Game #11 - Can't State

[Let'sGoZips94]

47 minutes ago, 1981 grad said:

I hope I am not banned from this board but you have to give Kent State credit.  They have been absolutely terrible the last few years and they are a decent team.  This was a battle of 2 evenly matched teams and Kent executed in overtime and we did not.  They scored on their first play in overtime and we lost 4 yards and started behind the chains.  After Akron came back from that large deficit in the 4th quarter it was a gut punch to lose this game.  However, it was an entertaining game.

 

This is the biggest indictment against JoeMo there is. 

[clarkwgriswold]

I think Kamara is still running 10 yards behind Clark.

 

PCCC may just have found itself a head coach.  I also listened to him for a short time on their pre-game and came away impressed.

[ZippyDoo]

10 hours ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

Hire a football guy who is a motivator. JoeMo certainly isn't the latter. Both the Browns and the Zips have alleged offensive gurus at the helm and they both get owned by football guys.  

Joe Moe didn't miss the field goal, drop the punt, or throw the interception.  He also was not in the secondary letting the Kent wide receivers do whatever the wanted to like they never played defense before.  He did however, have the offense last night have over 500 yards offense a qb that threw for over 400 yards, a wr that caught for over 200 yards and an rb that had 96 yards rushing... BUT most importantly to me... his team DIDN'T quit down 18 going into the fourth quarter and fought back and tied the game.... somebody motivated that team on both sides of the ball...

 

But let me guess, we aren't going to give him credit for the offensive performance and we aren't going to give him credit for the team NOT giving him and scoring 18 points in the fourth quarter? we will just bash and hate on him and say he has to go cause he sucks....

 

It was a great game and it didn't go the way we wanted it to... sometimes that happens....

[Let'sGoZips94]

34 minutes ago, ZippyDoo said:

Joe Moe didn't miss the field goal, drop the punt, or throw the interception.  He also was not in the secondary letting the Kent wide receivers do whatever the wanted to like they never played defense before.  He did however, have the offense last night have over 500 yards offense a qb that threw for over 400 yards, a wr that caught for over 200 yards and an rb that had 96 yards rushing... BUT most importantly to me... his team DIDN'T quit down 18 going into the fourth quarter and fought back and tied the game.... somebody motivated that team on both sides of the ball...

 

But let me guess, we aren't going to give him credit for the offensive performance and we aren't going to give him credit for the team NOT giving him and scoring 18 points in the fourth quarter? we will just bash and hate on him and say he has to go cause he sucks....

 

It was a great game and it didn't go the way we wanted it to... sometimes that happens....

 

We're talking about a team in Kent that was 1-23 the last 2 seasons and had an interim HC up until a few weeks ago vs. JoeMo in his 4th year at the helm at Akron. So whatever positives you want to focus on, make sure they are accurately viewed through the appropriate lens. 

 

The scouting report on Akron shows that we struggle in the red zone. Kent's defense reflected this as they were giving Akron anything they wanted in between the 20s to prevent any big plays then locking down in the red zone. The total yards were largely meaningless. First drive, Akron got inside the red zone and were held to 3 points. Late in the 4th quarter, JoeMo had 3 plays from the 3 yd line - 2 were basic runs up the middle and 1 was a horrible pass play. He opted to take the 3 pts instead of going for it on 4th, a decision that will be hotly debated for a while. The offensive was wildly predictable most of the night, hence Kent's success for 2.5 quarters with bringing pressure and jumping passing routes. It wasn't until Akron started taking more chances and mixing things up in the 4th quarter that the points started to occur. A fluke onside kick recovery (incredible execution) and a fluke fumble were the only reasons Akron stayed in that game. Otherwise, Carney kicked JoeMo's butt. 

 

I don't really care about a team quitting vs. not quitting. These guys know there is always an opportunity to put out film for their next NIL deal, so in this era of college athletics, it's hard to take that discussion seriously. The fact is, the talking point of quitting vs. not quitting is being discussed because Akron was down by so many points to a previously 1-23 Kent team. As far as I know, Kent is in a similar financial situation for football. They made a move at HC to a true football guy and look how it's working out for them. Heck, I poo-poo'd Carney as a hire with his only success being victories over lowly UMass but I'm thinking that was largely denial from fear of them making a good hire.

 

It is possible to get this right. 

Edited 2 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94

[exit322]

14 minutes ago, ZippyDoo said:

Joe Moe didn't miss the field goal, drop the punt, or throw the interception.  He also was not in the secondary letting the Kent wide receivers do whatever the wanted to like they never played defense before.  He did however, have the offense last night have over 500 yards offense a qb that threw for over 400 yards, a wr that caught for over 200 yards and an rb that had 96 yards rushing... BUT most importantly to me... his team DIDN'T quit down 18 going into the fourth quarter and fought back and tied the game.... somebody motivated that team on both sides of the ball...

 

But let me guess, we aren't going to give him credit for the offensive performance and we aren't going to give him credit for the team NOT giving him and scoring 18 points in the fourth quarter? we will just bash and hate on him and say he has to go cause he sucks....

 

It was a great game and it didn't go the way we wanted it to... sometimes that happens....

 

This in general isn't wrong.  He did recruit the players that did all those things, though.  And that means it's on him.

 

We finally have a "hey he gets credit for a great offensive performance" in...Game 47 of his time here.  And it WAS a really good offensive performance by a really limited quarterback whose NFL comp (if you adjust for MAC-level talent) is Mason Rudolph.

 

They didn't quit, though.  This is accurate.  And credit must also be given for that.

 

You're also right, this was a great game.  A classic game that likely made a few fans of college football, if not the Zips or Flashes.  If this was the norm and they were at least fun most of the time, I think you'd see many opinions (mine included) be different.

[exit322]

3 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

They made a move a HC to a true football guy and look how it's working out for them. 

 

It is kinda wild they're both former Fordham QBs and that's where the similarities end.

[Let'sGoZips94]

2 minutes ago, exit322 said:

 

It is kinda wild they're both former Fordham QBs and that's where the similarities end.

 

I thought it was ironic when they were showing the graphics of their respective stats at Fordham.

 

JoeMo had more passing yards at Fordham while Carney had more touchdowns.

 

Symbolic of what we saw last night. JoeMo plays well in between the 20s while Carney gets in the endzone where it matters. 

Edited 2 hours ago by Let'sGoZips94

[exit322]

3 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

I thought it was ironic when they were showing the graphics of their respective stats at Fordham.

 

JoeMo had more passing yards at Fordham while Carney had more touchdowns.

 

Symbolic of what we saw last night. JoeMo plays well in between the 20s while Carney gets in the endzone where it matters. 

 

That really is symbolic, haha!

[Lee Adams]

6 minutes ago, Let'sGoZips94 said:

 

I thought it was ironic when they were showing the graphics of their respective stats at Fordham.

 

JoeMo had more passing yards at Fordham while Carney had more touchdowns.

 

Symbolic of what we saw last night. JoeMo plays well in between the 20s while Carney gets in the endzone where it matters. 

Interesting take about being good between the 20s.

[GP1]

It's odd to look at the stat sheet of the game. Going by stats, Akron should have never lost. It should have been a blowout in Akron's favor. We had one more turnover and they capitalize on a short field. That's the difference. Akron did give up six sacks, which is horrible. 

 

The botched punt was a huge point. Akron could have taken a ten point lead early in the game and instead was 4 points behind. I think Kent was eager to fold and would have collapsed down 10.  Akron gave them a reason to believe and the game turned into a dog fight.

 

Oh well, the nihilists are happy today. 

[a-zip]

There was one blatant pass interference call on a deep ball that was guaranteed TD.  I believe that was followed by a pick 6.  

14 point swing that totally changed the game!  BTW - when they showed the replay of the PI, there was a ref 10 feet away looking right at it.

Edited 1 hour ago by a-zip

[kreed5120]

I honestly feel many are in denial about the state of our program moving forward. As @LZIp shared we have the smallest football operating budget in the MAC and little to no NIL. Realistically no proven coach is going to want this job. Odds are much higher that we will end up with another Ianello or Arth. 5-7 wins are about all we can expect under our conditions.

 

There needs to be real vision behind the program if we want a chance to succeed. Boosters either have to step up big time or Akron needs to play more P4 games and invest that money we receive from OSU, Purdue, Iowa, etc. back into the program. Probably need to do some combination of both. I'm not sold on Joe as our long-term solution because frankly I don't think he sells the program well to boosters or local businesses, which is what's needed in this new age of college athletics.

 

IMO Joe should enter next season on the hot seat for 2 reasons. One is the school literally can't afford a $1 million buyout. This isn't pro sports. We don't have a billionaire owner. Two is we need to develop a long-term plan to how we're going to improve this otherwise it's just going to be groundhogs day. New coach, very much all the same problems.

Edited 1 hour ago by kreed5120

[exit322]

27 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

I honestly feel many are in denial about the state of our program moving forward. As @LZIp shared we have the smallest football operating budget in the MAC and little to no NIL. Realistically no proven coach is going to want this job. Odds are much higher that we will end up with another Ianello or Arth. 5-7 wins are about all we can expect under our conditions.

 

There needs to be real vision behind the program if we want a chance to succeed. Boosters either have to step up big time or Akron needs to play more P4 games and invest that money we receive from OSU, Purdue, Iowa, etc. back into the program. Probably need to do some combination of both. I'm not sold on Joe as our long-term solution because frankly I don't think he sells the program well to boosters or local businesses, which is what's needed in this new age of college athletics.

 

IMO Joe should enter next season on the hot seat for 2 reasons. One is the school literally can't afford a $1 million buyout. This isn't pro sports. We don't have a billionaire owner. Two is we need to develop a long-term plan to how we're going to improve this otherwise it's just going to be groundhogs day. New coach, very much all the same problems.

 

I think if Joe were hitting 5-7 wins  And not 12 total in four years.

We wouldn't be having many of these conversations.  That said, Joe is only leaving if he decides he'd rather be an OC somewhere else making the same (or more) money.  As noted, Akron doesn't really have the cash to do that.

 

And I think you're 100% spot on about the "selling the program."  I don't think anyone here is pretending this is, or should be, easy.