Game 9- Miami

[clarkwgriswold]

Well, it's Wednesday and there's no thread for Saturday's game, so here it is.  I think that's a symptom of how beaten down we are at Zips fans and how apathy is kicking in for this season.  That apathy seems to have spread to the Athletic Department as there's no publicity for what is the last Saturday home game of the year as we enter the exciting period of MAC Tuesday night football.

 

Miami comes into Infocision at 3-5 and are 1-3 in the MAC, with a win over PCCC and losses to Buffalo, BG and Western Michigan.  They had been chosen as #1 in the East in the MAC Preseason Media Poll. 

[GP1]

21 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

the last Saturday home game of the year

 

Miami comes into Infocision at 3-5 and are 1-3 in the MAC, with a win over PCCC and losses to Buffalo, BG and Western Michigan.  They had been chosen as #1 in the East in the MAC Preseason Media Poll. 

I had planned on coming up for the game this weekend but decided against it. Not knowing the schedule I just figured there would be one more Saturday game since it's still October. So much for that.... God, I hate the Conference leadership.

 

I saw Miami play against BG. This is a winnable game and they need to win. Period.

[Section210Zip]

Miami, like us, has been in a lot of one score games that they were not able to pull off the win in. The difference is they are low scoring games. They have been able to play good defense but have little offense. Gabbert returned from injury last week against Western but they still only mustered 10 pts and only converted 2 3rd downs. In MAC play they are averaging 17.5 pts per game and giving up 20. We are averaging 27.5 pts per while our opponents are scoring and average of 36.75 in MAC play. 

 

ESPN matchup predictor has this at 68/32 in favor of the RedHawks with the spread at 9 pts. 

[LoyalZIP]

I've been trying to dial back my excitement a little bit this week, it's about to get crazy with basketball and football overlapping and I was overwhelming myself with thoughts and research for both. It will be nice to have next Saturday off.

 

With that said, we have an interesting matchup coming up. Miami has one of the better defenses in the league, but struggles offensively whether they have Gabbert or not. Akron, on the other hand, can move the ball, but struggles to stop the ball. 

 

An interesting thing to look at in this league, which is a hot mess of flaming garbage, is the coaches. There are very few fanbases who are happy or satisfied with their coaching situation. Miami is at the top of that list. Chuck Martin has done a great job at Miami, bringing them from the low point of Don Treadwell going 0-12 to a MAC tite 6 years later. However, he hasn't done much to build on that title. They seem to have plateau'd and are slowly trending downward, especially after a horrid loss at home to the worst WMU team in nearly 10 years, wiping out one of the nation's longest home-win streaks. They are coming into Akron licking their wounds, and perhaps with their head coach's job on the line.

 

Forecast looks pretty good, as we've only got a few more chances to see these guys play in person. I have been thrilled with the progress I see, but must admit myself I am feeling a touch of apathy losing close so many times. I, along with many others on this board and in the fan base, see the obvious progress and improvements. But because of the losses, on the conference and national stage, it's the same ol' Akron. Damn you Larry Williams and Tom Arth. I guess we'll just have to look forward to shocking the world starting next year. I truly feel like that is coming, for the first time in a long time. The program is performing as consistently well as it has since the middle of the 2018 season, but hasn't been rewarded with the wins. They're running out of chances too. Damn, I want to break through so badly. To send Miami spiraling out of control would be a beautiful thing.

[ZippyRulz]

https://miamihawktalk.fans/t/akron-week-2022/1748/11

 

They're really not happy with their OC (sounds familiar). Maybe Brian Ferentz will become available 😁

 

[catdaddyp]

I’m not sure what to think about this game. I haven’t seen Miami play, but going off the stats and scores it seems their defense is stout. Their offense seems to struggle in all areas, but will that be the case against our defense? 
 

Moorhead said they play 7 in the box and go single high safety. If that’s the case, our WRs and TEs will have all kinds of opportunities. I doubt Miami will be able to keep our passing game in check. We haven’t been able to consistently run the ball so it may be pointless for Miami to keep 7 in the box.

 

Im guessing Miami will try to establish their run game as much as possible and throw it as little as they have to. Even if they do throw it, will our CBs be able to keep their WRs in check without Amankwaa and a healthy Golden-Nelson? IDK.

 

This game may come down to special teams play and field position. We tend to give our opponents great field position and allow ourselves to be forced to drive the majority of the field on most drives. 
 

On a stats note - Bubba has 86 total tackles on the year and could go over 100 this game.

Edited October 26, 2022 by catdaddyp

[LZIp]

Should be another close one. Surprised their offense hasn't looked better now that Gabbert is back, but I will take it. I haven't watched them this season, but based on last year, I would key on Hippenhammer in the passing game and then focus on stopping the return. Single high safety with 7 in the box tells me we will struggle to run and Irons will have to deal with his usual pressure. Need to get the ball out quick and get rid of it if nothing opens up rather than take the sack. Learning to throw it away is Irons' biggest area for improvement. Lets hope we can finally breakthrough and get that elusive win against a FBS opponent.

[Section210Zip]

Hippenhammer is their leading receiver with 29 rec for 360 yards. To compare he would be 4th in yards on the Zips. You'll have that when your last in the MAC in yards/g ; receiving yards/g ; and points/game. 

 

Their rushing ranks 4th but what is interesting is that Aveon Smith who has been their QB while Gabbert was out is their 2nd leading rusher at 314 yards. Running back Keyon Mozee has 376 yards. Its possible that going back to Gabbert could take away some of their productivity. 

[GoZips86]

I'll be there soaking in the last Saturday home Zips game of the season. Other than that, I'm expecting nothing. Zips are a team not ready to win, and I see Miami taking advantage of the inevitable mistakes the Zips will make. 

[clarkwgriswold]

Our defense has the ability to wake up sleeping offenses.

[ZippyRulz]

the formula seems to be

 

turn the ball over = we lose

 

take care of the ball = good chance of winning

 

[Let'sGoZips94]

Until JoeMo gets a roster full of his guys in here and establishes chemistry and culture, we will have to play a near perfect game to have a chance at winning. That's just how it is this year. 

[Blue & Gold]

 

[LoyalZIP]

Preview from Hustle Belt: https://www.hustlebelt.com/2022/10/26/23424132/2022-week-9-preview-miami-oh-redhawks-akron-zips-brett-gabbert-dj-irons-mac-football-october-29

[catdaddyp]

1 hour ago, LoyalZIP said:

Preview from Hustle Belt: https://www.hustlebelt.com/2022/10/26/23424132/2022-week-9-preview-miami-oh-redhawks-akron-zips-brett-gabbert-dj-irons-mac-football-october-29

The writer definitely loves him some DJI. I’m guessing he hasn’t watched many of the games or he’d know DJI is responsible for a number of those sacks he seems to place on the OL. Writer also must’ve missed Amankwaa hitting the portal. Outside of that, it’s an entertaining read. Thanks for posting!

 

On a side note, I still can’t convince Rivals to create an Akron site. I’ll ask again after the season.

Edited October 27, 2022 by catdaddyp

[kreed5120]

1 hour ago, catdaddyp said:

The writer definitely loves him some DJI. I’m guessing he hasn’t watched many of the games or he’d know DJI is responsible for a number of those sacks he seems to place on the OL. Writer also must’ve missed Amankwaa hitting the portal. Outside of that, it’s an entertaining read. Thanks for posting!

 

On a side note, I still can’t convince Rivals to create an Akron site. I’ll ask again after the season.

These writers for the hustlebelt write these previews and articles more as a hobby. I doubt they make any money off the site. They probably do watch a couple MAC games a week, but given how bad Akron is they probably only tune in for the games their teams face Akron. The majority of these previews are them just looking through stats and boxscores and then adding in whatever anecdotal opinions based off the few highlights they've seen. 

 

Edit: And that's not meant as a knock to the writers. They're certainly trying to step in and fill a gap since the national and local media outlets don't give MAC schools much attention. I'm more so just pointing out these writers have other jobs so it's not like you're going to get the best stuff from them.

Edited October 27, 2022 by kreed5120

[Captain Kangaroo]

1 hour ago, catdaddyp said:

The writer definitely loves him some DJI. I’m guessing he hasn’t watched many of the games or he’d know DJI is responsible for a number of those sacks he seems to place on the OL.

I can't argue that Irons will hold on to the ball too long at times, and when he does the sack's on him. But how many times when he goes down was there no TE or RB in the flat to take a dump off pass? It seems all too often that he's without a safety valve. 

[LoyalZIP]

34 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

These writers for the hustlebelt write these previews and articles more as a hobby. I doubt they make any money off the site. They probably do watch a couple MAC games a week, but given how bad Akron is they probably only tune in for the games their teams face Akron. The majority of these previews are them just looking through stats and boxscores and then adding in whatever anecdotal opinions based off the few highlights they've seen. 

 

Edit: And that's not meant as a knock to the writers. They're certainly trying to step in and fill a gap since the national and local media outlets don't give MAC schools much attention. I'm more so just pointing out these writers have other jobs so it's not like you're going to get the best stuff from them.

I believe the editor-in-chief and perhaps another manager get something like $50 a month to write for them. There’s good ones and not so good ones. HB in particular was really really good back when midweek MACtion was at its peak about 7-8 years ago. It’s fallen off quite a bit, but I still give them clicks to show my appreciation for trying to grow coverage of the league a bit. I remember the Akron coverage during the Bowden years being pretty good, not much since then. 
 

SB Nation shut down a bunch of blogs recently as well, due to lack of engagement. HB survived, many others did not. 

[catdaddyp]

1 hour ago, kreed5120 said:

These writers for the hustlebelt write these previews and articles more as a hobby. I doubt they make any money off the site. They probably do watch a couple MAC games a week, but given how bad Akron is they probably only tune in for the games their teams face Akron. The majority of these previews are them just looking through stats and boxscores and then adding in whatever anecdotal opinions based off the few highlights they've seen. 

 

Edit: And that's not meant as a knock to the writers. They're certainly trying to step in and fill a gap since the national and local media outlets don't give MAC schools much attention. I'm more so just pointing out these writers have other jobs so it's not like you're going to get the best stuff from them.

I know all too well. I used to write for SBNation, but I watched the teams I was writing about. After about 3 months I was given an offer by Rivals. 
 

Now I’m covering just one school while also trying to expand coverage for Akron/MAC. It’s an uphill battle because it’s all about money and subscribers. 
 

It scratches my coaching itch which my wife keeps trying to push me back into. She’ll eventually win and I’ll have to give up the writing gig.

Edited October 27, 2022 by catdaddyp

[catdaddyp]

1 hour ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

I can't argue that Irons will hold on to the ball too long at times, and when he does the sack's on him. But how many times when he goes down was there no TE or RB in the flat to take a dump off pass? It seems all too often that he's without a safety valve. 

DJI sometimes gets happy feet and caught in a state of indecision. Like he’s unsure if he should tuck and run or try to keep the play alive. When he’s able to stand and read in a clean pocket, he’s excellent. When the pressure comes and forces him to make an alternate decision he gets into trouble. 
 

Not knocking Irons as he plays the most mentally tough position in football, but I expect to see continued improvement as the year closes out and another step forward in the offseason.

[bigjim]

I am changing my tune from past posts and I believe that the Zips will beat Miami-Oh this Saturday.  After studying the teams, I think that the WR's and TE's for Akron will be the key to the game and make Irons look good again.  I believe Akron's offense will overcome Miami's Defense and Miami will not have enough offense to overcome Akron.  Changing my comments and plan on attending again this Saturday.  Looking forward to another tail gate.  I cannot stay away from my beloved alma mater.

Go Zips!!!

[Zipmeister]

Zips by 14

[LoyalZIP]

For Halloween, I am once again going as a Zips fan. Is there anything scarier than being an Akron fan and season ticket holder since Infocision Stadium was built? Maybe the Zips exorcise some demons tomorrow? Perhaps they put the final stake in the heart of Chuck Martin at Miami?

 

The forecast looks perfect for the 3rd and final Saturday home game for the Zips in 2022. I'm kind of out of things to talk about in regards to the game itself, so I'll make some small talk about the weather. Looking at the last decade or so, it's kind of funny to me that since Arth was hired, I would say that we have had nearly perfect football weather for just about every home game. Before that, we had a couple crummy weather games in 2018. When the Zips went 5-1 at home in 2017, they had nice weather for the most part outside of a rainy 11:30am kick against Buffalo. However, we had OU and Kent on midweek nights, which is a shame. In 2015 when the Zips had their highest win total in ages and the bowl win, there was a torrential downpour for the Pitt game, a rainy ugly day for Savannah State, another gross bad weather home game for OU, rain in the forecast for CMU, ugly rainy day for the blowout win over Buffalo, and more rain for the butt-kicking of Kent.

 

Since then, pretty much perfect football weather just about every week, including some of the midweek games, and we've been treated to some of the worst football in the program's history. Being a Zips fan is so tough for so many reasons.

 

Screw Miami.

[LZIp]

I have 2 GA tickets for this game I can’t use if anyone wants them, message me.

[roopride]

GO ZIPS!