Early Football Previews and Predictions: Game Twelve at Bowling Green

[Sergeant Zip]

Most wins since 2017 and people on here choosing to be miserable.  Sheesh!

Go Zips! 

[Let'sGoZips94]

10 minutes ago, Sergeant Zip said:

Most wins since 2017 and people on here choosing to be miserable.  Sheesh!

Go Zips! 

 

We're in year 4 of a highly paid coach. 

 

Kent is in year 1 of an interim-turned-permanent coach, reacquired the Wagon Wheel, and has a chance to not just match our win total but possibly go bowling. 

 

The little victories were fine in years 1&2. It's unacceptable in year 4. 2 losses to first year HCs and we couldn't muster 10+ pts vs Wyoming at home. If it wasn't for UMass joining the MAC, we'd probably be capping out at 4 wins again. I don't see an improved product on the field, at least not what you'd expect from JoeMo in his 4th year. It's hard for me to celebrate barely beating BUGS who is objectively horrendous. 

Edited 9 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94

[exit322]

16 minutes ago, Sergeant Zip said:

Most wins since 2017 and people on here choosing to be miserable.  Sheesh!

Go Zips! 

We keep Joe for six more years we might even see a bowl game.

 

Nah, no thanks, I'm ready to try again.

[UAZippers]

Eh, 5-7 and 4-4 in conference is decent. It has been damn near a decade since Akron football has been decent. I'm certainly not in love with how this season went, but I'm not ready to run the coaching staff out of town. 

[exit322]

9 minutes ago, UAZippers said:

Eh, 5-7 and 4-4 in conference is decent. It has been damn near a decade since Akron football has been decent. I'm certainly not in love with how this season went, but I'm not ready to run the coaching staff out of town. 

 

I totally understand this thought process.

 

Obviously, I don't agree.  But it's a very well-reasoned argument.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Sometimes you just gotta be the tallest midget.

 

Clutch play by Bruno! 🇩🇪💪🏽
 

5-wins despite the smallest staff, smallest budget, no NIL, can’t even afford grad assistants, no travel allowed for recruiting, going stretches without a meal plan, limited to 25% fewer practices than his competition…the Zips should have been UMass this season but instead won 5.

 

As much as my eyes burn from watching the game tonight I give the staff and players mad props for going .500 in the MAC and winning 5 games for the first time in 8 years while being blindfolded, with two cinder blocks tied to each coach’s legs. 
 

We’ll see what the future holds for the 2026 Zips. The ball is in Goodrich's hands to objectively determine how much the restrictions placed on this staff contributed to the close losses to Wyoming, UAB, Kent etc. And to figure out a plan to break free from the crippling financial shackles imposed on this year’s team. UA needs to invest in football within reasonable and responsible limits.

Completely handcuffed, the Zips were within an eyelash of bowl eligibility. By providing the team with just the basics…the ability to travel to recruit talent, practices like everyone else, a couple grad assistants, a few bucks to keep some key players…it is the difference between winning 5 games and winning 8. 

[Captain Kangaroo]

30 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

We're in year 4 of a highly paid coach. 

The guy that’s the 7th highest paid coach in the MAC?

[Let'sGoZips94]

26 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

The guy that’s the 7th highest paid coach in the MAC?

 

That list isn't up to date. McElwain is no longer at CMU, and JoeMo is actually the 11th highest paid coach. 

 

His ranking in the MAC is irrelevant when considering the financial position Akron is in. $620k of taxpayer money at a school with financial troubles should yield more than the incremental progress we've seen. What's the ROI on the $620k? How's the community outreach from the HC? How's the NIL situation? Is 0 pts in the home opener vs. Wyoming an acceptable ROI for $620k? How about 3 pts vs. Toledo? Is the on-field product exciting and something the community wants to come out and support no matter the outcome? Do we have the Wagon Wheel right now? Surely we do since our rival is in year 1 of an interim HC who inherited a 1-23 roster, right? 

 

Damn the restrictions. This season was an abject failure. There were 5 more wins on this schedule that Joe's Zips lost more than the opponent won. Wyoming scored 10 pts at the Info and we scored 0. UAB fired their coach that we couldn't beat. Miami was a potential win and we couldn't score more than 7 pts. Balls is in year 1 of their HC - lost by more to them than Kent did. Lastly, Kent (not going to go into more details there). I'm not saying we should've won all 5 of these games, but we didn't win a single one. The program had a chance to make a national statement by being bowl eligible and forcing the NCAA to drop the postseason ban; they choked, which has been a staple of the JoeMo era. 

Edited 8 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94

[kreed5120]

47 minutes ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

Sometimes you just gotta be the tallest midget.

 

Clutch play by Bruno! 🇩🇪💪🏽
 

5-wins despite the smallest staff, smallest budget, no NIL, can’t even afford grad assistants, no travel allowed for recruiting, going stretches without a meal plan, limited to 25% fewer practices than his competition…the Zips should have been UMass this season but instead won 5.

 

As much as my eyes burn from watching the game tonight I give the staff and players mad props for going .500 in the MAC and winning 5 games for the first time in 8 years while being blindfolded, with two cinder blocks tied to each coach’s legs. 
 

We’ll see what the future holds for the 2026 Zips. The ball is in Goodrich's hands to objectively determine how much the restrictions placed on this staff contributed to the close losses to Wyoming, UAB, Kent etc. And to figure out a plan to break free from the crippling financial shackles imposed on this year’s team. UA needs to invest in football within reasonable and responsible limits.

Completely handcuffed, the Zips were within an eyelash of bowl eligibility. By providing the team with just the basics…the ability to travel to recruit talent, practices like everyone else, a couple grad assistants, a few bucks to keep some key players…it is the difference between winning 5 games and winning 8. 

 

I'm probably not as optimistic as you about this being an 8 win team, but I agree we likely overachieved given the limitations placed on the program.

 

Given the financial, practice, and bowl restraints the Akron job might be the worst job in all of FBS at the moment. Almost certainly a bottom 5 gig. Odds are vastly higher we bring in another Arth or Ianello over finding someone better than JoeMo. 

 

That's not even me trying to give praise to JoeMo. It's that nobody with any real prospects would want this job. It was surprising someone like JoeMo wanted this job in the first place and it required special circumstances for him to even have an interest. We'll really have to scrape the bottom of the barrel for whoever the next coach would be.

Edited 8 hours ago by kreed5120

[Zippy87]

1 hour ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

Sometimes you just gotta be the tallest midget.

 

Clutch play by Bruno! 🇩🇪💪🏽
 

5-wins despite the smallest staff, smallest budget, no NIL, can’t even afford grad assistants, no travel allowed for recruiting, going stretches without a meal plan, limited to 25% fewer practices than his competition…the Zips should have been UMass this season but instead won 5.

 

As much as my eyes burn from watching the game tonight I give the staff and players mad props for going .500 in the MAC and winning 5 games for the first time in 8 years while being blindfolded, with two cinder blocks tied to each coach’s legs. 
 

We’ll see what the future holds for the 2026 Zips. The ball is in Goodrich's hands to objectively determine how much the restrictions placed on this staff contributed to the close losses to Wyoming, UAB, Kent etc. And to figure out a plan to break free from the crippling financial shackles imposed on this year’s team. UA needs to invest in football within reasonable and responsible limits.

Completely handcuffed, the Zips were within an eyelash of bowl eligibility. By providing the team with just the basics…the ability to travel to recruit talent, practices like everyone else, a couple grad assistants, a few bucks to keep some key players…it is the difference between winning 5 games and winning 8. 

 

We can't cite the close losses without acknowledging close wins that could have easily gone the other way, too. CMU, Buffalo, and BGSU were all one score wins. We can be optimistic and say they could have won 8, but they also could've won 2.

 

I do credit them for progress vs last season, especially with so little to work with. I also agree that they should be allowed the basic investments an average MAC school has. I don't think that is going to lead the drastically different results on the field, but they've probably earned the right to try. 

[Zippy87]

23 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

 

I'm probably not as optimistic as you about this being an 8 win team, but I agree we likely overachieved given the limitations placed on the program.

 

Given the financial, practice, and bowl restraints the Akron job might be the worst job in all of FBS at the moment. Almost certainly a bottom 5 gig. Odds are vastly higher we bring in another Arth or Ianello over finding someone better than JoeMo. 

 

That's not even me trying to give praise to JoeMo. It's that nobody with any real prospects would want this job. It was surprising someone like JoeMo wanted this job in the first place and it required special circumstances for him to even have an interest. We'll really have to scrape the bottom of the barrel for whoever the next coach would be.

 

I don't quite agree here. No, you're not going to get an established coach or someone with a proven track record. But every great coach was once an unknown until they got their first shot. It's absolutely possible Akron could give someone their first shot and that person could turn its program around. Just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean it can't. 

[ZippyDoo]

let's just call it like it this. people are on fall into: a.) cancel program all together cause it's a waste of taxpayer money and they will never compete b.) get rid of joe moe that will solve all the problems or c.) my favorite being in an nfl player and that will pack the stands

 

zips did better than i thought they would after starting  2-6.

 

I give them credit. the players could have just thrown in the towel but they didn't.  Kent state was heartbreaker but was an exciting game that could have gone either way.  

 

It's always easy to make all the right coaching decisions from the comfort of your couch and everyone on here can solve all the problems. 

 

that's why i come here

[kreed5120]

18 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

 

I don't quite agree here. No, you're not going to get an established coach or someone with a proven track record. But every great coach was once an unknown until they got their first shot. It's absolutely possible Akron could give someone their first shot and that person could turn its program around. Just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean it can't. 

 

If this was 10 years ago I would agree with you. In fact, I was one of the most vocal people on this board about Bowden needing to go as we needed to strive for better.

 

A lot has changed since that time. Any new coach would need an infusion of cash to hire a full staff, recruit, have training tables, etc. You know the basics that all the other MAC schools currently have in place. Not to mention at least enough NIL that you don't lose your key players to other G5s.

 

I don't want to say it's impossible to win at Akron (and by win I mean consistently winning 6-7 games), but they're certainly being setup for failure given the lack of funding. They will have to climb Mount Everest to succeed.

[GP1]

5 hours ago, ZippyDoo said:

c.) my favorite being in an nfl player and that will pack the stands

Or, bring in a former NFL player who knows what he is doing, committed to the program long term and give him some support. 

 

Take away the QB injuries and Eddie George is a great hire. Maybe the best hire of the year next to Wake's. BG sold out two games this year and was playing good. The administration is completely behind him. He is selling his home in Tennessee to move to Ohio. What else is he supposed to do?

 

Great question. George looked at his roster last week and came up with a great game plan to have his team ready to not just compete, but to win. They executed on a great game plan last night and we're on their way to winning until the injury Gods stepped in. The coaching genius last night was Eddie George. 

[Zippy87]

6 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

 

If this was 10 years ago I would agree with you. In fact, I was one of the most vocal people on this board about Bowden needing to go as we needed to strive for better.

 

A lot has changed since that time. Any new coach would need an infusion of cash to hire a full staff, recruit, have training tables, etc. You know the basics that all the other MAC schools currently have in place. Not to mention at least enough NIL that you don't lose your key players to other G5s.

 

I don't want to say it's impossible to win at Akron (and by win I mean consistently winning 6-7 games), but they're certainly being setup for failure given the lack of funding. They will have to climb Mount Everest to succeed.

 

I am not necessarily saying Moorhead needs to go. I'm pretty indifferent on him - I'm OK him staying and I'd be OK trying someone new. I'm just saying that I don't think it's impossible to find someone who can find a way to win here. 

 

I do think it would be a tough transition, though. The players do seem to play hard for and respect Moorhead for the most part, so we would certainly have more turnover than if he stayed.