Week 9 vs Buffalo - 12pm EST (TV - CBSSN)

[GP1]

20 minutes ago, catdaddyp said:

4 turnovers was the difference in the game. Not “faster or slower players.” Or maybe the “fast” players from Buffalo just left the stadium in the 4th quarter and it was a whole new group? 

I asked for specific players from the “talent” statement. I’d disagree about the QB, but we don’t share the same opinion. That said, if it is just the QB and RB, then the talent issue isn’t really the issue.
 

Talent is both physical and mental. 

[GP1]

Am I the only person who saw the talent of buffalo easily turn the Zips mistakes into a win?  Is there something I missed?

[GP1]

Am I the only person who saw the more talented Buffalo defensive line destroy the Zips slappy offensive line in critical situations?

[kreed5120]

Turnovers have been a common theme that has plagued this team all season. The ability to deliver accurate passes, make good decisions under duress, and protecting the ball as a carrier are also skill sets. We are clearly less skilled than our opponents in those facets. 

[1981 grad]

Weird day.  Got to the game late and as I am approaching stadium heard them announce Zips touchdown.  It looked like we were dominating on d and moving the ball on offense and then 3 turnovers in 5 minutes on consecutive possessions and a turnover on downs.  Stayed till end of 3rd quarter and finally gave up and left.  Never thought Akron could come back.    As I am walking to my car heard touchdown zips.  Got home and watched the game and thought I missed fantastic finish.  Too good to be true and then saw the muffed punt.  Amazing how Akron finds new ways to give games away each week.  

Edited Sunday at 12:02 AM by 1981 grad

[Lee Adams]

3 hours ago, AkronAlumnus said:

Norton deserves so much better 

So does Simmons.

[Lee Adams]

3 hours ago, GP1 said:

I went to see Max McAnally at the Newberry Opera House last night with Mrs. GP1 the luckiest woman in the world. I made it a point to be near my house to watch the Zips and watched an entire game for the first time in a long time. 

 

First of all, watching first quarter between when the QB threw an arm punt until the end of Q1 was a shocking display of incompetence. The seemingly nonstop turnovers to the coach going for a first down in a bad place was a disastrous display of events rarely seen in college e. I feel almost honored to have seen it. 

 

I've spent the last 18 years watching a low level ACC school struggle weekly to succeed and at times actually succeed. What makes them succeed is a level of talent just god enough to succeed with good coaching. 

 

I didn't realize it until this week after watching an entire game. The Zips are lacking in talent, in an a really bad way. If you want to blame the coach, go ahead. He's been at Akron for 3 years. There should be better talent. The coach is responsible for getting talent. 

 

I could go on for a long time, but pretty drunk. I predicted 3 wins at the beginning of the season. I'll stand by that. This program is in a horrible place. 

Here is what I saw. After the Zips first possesion when they ran some and Finley made some nice throws I thought maybe they built on something from last week. Imposible hermano! After the 2 fumbles game over. Rest of Zips points in garbage time. Finley for some reason makes a really bad throw. Blame Moorehead for not sticking with the run and continually putting the QB in bad spots.Got him hurt again later. Other side of that is, as usual the defense is incapable of ever bailing out the offense. More chunk plays through the air and on the ground. Every week. Putting Bullock on the field was useless. He didn't even look like he wanted to be in uniform. Made an awful throw on an 8th grade rollout/squareout that should have been a first down.

Bottom line here is no real progress week over week. Thats coaching. We have been watching this for almost 3 full seasons. Sure, there are a few talented players. Feel bad for them. They wasted their time here.

Didn't think I would be at this point, but unless they can come up with at least 2 more wins, I have seen enough of this regime. If Moorehead is here 2 more seasons, so be it.Afraid that just delays the invitible. 

[GP1]

5 minutes ago, Lee Adams said:

Sure, there are a few talented players. Feel bad for them. They wasted their time here.

I don't feel bad for them in the NIL era. They made their beds. 

 

The first sentence is the most important. I agree, there a a few good players. That's the problem. A college football team needs a lot of good players, not a few. Weaknesses are observable and exploitable. All it takes is one quarter. Akron didn't just make mistakes. Buffalo used their superior players to turn mistakes into points. They also turned mistakes into points in a very easy manner. The game was over at the end of Q1. 

 

My posts on this board tend to center around the state of college athletics and generally Akron football. Since I don't see many games, I cannot comment on details. Today, I watched the entire game. I was taken back regarding the lack of talent and poor play. Akron is a very, very, very bad program. There is no there, there. If Akron fires Joe, solving the talent problem is a monumental task. 

[Ham]

Negative Nancy's, you are tiring!  I saw a team that could have rolled over and played dead come off the mat to have a chance in the end.  Mistakes are killers.  We need to clean them up .  Please come forward if you have any ideas to work on cleaning up our game.  Talent difference?  I think we could see that in our OOC games, but not in MAC play.  What do you expect?  Winning for sure.  Over coming the beat down OOC schedule is harder than you think.  For me, our 4th quarter play was very encouraging.  It could be the spark that will turn things around.

[egregiousbob]

A week after a big win and they don't show up for the first three quarters of the game?  Sorry, but that's utterly unacceptable. You need to realize that we're likely to lose more than a handful of the most talented payers to NIL this year.  Why would they stay after another losing season and next to zero fan support in the stands?

 

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 02:38 PM by egregiousbob

[GP1]

8 minutes ago, egregiousbob said:

You need to realize that we're likely to lose more than a handful of the most talented payers to NIL this year.  Why would they stay after another losing season and next to zero fan support in the stands?

Why would we want a group of players this bad?  If they have this little commitment to Akron, they should pack their crap up and go help another program fail. 

[kreed5120]

2 hours ago, egregiousbob said:

A week after a big win and they don't show up for the first three quarters of the game?  Sorry, but that's utterly unacceptable. You need to realize that we're likely to lose more than a handful of the most talented payers to NIL this year.  Why would they stay after another losing season and next to zero fan support in the stands?

 

 

This reminds me of the Ralph Kiner story about his negotiations with the Pirates as a player. If we can finish last (or next to last) with them, we can certainly finish last without them. There isn't a player on this team I'd lose sleep over losing.

[GP1]

35 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

This reminds me of the Ralph Kiner story about his negotiations with the Pirates as a player. If we can finish last (or next to last) with them, we can certainly finish last without them. There isn't a player on this team I'd lose sleep over losing.

I love the quote. After Chuck Noll's first year with the Steelers, and a really bad year at that, said something at his year end press conference along the lines of....  The bad news is we don't have many good players. The good news is over half of these guys won't be back next year. 

[pdt1420]

Shout out to Hilltopper for the club tickets. An absolutely first class experience on the club level… hopefully the on field product improves and more people get to experience it. Exciting fourth quarter and a beautiful day. 

[Lee Adams]

On 11/2/2024 at 6:51 PM, catdaddyp said:

4 turnovers was the difference in the game. Not “faster or slower players.” Or maybe the “fast” players from Buffalo just left the stadium in the 4th quarter and it was a whole new group? 

I asked for specific players from the “talent” statement. I’d disagree about the QB, but we don’t share the same opinion. That said, if it is just the QB and RB, then the talent issue isn’t really the issue.
 

Please help me understand your reasoning. If Akron's players are making crucial mistakes over and over  and Buffalo's players are not what IS the issue?

[Lee Adams]

9 hours ago, GP1 said:

Why would we want a group of players this bad?  If they have this little commitment to Akron, they should pack their crap up and go help another program fail. 

Assuming one is blaming things on the lack of player talent and not on the lack of coaching ability.

[Lee Adams]

10 hours ago, Ham said:

Negative Nancy's, you are tiring!  I saw a team that could have rolled over and played dead come off the mat to have a chance in the end.  Mistakes are killers.  We need to clean them up .  Please come forward if you have any ideas to work on cleaning up our game.  Talent difference?  I think we could see that in our OOC games, but not in MAC play.  What do you expect?  Winning for sure.  Over coming the beat down OOC schedule is harder than you think.  For me, our 4th quarter play was very encouraging.  It could be the spark that will turn things around.

After this many games into this seaon and 2.5 years into a new coaching staff when do things 'get cleaned up'?

[catdaddyp]

14 minutes ago, Lee Adams said:

Please help me understand your reasoning. If Akron's players are making crucial mistakes over and over  and Buffalo's players are not what IS the issue?

Attention to detail and accountability. Turnovers, busted plays, and pre-snap/post snap penalties are usually a direct result.

[GP1]

1 hour ago, Lee Adams said:

Assuming one is blaming things on the lack of player talent and not on the lack of coaching ability.

Getting the players is the job of the coach. By now, Akron should have better players across the offensive line and they don't. Buffalo had better talent across their defensive line. I couldn't wait to see improved Akron defense everyone talked about. What I saw was a defence lacking in talent get pushed around the field and out worked. Some of their guys were physically impressive in a way Akron's aren't. Where is Chase Blackburn, Hixon, Getsy, Biggs, Frye, Dwight Smith, Andy Alleman, etc.? I could go on all day about it. Even the no name players aren't as good today as in the past. Good grief, am I the only person who sees this?

 

Akron reminds me of a slightly worse version of 2024 Wake Forest in the ACC. I've seen Wake teams go to the ACC Championship and 3-4 win Wake teams. The coach is the same and perfect for their program. The talent is the difference. I saw them play Mississippi and Clemson this year and lost to both teams by around 35 points. I've seen Wake beat both of these teams in the past when Wake has better talent and they had less. If the opponents wanted to beat them by 60 they could have easily run up the score because the talent disparity was so extreme. They also barely beat UConn and Stanford, who are both historically bad programs and the base talent between the teams was similar. They lost to Louisiana, a G5 team, and will miss out on a bowl because of it. Wake's talent level has dropped in the past two years in a way that coaching can't make up for. 

 

Talent is everything in college football. It's why recruiting is so emphasized. My biggest criticism of Joe has always been not bringing in his guy as a QB. By doing so he would have had someone others might want to take a chance on Akron and play with. Joe's recruiting is bad. Arth's recruiting was bad. Bowen's recruiting was lazy. I Coach was a buffoon and brought in bad players.  Players want to win. Akron needs to organize it's program in a way that prioritizes easy wins then build the recruiting from there. Playing three P4 teams isn't prioritizing winning. Akron is losing on purpose. 

Edited Monday at 01:28 AM by GP1

[catdaddyp]

31 minutes ago, GP1 said:

Getting the players is the job of the coach. By now, Akron should have better players across the offensive line and they don't. Buffalo had better talent across their defensive line. I couldn't wait to see improved Akron defense everyone talked about. What I saw was a defence lacking in talent get pushed around the field and out worked. Some of their guys were physically impressive in a way Akron's aren't. Where is Chase Blackburn, Hixon, Getsy, Biggs, Frye, Dwight Smith, Andy Alleman, etc.? I could go on all day about it. Even the no name players aren't as good today as in the past. Good grief, am I the only person who sees this?

 

Akron reminds me of a slightly worse version of 2024 Wake Forest in the ACC. I've seen Wake teams go to the ACC Championship and 3-4 win Wake teams. The coach is the same and perfect for their program. The talent is the difference. I saw them play Mississippi and Clemson this year and lost to both teams by around 35 points. I've seen Wake beat both of these teams in the past when Wake has better talent and they had less. If the opponents wanted to beat them by 60 they could have easily run up the score because the talent disparity was so extreme. They also barely beat UConn and Stanford, who are both historically bad programs and the base talent between the teams was similar. They lost to Louisiana, a G5 team, and will miss out on a bowl because of it. Wake's talent level has dropped in the past two years in a way that coaching can't make up for. 

 

Talent is everything in college football. It's why recruiting is so emphasized. My biggest criticism of Joe has always been not bringing in his guy as a QB. By doing so he would have had someone others might want to take a chance on Akron and play with. Joe's recruiting is bad. Arth's recruiting was bad. Bowen's recruiting was lazy. I Coach was a buffoon and brought in bad players.  Players want to win. Akron needs to organize it's program in a way that prioritizes easy wins then build the recruiting from there. Playing three P4 teams isn't prioritizing winning. Akron is losing on purpose. 

The 2022 recruiting class has already produced 6 All-MAC players. More than any other school in the conference from that class. The 2023 class has so far produced Nunnally and soon to be Norton, barring something drastic. That’ll already be 8 All-MAC players from his first two classes that he brought in. Might want to find a different spin on why the team isn’t winning. 

Edited Monday at 01:58 AM by catdaddyp

[GP1]

26 minutes ago, catdaddyp said:

The 2022 recruiting class has already produced 6 All-MAC players. More than any other school in the conference from that class. The 2023 class has so far produced Nunnally and soon to be Norton, barring something drastic. That’ll already be 8 All-MAC players from his first two classes that he brought in. Might want to find a different spin on why the team isn’t winning. 

What level all MAC. Historically, the ability to fog up a mirror can get a guy on the all MAC team. Seriously, where are the high quality players we used to have?

[catdaddyp]

3 minutes ago, GP1 said:

What level all MAC. Historically, the ability to fog up a mirror can get a guy on the all MAC team. Seriously, where are the high quality players we used to have?

That actually made me laugh.

 

Ive given stats about the game which were shot down. And now facts about recruiting that’s been shot down. I could debunk the “smaller players” statement with size stats that I’m sure would also get shot down. So not going to bother. When facts are ignored, it’s not worth my time to continue the conversation.

[MangoZip]

9 hours ago, catdaddyp said:

That actually made me laugh.

 

Ive given stats about the game which were shot down. And now facts about recruiting that’s been shot down. I could debunk the “smaller players” statement with size stats that I’m sure would also get shot down. So not going to bother. When facts are ignored, it’s not worth my time to continue the conversation.

Exactly. GP1 is non stop opinions but then this week stated that this was the first game that he’d actually watched start to finish. At some point you realize that some people just love to bitch

[Ham]

11 hours ago, GP1 said:

Good grief, am I the only person who sees this?

I'm glad you are starting to come around.

[GP1]

19 minutes ago, Ham said:

I'm glad you are starting to come around.

I don't know if I'm coming around, just observing. 

 

I'm starting to think that Zips fans are becoming more and more like Browns fans. I realize there are crossovers. I remember when the Browns just weren't good, they were World Championship contenders. They had great players all over the field. They were a play or two from going to the Super Bowl with a level of talent to win it all, but that was 2-3 generations now. 

 

I'm old enough to remember when the Zips were good. They weren't great like Marshall, NIU and Miami back in the day, but they were close. In fact, they were close enough to win the MAC once. Akron has had lots of very good players....I can't believe I forgot to name Matt Cherry and Butchie Washington above...shame on me, but there are lots of good players I probably forgot or the list is too long to name them all. Want to feel old and realize how long ago that was? Charlie Frye and Luke Getsy are now 43 and 40 respectively. For those of you who are old enough to remember them and watch the Zips now, can you say with a straight face that what you watched Saturday is the same level of ability to compete in the MAC for four quarters as back then? To me, the talent isn't nearly the same. The ability to compete physically and mentally isn't the same. 

 

Before anyone starts leaving stats again, I'll leave you with your crutch. I know what I see and it isn't good.