Week 9 (Kent) Thoughts

[catdaddyp]

That was the version of JU I thought we would see this season. Limited in some of the throws he can make, but serviceable enough to get the job done. It was nice to see what the offense could have been this year, especially during the 4th quarter. I’m not sure when the last time was that we had a 100 yard rusher, two 100 yard receivers, and no turnovers.

 

The inability to gain a yard running the ball during the series in the 3rd quarter could have been devastating. The 4th down run checked into the blitz was mind boggling.

 

Gotta give credit to the staff for continuing to go back to Lingard. The more chances he receives, the more likely he is to break one. He had his most touches all season with 22 rushing attempts and 2 receptions. Also have to give credit to the staff for adjusting this week and playing the majority of the game out of 12 personnel (2 TEs). That’s something we haven’t seen much of this year.

 

Kent’s lack of talented depth eventually caught up to them. Our DL dominated the 4th quarter and the OL was finally able to lean in the run game and also give JU more time in pass pro. 

 

The receivers made plays, but Gathings still talks too much. We were fortunate on a few occasions flags weren’t thrown.

 

Terray Jones probably had his best game of the season and the personal foul call (which of course ended up in a score) was weak.

 

Freshman Marcus Moore was also really good. He did not start, but played a starter amount of snaps with 35 total. 

 

Lama Lavea did not play.

 

Nice job by Wiley making the extra points and field goal. For the incessant amount of talk throughout the broadcast (I usually don’t listen) about lack of a kicker, he came up 100%. That’s the best way to stamp out that kind of talk.

 

Tough final 3 games, but who knows, maybe this win turns out to be the spark that lights the fire.

 

QB - Undercuffler (Bullock)

RB - Lingard (D. Anderson) (Kellom)

WR - George (Norton)

WR - Gathings (Anderson)

(WR) - Walker (Golden) (Adams)

TE - Banks 

TE - Newell

LT - Chambers

LG - Frank

C - T. Williams (Georges)

RG - Lyons

RT - N. Williams (Kindred)

 

DE - Nunnally (A. Smith)

DT - T. Jones (Carter)

DT - Robinson (Moore) (Murphy)

DE - Adler (L. Jackson)

LB - Fish (McCoy)

LB - Cooper (McCoy) (Griffin)

NB - Lewis

CB - Tallandier (Golden-Nelson)

CB - Durant (Golden-Nelson)

S - C. Thomas (KJ Martin)

S - N. Thompson (KJ Martin)

Edited November 2, 2023 by catdaddyp

[KangarooJake]

WE'RE NOT THE WORST TEAM IN THE COUNTRY!

[zipsrule]

The play calling was better.  There were some long throws that seemed difficult for JU, but I liked that we ran the ball more.  I also liked the call on our last TD where JU ran it in.  I didn't see that coming and, as we saw, the Kent defense didn't see it coming.

Edited November 2, 2023 by zipsrule

[Let'sGoZips94]

Adams being so low on the depth chart is wild. Gathings is a special talent, just needs to keep his composure more often. Love the fire & passion though. 

 

I don't understand how we look so good offensively in the 1st half of the Temple game & 2nd half of this game, and putrid in every other game. It makes zero sense to me. 

[KangarooJake]

On 11/2/2023 at 8:44 AM, zipsrule said:

The play calling was better.  There some long throws that seemed difficult for JU, but I liked that we ran the ball more.  I also liked the call on our last TD where JU ran it in.  I didn't see that coming and, as we saw, the Kent defense didn't see it coming.

Agreed, it seemed to coaching staff finally came around to doing what worked and not trying to get fancy about it.

 

So guys, how bad are we beating the RedHawks next week? By 20-30?

 

According to ESPN, our winning chances vs MU went up from 5.8% to 6% from last night. Zips are so back

Edited November 3, 2023 by KangarooJake

[GP1]

34 minutes ago, catdaddyp said:

The receivers made plays, but Gathings still talks too much. We were fortunate on a few occasions flags weren’t thrown.

I like when really good players talk trash. He isn't one of them. His behavior is reckless and dumb.  

[GP1]

Akron can be a really good program. The key is they have to play every quarter as well as they played the fourth last night or at least close to that level. If Akron played three good quarters, they would have won 52-10. Really good teams can have one bad quarter, but not three. The Zips need to string some good consecutive quarters together.

[Lee Adams]

3 hours ago, catdaddyp said:

That was the version of JU I thought we would see this season. Limited in some of the throws he can make, but serviceable enough to get the job done. It was nice to see what the offense could have been this year, especially during the 4th quarter. I’m not sure when the last time was that we had a 100 yard rusher, two 100 yard receivers, and no turnovers.

 

The inability to gain a yard running the ball during the series in the 3rd quarter could have been devastating. The 4th down run checked into the blitz was mind boggling.

 

Gotta give credit to the staff for continuing to go back to Lingard. The more chances he receives, the more likely he is to break one. He had his most touches all season with 22 rushing attempts and 2 receptions. Also have to give credit to the staff for adjusting this week and playing the majority of the game out of 12 personnel (2 TEs). That’s something we haven’t seen much of this year.

 

Kent’s lack of talented depth eventually caught up to them. Our DL dominated the 4th quarter and the OL was finally able to lean in the run game and also give JU more time in pass pro. 

 

The receivers made plays, but Gathings still talks too much. We were fortunate on a few occasions flags weren’t thrown.

 

Terray Jones probably had his best game of the season and the personal foul call (which of course ended up in a score) was weak.

 

Freshman Marcus Moore was also really good. He did not start, but played a starter amount of snaps with 35 total. 

 

Lama Lavea did not play.

 

Nice job by Wiley making the extra points and field goal. For the incessant amount of talk throughout the broadcast (I usually don’t listen) about lack of a kicker, he came up 100%. That’s the best way to stamp out that kind of talk.

 

Tough final 3 games, but who knows, maybe this win turns out to be the spark that lights the fire.

 

QB - Undercuffler (Bullock)

RB - Lingard (D. Anderson) (Kellom)

WR - George (Norton)

WR - Gathings (Anderson)

(WR) - Walker (Golden) (Adams)

TE - Banks 

TE - Newell

LT - Chambers

LG - Frank

C - T. Williams (Georges)

RG - Lyons

RT - N. Williams (Kindred)

 

DE - Nunnally (A. Smith)

DT - T. Jones (Carter)

DT - Robinson (Moore) (Murphy)

DE - Adler (L. Jackson)

LB - Fish (McCoy)

LB - Cooper (McCoy) (Griffin)

NB - Lewis

CB - Tallandier (Golden-Nelson)

CB - Durant (Golden-Nelson)

S - C. Thomas (KJ Martin)

S - N. Thompson (KJ Martin)

Now wish I had stayed for the whole thing! Offensively, some things really stuck out. Obviously, Lingard is a helluva tough runner. He got better the later in the game and the more he carried. 20+ times I believe. They actually started to wear down KSU's D. Hope Moorehead remembers. Undercuffler, hopefully had a coming out party. He started throwing the ball with more decisiveness and confidence as the game went on. He was hitting some slants and getting the ball out on the sideline patterns. That and the run game kept the rush off of him and let him see the field. No picks.They actually kinda ran a screen also. Hopefully he can ride that for the next 3 games. Lets let him play it out and see what happens. Confidence! Also helps that his receivers were finally getting some separation in the secondary.

The D came up big when it had to. I still really like Nunnally.

Finally, Moorehead seemed to finally be willing keep going with the run when it was working. That the O stayed on the field and actually score helped the D keep the game somewhat under control.

Three tough games coming. Lets see how much everybody has learned.

[ZippyRulz]

4 hours ago, KangarooJake said:

Agreed, it seemed to coaching staff finally came around to doing what worked and not trying to get fancy about it.

 

So guys, how bad are beating the RedHawks next week? By 20-30?

 

According to ESPN, our winning chances vs MU went up from 5.8% to 6% from last night. Zips are so back

 

It would sure be nice if the offense could continue where they left off and keep it close with a chance to pull off the upset. I'd still expect MU to be favored by 13 or so.

 

 

[catdaddyp]

6 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

Adams being so low on the depth chart is wild. Gathings is a special talent, just needs to keep his composure more often. Love the fire & passion though. 

 

I don't understand how we look so good offensively in the 1st half of the Temple game & 2nd half of this game, and putrid in every other game. It makes zero sense to me. 

I think Adams has been hurt the past few games. Seems like JoeMo said he was playing at about 70%? I recall Adams being visibly frustrated after a play where JU couldn’t get him the ball last night. I’m not sure if Adams was reinserted in the game after that.

 

So much frustration with the offense this year….

[catdaddyp]

3 hours ago, Lee Adams said:

Now wish I had stayed for the whole thing! Offensively, some things really stuck out. Obviously, Lingard is a helluva tough runner. He got better the later in the game and the more he carried. 20+ times I believe. They actually started to wear down KSU's D. Hope Moorehead remembers. Undercuffler, hopefully had a coming out party. He started throwing the ball with more decisiveness and confidence as the game went on. He was hitting some slants and getting the ball out on the sideline patterns. That and the run game kept the rush off of him and let him see the field. No picks.They actually kinda ran a screen also. Hopefully he can ride that for the next 3 games. Lets let him play it out and see what happens. Confidence! Also helps that his receivers were finally getting some separation in the secondary.

The D came up big when it had to. I still really like Nunnally.

Finally, Moorehead seemed to finally be willing keep going with the run when it was working. That the O stayed on the field and actually score helped the D keep the game somewhat under control.

Three tough games coming. Lets see how much everybody has learned.

I’m not holding my breath on it being a coming out party for JU, but I’d take a solid/No turnover performance like that any day of the week from him.

[Chrisball96]

Apart from a very good last drive and some very good offense in the fourth quarter, it was really our defense that stood out to me. They looked pitiful early on in the game handling the option, tackling, and just operating in space in general. Kent's guys were running wide open and all over the place. But in the fourth we were disciplined, tackled well, and got after the QB on the true throwing downs. It was like watching a different team to be honest (at least compared to the first half). 

[clarkwgriswold]

7 hours ago, catdaddyp said:

The receivers made plays, but Gathings still talks too much. We were fortunate on a few occasions flags weren’t thrown.

 

Much of the team talks too much, even in the midst of taking an ass-kicking.   You can talk when you accomplish something.  Until then shut the ____ up and play.  Tallandier was talking all night in the midst of giving up triple digit receiving yards.

 

Both lines improved as the night went on.  Whether they wore down the PCCC lines or just finally started to find their feet, it was apparent in crunch time.

[Blue & Gold]

 

[Section210Zip]

Really don't know how Gathings didn't get flagged over and over. After he baited the Kent player into throwing the ball at him, Gathings went to Joe on the side and said give it to me again. He was motioning that he was in his head. They didn't show it on tv but when he lined up he was waving come get me to the defender and missed the snap of the ball. Undercuffler threw it to his spot but because he was late off the ball he didn't make it there. Also after he scored, the coaches got on him for taunting again. He threw the tire off when they put it on him and started yelling while sitting on the bench. I don't know what got into him but he was on the verge of being a psychotic all game.  

[Ham]

First 8 games, total 4th quarter scoring-28 that includes the last miniute scoop and score in Morgan state game.  That says a lot.  The staff and players had a lot more faith than I.  Before this come back, I could envision anyone with talent, players and staff, entering the portal.  Some of the comments in the post game presser convinced me that this group is commited to turn things around.  Lingard, "I'll be back."  Give him a miniute with our recriutes.

 

Gathings:  Trash talking is part of our culture.  Let's just get him to tone it back a bit.

[Let'sGoZips94]

28 minutes ago, Ham said:

First 8 games, total 4th quarter scoring-28 that includes the last miniute scoop and score in Morgan state game.  That says a lot.  The staff and players had a lot more faith than I.  Before this come back, I could envision anyone with talent, players and staff, entering the portal.  Some of the comments in the post game presser convinced me that this group is commited to turn things around.  Lingard, "I'll be back."  Give him a miniute with our recriutes.

 

Gathings:  Trash talking is part of our culture.  Let's just get him to tone it back a bit.

 

Lingard said he'll be back? As a player? Or back on campus to make sure future RBs are as jacked as him?

[LZIp]

1 hour ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Lingard said he'll be back? As a player? Or back on campus to make sure future RBs are as jacked as him?

Back on campus visiting. He (shockingly) spoke highly of his time here so far and how much he enjoys being on the team. Seems like a very likeable dude.

Edited November 3, 2023 by LZIp

[Chrisball96]

2 hours ago, Section210Zip said:

Really don't know how Gathings didn't get flagged over and over. After he baited the Kent player into throwing the ball at him, Gathings went to Joe on the side and said give it to me again. He was motioning that he was in his head. They didn't show it on tv but when he lined up he was waving come get me to the defender and missed the snap of the ball. Undercuffler threw it to his spot but because he was late off the ball he didn't make it there. Also after he scored, the coaches got on him for taunting again. He threw the tire off when they put it on him and started yelling while sitting on the bench. I don't know what got into him but he was on the verge of being a psychotic all game.  

 

I'm not going to defend a lot of what he did but I certainly understand the well of emotion that it probably stemmed from. This season has been frustrating enough for the fans, I can't imagine what it's like for those players. And the first real win we get is in a rivalry game, so he was probably exorcising some demons out there. At the same time, you can't do some of those things consistently because you're going to get burned, and when our margin for error is so slim, any penalty/mental mistake is instantly magnified. 

[KangarooJake]

On 11/2/2023 at 1:35 PM, ZippyRulz said:

 

It would sure be nice if the offense could continue where they left off and keep it close with a chance to pull off the upset. I'd still expect MU to be favored by 13 or so.

 

 

My guess is MU opens up at -14.5. This game will likely go one of two ways, we either get mopped the floor with and lose to a red hot Miami team something like 45-7, or we keep it close and build momentum and perhaps come out with a 27-20 loss or who knows an upset (Rufus the Bobcat better be wearing Jason Taylor's jersey the next day in gratitude).

 

THIS week will be a great example to see what kind of coaches we have. Do we stick to what worked vs. Kent and keep the players motivated to pull off an upset? Or do we fall back into the pit of despair and look how we did vs NIU and BG? I'm hoping this is something to build on. Unlike last year, we have a few more games left, and I think EMU is very winnable. As I said, Miami is a worldbeater in the MAC right now and Ohio is holding on for dear life to try to get to Detroit. Let's see what Joe can build on.

[GP1]

7 hours ago, KangarooJake said:

THIS week will be a great example to see what kind of coaches we have. Do we stick to what worked vs. Kent and keep the players motivated to pull off an upset?

Or , do they devise a game plan that works against Miami?

[zzx]

On 11/2/2023 at 3:45 PM, catdaddyp said:

I’m not holding my breath on it being a coming out party for JU

 

Undercuffler Named MAC East Offensive Player of The Week

[catdaddyp]

29 minutes ago, zzx said:

 

Undercuffler Named MAC East Offensive Player of The Week

Thanks. Guess I should have phrased that differently. I don’t know if he can consistently duplicate that performance. I hope he proves me wrong. I was in his corner after the spring game, but until Wednesday, he didn’t do much to justify my preseason opinion.

[Let'sGoZips94]

2 hours ago, catdaddyp said:

Thanks. Guess I should have phrased that differently. I don’t know if he can consistently duplicate that performance. I hope he proves me wrong. I was in his corner after the spring game, but until Wednesday, he didn’t do much to justify my preseason opinion.

 

I don't know what tweaks they made in the play calling, but it was pretty incredible seeing WRs behind the defender, and Undercuffler dropped the ball in perfectly numerous times. There was a swagger/confidence that we had not seen since... Buffalo/NIU last year? His arm talent limits quite a few routes, but if they figure out how to tweak the playbook to his strengths, there's no reason he can't replicate what we saw. 

[catdaddyp]

51 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

I don't know what tweaks they made in the play calling, but it was pretty incredible seeing WRs behind the defender, and Undercuffler dropped the ball in perfectly numerous times. There was a swagger/confidence that we had not seen since... Buffalo/NIU last year? His arm talent limits quite a few routes, but if they figure out how to tweak the playbook to his strengths, there's no reason he can't replicate what we saw. 

A lot more max protects and chips for sure, along with heavier emphasis on running the ball. Outside if that, it didn’t seem like we were running a ton different than what has been called, except from different positions and out of different formations. For example, we used TEs on crossers to hold the LBs as opposed to WRs. Loved the same side TE routes as well. Banks and Newell cause some matchup problems. 
 

That was the same type of confidence and decision making JU exhibited in the SG. I’m with you, I hope it continues.

 

Miami will be a much stiffer challenge. If we can keep the run game going and continue to give JU time, who knows? Hopefully, Adams is back to 100% soon as well.