What do we know about them? I know it shouldn't be a game but the MAC beats someone, or at least scares the hell out of some team every year.
Akron
- Thread starter bkmtnittany1
- Start date
Not good defensively last year. Allowed 34 points per game
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/akron/2016.html
They're not big on DL, will be outweighed by 40-50 pounds per man. D loses 3 of 4 DL and 3 in the secondary (maybe not a bad thing considering last year's struggles). They have at least one excellent LB, Ulysses Gilbert III.
On the good side, both O and D are mostly juniors and seniors. All 5 starting OL return and they have a pretty good QB. New receivers though.
Had a bad year with injuries last year so maybe that part is better this year.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/akron/2016.html
They're not big on DL, will be outweighed by 40-50 pounds per man. D loses 3 of 4 DL and 3 in the secondary (maybe not a bad thing considering last year's struggles). They have at least one excellent LB, Ulysses Gilbert III.
On the good side, both O and D are mostly juniors and seniors. All 5 starting OL return and they have a pretty good QB. New receivers though.
Had a bad year with injuries last year so maybe that part is better this year.
An OSU RB transfer - Ball - is expected to be their best offensive threat. Many Zip fans expect a blowout; however, others are predicting an upset.
Has Bowden as a coach, so I expect them to play well. Other than that, not much. Expect they will play the run tough
I remember the game in 2014, when, in the third quarter, the game was only 7-3. The announcers kept saying that the Akron coaches were talking about the PSU O line vs the Akron D Line and telling their guys "They can't block us, they can't block us". I wonder if they believe this game will be the same?
There was a lot of build-up and hype for that game. The Arizona fans were on this board in force, telling us how Trung Candidate was going to run all over PSU. One of our posters, and I wish that I could remember who it was, had a great response after it was over. "Trung play like dung".
We're 39 pt favorites so I don't think the odds makers think highly of the Zip's defense. Probably 35-7 by half.
Camp Cochise and Trung "Heisman" Candidate. All he needed was 12" of space and he was gone......NOT!There was a lot of build-up and hype for that game. The Arizona fans were on this board in force, telling us how Trung Candidate was going to run all over PSU. One of our posters, and I wish that I could remember who it was, had a great response after it was over. "Trung play like dung".
Their 1st string QB may be a decent dual threat that can cause problems but he had shoulder surgery and just started throwing last month. When Bowden was interviewed at MAC media days, it seemed unlikely he'd be ready but that was as of a few weeks ago.
Their D was really banged up last year so hard to say where the strength/weaknesses will be at full strength.
Their D was really banged up last year so hard to say where the strength/weaknesses will be at full strength.
They have a decent QB that should be a good test and I think a transfer RB that is decent.
but thats about it.
Their defense is not very big but has some experience. It wont help. Its going to be ugly by the 2nd Quarter.
Akron is a lower middle class MAC team. As a college, they've really struggled financially and there have been some mismanagement accusations. They almost changed their name a couple of years ago and sold their arena. They've lost a lot of prestige as schools like Miami, OU and Bowling Green have improved. I think Akron to the MAC is Pitt to the ACC. I suspect we will struggle a bit as we get acclimated and the coordinators try different things but would be shocked if it is competitive in the second half.
I just read an article that said that Akron had a scrimmage last week and their QB still wasn't throwing.
I read a while back that he had shoulder surgery but I thought he was ready to go.
He's pretty decent but if he's not playing yikes. I said it will be over by the 2nd it might be over by the 1st.
bwifan
Well-Known Member
Was at that game and Dear Lord it is still the hottest game I have ever attended! Remember the guys rams out of drinks and were walking around throwing ice to people in the stands to drink and cool off ... Everyone's shorts and shirts were drenched in sweat by the end of the game
Agree...but PSU will play a vanilla game so as to not give Pitt much tape. Akron will unload the bus. If PSU can dominate the LOS on offense, it will be over very early. But Akron will run blitzes and stunts from the very first play. PSU will run a ton of zone/read with little chance of McS keeping. Perhaps will throw over the top a couple of times....but I don't see us doing much but running the first page of the playbook with a ton of subs getting reps.
I put a couple shekels on Penn State laying 33 against Akron so, you know what I think is going to happen against Akron. Maybe I'm a bit too excited about this offense but, I think they are going to be outstanding.
One thing I'm interested in is how Franklin handles McSorley / Stevens this year. Like last year, McSorley is the established starter. Unlike last year, he also now the experienced starter. Even when we were up big in several of our games last year, McSorley stayed in longer because as a first year starter, every rep counted. With his experience combined with my belief that we will be jumping out to big leads in quite a few games, I wonder at what point Franklin puts in Stevens to begin getting him experience. My hope is that whenever he does it, Stevens gets to run the normal offense and not just a bunch of running plays. Not only will the experience pay dividends down the road for Stevens, as we learned last year, the playoff selection process is part record and part beauty pageant, aka eye test.
One thing I'm interested in is how Franklin handles McSorley / Stevens this year. Like last year, McSorley is the established starter. Unlike last year, he also now the experienced starter. Even when we were up big in several of our games last year, McSorley stayed in longer because as a first year starter, every rep counted. With his experience combined with my belief that we will be jumping out to big leads in quite a few games, I wonder at what point Franklin puts in Stevens to begin getting him experience. My hope is that whenever he does it, Stevens gets to run the normal offense and not just a bunch of running plays. Not only will the experience pay dividends down the road for Stevens, as we learned last year, the playoff selection process is part record and part beauty pageant, aka eye test.
that was a brutally hot and muggy day.
The AZ players have probably never seen a day when the Humidity was above 12% let alone 90%.
I'm glad that Akron will throw the kitchen sink at the PSU offense. That just helps us getting better.
I think this will give us at least an inkling of what the OLine can do.
Chuck Amato is a good DC.
I just don't see them moving the ball on our defense especially if their QB is still hurt.
I have a feeling I'll be at Chen's by the start of the 4th quarter.
It's funny, sometimes the home crowd is the biggest enemy in these first games. If they start slow, or if the other team starts with a good drive, 100,000 people start murmuring in that restless way and players start to get nervous and press because they want to hear cheers.
Of course the PSU coaches know this and will talk about it with the players. Players need to just breathe, relax, be patient and not press (that's how people get early season injuries). Defense and offense are pretty vanilla at the start. The mismatches will be exposed as the game progresses.
Of course the PSU coaches know this and will talk about it with the players. Players need to just breathe, relax, be patient and not press (that's how people get early season injuries). Defense and offense are pretty vanilla at the start. The mismatches will be exposed as the game progresses.
Plenty of reasons to play 110% against Akron. Only 12 games in the season, and as old coaches will tell you, if you can't get your team up to play on 12 days out of 365, then you have a problem.
Of course, we are hoping like crazy that the number of games we play this year, will be 15, not 12!
Of course, we are hoping like crazy that the number of games we play this year, will be 15, not 12!
As far as giving away tape goes, I tend to agree with Obliviax, in that we don't want to go too far past page 1, HOWEVER, Akron will come ready to play football and they have a darn good running back. As Joe would say, "if we're not careful we'll get our ears kicked in".
I think I'm on the other side of this. If we're worried about Pitt having an extra game tape to prepare, then I fear we're in pretty bad shape. By the time we get to next Saturday, it will have been 8 months to the day since our kids played in a real game. I say just go out and let them play. There are only 12 games. Now I'm not saying to empty the playbook or you run trick plays or things like that, but I also don't want us to be so conservative that we never really let the offense get untracked. Let's see what we have so that we have tape to look at to see where we need to improve. I don't care about Pitt having that game tape. I think we're good enough that we could give them the playbook and still go out and beat them. So just let the kids go out and play.
C'mon Bob....glass houses...
What do you call a room full of losers......
Penn Live Sports dept.
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I would love to Stevens get more mop up time this year, and I think he will. Remember, we were a 2nd half team in a lot of games last year. Many of our games were still close going into the 2nd half and weren't decided until well into the 4th quarter. I think this year we will blow out more teams early on, especially the OOC patsies.
Agreed, many games were tight late but, in at least 3 games, Rutgers, Purdue and, Michigan State, I believe Stevens would have gotten more time if it weren't McSorley's 1st year as a starter. I think with more big leads this year combined with Trace have ample experience will equal Steven's getting more playing time. I just hope they play the offense straight up and not just try to burn clock.
Who attends? Students from the college radio stations?
I don't know who attends, but they are touting themselves as the P6 conference.
