catdaddyp Posted 9 hours ago Report Posted 9 hours ago (edited) 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 8 hours ago by catdaddyp 3 Quote
exit322 Posted 6 hours ago Report Posted 6 hours ago 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. 3 Quote
Lee Adams Posted 4 hours ago Report Posted 4 hours ago 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! Quote
exit322 Posted 4 hours ago Report Posted 4 hours ago (edited) 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 4 hours ago by exit322 1 Quote
ZippyDoo Posted 3 hours ago Report Posted 3 hours ago last night was the coldest i have been in many years. I totally miss judged my clothing attire and over estimated the dollar general hand warmers i bought ! the crowd was amazing and the game was actually exciting. i thought the tribute to veterans was nicely done and the halftime show was nice how the bands came together. I am surprised at all the hatred towards Joe Moe. Some of the play calling I didn't understand. There was one drive when we had the ball the at midfield headed towards the scoreboard and finley threw two passes in a row towards akron's sideline that should have been intercepted and then went with a run that was stopped. Joe Moe lost it on the guy calling the plays, it was not Joe Moe calling them... He screamed at him for a good couple minutes obviously unhappy with the play calling. I'm not really sure how much of the plays are called by him. I am sure he sets the scheme but that particular series I don't think he called. The secondary sucked butt plain and simple but in my opinion the defensive line had no pressure either. I know someone was praising Durham and said he had his best game but i certainly did not see it. He had one qbh and one tackle which he was lucky on. He took a poor angle and got the kids ankle. He has been an absolute bust and you cannot justify playing him all but 89 snaps this year. he has played 629 of 718 snaps more than any player in all of Division one football. There is no reason. The defensive line had no pressure all night. Bruno was non existent also. It was a bad night for the line all together nothing good to say other than Hull had a nice sack and Durhams "tfl" was it. Nothing else behind the line of scrimmage. The defensive line had two standouts this year Dall and Laventure. Nothing changed the entire season, ever... Joe Moe didn't miss the field goal, Joe Moe can't control the dropped punt or the interception. AND the team didn't quit. The stadium emptied out quite a bit when Kent went up 18 and understandably so, but Zips scored 18 in the fourth quarter. They didn't quit... the players played til the end that says something about them and the team. I was very impressed. I thought it was over when Kent went up 11 in the third and I was wrong. I thought the officiating was horrible. I didn't understand why no PI's were called and couldn't believe there was only one holding called, but Kent didn't quit and neither did the Zips. I did think it was a pass interference in OT in the end zone but being at the game they didn't show a replay. But Sometimes you just lose a game. Kent lost to Buffalo in the last minute of the game and lost to Ball State in the last four minutes of the game otherwise they would be sitting on top of the MAC. It is what it is. Last night was a very entertaining game There will be a high turnover for sure. Players will not come to Akron and stay unless they never have a chance to leave like your walk ons. Players will come to Akron hope to be here no more than two years, hope to get their highlight film and then bounce for the money like Nunnally, Moore, and McCoy. Next year it will be Dall, Gant, Laventure. and if Leonard leaves he will take Durham with him. Hull has played enough and is only a sophomore that he will go also and tried to get paid. So the entire defensive line will be gone to the portal and graduates, and guess what... no one will be ready to step in because no one else has played except Leonard's boys... Linebackers wont be much different, spriggs, cooper, summers will all be gone; corners dewalt and reed will be gone... But this is not just an akron thing it is all G5 schools but until Akron starts paying (if ever) the only selling point for any transfer is "come to akron get playing time and go get paid". Laventure will be the poster child for that... hope for 5-7 which will be an improvement. What would be the selling point for a new coach? Come here start a new program with a new staff, new qb make a name for yourself with no money to spend? It might work OR you might get a UMASS and get an OF'er? Might get lucky and get a Kent State scenario you just never know but if you buy out Joe Moe now your down 1 mill right of the top... and probably at least 45 players to fill and you better make your decision quick cause the portal opens early January AND high schoolers are going to start committing in early December so if you are going to make a change at head coach better make it in like the next two weeks.... 4 Quote
Lee Adams Posted 2 hours ago Report Posted 2 hours ago 39 minutes ago, ZippyDoo said: last night was the coldest i have been in many years. I totally miss judged my clothing attire and over estimated the dollar general hand warmers i bought ! the crowd was amazing and the game was actually exciting. i thought the tribute to veterans was nicely done and the halftime show was nice how the bands came together. I am surprised at all the hatred towards Joe Moe. Some of the play calling I didn't understand. There was one drive when we had the ball the at midfield headed towards the scoreboard and finley threw two passes in a row towards akron's sideline that should have been intercepted and then went with a run that was stopped. Joe Moe lost it on the guy calling the plays, it was not Joe Moe calling them... He screamed at him for a good couple minutes obviously unhappy with the play calling. I'm not really sure how much of the plays are called by him. I am sure he sets the scheme but that particular series I don't think he called. The secondary sucked butt plain and simple but in my opinion the defensive line had no pressure either. I know someone was praising Durham and said he had his best game but i certainly did not see it. He had one qbh and one tackle which he was lucky on. He took a poor angle and got the kids ankle. He has been an absolute bust and you cannot justify playing him all but 89 snaps this year. he has played 629 of 718 snaps more than any player in all of Division one football. There is no reason. The defensive line had no pressure all night. Bruno was non existent also. It was a bad night for the line all together nothing good to say other than Hull had a nice sack and Durhams "tfl" was it. Nothing else behind the line of scrimmage. The defensive line had two standouts this year Dall and Laventure. Nothing changed the entire season, ever... Joe Moe didn't miss the field goal, Joe Moe can't control the dropped punt or the interception. AND the team didn't quit. The stadium emptied out quite a bit when Kent went up 18 and understandably so, but Zips scored 18 in the fourth quarter. They didn't quit... the players played til the end that says something about them and the team. I was very impressed. I thought it was over when Kent went up 11 in the third and I was wrong. I thought the officiating was horrible. I didn't understand why no PI's were called and couldn't believe there was only one holding called, but Kent didn't quit and neither did the Zips. I did think it was a pass interference in OT in the end zone but being at the game they didn't show a replay. But Sometimes you just lose a game. Kent lost to Buffalo in the last minute of the game and lost to Ball State in the last four minutes of the game otherwise they would be sitting on top of the MAC. It is what it is. Last night was a very entertaining game There will be a high turnover for sure. Players will not come to Akron and stay unless they never have a chance to leave like your walk ons. Players will come to Akron hope to be here no more than two years, hope to get their highlight film and then bounce for the money like Nunnally, Moore, and McCoy. Next year it will be Dall, Gant, Laventure. and if Leonard leaves he will take Durham with him. Hull has played enough and is only a sophomore that he will go also and tried to get paid. So the entire defensive line will be gone to the portal and graduates, and guess what... no one will be ready to step in because no one else has played except Leonard's boys... Linebackers wont be much different, spriggs, cooper, summers will all be gone; corners dewalt and reed will be gone... But this is not just an akron thing it is all G5 schools but until Akron starts paying (if ever) the only selling point for any transfer is "come to akron get playing time and go get paid". Laventure will be the poster child for that... hope for 5-7 which will be an improvement. What would be the selling point for a new coach? Come here start a new program with a new staff, new qb make a name for yourself with no money to spend? It might work OR you might get a UMASS and get an OF'er? Might get lucky and get a Kent State scenario you just never know but if you buy out Joe Moe now your down 1 mill right of the top... and probably at least 45 players to fill and you better make your decision quick cause the portal opens early January AND high schoolers are going to start committing in early December so if you are going to make a change at head coach better make it in like the next two weeks.... What is so frustrating is that we seem to end up in pretty much the same place every season and have for many seasons. You can put up 500 yds of offense all you want. But if it doesn't result in wins so what? The pattern with this program on the field is well established. Still can't compete with the upper echelon in the MAC consistently. There is an occasional win but nothing consistent. OU,Miami,Toledo even WMU seem to carry over from season to season. Building a consistently competitive FBS program at Akron was always hard. With the transfer portal and NIL I don't see FBS as being realistic anymore. I have seen plenty of 3-9 seasons or worse. Don't wanna see no more. This isnt only about coaching. It's about an identity for the program long term. 1 Quote
Reslife4Life Posted 2 hours ago Report Posted 2 hours ago 53 minutes ago, ZippyDoo said: last night was the coldest i have been in many years. I totally miss judged my clothing attire and over estimated the dollar general hand warmers i bought ! the crowd was amazing and the game was actually exciting. i thought the tribute to veterans was nicely done and the halftime show was nice how the bands came together. I am surprised at all the hatred towards Joe Moe. Some of the play calling I didn't understand. There was one drive when we had the ball the at midfield headed towards the scoreboard and finley threw two passes in a row towards akron's sideline that should have been intercepted and then went with a run that was stopped. Joe Moe lost it on the guy calling the plays, it was not Joe Moe calling them... He screamed at him for a good couple minutes obviously unhappy with the play calling. I'm not really sure how much of the plays are called by him. I am sure he sets the scheme but that particular series I don't think he called. The secondary sucked butt plain and simple but in my opinion the defensive line had no pressure either. I know someone was praising Durham and said he had his best game but i certainly did not see it. He had one qbh and one tackle which he was lucky on. He took a poor angle and got the kids ankle. He has been an absolute bust and you cannot justify playing him all but 89 snaps this year. he has played 629 of 718 snaps more than any player in all of Division one football. There is no reason. The defensive line had no pressure all night. Bruno was non existent also. It was a bad night for the line all together nothing good to say other than Hull had a nice sack and Durhams "tfl" was it. Nothing else behind the line of scrimmage. The defensive line had two standouts this year Dall and Laventure. Nothing changed the entire season, ever... Joe Moe didn't miss the field goal, Joe Moe can't control the dropped punt or the interception. AND the team didn't quit. The stadium emptied out quite a bit when Kent went up 18 and understandably so, but Zips scored 18 in the fourth quarter. They didn't quit... the players played til the end that says something about them and the team. I was very impressed. I thought it was over when Kent went up 11 in the third and I was wrong. I thought the officiating was horrible. I didn't understand why no PI's were called and couldn't believe there was only one holding called, but Kent didn't quit and neither did the Zips. I did think it was a pass interference in OT in the end zone but being at the game they didn't show a replay. But Sometimes you just lose a game. Kent lost to Buffalo in the last minute of the game and lost to Ball State in the last four minutes of the game otherwise they would be sitting on top of the MAC. It is what it is. Last night was a very entertaining game There will be a high turnover for sure. Players will not come to Akron and stay unless they never have a chance to leave like your walk ons. Players will come to Akron hope to be here no more than two years, hope to get their highlight film and then bounce for the money like Nunnally, Moore, and McCoy. Next year it will be Dall, Gant, Laventure. and if Leonard leaves he will take Durham with him. Hull has played enough and is only a sophomore that he will go also and tried to get paid. So the entire defensive line will be gone to the portal and graduates, and guess what... no one will be ready to step in because no one else has played except Leonard's boys... Linebackers wont be much different, spriggs, cooper, summers will all be gone; corners dewalt and reed will be gone... But this is not just an akron thing it is all G5 schools but until Akron starts paying (if ever) the only selling point for any transfer is "come to akron get playing time and go get paid". Laventure will be the poster child for that... hope for 5-7 which will be an improvement. What would be the selling point for a new coach? Come here start a new program with a new staff, new qb make a name for yourself with no money to spend? It might work OR you might get a UMASS and get an OF'er? Might get lucky and get a Kent State scenario you just never know but if you buy out Joe Moe now your down 1 mill right of the top... and probably at least 45 players to fill and you better make your decision quick cause the portal opens early January AND high schoolers are going to start committing in early December so if you are going to make a change at head coach better make it in like the next two weeks.... Very well said I agree with you on just about everything. Overall it was a very fun game with a disappointing result. I don't think this game has calls to fire the head coach, change QBs, or drop to FCS. I feel like that reaction is almost automatic for every loss that we have. I still believe in this current state of college football that any year could be the year we jump to the top of the conference. 2 years ago WMU went 4-8 and now they are the top of the conference. Its frustrating that hasn't happen at UA basically ever (minus 2017 kind of) but I still think Akron football belongs in the FBS, attendance can be improved, and even if it is slow the team has been improving since rock bottom of 2019 Quote
roopride Posted 1 hour ago Report Posted 1 hour ago First game in a long time that I was really excited about. Wanted and expected us to win. Obviously did not like the results, but it was fun to be excited about ZIPS football for a change. Hope there is more of this!!! Let's win next week and then see where things go from there. I hope Joe wants to stay. Makes the right demands for the program and off we go. 2 Quote
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