Game Seven (Miami) Thoughts - 2026

[catdaddyp]

QB:

Roggow is not at the level where he can win a game without run support. His two worst outings have come when the run game has either been limited or somewhat ineffective and he’s thrown the ball over 30 times. Not to say Roggow didn’t have any good moments, because there were plenty of times where he displayed excellent pocket awareness and got the ball out on time. The problem was that the end result of those passes often wasn’t good enough. Not many teams are going to win a game by tossing four interceptions.

 

RB:

Gant ran hard, but there just wasn’t much room to work with on the interior. However, there were a handful of outside runs that worked well, including Gant’s touchdown run. I felt this was a game where Patrick’s availability would have been beneficial, as he tends to perform better on the outside runs than Gant. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option, and Miami usually shut down the interior with just their base defense.

 

WR:

When the offense becomes one dimensional, the receivers must help the quarterback. Drops reared their ugly head again, and Miami dominated the 50/50 balls in the air. This receiving corps has too much talent to not come down with more of the balls thrown their way. There’s frankly no excuse for these guys to not help out their quarterback more on a day where he was struggling. I also want to point out the one pass play to the tight end where the receiver covered him up and caused the tight end to be an ineligible receiver. Things like that simply cannot happen.

 

TE:

I intentionally separated the tight ends from the wide outs, as I thought Cravaack and Alexander had a strong outing. Cravaack hasn’t performed as well as he did last year, but hopefully this performance will serve as a springboard for the rest of the season. Alexander has been Mr. Consistent all year and played well again.

 

OL:

Pass protection was excellent for much of the game. Eventually, it broke down some as the offense became more one-dimensional, but overall, nice job to this group in that area. On the flip side, push in the run game was almost non-existent. Injuries finally caught up to a unit that had been playing the same five guys for the past few games. At one point, backups were in at left tackle, right tackle, and right guard. 

 

DL:

I actually thought the defensive line, as a whole, played decently. There were a few issues, like edges not squeezing down enough and leaving some wide-open gaps, as well as tackling the wrong back at the mess point, but overall, I thought this unit did fairly well. As far as tackling the wrong back at the mesh point, we used to coach that if you were unsure, go to the last back, and the Zips did that. It just ended up being the wrong choice in the end. Sometimes that is going to happen. I do want to point out that Durham had a standout day. It’s frustrating to imagine what this defensive line could have looked like with a healthy Abor on the opposite side.

 

LB:

This is tough because I thought the linebackers played well for much of the game. Unfortunately, the handful of times they didn’t, lead to some of Miami’s biggest runs of the season. Johnson was uncharacteristically shoved off by Miami’s running back, which led to a touchdown. On another play, Johnson and Nunoo took bad angles that resulted in another huge run by a Miami ball carrier. The way we lined up against Miami often required the linebackers and safeties to come down and fill the gap as the last line of defense. When we failed to do that or make the tackle, things turned ugly.

 

DB:

My only gripe with this group is in run support, and that’s a big gripe. Miami’s quarterback wasn’t a threat to throw the ball. Yes, he did make one perfectly placed touchdown pass, but that was really it. Everything else was either short or usually off-target. That meant we had to be stout in run support, and when we weren’t, it was glaring.

 

ST:

Outside of a nice return on kickoff, it was a rough day for this crew. A shanked punt at a crucial point in the game, another short punt, and a missed long field. I may be missing something else, but I think I’ve already listed enough.

 

Final Thoughts:

This game could have had a very different outcome. The Miami team we played yesterday did not have the same firepower on offense they had earlier in the year. Had we not self-combusted and wasted opportunities to potentially take and build on a lead, I don’t believe Miami had the quarterback to bring them back from a deficit. Our defense was already getting home on a number of passing downs, and forcing Miami to lean on the passing game would have changed the outcome. Instead, this team yet again, had a high number of self-inflicted wounds at critical moments. There is enough talent on this roster to be competitive and possibly win a few more games, but as long as we continue with this undisciplined nonsense, it won’t happen. Clean it up, Zips.

 

 

 

QB:

Roggow

Beals

 

HB:

Gant

Williams

Curry

 

WR:

Williams

Myers

 

WR:

Burris

Hills

 

WR:

Mason

Louis

 

TE:

Cravaack

Alexander

 

LT:

Slayden

Gould

 

LG:

Smith

Puckett

 

C

Lyons

 

RG:

Hampton

Falkner

 

RT:

Jones

Gould

Mann

 

 

DE:

Frazier

Waye

 

DE:

Durham

Waye

 

DT:

Hull

Williams

Ross-Graves

 

DT:

Mixon

Kavals

 

LB:

Johnson

Jones

 

LB:

Nunoo

Curtis

 

CB:

Hobson

 

CB:

Newsome 

 

NB:

Branch

Moss

Al. Branch

 

S:

Davis

Moss

 

S:

Flowers

Hunter

 

 

Top Rated Offense:

C - Lyons

TE - Cravaack

WR - Burris

HB - Gant

TE - Alexander

 

Top Rated Defense:

S - Moss

NB - Branch

CB - Newsome

DT - Hull

S - Flowers

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 9 hours ago by catdaddyp

[exit322]

Thank you for these writeups.  A highlight of the site.

 

The coaching, unfortunately, just isn't capable of fixing the problems.  17 games left.

[clarkwgriswold]

Faust...Owens...Brookhart...Ianello...Bowden...Arth...Morehead.   

 

At some point, the problem is as much institutional as it is the guy in the captain's seat.  Good luck to Goodrich on figuring it out. 

[exit322]

15 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Faust...Owens...Brookhart...Ianello...Bowden...Arth...Morehead.   

 

At some point, the problem is as much institutional as it is the guy in the captain's seat.  Good luck to Goodrich on figuring it out. 

 

It is institutional, yes.  None of us are expecting the next coach to magically have a 70% win percentage.

 

A few bowl games a decade (or whatever the equivalent is going to be when bowls die here soon) isn't unreasonable.  If Eastern Michigan can have 5 bowl games in their last 12 years, I just don't see how that's unattainable.

Edited 11 hours ago by exit322

[ZipForNow]

13 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Faust...Owens...Brookhart...Ianello...Bowden...Arth...Morehead.   

 

At some point, the problem is as much institutional as it is the guy in the captain's seat.  Good luck to Goodrich on figuring it out. 

I may be missing something, but I thought Bowden was pretty good. 

 

That said, I do think Goodrich is the person to figure this out. I think Guthrie was looking to make a splash and get out. He ignored the budget and overspent. Goodrich is trying to figure out how to be the leanest, meanest athletics program in the country. It may require a different kind of coach and approach. 

[exit322]

1 hour ago, ZipForNow said:

That said, I do think Goodrich is the person to figure this out.

 

I do agree with this.  He's done very good work with what he has to work with.

[clarkwgriswold]

1 hour ago, ZipForNow said:

I may be missing something, but I thought Bowden was pretty good. 

 

That said, I do think Goodrich is the person to figure this out. I think Guthrie was looking to make a splash and get out. He ignored the budget and overspent. Goodrich is trying to figure out how to be the leanest, meanest athletics program in the country. It may require a different kind of coach and approach. 

I guess it depends on your point of reference.  By Akron standards his 35-52 records qualifies him for a statue.  However, he was bad enough to get run out and he cost the university in ways beyond football.

[ZipForNow]

8 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I guess it depends on your point of reference.  By Akron standards his 35-52 records qualifies him for a statue.  However, he was bad enough to get run out and he cost the university in ways beyond football.

Yikes. I guess I was pretty selective in my recollection. I remember the improvement and the bowl games.  You are right. 

[kreed5120]

1 hour ago, clarkwgriswold said:

I guess it depends on your point of reference.  By Akron standards his 35-52 records qualifies him for a statue.  However, he was bad enough to get run out and he cost the university in ways beyond football.

 

If I recall correctly I don't think financially our football budget was as far behind the MAC as it is now. At the very least I'm pretty sure we had a full staff.

 

Whatever coach comes in now is being asked to turn water into wine. I think it was around 2016 that Akron started hitting financial trouble. Prior to that it was just gross negligence why we failed to succeed.