Game 12 (11) Thoughts

[catdaddyp]

Offense:

- JU was solid, but not great. There are certain throws he makes well and others where he is inconsistent. The biggest positive was he looked confident and in charge of the offense.

- Our OL had their way from the 2nd quarter on. Not counting garbage time, there was a rotation of Landers and Chambers at LT. Robarge and Kilbane at LG. Georges, Whigan, Williams played nearly every snap at C, RG, and RT respectively.

- What a game by Alex Adams. He is looking explosive.

- Wiley and Price made some nice runs.

- Excited about Kellom’s potential. He has some shiftiness to him with a nice burst.

 

Defense:

- We went with a heavier set the majority of the game and Lewis did not play as much because of it.

- Same issues are still there in pass defense, but NIU had some of the worst QB play I’ve seen all year. With that being said, our secondary played physically.

- Terry had a whale of a game. NIU had a hard time blocking him.

- Thompson also had a strong game.

- Defensive line won their fair share of matchups, but pass rush is still inconsistent.

 

 

We were hands down the better team and in every phase. I expect this team will be ready for Buffalo and put it all on the line to close out the year. Good to see everyone having fun today.

 

[LoyalZIP]

This week's advanced box score: https://collegefootballdata.com/boxscore/401416652 DOMINATION!

 

The guys one the sideline and in the booth all really deserved that. I wasn't surprised to see them win, like Joe said, but I was surprised to see them take over that game and dominate. The key to this? Limiting mistakes in the margins. Punt return game was still ugly at times. They didn't play a perfect game overall, but were pretty close. When JU threw the early pick to go along with a bad first drive, it felt like deja vu. But the defense kept them in it, as they should have against that QB, and the offense shook off the rust and made some plays. That was very cool to see.

 

I'm definitely not sold on JU as QB1 heading into next year. Not even close as a matter of fact. He was just fine yesterday and obviously put up good numbers and won the game. But he was bailed out by some great plays made by the receivers, and just didn't impress me with his arm. With that said, performances like this give me a lot more faith in the QB depth as a whole. He redeemed himself and is not Alex Ramart, thank heavens!

 

If only this could've been a home game, the Zip die hards deserved to see this in person! Funny enough, Akron's 3 MAC wins since the start of 2019 have come by an average of 25 points, with the only home win coming in an empty COVID stadium. Maybe next year we'll get to see the Zips dominate a team in person. This was the first win for the program in Dekalb since 1996! And the first win over NIU since some game in December of 2005, anyone know anything about that game?? 😂

 

I said this after the Miami game this year, which felt all too Arthy to all of us:

 

Quote

We can still play spoiler a little bit here, and perhaps pick up a historic for the program win at NIU to close out the year. 

 

While not closing out the year with the historic win, we still picked it up. AND we can play spoiler at Buffalo next week! I can't say enough how much more enjoyable this season has been to watch as compared to the last 5 years or so. This team plays as hard as anyone in the country, and they were rewarded with a dominating win over the best MAC program of the last 15 years. Whether they're down or not, that was a meaningful win over the 2021 MAC champs, and it was a game that Akron should have won, and they did. 

 

This moves Akron's point differential in MAC play to -29. That is an average of -4.14 points per game. The 2017 MAC East title team's average point differential was +2.13, just a 6 point difference going into the final game. If you include the MAC title game, a 17-point loss that was at one point 38-0, the point differential was exactly 0.

 

It hasn't really shown in the win/loss column, but this team is further along than you think, while still having a significant talent and depth gap with most of the league. How sweet would a win at Buffalo be? The Zips haven't done that since 2005 either. GO ZIPS!!!!

[Let'sGoZips94]

24 minutes ago, LoyalZIP said:

This week's advanced box score: https://collegefootballdata.com/boxscore/401416652 DOMINATION!

 

The guys one the sideline and in the booth all really deserved that. I wasn't surprised to see them win, like Joe said, but I was surprised to see them take over that game and dominate. The key to this? Limiting mistakes in the margins. Punt return game was still ugly at times. They didn't play a perfect game overall, but were pretty close. When JU threw the early pick to go along with a bad first drive, it felt like deja vu. But the defense kept them in it, as they should have against that QB, and the offense shook off the rust and made some plays. That was very cool to see.

 

I'm definitely not sold on JU as QB1 heading into next year. Not even close as a matter of fact. He was just fine yesterday and obviously put up good numbers and won the game. But he was bailed out by some great plays made by the receivers, and just didn't impress me with his arm. With that said, performances like this give me a lot more faith in the QB depth as a whole. He redeemed himself and is not Alex Ramart, thank heavens!

 

If only this could've been a home game, the Zip die hards deserved to see this in person! Funny enough, Akron's 3 MAC wins since the start of 2019 have come by an average of 25 points, with the only home win coming in an empty COVID stadium. Maybe next year we'll get to see the Zips dominate a team in person. This was the first win for the program in Dekalb since 1996! And the first win over NIU since some game in December of 2005, anyone know anything about that game?? 😂

 

I said this after the Miami game this year, which felt all too Arthy to all of us:

 

 

While not closing out the year with the historic win, we still picked it up. AND we can play spoiler at Buffalo next week! I can't say enough how much more enjoyable this season has been to watch as compared to the last 5 years or so. This team plays as hard as anyone in the country, and they were rewarded with a dominating win over the best MAC program of the last 15 years. Whether they're down or not, that was a meaningful win over the 2021 MAC champs, and it was a game that Akron should have won, and they did. 

 

This moves Akron's point differential in MAC play to -29. That is an average of -4.14 points per game. The 2017 MAC East title team's average point differential was +2.13, just a 6 point difference going into the final game. If you include the MAC title game, a 17-point loss that was at one point 38-0, the point differential was exactly 0.

 

It hasn't really shown in the win/loss column, but this team is further along than you think, while still having a significant talent and depth gap with most of the league. How sweet would a win at Buffalo be? The Zips haven't done that since 2005 either. GO ZIPS!!!!

 

Tremendous analysis and write up.

 

The improvement this year is quite obvious once you look beyond the Win & Loss columns. Our ability to compete and be in just about every game is pretty remarkable. JoeMo is as transparent and straightforward a coach I've ever seen, and I think we should've taken his words a bit more seriously about the DI talent deficit on our roster when he took over. I'll admit I thought he was trying to temper expectations before easily exceeding them. Turns out, he was just telling everyone how it was - we weren't even a DI program under Arth.

 

The first sign of being just a few players away was the Liberty game. We should've won that game, but lacked the extra few pieces to put us over the top. Liberty finished the season 8-4, and their coach is probably going to be on his way to Auburn. 

 

Looking at the MAC portion, every single loss outside of OU and Miami was by 1 full score or less. That's it. 

 

This team has completed all year. They are fully bought into JoeMo and his staff, evident by their effort, especially yesterday in a meaningless game. We are so much closer than the average football fan realizes, and I'm stoked for next year. However, we're not finished with this year.

 

Keep Canada from Bowling. 

[Blue & Gold]

 

[Blue & Gold]

 

[catdaddyp]

2 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Tremendous analysis and write up.

 

The improvement this year is quite obvious once you look beyond the Win & Loss columns. Our ability to compete and be in just about every game is pretty remarkable. JoeMo is as transparent and straightforward a coach I've ever seen, and I think we should've taken his words a bit more seriously about the DI talent deficit on our roster when he took over. I'll admit I thought he was trying to temper expectations before easily exceeding them. Turns out, he was just telling everyone how it was - we weren't even a DI program under Arth.

 

The first sign of being just a few players away was the Liberty game. We should've won that game, but lacked the extra few pieces to put us over the top. Liberty finished the season 8-4, and their coach is probably going to be on his way to Auburn. 

 

Looking at the MAC portion, every single loss outside of OU and Miami was by 1 full score or less. That's it. 

 

This team has completed all year. They are fully bought into JoeMo and his staff, evident by their effort, especially yesterday in a meaningless game. We are so much closer than the average football fan realizes, and I'm stoked for next year. However, we're not finished with this year.

 

Keep Canada from Bowling. 

I agree, I really don’t think we are far away. The team is what it is this year and the staff has done a great job getting the most out of the current players. I suspect next year the defense will look similar to what we saw yesterday. I think the staff wants to play a lot of man in the secondary and stack the box to stop the run. We just weren’t able to do enough of that this year without getting burned for big plays on the back end. It’s clear the biggest needs and targets are at CB and OL. Once those positions are addressed, this program should take a massive leap. Barring massive injuries, I expect us to be one of the best teams in the MAC next year. 
 

One thing I didn’t mention in the original post is how much more physical we were than NIU. Imagine what the defense will look like in a year or two when every position is playing at that level.
 

Beating Buffalo won’t be easy, but it would be huge for recruiting and perception of the program. 

Edited November 27, 2022 by catdaddyp

[GP1]

1 hour ago, catdaddyp said:

 

 

Beating Buffalo won’t be easy, but it would be huge for recruiting and perception of the program. 

Another one win season would have been a disaster for recruiting. 3 wins looks like there is a pulse. They need to win this weekend. 

[catdaddyp]

2 minutes ago, GP1 said:

Another one win season would have been a disaster for recruiting. 3 wins looks like there is a pulse. They need to win this weekend. 

I didnt get the impression any of the current commitments would have jumped ship even if we did only win one. It’s clear progress was being made despite the win/loss record. However, I think closing the year out with consecutive wins could help us with any guys who are on the fence or even some of the most recent offers.

[Blue & Gold]

 

[Let'sGoZips94]

53 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said:

 

 

"Scum... slime... menace to the golfing industry." - Carl Spackler

 

Always Fear the Roo.