Forthcoming results will determine whether Joe Moorhead's assessment is correct, but the third-year University of Akron football coach is confident his team is better this season.
The Zips went 2-10 in each of Moorhead's first two years at the helm, and they're 0-2 this season after being blown out by two Big Ten teams, 49-17 at Rutgers on Sept. 7 and 52-6 at Ohio State on Aug. 31.
Now UA is preparing for its home opener against Colgate (0-2) at 6 p.m. Saturday at InfoCision Stadium.
"There's no solace in any loss regardless of the opponent," Moorhead said Monday. "But when you're going to play three of those games [against big-time programs , Ohio State , Rutgers and South Carolina on Sept. 21], there's got to be some way to measure improvement.
"There's just something that feels different about this year's team, and it's hard to quantify. It's subjective, but this team, there's just a different feel about this team."
Here are some players who have given Moorhead reasons to believe the Zips will show improvement in 2024.
Ben Finley transferred to Akron this past offseason after previous stops at Cal (2023) and N.C. State (2020-22) and won the starting quarterback job in a tight competition with fellow redshirt junior Tahj Bullock.
In 13 combined games at Cal and N.C. State, Finley went 137-of-245 passing for 1,484 yards with seven touchdowns and nine interceptions. He started four times.
UA desperately needs stability at QB, and Finley has impressed bigwigs in the school's athletic department with his leadership. Moorhead named him a captain.
"He has demonstrated an incredible level of maturity in his approach to the game," Moorhead said. "He's a guy that galvanizes the team through his preparation and his work ethic, and the guys really, No. 1, they respect him, and they like him as well.
"He's a guy that the team rallies around, but he's also a guy that can throw the ball with accuracy and velocity and touch and can make plays with his feet. He's a pretty good competitor, too."
Finley has gone 22-of-45 passing for 191 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions this season. He has rushed 11 times for 29 yards.
Moorhead still sprinkles Bullock into QB duty on occasion in addition to deploying him at other skill positions. Bullock has gone 12-of-16 passing for 81 yards, rushed 18 times for 42 yards and caught two passes for 4 yards this season. One of Bullock's passes went to Finley for 5 yards.
Senior linebacker Antavious Fish and junior linebacker Bryan McCoy lead the Zips this season with 15 and 14 tackles, respectively.
"We signed those guys our first year here, Antavious out of JUCO, then Bryan out of high school in Illinois," Moorhead said. "It's kind of like old-school recruiting in the sense that you brought those guys in and you've seen them develop.
"They're definitely the heart and soul of the defense, emotionally and by performance, the two guys that the defense looks to for their cues and guys who play 100 mph 100% of the time and have backed it up with productivity."
Speaking of production, sophomore defensive tackle Marcus Moore Jr. (Massillon) and redshirt junior safety Daymon David combined to create a Zips highlight last week. Moore hit Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis as he threw deep, and David intercepted the pass on the game's first possession.
Another UA defensive standout is senior end CJ Nunnally IV. This season, he has 10 tackles, including a half tackle for loss.
Nunnally was a first-team All-Mid-American Conference selection last season, when he compiled 15½ tackles for loss and seven sacks.
The only other 2023 All-MAC player who returned to the Zips this season is McCoy, a third-team pick last year.
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Redshirt junior running back Jordon Simmons and sophomore wide receiver Adrian Norton have scored UA's touchdowns this season.
Finley beat a Rutgers cornerback blitz to connect with Norton for a 32-yard TD with 11:45 left in the third quarter. Simmons rushed for a 73-yard TD against Rutgers with 10:11 left in the fourth quarter. It was UA's longest rushing TD since 2021, when Jonzell Norrils had a 74-yard run.
Simmons transferred to UA after playing for Michigan State the last four seasons. He is Akron's fastest player, according to tracking data used by the Zips in the preseason. He has 16 carries for 118 yards this season.
Norton is a Zips holdover and part of a receiving group Moorhead is optimistic about.
"Our receiving corps is probably our most talented unit overall, and the group that needs to improve the most is the offensive line," Moorhead said.
Redshirt juniors Myles Walker and Alex Adams and redshirt sophomore Phaizon Wilson have had injury-related absences thus far in 2024, and getting them back in the receiving corps would provide a boost.
Moorhead and UA strength and conditioning head coach Orie Sahlfeld identify one player on each side of the ball who earns the right to wear jersey No. 1 by demonstrating leadership in the spring. Walker and senior defensive lineman Bennett Adler were chosen this year.
To say there has been a big jump for UA's special teams this season is "100% true," Moorhead said.
Redshirt senior Dante Jackson is serving as a kickoff specialist (seven with four touchbacks), senior Avery Book as punter (11 for a 47.9-yard average with three inside the 20) and redshirt junior Garrison Smith as placekicker (3 of 4 on field goals and 2 of 2 on extra points).
Smith made field goals of 48 and 49 yards at Ohio State, giving UA its longest successful attempts since Robert Stein connected from 50 yards in 2015. Smith made one field goal from 41 yards and missed another from the same distance at Rutgers.
"Small sample size, but the special teams have been more special than not special," Moorhead said.
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Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron Zips football has 'different feel,' coach Joe Moorhead says
