Game 2 - Morgan State

[LoyalZIP]

The MAC is BAD. 

[GoZips86]

So glad they won! But this team still has many issues. Goodness. Tonight was a large dose of luck. 

[dirtyolcrowe]

43 minutes ago, mrelegazna said:

Yep.  People are going to call this an overreaction but: fire Joe Moorhead now.  By doing it now we hopefully have a head start on 2024 not being a lost season.

Add Nick saban too!!

[LZIp]

51 minutes ago, mrelegazna said:

Yep.  People are going to call this an overreaction but: fire Joe Moorhead now.  By doing it now we hopefully have a head start on 2024 not being a lost season.

Yeah its an overreaction. Even though the QB position is a disappointment right now and Moorhead deserves blame for that, have to play the long term game and we have a handful of prospects now and in the future that can get it fixed.

[ewbrooman1]

49 minutes ago, mrelegazna said:

Yep.  People are going to call this an overreaction but: fire Joe Moorhead now.  By doing it now we hopefully have a head start on 2024 not being a lost season.

Nah, I'm a far cry from that. Just really disappointed he doesn't seem to have made much of an impact yet.

[MDZip]

24 points - 14 scored directly by the defense, three effectively scored by special teams. So the offense generated 7 points in the entire game. 

[ZippyRulz]

1 hour ago, 1981 grad said:

We were due to have a team give us a game intead of us giving them the game.  Great play by the defense to cause that fumble.  Joe Pesarchic type play.  Never thought I would see that again.  Trying to figure out which Undercuffler interception was the worse.  Tough Call.

 

You could see the first one coming. ~8 sideline passes in a row... someone's going to jump it eventually. Also the last one - losing team needing a score in desperation time... interceptions very common.

 

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by ZippyRulz

[ZippyRulz]

1 hour ago, MDZip said:

Bryan McCoy - 14 tackles and a game winning TD. I have my vote for player of the game. 

 

Nunnally was very good too.

 

[ZippyRulz]

2 hours ago, tomzip said:

Sitting here in near empty info stadium, having to listen to blaring music and crappy football. Terrible experience and no wonder people don't show up. 

 

they need to tone down the blaring for sure...

 

[ZippyRulz]

2 hours ago, NWAkron said:

Never a doubt.

 

Good thing we didn't sleep on them; we might have lost.

 

[Let'sGoZips94]

The Touchdown Tire was featured by Acho during halftime of the Cal/Auburn game. 

[Blue & Gold]

5 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

The Touchdown Tire was featured by Acho during halftime of the Cal/Auburn game. 

 

I appears we have both a Turnover Tire and a Touchdown Tire, and since Devonte had a pick 6 he gets both!! 🤣🤣

[Blue & Gold]

"Moorhead said the Zips need to get the quarterback position, 'solidified.'"

 

[GoZips86]

For someone who went, how was the attendance looking at kickoff? 

[Blue & Gold]

19 minutes ago, GoZips86 said:

For someone who went, how was the attendance looking at kickoff? 

~8,000. I'm not good at guessing numbers, but the ABJ article said there were 8,213... but of course those would be tickets sold, not necessarily butts in the seats.

[Blue & Gold]

 

[GP1]

In 2017 I watched Wake Forest, with future LA Rams back up John Wolford,eek out a one point win at App State. They played terrible and deserved to lose. They had to block a couple of field goals, with the second one being the last play of the game. After that, they settled into a solid season and beat Texas A & M something like 55-52 in regular time in the Belk Bowl. It propelled the program forward. 

 

If there are terrible wins, the Zips got one yesterday. They need to take it and move on. The talent is there to be successful in the MAC.  They just need to play better and get the program moving forward. Everything they probably want to accomplish is still in front of them for the taking. 

[LZIp]

15 minutes ago, GP1 said:

In 2017 I watched Wake Forest, with future LA Rams back up John Wolford,eek out a one point win at App State. They played terrible and deserved to lose. They had to block a couple of field goals, with the second one being the last play of the game. After that, they settled into a solid season and beat Texas A & M something like 55-52 in regular time in the Belk Bowl. It propelled the program forward. 

 

If there are terrible wins, the Zips got one yesterday. They need to take it and move on. The talent is there to be successful in the MAC.  They just need to play better and get the program moving forward. Everything they probably want to accomplish is still in front of them for the taking. 

Well said. Would much rather be dissatisfied after a win rather than a loss. Defense is much improved and biggest issue on offense is QB. Undercuffler and Irons issues are different. Irons getting back to form would be good enough to have a solid season, but if not we do have a handful of options (at least on paper). Whether they are ready to step up and run the offense is another story.

Edited September 10, 2023 by LZIp

[Let'sGoZips94]

Morning after thoughts...

 

- How the hell did we win that game? Snatching victory from the jaws of Defeat.

 

- One of my earlier posts requested that we simply not be one of the teams that loses to a FCS squad. We accomplished that (somehow). CMU needed a game-winning FG to beat New Hampshire. Northern Illinois lost to Southern Illinois. Buffalo lost to Fordham. Boston College needed a miracle late turnover to hold on against Holy Cross. Idaho WHOOPED Nevada. Hawaii needed a comeback win against Albany. I believe the Transfer Portal will even out the FBS talent wise for a more competitive platform, and there's no reason that wouldn't apply to the FCS as more talent is blocked from FBS rosters. 

 

- Our defense is the real deal. They'll keep us in most games this season (barring injury). It was great to see us possess the ability to create turnovers and get pressure on the QB. 

 

That's about where the positives end. 

 

- We don't have a QB at the moment. DJI doesn't have the decision making ability, and Undercuffler doesn't have the physical traits. When he came in, the decision making was 1000% better. Problem is, once the defense  got used to the better decision making, they realized the only decisions being made were sideline throws. We wasted a golden opportunity against a lesser opponent to figure out our QB situation and fix our offensive woes. 

 

- If Fessler is the one calling plays, Joe needs to take that control back. The play calls aren't Milwee-level-bad, but it's not great. The WRs aren't running playmaking routes and stuff is taking too long to develop. 

 

 

Kentucky looks beatable. It's a shame we seemingly don't have a QB that can do it. 

[GP1]

5 minutes ago, LZIp said:

Well said. Would much rather be dissatisfied after a win rather than a loss. Defense is much improved and biggest issue on offense is QB. Undercuffler and Irons issues are different. Irons getting back to form would be good enough to have a solid season, but if not we do have a handful of options (at least on paper). Whether they are ready to step up and run the offense is another story.

I didn't see much of the game because I was at a wedding, but what I would like to see out of the Zips QBs moving forward is to be less pensive with their throws. I don't know if it's confidence or whatever, but they need to let the ball fly. They a D1 college quarterbacks and I'm sure have plenty of arm strength or they wouldn't be there in the first place. Use that arm strength. 

[Lee Adams]

At the game and this is some of what I observed. First, the defense considering the level of competition so far has been MUCH improved over last season. I'll leave that there.

As for the offense not much progress. The coaches wasted almost an entire first half with Irons at QB. And, they didn't give him much help with the play calling. But, thats another issue. Undercuffler comes in, the tempo changes and the offense moves. He was throwing the ball on time and accurately.(get to the INTS in a minute). The coaches still didn't want to run the ball. Why? They were using the tight end some, hurray. The O-line is slowly improving, but again, play calling not helping them much. The 3 INTS from Undercuffler were really bad! Threw into coverage and didn't have to. When they were going in for the TD in the 4th Q, he had open receiver just short of the goal line. But, again, they were moving the ball.

The coaches have to commit more to using some good RB's and have to let Undercuffler play.

[a-zip]

11 hours ago, akzipper said:

"I don't get why it's so difficult for the Zips to have even a mediocre QB."

What does that mean?

[Kangaroo Craig]

11 hours ago, mrelegazna said:

Yep.  People are going to call this an overreaction but: fire Joe Moorhead now.  By doing it now we hopefully have a head start on 2024 not being a lost season.

No coach can fix this overnight. It’s going to take 3-5 years of roster turnover and coaching. QB play has been terrible, but the OL, although improved over 2022, still sucks. How many yards rushing did we have last night? How many times was our QB pressured or sacked?  Maybe Joe will move some guys around to try to get a better combination, but you can’t fix it over night. There are some good young players and some transfers to build on, but OL play still isn’t up to FBS standards. Defense is much improved and that is a big positive!

[Zip JD]

15 hours ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

The guy just announced “Back to punt for Morgan State” as they line up to go for it on 4th and 1!? Is he even in the building?

Of all games for the sound system to work.  Worst first game as an announcer ever.  The color guy from Major League would be an upgrade.  Lastly, get the guy a spotter.  He called out the wrong player and/or jersey number 40 times?

[zipsoutsider]

3 minutes ago, Kangaroo Craig said:

No coach can fix this overnight. It’s going to take 3-5 years of roster turnover and coaching. QB play has been terrible, but the OL, although improved over 2022, still sucks. How many yards rushing did we have last night? How many times was our QB pressured or sacked?  Maybe Joe will move some guys around to try to get a better combination, but you can’t fix it over night. There are some good young players and some transfers to build on, but OL play still isn’t up to FBS standards. Defense is much improved and that is a big positive!

And this is why I had the Zips at 3 wins.

 

It's tough to go out and get the right QB when you have a recent history like Akron or any other struggling G5 school. 

 

You will have a guy like Sanders at Colorado woth the name to flip a team in a year, but those guys are hard to find and the exception and you usually can't get them at what a G5 school can pay them and their staff.