Game Eleven (Kent State) Thoughts

[catdaddyp]

It was a record-setting day for the offense, yet we still managed to find a way to lose.

We put up 530 yards of offense compared to Kent’s 374 and held them to just 57 yards on the ground. The only team stat we actually lost was turnover margin — and that was only by one. If you count the onside recovery, then it was even.

 

Yes, the refs were unusually awful — and that’s saying a lot for MAC officials — but we didn’t do ourselves many favors either.

 

The defense, particularly the secondary, looked completely lost on far too many plays.

 

 

QB:

Finley may have had the better stat line — and maybe even played the best game of his career — but in my opinion, he wasn’t the best quarterback on the field. I can only hope that by 2026, Roggow develops into the same type of player DeShields has become with a few college seasons under his belt.

As usual, Finley made some beautiful throws but also some head-scratchers. At this point, he is who he is — and to be fair, without him, we probably don’t even have four wins. It’s just frustrating that he never took the leap I thought he would in this system to became one of the elite quarterbacks in the MAC.

 

RB:

The running game became an afterthought once we fell behind, but Gant still managed to rack up 96 yards, keeping him on pace for a thousand on the season.

 

WR:

Marcel Williams was phenomenal. Mason made his presence felt but appeared to leave the game with a shoulder issue — which would explain why Louis got his opportunity. Polk added a few more catches and another touchdown to his résumé. Our receivers torched Kent all night, and there were plenty of times when guys were wide open underneath on some of those incomplete deep shots and sacks. I also noticed a few excellent crack blocks throughout the game that really stood out.

 

TE:

Both Cravaack and Whisner saw action and did some good things. I’ve been giving Cravaack some praise the past few weeks, and he just keeps getting better with more opportunities.

 

OL:

The offensive line was an enigma. They struggled in short-yardage situations but absolutely mauled Kent’s defensive front at other times. And to be fair, I don’t put all six sacks on the O-line — some of those are on Finley. Lyons and K. Davis were ironmen up front, playing every snap at center and right guard, respectively.

 

DL:

The defense was stout against the run but struggled to get to the quarterback. DeShields showed excellent pocket awareness and got the ball out quickly when he needed to, which really neutralized our pass rush. Durham probably had his best game of the year — which might be little consolation at this point.

 

LB: 

It was a quiet game from the linebackers. My biggest issue with the defense is that there were too many plays where we just didn’t seem ready. I’m not sure if the signals weren’t getting relayed correctly or what was going on, but there were far too many moments where we looked confused both before and after the snap.

 

DB:

I thought DeWalt and Reed played fairly well, and Hunter had his moments. Outside of those three, though, it was a horrendous night for this group. There were far too many explosive plays allowed in the passing game, and too often our guys got caught trying to jump a route or were looking in the backfield and completely lost track of their man.

 

ST:

The missed field goal ended up hurting us. The short kickoffs gave Kent great field position all night, and the turnover on punt return was unfortunate. On the flip side, the onside kick recovery was an absolute thing of beauty.

 

Coaching:

Hard to complain about 530 yards of offense, but I’m going to do it anyway — it felt like there was more left out there. One major issue I keep coming back to: why wasn’t Johnson inserted in the short-yardage situations?

 

The defense left a lot to be desired. We were flat-out outcoached by a Kent team that had no business creating that many explosive plays or points.

 

Final Take:

There’s no way around it — we shouldn’t have lost this game. Even if we beat BG next week, there were so many wasted opportunities this season. The frustrating part is that this has been an ongoing theme since 2022. I’m not sure where things go this offseason, as all parties involved are going to have some tough decisions to make.

 

If I’m not mistaken, Moorhead’s contract runs through 2027. He’s been working with an insanely limited set of resources compared to other FBS programs, so you have to wonder if he even wants to keep banging his head against the wall for a fifth year. I also imagine the new athletic director may want to make his mark with a fresh coaching hire — as new ADs often do.

 

To top it off, I suspect we’ll get hit hard by the portal again since there are no NIL funds to retain some of our better players. So once again, there will likely be a lot of new faces — certainly talented ones, as talent hasn’t been the issue — but players with little FBS experience. Little to no experience means it will take time for those players to develop over the course of the season. None of this is meant to sound negative; it’s just the reality of where the program currently stands.

 

 

QB:

Finley

 

RB:

Gant 

Patrick

 

WR:

Ma. Williams

Monteiro

 

WR:

Mason

Louis

Broughton

 

WR:

Polk

Grear 

Hills

 

TE:

Cravaack

Whisner

 

LT:

D. Johnson

Morris 

 

LG:

Archer

McManus

 

C

Lyons

 

RG:

K. Davis

 

RT:

King

A. Jones

 

 

DE:

Durham

D. Frazier

 

DE:

Dall 

Cheatom 

J. Frazier

 

DT:

Laventure

Mixon 

 

DT:

Hull 

Murphy

 

LB:

Summers

Boswell

 

LB:

Cooper 

Spriggs

 

NB:

Aa. Branch 

 

CB:

DeWalt

Kamara 

 

CB:

Reed

Kamara

 

S:

Somerville

Flowers 

 

S:

Hunter 

Anderson

 

 

Top Players on Offense:

WR - Ma. Williams

QB - Finley

RB - Gant

LT - Morris 

RT - A. Jones

 

Top Players on Defense:

DE - Durham

S - Hunter

LB - Summers

CB - DeWalt

CB - Reed

 

Edited 4 hours ago by catdaddyp

[exit322]

Here's the deal.  Akron showed up to this game.  And they got a classic game.

 

Make the damn things fun.  The winning may come.

 

Maybe play Youngstown, too...ya know, to get opponents people want to see.  I don't care if it's a loseable game against an FCS school.  Fun football at the stadium with opponents that people care about is enough for now.

 

What they did last night to market...do that for all the games.  Get people to come out, get a little better on the field...and maybe just maybe there's actual hope the program can turn it around.

 

Last night was fun.  I guess if they get over the practice restrictions and such, maybe they can just be fun.  I dunno.

[Lee Adams]

4 hours ago, catdaddyp said:

It was a record-setting day for the offense, yet we still managed to find a way to lose.

We put up 530 yards of offense compared to Kent’s 374 and held them to just 57 yards on the ground. The only team stat we actually lost was turnover margin — and that was only by one. If you count the onside recovery, then it was even.

 

Yes, the refs were unusually awful — and that’s saying a lot for MAC officials — but we didn’t do ourselves many favors either.

 

The defense, particularly the secondary, looked completely lost on far too many plays.

 

 

QB:

Finley may have had the better stat line — and maybe even played the best game of his career — but in my opinion, he wasn’t the best quarterback on the field. I can only hope that by 2026, Roggow develops into the same type of player DeShields has become with a few college seasons under his belt.

As usual, Finley made some beautiful throws but also some head-scratchers. At this point, he is who he is — and to be fair, without him, we probably don’t even have four wins. It’s just frustrating that he never took the leap I thought he would in this system to became one of the elite quarterbacks in the MAC.

 

RB:

The running game became an afterthought once we fell behind, but Gant still managed to rack up 96 yards, keeping him on pace for a thousand on the season.

 

WR:

Marcel Williams was phenomenal. Mason made his presence felt but appeared to leave the game with a shoulder issue — which would explain why Louis got his opportunity. Polk added a few more catches and another touchdown to his résumé. Our receivers torched Kent all night, and there were plenty of times when guys were wide open underneath on some of those incomplete deep shots and sacks. I also noticed a few excellent crack blocks throughout the game that really stood out.

 

TE:

Both Cravaack and Whisner saw action and did some good things. I’ve been giving Cravaack some praise the past few weeks, and he just keeps getting better with more opportunities.

 

OL:

The offensive line was an enigma. They struggled in short-yardage situations but absolutely mauled Kent’s defensive front at other times. And to be fair, I don’t put all six sacks on the O-line — some of those are on Finley. Lyons and K. Davis were ironmen up front, playing every snap at center and right guard, respectively.

 

DL:

The defense was stout against the run but struggled to get to the quarterback. DeShields showed excellent pocket awareness and got the ball out quickly when he needed to, which really neutralized our pass rush. Durham probably had his best game of the year — which might be little consolation at this point.

 

LB: 

It was a quiet game from the linebackers. My biggest issue with the defense is that there were too many plays where we just didn’t seem ready. I’m not sure if the signals weren’t getting relayed correctly or what was going on, but there were far too many moments where we looked confused both before and after the snap.

 

DB:

I thought DeWalt and Reed played fairly well, and Hunter had his moments. Outside of those three, though, it was a horrendous night for this group. There were far too many explosive plays allowed in the passing game, and too often our guys got caught trying to jump a route or were looking in the backfield and completely lost track of their man.

 

ST:

The missed field goal ended up hurting us. The short kickoffs gave Kent great field position all night, and the turnover on punt return was unfortunate. On the flip side, the onside kick recovery was an absolute thing of beauty.

 

Coaching:

Hard to complain about 530 yards of offense, but I’m going to do it anyway — it felt like there was more left out there. One major issue I keep coming back to: why wasn’t Johnson inserted in the short-yardage situations?

 

The defense left a lot to be desired. We were flat-out outcoached by a Kent team that had no business creating that many explosive plays or points.

 

Final Take:

There’s no way around it — we shouldn’t have lost this game. Even if we beat BG next week, there were so many wasted opportunities this season. The frustrating part is that this has been an ongoing theme since 2022. I’m not sure where things go this offseason, as all parties involved are going to have some tough decisions to make.

 

If I’m not mistaken, Moorhead’s contract runs through 2027. He’s been working with an insanely limited set of resources compared to other FBS programs, so you have to wonder if he even wants to keep banging his head against the wall for a fifth year. I also imagine the new athletic director may want to make his mark with a fresh coaching hire — as new ADs often do.

 

To top it off, I suspect we’ll get hit hard by the portal again since there are no NIL funds to retain some of our better players. So once again, there will likely be a lot of new faces — certainly talented ones, as talent hasn’t been the issue — but players with little FBS experience. Little to no experience means it will take time for those players to develop over the course of the season. None of this is meant to sound negative; it’s just the reality of where the program currently stands.

 

 

QB:

Finley

 

RB:

Gant 

Patrick

 

WR:

Ma. Williams

Monteiro

 

WR:

Mason

Louis

Broughton

 

WR:

Polk

Grear 

Hills

 

TE:

Cravaack

Whisner

 

LT:

D. Johnson

Morris 

 

LG:

Archer

McManus

 

C

Lyons

 

RG:

K. Davis

 

RT:

King

A. Jones

 

 

DE:

Durham

D. Frazier

 

DE:

Dall 

Cheatom 

J. Frazier

 

DT:

Laventure

Mixon 

 

DT:

Hull 

Murphy

 

LB:

Summers

Boswell

 

LB:

Cooper 

Spriggs

 

NB:

Aa. Branch 

 

CB:

DeWalt

Kamara 

 

CB:

Reed

Kamara

 

S:

Somerville

Flowers 

 

S:

Hunter 

Anderson

 

 

Top Players on Offense:

WR - Ma. Williams

QB - Finley

RB - Gant

LT - Morris 

RT - A. Jones

 

Top Players on Defense:

DE - Durham

S - Hunter

LB - Summers

CB - DeWalt

CB - Reed

 

Very disappointing for a number of reasons. Could have secured at least .500 in the MAC and have a shot at .500 overall. Nope. Lost to a team that was very beatable.

But yep we saw the same things we have been seeing all season.

Moorehead had Finley throwing the ball almost 60 times! He is not and never has been a QB who can carry a team. Gant had 90+ yds. but could have been used more effectively in the second half when he only had about 30. Use 2 damn RBs. Throw to Gant outside and let him run through people.

The O line wasn't that bad. Not great but again the run game could have been used more. Once you saw that the D wasn't on it keep them off the field as much as possible. Again put 2 backs in the backfield. At least keep Kent guessing a bit.

The D picked a bad nite to revert. Gave up just enough chunk plays to allow Kent to hang around. Wasnt the TD in OT a 25 yd run? They only needed a couple of TOs to help.

With all that Moorehead had a chance to step on the neck but didn't. 

Don't see anything better next season. Best players will transfer. If Moorehead is not gone he won't be able to recruiting.

I think the University needs to decide if it wants to keep playing at the FBS level. Hard to make progress in this day and age.

VERY disappointing!

 

 

[exit322]

The recruiting has to change because of the portal and NIL and such.  What it seems Akron needs to do is emphasize to those transfer candidates looking to rebound of "here's what this guy got, here's what this guy got.  We don't have the money, no, but we have the exposure that's going to get you paid."

 

I have no idea if that'll work...but it feels like it could.

 

I am serious about getting YSU on the schedule...last night had perhaps the largest "actual" (not announced) crowd of the year for the rivalry game...on a Tuesday.  Adding another game with an opponent the local market might care about is (to me) worth the potential of losing to an FCS school.  At least it's a decent one, and at least it's a game that would matter to someone a hell of a lot more than Morgan State or Duquesne.

Edited 9 minutes ago by exit322