Game 1 Temple

[Section210Zip]

https://www.inquirer.com/college-sports/temple/temple-football-stan-drayton-staff-offense-ej-warner-20230814.html

 

Sounds like they are going to be young at WR.

 

The stats from last year between us and them are almost a mirror image but in today's football that means nothing. Atleast from what you can get from that aticle, they didn't make any major gains to their roster. 

[catdaddyp]

Here’s the link for the preview of the 2023 schedule that I started a while back. I still need to complete Morgan State, UK, and Indiana, but it has returning players, additions, etc listed. 

[Zipmeister]

Temple's Akron connection........

 

https://owlsports.com/sports/football/roster/darvon-hubbard/16333

[GoZips86]

Would be nice to start the season off 1-0. And not with a crappy first week win like last season, BUT a "kick them in their teeth" type of week 1 win! Let's go!!!

[GP1]

Week 1 of college football is different than any other week because of the unknown. For many teams, disaster unfolds in the form of turnovers, miscommunication leading to defenses giving up big plays and general folly. Mental preparation is the key and would be surprised if Temple was better prepared mentally than Akron, but you never know what Week 1 brings. 

[Let'sGoZips94]

20 hours ago, Section210Zip said:

https://www.inquirer.com/college-sports/temple/temple-football-stan-drayton-staff-offense-ej-warner-20230814.html

 

This made me chuckle.

 

Graduate student Edward Saydee, who led the Owls with 639 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 149 attempts last season, has “skyrocketed” on the field, Foreman said.

 

This is like the aliens conversation. I used to believe that aliens exist and could be among us. Then the government told me they are real. 

 

Temple fans probably heard Saydee looked good. Then this Foreman fellow used the word "skyrocketed", oversold his performance, and now Temple fans are questioning how will he's actually doing it if their run defense sucks. 

[mh55]

Temple fan checking in. We are looking to start the new season off right. Current coach, Stan Drayton, is fixing the wreckage left behind by former MAC NIU HC Rod Carey.

 Lots of newcomers and a few key players return, particularly on Defense. Our QB, EJ Warner, Son of a Kurt, had a very promising freshman campaign, stepping into the starter’s role as a true frosh.

 

I visited 2 times during our MAC days.  Lucky enough to see 2 Temple wins, a great 4th quarter comeback in the Rubber Bowl and one of the 1st games in your new stadium. I recall someone had sadly committed suicide in the stadium the night before the game.

 

last time I looked, Temple was 9 pt favs. I tend to gamble. I don’t like tgat number from our perspective. Week 1 often favors underdogs and it seems like the Zips hung close w teams each game.

 
I will gladly take any intel. Family has to eat….

 

 

[catdaddyp]

22 hours ago, mh55 said:

Temple fan checking in. We are looking to start the new season off right. Current coach, Stan Drayton, is fixing the wreckage left behind by former MAC NIU HC Rod Carey.

 Lots of newcomers and a few key players return, particularly on Defense. Our QB, EJ Warner, Son of a Kurt, had a very promising freshman campaign, stepping into the starter’s role as a true frosh.

 

I visited 2 times during our MAC days.  Lucky enough to see 2 Temple wins, a great 4th quarter comeback in the Rubber Bowl and one of the 1st games in your new stadium. I recall someone had sadly committed suicide in the stadium the night before the game.

 

last time I looked, Temple was 9 pt favs. I tend to gamble. I don’t like tgat number from our perspective. Week 1 often favors underdogs and it seems like the Zips hung close w teams each game.

 
I will gladly take any intel. Family has to eat….

 

 

Depending on who you talk to will get you wildly different views on this year’s team. I’m very bullish on Akron and think the team will take a major leap in the win column. Similar to Temple, Akron was playing their best football towards the end of last year. Even with a roster that wasn’t quite up to par with most opponents, Zips lost 5 conference games by a score (7, 6, 6, 3, 1). The major flaws were lack of pass rush (dead last in MAC play with 13 sacks), giving up sacks (last again with 36), run game (averaged less than 100 yards per game on the season) and inconsistent CB play. On the bright side, Zips led the conference in passing yards per game on offense and improved the run defense by 140 yards per game vs the previous season.

 

Zips collected the #1 Comprehensive recruiting class in the MAC (according to Rivals) during the offseason and kept significant losses to a minimum. Outside of graduation, key losses were LB Bubba Arslanian, DT Ravontae Holt, and LT Ka’Marii Landers. The offense should be more explosive in the run game with the additions of former 5 star RB Lorenzo Lingard and Arizona transfer RB Drake Anderson, while the passing game that averaged almost 300 yards per game in conference should be just as effective. The offensive line may not be elite, but should be improved. There will be a noticeable difference in athleticism along the OL.

 

Defensively, Zips will field a strong group of safeties and CB play will be much improved if the spring game was any indication. There is a chance all five starters in the secondary will be former P5 players. The linebacker corps is fairly young and/or inexperienced, albeit talented and physical. The DL is where most questions still remain. There was an overhaul of players this offseason, which was probably needed. Five JUCOs and three transfers were added. Another situation where the athleticism (and also length) has been improved. However, who starts there or even plays the most snaps is anyone’s guess at this point.

 

The biggest difference between this season and last is the amount of talent throughout the roster. I would pit Akron’s depth against any other team in the MAC at this point. That may sound crazy in year 2 of Moorhead’s tenure, but the portal has opened up another avenue of flipping roster talent that wasn’t available just a few years ago. Also, a mark of a strong coaching staff is the development of players and improved performance throughout the season - something we saw from the Zips last year. To close out the season, Akron held the top rushing team in the MAC (NIU) to 89 yards rushing and followed that up by limiting Buffalo to 27 yards rushing. 
 

Most casual observers seem to have issues getting past the name on the jersey and think this will be the same ole Akron. Of course, those same observers don’t follow recruiting so that’s not a surprise. Like you mentioned, week 1 can be fluky sometimes. It’ll be interesting to see how this one plays out. I suspect both teams will be improved by the end of the season and it’s unlikely a loss by either side will be much of setback.

 

On a side note, Joe Moorhead’s Fordham teams went from 6 wins in his first year to 12 in his second year. That’s FCS ball and may not directly correlate to MAC play, but does go to show Moorhead knows what it takes to drastically change the direction of a program.

 

Looking forward to this game and hope both teams avoid any major injuries and also give the staffs significant insight that will help with the rest of the season.

Edited August 19, 2023 by catdaddyp

[Blue & Gold]

Once again, @catdaddyp drops more information in an off-the-top-of-the-head post than the Akron Beacon Journal provides in a lifetime.

[ZippyRulz]

On 8/18/2023 at 9:53 AM, mh55 said:

last time I looked, Temple was 9 pt favs. I tend to gamble.

 

10.5. Over/Under is 54.5. I'd maybe be a little tempted by the over. Anyway, thanks for checking in. I see you checked in a few times for previous games over a decade ago - tempus fugit !

 

 

 

 

[LoyalZIP]

Phenomenal @catdaddyp

 

I can be guilty of homerism myself, especially at this point in the college football year, but I agree with everything said. I was also skeptical of the wins coming immediately last year, but knew of the guaranteed improvement across the board. It finally became evident in week 4 throughout the end of the year. 
 

As for this year, none of it is homerism. It’s legitimate empirical data to back up the prediction that this team will be much improved in the win column. I’m not sure how much it will be as I’m sure there will be plenty of struggles, but this is the best roster and outlook we have had in 5+ years.

 

As with most Akron football fans, I went into the 2018 season with expectations similar to what I have now. That turned out to be foolish after such a fluky run to the title game in 2017. The 2022 Zips didn’t win the East, but they gave me far more confidence going into next season than the 2017 team did. This is now a Division 1 roster that is getting better every single day. Cannot wait for Temple. 
 

Akron football and expectations are scary. It feels good to be in this position again. 

[Zipmeister]

On 8/18/2023 at 9:53 AM, mh55 said:

Temple fan checking in. We are looking to start the new season off right. Current coach, Stan Drayton, is fixing the wreckage left behind by former MAC NIU HC Rod Carey.

 Lots of newcomers and a few key players return, particularly on Defense. Our QB, EJ Warner, Son of a Kurt, had a very promising freshman campaign, stepping into the starter’s role as a true frosh.

 

I visited 2 times during our MAC days.  Lucky enough to see 2 Temple wins, a great 4th quarter comeback in the Rubber Bowl and one of the 1st games in your new stadium. I recall someone had sadly committed suicide in the stadium the night before the game.

 

last time I looked, Temple was 9 pt favs. I tend to gamble. I don’t like tgat number from our perspective. Week 1 often favors underdogs and it seems like the Zips hung close w teams each game.

 
I will gladly take any intel. Family has to eat….

 

 

 

55,

I hope you are still checking in here, and for your sake I hope that you saw through the wildly optimistic comments two of Zipsnation's members made in response to your post. The rational Nation members all recognize that the Temple football squad is head and shoulders above our team and are bracing themselves for the pasting the Owls are sure to put on them Sept. 2. I just beg of you to forgive our members who may have been just a tad overly optimistic about the Zips, and to do whatever you can to convince your team not to punish ours too badly.

 

[94zipgrad]

2 hours ago, LoyalZIP said:

Phenomenal @catdaddyp

 

I can be guilty of homerism myself, especially at this point in the college football year, but I agree with everything said. I was also skeptical of the wins coming immediately last year, but knew of the guaranteed improvement across the board. It finally became evident in week 4 throughout the end of the year. 
 

As for this year, none of it is homerism. It’s legitimate empirical data to back up the prediction that this team will be much improved in the win column. I’m not sure how much it will be as I’m sure there will be plenty of struggles, but this is the best roster and outlook we have had in 5+ years.

 

As with most Akron football fans, I went into the 2018 season with expectations similar to what I have now. That turned out to be foolish after such a fluky run to the title game in 2017. The 2022 Zips didn’t win the East, but they gave me far more confidence going into next season than the 2017 team did. This is now a Division 1 roster that is getting better every single day. Cannot wait for Temple. 
 

Akron football and expectations are scary. It feels good to be in this position again. 

2018 team started out strong with a victory over Northwestern (eventual Big Ten West Champ) but we had some injuries & Kato just never progressed, got a little chubby & lost a step, Bowden never put enough depth together, I think Moorhead has definitely filled out the roster plus a better coach so I am definitely kinda giddy about the possibilities 

GO ZIPS 🦘 🏈 

[Zipmeister]

                      

                       5

[catdaddyp]

Another take on Temple. Might be worth a background listen or if you’ve got nothing else to do.

[Zipmeister]

 

                            4

[Let'sGoZips94]

2 hours ago, Zipmeister said:

 

                            4

 

Are we counting down to college football?

[Zipmeister]

19 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Are we counting down to college football?

 

Nope. Count down to Zips football.

ZipsNation apparently cannot afford one of those countdown programs, so I'm doing my part to build the anticipation.

 

 

 

                            3

[Let'sGoZips94]

6 minutes ago, Zipmeister said:

 

Nope. Count down to Zips football.

ZipsNation apparently cannot afford one of those countdown programs, so I'm doing my part to build the anticipation.

 

 

 

                            3

 

Zips don't play until Sept. 2nd.

[roopride]

Anybody have info on tickets or tailgating for the game?  A couple of us are going over.

[Zipmeister]

2 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Zips don't play until Sept. 2nd.

 

OK, it's the count down to a BIG announcement about Zips football (but don't tell anyone else).

[blueandgold]

48 minutes ago, Zipmeister said:

 

OK, it's the count down to a BIG announcement about Zips football (but don't tell anyone else).

As long as it's something good. If not, we don't want to hear it!

[Captain Kangaroo]

Owls Who Give a Hoot About the Zips Game

[johnnyzip84]

8 hours ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

Owls Who Give a Hoot About the Zips Game

Somehow, they have a few posters who seem to think the Owls have never lost to the Zips. The reality is just a bit different,  with Temple ahead 15 to 7 all time.

[Section210Zip]

13 hours ago, johnnyzip84 said:

Somehow, they have a few posters who seem to think the Owls have never lost to the Zips. The reality is just a bit different,  with Temple ahead 15 to 7 all time.

In the 90's we won 5 of 6 meetings.