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Preseason Rankings 122, 116, 106, 94...


K92

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36 minutes ago, K92 said:

Again, you are comparing numbers that don't matter.  There are 10 FBS conferences and 32 D-1 basketball conferences.  Using that criteria, you could certainly make the argument that MAC basketball is in a stronger position to MAC football.  We understand that you are a big critic of the basketball scheduling under Dambrot but the arguments you are using do not hold water.

To the contrary, if all the FCS football conferences were FBS (like those members essentially are in basketball), where do you think the MAC would rank? Like I said, a dumb comparison.

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19 minutes ago, LZIp said:

To the contrary, if all the FCS football conferences were FBS (like those members technically are in basketball), where do you think the MAC would rank? Like I said, a dumb comparison.

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1 hour ago, LZIp said:

To the contrary, if all the FCS football conferences were FBS (like those members technically are in basketball), where do you think the MAC would rank? Like I said, a dumb comparison.

 

What you are proposing is comparing apples to oranges. If they were all FBS then each school would be required to have at the minimum 77 scholarships (90% of the allotted 85 scholarships). Currently the max allowed for FCS schools is 63 and conferences like the Pioneer have 0. At D-1 basketball all schools have roughly 13 scholarship players with all schools having a path to a national championship. There are just more schools in D-1 basketball willing to spend the resources required to compete as the barrier to entry is less which creates more competition. That's why I've been comparing our place to other MAC schools as that is the most fair comparison since all schools in the MAC are in a similar situation.

 

We just saw a team from the 9th rated conference make the national championship game. We will never in my lifetime see a team from the MAC or Sun Belt make a national championship game in football.

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I do not post on this site often anymore concerning football because I observe a lot of the same stuff is posted season, after season, after season. And,in some cases when people post something that someone else dislikes they get 'attacked' or are completely ignored by the other side.(Although that does not seem quite as bad as it used to be.)

Anyway,it might do us well to look back further than the last 7 or 8 years to get a perspective on where this program has been and whether or not it is advisable to continue in the current direction. When was the last time the program had several 'successful' seasons in a row? Have to go back to like 2003 2004,2005 I think? How did that happen? Two different coaches yet some winning and a MAC championship. Some damn good talent also. Look at the guys from that era who made it to the NFL and were at least somewhat successful. What has happened since? What happened to those coaches? And why has a coach with even Bowden's perceived stature not YET been able to get the program to win consistently? Maybe it starts this season? Maybe not. I tend to look at what I have seen over time to evaluate what might happen in the future. It doesn't matter if the coach is Bowden or someone else. Its not a personal or personality issue its a results issue. Its about the entire program. This season? There will have to be a lot of holes filled and questions answered for this one to be successful. Hopefully, it happens. One thing,if Bowden's contract ends after the 2018 season as someone mentioned' if this season doesn't go well will he get an extension? Most coaches don't want to be 'lameducks'. It makes recruiting good athletes reeeeeeal difficult.

Buy those season tix!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Iowa State is #109.  Should make for a good game!  

 

Seriously, I doubt that a couple of writers for the Orlando Sentinal are actually paying that much attention to low-win teams in the North or Midwest.  They probably just randomly plugged in the bottom 20 or so.  They have no idea who red-shirted for us last year.  I'll wait for the Athlon preview to make my judgments about who is likely to do what for this season.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Too bad Athlon (above zzx link) didn't give credit to the writer, pretty good overview for the amount of words.

 

This is a good point:

The Zips have not had a 1,000-yard rusher in Terry Bowden’s five seasons as head coach. Warren Ball, a graduate transfer from Ohio State who rushed for 181 yards on 25 carries in the first two games last year before suffering a season-ending injury, could become the first if he’s able to stay healthy.

 

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Chisholm was close with 953 yards on 180 carries as a Soph., at well over 5 yards per carry.  Take note that by his Sr. year, his carries were dropping, even though he was averaging more yards per carry.  

 

I've said some of this before.  It all comes down to whether one guy is going to get enough carries in Bowden's offense (see above).  Someone probably needs to get at least 15 rushes per game consistently.  But if we have a healthy Sr. QB in the lineup who's had great success in the past piling up big yardage through the air spreading the ball around, Terry is going to keep throwing the football.   

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41 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

Terry is going to keep throwing the football.   

As mentioned before, the staff has indicated that they want to run the ball more this year. As one offensive coach told me, we are more talented at the running back position than we are at the wide out position. Look for more running early in the season. If Ball is healthy, he will surpass the 1,000 mark. This was the reason I highlighted the writers comment, not to bring back old RB stats. 

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IMO we're going to need to have success on the ground if we're going to have any chance of bowling this season. We're going to be starting the season with an inexperienced QB, we have an entirely new crop of receivers, and we have a defense I have little to no faith in. We need to be able to eat the clock and keep ourselves in manageable 3rd down situations.

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11 minutes ago, kreed5120 said:

We're going to be starting the season with an inexperienced QB....

As mentioned before, the staff expects Woodson to start the season. He has 5,000+ yards and 39 TDs in his Akron career, I would not use the word "inexperienced" to describe Woody. One of his best skills, is his downfield playmaking accuracy, I wouldn't expect that to change this year, especially if they can make the running game a successful threat, and make defenders move closer to the line of scrimmage. 

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Based on what I saw in the spring game/have read, I have more faith in our defense than our WR corps this season. Though we don't have a lot of depth in general on the defense, I think the unit can be pretty good if we stay healthy and can get average play out of the D line and I think its possible. We return some key guys in Boxen, Jest, and Copeland (who was named most improved play in the spring, IIRC). Someone will need to step up at DE. May it be Davis, Bell, or somebody else.

 

I think we have a bunch of JAGs (just a guy) at WR. A strong running game will make it easier for that group, but I was not very impressed in the spring game. MTB going down makes it worse. Maybe Andre Williams can come in and surprise us...

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Let's face it, we have to have a lot of things go well for us to be successful this year. Some would say too many things. When I hear we want to run the ball this season I welcome that decision. My main concern here is if our O-line can be nasty enough to drive defenders out of the way. I didn't see that last season. They pass blocked well, but when the chips were down and we needed short yardage we rarely got it. My hope is that with time, coaching and strength training this O-line can reach the potential we all hold for them. We can develop everything but nastiness. It's either inside you or not. I hope our boys have it and show it.

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59 minutes ago, Dr Z said:

As mentioned before, the staff expects Woodson to start the season. He has 5,000+ yards and 39 TDs in his Akron career, I would not use the word "inexperienced" to describe Woody. One of his best skills, is his downfield playmaking accuracy, I wouldn't expect that to change this year, especially if they can make the running game a successful threat, and make defenders move closer to the line of scrimmage. 

 

I wasn't referring to Woodson. If he's healthy week 1, that's great.

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The absolute best offense you can run with inexperienced players on offense is a wide open no huddle spread.  There are a handful of teams in the entirety of college football that can efficiently run a ball-control smashmouth offense and none of 'em are in the MAC.  These spread offenses aren't rocket science.  Most high schools today are running them.  If you have an offense that can move the ball through the air, a decent running back will get his yards.  Ball should be a decent running back if he can stay healthy.  That's a big if.  The whole 1000 yard mark means less than zero to me.  Alex Allen gained 877 yards (I know, I know.  123 yards short of 1000 but you get the gist) for Ianello in an offense that couldn't get out of its own way.

 

If the Zips are going to have any success they have to let 'er rip.  Snapping the ball before the defense is ready is the biggest advantage an offense can get.  That's why folks that want to run the ball down your throat want to outlaw it.  (Saban, Bielema)

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1 hour ago, Dr Z said:

As one offensive coach told me, we are more talented at the running back position than we are at the wide out position. Look for more running early in the season.

 

Let me relate this to my earlier post, and emphasize what I specifically said.  

 

IF a previously successful throwing QB is in the lineup to start the season, in his Sr. year, we aren't going to be "looking" to run the football.  That's not our coach.  I don't care what one of the asst. coaches may have said.  If we're having any success throwing, we'll continue throwing the football.   Becoming anything that resembles a run-oriented offense will clearly be a distant Plan B.  

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12 hours ago, Dr Z said:

As mentioned before, the staff expects Woodson to start the season. He has 5,000+ yards and 39 TDs in his Akron career, I would not use the word "inexperienced" to describe Woody. One of his best skills, is his downfield playmaking accuracy, I wouldn't expect that to change this year, especially if they can make the running game a successful threat, and make defenders move closer to the line of scrimmage. 

This is an encouraging update. He is a game changer, for us. I have also heard that Chapman continues to make solid progress as a WR and that Stewart should be a solid WR. I would imagine that all eyes will be on Wolf, so we will need another guy or two who can make catches. I thought Gladney made some progress last year and Coney came up with some nice grabs, with limited looks.

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You bet it's encouraging. I hope Woody comes back motivated with a chip on his shoulder to prove something. The team needs him. Hell we need him to restore our sanity after last season. I was talking with Bre Ford recently and he was super high on Austin Wolfe. be said Austin was a bitch to cover in practice, far more of a challenge than Lane. Be predicted Austin would have a breakout season. be said Gladney had trouble picking up the offense and that would hinder him again this year. be had more hope in Coney altho' he said Gladney had a world of physical talent. 

 

Bre is from Western PA (Bethel Park), same as Woodson, and he had a tough time understanding why TW didn't take conditioning seriously. He said TW needed a major attitude shift because so much rode on his shoulders this year. He wasn't sure TW was there yet. TW is rehabbing but not like a maniac like Bre would be if he was returning from injury. I guess we shall see but if he isn't ready to reach his potential I am glad Johns and Nelson are waiting in the wings. I thought Bre was being straight up and honest whereas when you talk with coaches you get the general statement "all will be well". Not exactly inspiring, but I respect coaches must say that because jobs are on the line.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/20/2017 at 7:04 PM, 72 Roo said:

He said TW needed a major attitude shift because so much rode on his shoulders this year. He wasn't sure TW was there yet. TW is rehabbing but not like a maniac like Bre would be if he was returning from injury. I guess we shall see

 

If you recall, several of us mentioned that we were getting similar information on this attitude/mindset issue last year.  Thanks for sharing.  But, I was hopeful that maybe things had changed. 

 

Yes, we shall see.  

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7 hours ago, skip-zip said:

 

If you recall, several of us mentioned that we were getting similar information on this attitude/mindset issue last year.  Thanks for sharing.  But, I was hopeful that maybe things had changed. 

 

Yes, we shall see.  

I actually asked a player about this. He disagreed. He said TW is not a workout workhorse but said he is a true leader and we'll liked by the team.

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On 6/20/2017 at 7:04 PM, 72 Roo said:

 I was talking with Bre Ford recently.......Bre is from Western PA (Bethel Park), same as Woodson, and he had a tough time understanding why TW didn't take conditioning seriously. He said TW needed a major attitude shift because so much rode on his shoulders this year. He wasn't sure TW was there yet. TW is rehabbing but not like a maniac like Bre would be if he was returning from injury

Thanks for the info. Keep in mind, TW is recovering from labrum surgery, rehabbing "like a maniac" is not typically a recommended recovery for a shoulder. If anybody has ever gone through therapy for a shoulder issue, you can understand. He just started throwing a football last month. We should have a better update in a few weeks. 

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