a little. They had chances in the second half but gave up couple of big plays. The D got some pressure.  Jacques-Louis had nice return.

They are making some progress. But until they can control the ball on offense, the defense will keep getting exposed.

After seeing some of the MAC scores from the last 2 weeks I am not as confident as some about wins in conference. BGSU won again. Buffalo beat EMU. OU won. Maybe waht the Zips need is finally getting a home game. This Saturday will tell us a lot about the rest of the season.

 

The play you’re talking about in point one is the same one I mentioned. Cover 3 and it looked like Hence thought he had flats/zone while others were in man underneath. Safety helped on the middle receiver instead of the one Hence released.

 

While the QB was a backup, that was Liberty’s leading rusher (Hunter) from the running back position. Liberty hit us with a nice concept on the counter a few times where they gave themselves numbers and got some chunk plays out of it. Credit to them as I haven’t seen it run like that before and we weren’t prepared for it. Even so, a few times our DT and DE stuffed it on their own.

 

Run game is definitely a concern. Without it, we won’t see this offense be quite as explosive as JoeMo’s offenses usually are.

Im not sure if Irons is still hurt. He had a few runs he almost broke, but Liberty made great solo tackles in the open field.

 

I’m not too worried about what other MAC teams have done to this point. As long as this team keeps making progress, wins will come. The offense couldn’t quite get it going but the defense took a major leap forward. For one game at least. Now we need to see consistency.

 

[bigjim]

Overall

-Liberty came off of a crushing 1 point loss to a ranked team.  Liberty was probably over looking the Zips and down in the dumps.   

-Liberty was down to their 3rd and 4th string QB.  It is sad we could not capitalize on this opportunity.  

-Coach JoeMo did a great job of play calling.  It opened a lot of opportunities for the offense.  

 

Offense

-Akron's receivers were very good with the exception of a couple of drops

-The running game was disappointing.  I want to see Norrills much more.

-I have been a critic, but I thought Irons played pretty well, except for a few plays

-OL played well at times, and poorly at other times

 

Defense

-Bubba was great once again

-Secondary played pretty well

-DL had a lot of good moments

 

ST

-We have a very good punter

-Field goal kicking needs improvement

Go Zips!!!

[Lee Adams]

38 minutes ago, catdaddyp said:

The play you’re talking about in point one is the same one I mentioned. Cover 3 and it looked like Hence thought he had flats/zone while others were in man underneath. Safety helped on the middle receiver instead of the one Hence released.

 

While the QB was a backup, that was Liberty’s leading rusher (Hunter) from the running back position. Liberty hit us with a nice concept on the counter a few times where they gave themselves numbers and got some chunk plays out of it. Credit to them as I haven’t seen it run like that before and we weren’t prepared for it. Even so, a few times our DT and DE stuffed it on their own.

 

Run game is definitely a concern. Without it, we won’t see this offense be quite as explosive as JoeMo’s offenses usually are.

Im not sure if Irons is still hurt. He had a few runs he almost broke, but Liberty made great solo tackles in the open field.

 

I’m not too worried about what other MAC teams have done to this point. As long as this team keeps making progress, wins will come. The offense couldn’t quite get it going but the defense took a major leap forward. For one game at least. Now we need to see consistency.

 

Nice assessment.

[LZIp]

The play-calling by Joe Mo is something I haven't seen since i've become a fan (Ianello years ugh). You can tell he's an offensive mastermind with the creativity on some of these play calls and the way he's able to generate rushing yards when everything between the tackles in a no go. I think this offense will be really fun to watch come conference play if we can breakthrough a little more, and assuming we're able to generate some sort of run game by the RBs AND/OR when Irons is able to run the ball like he has when healthy.

 

I don't recall anyone getting hurt last night..Shocky was shaken up on his catch, but think he just got the wind knocked out him. JKP and Boateng were back after leaving the game vs Tenn. It looked like Julian Richardson was dressed but I don't recall seeing him on the field. Word on here is to expect Ravantae Holt back this week. Pretty healthy going into conference play all things considered. Still would like to know whats up with Devonte Golden-Nelson and Amankwaa.

 

Edited September 25, 2022 by LZIp

[72 Roo]

This game was a huge booster shot for all Zip fans that we are on the right track and getting better each week. I think we will be fine in the MAC but Miami, Central and PCCC still scare me. I hope this week they work with Irons to not lock on one receiver thereby waiting too long for him to get open and risking a sack. Irons really needs to work on his progression. If you watch yesterday's game closely he rarely moves his head looking around and we do have open WR's. With the lack of a running game I am curious as to why Norrils does not get PT. In my mind he is better than Price. Norrils will hit the hole harder than any of our RB's. Perhaps his lack of PT is an issue they are keeping inside the team. I hope not. I hope to see the guy get a serious look in games.

[Ham]

It's hard to tell watching TV, but it seems that both OL and DL are lacking quickness.  TE could bump and release to slow down those games that were giving OT's so much trouble.  TE & HB might be needed to power up some off tackle runs.  Red zone issues?  

[Zipmeister]

Who was the Zip who dropped a wide-open pass in the endzone?

If I were King, I would let this person watch the first half of the next game from the sideline in an effort to get his head straight.

Nothing personal, it's just business.

[ZippyRulz]

15 minutes ago, Zipmeister said:

Who was the Zip who dropped a wide-open pass in the endzone?

If I were King, I would let this person watch the first half of the next game from the sideline in an effort to get his head straight.

Nothing personal, it's just business.

 

I believe with the current King, it's personal..

 

[Blue & Gold]

5 hours ago, LZIp said:

The play-calling by Joe Mo is something I haven't seen since i've become a fan (Ianello years ugh).

If you became a Zips' fan during the Ianello years you are a true hero.

Edited September 25, 2022 by Blue & Gold

[Blue & Gold]

3 hours ago, Zipmeister said:

Who was the Zip who dropped a wide-open pass in the endzone?

That was RB Clyde Price.

[Blue & Gold]

ABJ post game story:

Akron Zips show some fight in loss to Liberty Flames

[catdaddyp]

46 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

ABJ post game story:

Akron Zips show some fight in loss to Liberty Flames

A little odd that George would say “The Zips (1-3) should have won this game – even with it being on the road” about a game that we never led. Yardage was close to even (we had 12 more total) and we had one more takeaway. None of that screams dropping a dominant game to me. With all that being said, the trend is definitely up. I’m really excited for this week’s game against Bowling Green.

Edited September 26, 2022 by catdaddyp

[Sergeant Zip]

56 minutes ago, catdaddyp said:

A little odd that George would say “The Zips (1-3) should have won this game – even with it being on the road” about a game that we never led. Yardage was close to even (we had 12 more total) and we had one more takeaway. None of that screams dropping a dominant game to me. With all that being said, the trend is definitely up. I’m really excited for this week’s game against Bowling Green.

 

Probably because he did not watch the game. 

[LoyalZIP]

Finished watching the replay. Wow, if not for a handful of stupid/small mistakes and a couple of questionable penalties, the Zips had quite the opportunity to come out on top. The biggest thing that stuck out to me were the crazy obvious drops. While Price's ended up resulting in the Adams TD pass, that's on par with one of the worst I've ever seen, and I can't blame Joe for spiking his headset like Gronk.

 

DJ played a good-not-great game. He made a ton of excellent throws and there were a lot of really good routes run. Adams with a couple of bad drops as well, but he played his best game, and so did Daniel George. Hell of a grab by Shocky too. Though he also dropped one he should've had. The play where Wiley dropped it/had it knocked away was such a pretty ball by DJ. Both teams tackled pretty well in space too, DJ had a few chances to break one and the Flames made some nice plays. He seems to have healed up nicely, mobility didn't seem to be an issue and he was oh-so-close on the 2pt. try. When I was listening live, it kind of felt like it was over to me when the punt was downed at the one, and sure enough, it kind of was. Liberty got momentum from that and totally turned up the volume.

 

I love Morton and have from day 1 last year, the story of how he got to Akron was pretty wild. He was all over the place Saturday, and nearly made a big play on the Liberty final TD drive, he had the RB by the ankle in the backfield on third and long but he slipped out for a big gain.

 

The Zips should be pissed off and more hungry after this game. While I'm sure there was some disappointment in the locker room, I hope and expect a big sense of hunger and confidence throughout the week getting ready for Saturday. The offense had one of the better G5 squads on skates for a lot of the night, failing in the margins to put as many points on the board as they should have. Defensively, it was great to see some pressure and see DBs keep guys close. They had no choice but to beat Akron by running to the outside, that's a nice sign of better things to come.

 

JoeMo is a master. The way he puts these guys into position to be successful impressed me the most in that game. The playcalling is elite, it's just up to the talent and execution to make things happen. I'm not ready to talk about the BG game in depth or MAC play in depth quite yet this week, but after watching enough MAC games so far, I am fairly confident in saying that the Zips should be competitive in every MAC game, at least for a lot of the game, barring meltdowns and bad performances, which are bound to happen.

 

Altogether, that was one of the best nonconference performances against an FBS team by this program in a long time, and it was against a very talented team. Still a lot of work to do, but this was a giant step in the right direction.

[GoZips86]

A lot of what I could say has already been covered by others. One thing I will mention is that at some point Akron needs to learn to capitalize on opportunities. The turning point in the game should NOT be when a team decides to put their backup QB in the game and leads his team to a touchdown without even throwing a pass!! The defense should have eaten him for dinner when he was entered into the game.

 

I agree the Zips played better. However, I want to hold them to a higher standard. All too often it's looking into the positives, patting them on the back, and so forth. But at the end of the day, the Zips should have won that game. They need to learn to win those games, especially when all of the momentum is in their favor.

 

Also, I loved JoeMo throwing his headset. Glad to have a head coach who has the passion for these kids here in Akron.

 

Onto the BGSU game!!! 

[LZIp]

 

[Blue & Gold]

2 hours ago, LZIp said:

 

Sounds like the ABJ had both Michael Beaven and George Thomas asking questions.  Big step in the right direction (if this isn't a one-time thing).

[catdaddyp]

18 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

Sounds like the ABJ had both Michael Beaven and George Thomas asking questions.  Big step in the right direction (if this isn't a one-time thing).

I’m going to send in these questions to George and see if we can get any information. What is the status of Terry and Golden-Nelson? Why didn’t McCoy play more than 17 snaps when he started and seemed to be playing fairly well? Why didn’t Robarge see any snaps at center when all the snaps were split the past 3 games? Richardson played a handful of snaps - what is the plan with working him back in? 
 

 

[catdaddyp]

Rewatching the game and I noticed Landers played the 2nd to last drive in the first half. So he at least played 5 snaps for the game. PFF got that one wrong. Have yet to see Richardson.

[catdaddyp]

- On Liberty’s last scoring drive they caught us in a bad defensive alignment two plays in a row out of trips. However, when they got down near the goal line the defensive stand we had was impressive. Liberty did end up scoring but watching our players communicate and adjust on all the motions and shifts Liberty was doing while still holding ground…talk about improvement!

- Liberty went after Durant a good chunk of the night. While Durant was hit or miss in pass coverage, he was excellent as a blitzer.

 

- If Richardson and Thomas played on defense, I did not see them. That may be another one PFF got wrong.

 

- Whigan was really good. I’m not sure what PFF saw in regards to his rating.
 

- Landers has great feet. Probably only a matter of time before he sees the field more.

 

- This may be splitting hairs but it still did not feel like a game we should have won. Could have won yes, but it seemed like we were always playing catch up. Just my take on that.

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by catdaddyp

[Blue & Gold]

55 minutes ago, catdaddyp said:

- On Liberty’s last scoring drive they caught us in a bad defensive alignment two plays in a row out of trips. However, when they got down near the goal line the defensive stand we had was impressive. Liberty did end up scoring but watching our players communicate and adjust on all the motions and shifts Liberty was doing while still holding ground…talk about improvement!

- Liberty went after Durant a good chunk of the night. While Durant was hit or miss in pass coverage, he was excellent as a blitzer.

 

- If Richardson and Thomas played on defense, I did not see them. That may be another one PFF got wrong.

 

- Whigan was really good. I’m not sure what PFF saw in regards to his rating.
 

- Landers has great feet. Probably only a matter of time before he sees the field more.

 

- This may be splitting hairs but it still did not feel like a game we should have won. Could have won yes, but it seemed like we were always playing catch up. Just my take on that.

 

Looks like they're going to burn his redshirt, eh?  Wish Gray would/could step up.  Oh well, gotta get the best 11 on the field.

[catdaddyp]

6 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

Looks like they're going to burn his redshirt, eh?  Wish Gray would/could step up.  Oh well, gotta get the best 11 on the field.

Maybe, we’ll have to see. He can play in 4 games and still keep his redshirt status. Although after watching him play against Liberty I’m all for burning his redshirt. He did allow a sack on one play but it was on a stunt, which all of our guys struggled with at times. The way he shifted off of the DE and switched over to the DT was impressive. But he was just overpowered due to being slightly late. Landers is going to be a force down the road. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him take ahold of that LT spot by end of year. I can’t wait to see him develop as he spends more time with the S&C program.

 

Id like to see Gray step up too, but his feet are so slow. He can improve his foot speed to an extent, but he has what he has.

Edited September 27, 2022 by catdaddyp

[LoyalZIP]

I’m almost always going to be in favor of burning the redshirt in these situations. If the guy can play, don’t mess around and let him play. Then he’ll only be more ready for next year and so on and so forth. If the recruiting program does its job, it will be next man up when it’s time to replace him instead of trying to squeeze this year go get another year out of him in 2026. 
 

In 2016 when we were down to our last QB, the head coach at the time elected to go into the last couple games looking for bowl eligibility with a WR instead of giving Kato his first shot, just to save the redshirt. The Zips had yet another 5-7 season, dropping a winnable game at Ohio and losing to a God-awful BG team at home on senior night. It was sickening. Burn the redshirt.