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MAC Championship—Rockets vs Zips @ Ford Field


LZIp

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Two things I learned watching the MACC on TV.

1.        It’s tough for 4th or 5th string announcers to tell the difference between Toledo and Akron.  This was exasperating.  However, my favorite part occurred when one of these dipshits explained that Akron had just defeated Bowling Green last week to win the Wagon Wheel trophy.

2.       Refereeing can be confusing.  My favorite call where there was a double foul (1 against each team) and you could see from the preliminary hand signals the ref gave that he had the calls ass backwards.  It wasn’t until he was on mike and finishing the last sentence of his explanation of the infractions that he realized he had it all screwed up.  I appreciated the levity to help ease the pain of the spanking we were taking.

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Lavar is threatening to push his son to transfer and use the hardship excuse to get out of sitting out. This guy is delusiinal aboyt his son's talent. He threw sone TD's against a Toledo team thatbhad stopped playing, could not handle working through his progressions, and as a result was useless in the 1st half. Bowden absolutely did the right thing trying to see if we could be more successful with Woodson. Woodson did move the ball better than Kato, and had the refs not cost us the TD with the Williams TD catch and the big gain that called back, things might have gone differently.

 

Kato has talent but he played like a freshman against a defense that played our receivers, very well.

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The OC was not why his son panicked when the primary receivers were covered.

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31 minutes ago, zipsoutsider said:

Woodson did move the ball better than Kato, and had the refs not cost us the TD

 

I really want to believe that this game COULD have been different if the score was tied at 7 in the 2nd Quarter.  It really was an unbelievable time to make that call.  

 

But, I still don't think we had a chance to survive giving up 560 yards.  And they actually gave us a lot of help with the 5 turnovers.  

 

 

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12 hours ago, zipsoutsider said:

The OC was not why his son panicked when the primary receivers were covered.

What Kato and his father need to realize is that this team is on the rise with or without them. If they want to be a part of it then awesome. If not then good luck playing in the FCS.

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Kato will definitely be the frontrunner for the QB spot next year.  But he's not God, as we've all seen.  Although, his dad might feel differently.  However, I do thank the kid for coming up big and getting us to the MAC title game with the great 1st half against OU.  He just still needs to get a lot better to make us a real MAC Title contender.  

 

His dad still has time to screw everything up and watch his son fade into oblivion at a D1-AA school.  

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I think it was Kato who came in late in the Iowa State game, got chippy, and earned penalties.  That was my first impression of him.  Usually the backup QB is the most popular guy on the team.  But that day, fans of both teams were upset with him.  

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I don't know Kato personally, but I'm not sure bashing of him is warranted based on what we know or don't know. I don't see him posting or saying the things his father says. Unfortunately (and naturally) that is the perception you will get when his father acts as a mouth piece.

 

My thoughts:

 

I had a good time. Not too bad of a drive to Detroit at all and we are lucky to have the MAC Championship for football (and basketball) in short driving distance at such great facilities. I would consider going there annually even if the Zips aren't there. I've never really spent time in Detroit and it reminds me quite a bit of Cleveland. It was a nice atmosphere and felt.....like an actual real college football environment for once. I didn't hate the pregame party, but it most definitely was not worth $35 for a so-so breakfast buffet and cheers. I would not do it again.

 

Regarding the game, I'll start with coaching. Can't say I'm too pleased with the offense or defensive coaching yesterday, more so the offense. I do not agree with benching Kato mid-way through the first quarter. The O wasn't effective (not all his fault), but its not like the game was getting away from us either at that point. Woody wasn't effective either. Yeah he had the TD call back but anyone on the roster should have been able to execute that play to a wide open TE. It was one of the most disappointing halves of offense I can recall during the Bowden era. What was it, 88 yards? Then I knew Gasser's kick was going to get blocked. I still am not sure he is better than O'leary, (even though that isn't saying much).  I believe that is 3 straight weeks now where a kick has been blocked. Then we bench Tommy for Kato. That's something Hue Jackson would do and that isn't a compliment, even though it worked out. The whole QB carousel definitely did not cost us the game, though.

 

The defense did a good job forcing turnovers, but it doesn't seem like any adjustments were made from game 1 to game 2. Maybe Toledo is just that good though (and they probably are). Just a ton of talent on offense and I think both of the Johnson WRs will be back next season.

 

I did like how the team never gave up. It would have been the easy thing to do. Even though the game was over, we fought back, made it look respectable, and actually ended up beating the spread. Made some nice plays in the 4th. Kato took maybe one of the hardest hits I've ever seen a QB take. You could tell he was really hurting, but he looked able to go back in if the coaches want. Kelley led a nice drive as well. Even though we got spanked, great programs like Miami, Auburn, and TCU actually ended up losing by more than us yesterday. Funny thing is, Auburn spanked Georgia just a few weeks ago! It happens. Point is to hold off on the ridiculous knee jerk reactions that losing to by far the best team in the league has somehow undone everything that has happened the past month of the season. Progress was made this year. We obviously aren't striking gold overnight with the Bowden regime, but there is no question that the program is still trending upward under him.

 

Let's regroup and get ready to go out and try and win this bowl game. I don't recall any serious injuries yesterday.Alvin's looked bad, but he went back in IIRC. I also hope our wait to go to Detroit again comes a lot sooner than the 12 years it was this time.

Edited by LZIp
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29 minutes ago, LZIp said:

I don't know Kato personally, but I'm not sure bashing of him is warranted based on what we know or don't know. I don't see him posting or saying the things his father says. Unfortunately (and naturally) that is the perception you will get when his father acts as a mouth piece.

This is fair. However, I am not convinced if his true ability, yet and fear his father causes more harm than good. I think a good healthy spring ball QB competition is in order.

 

I was 100% behind going to Woody. Kato was not getting it done, so why not see if Woodson can get things moving? 

 

I had no issues with coaching. Our receivers were not getting open, so it's tough to say what could have been done, differently. When we fail to move the ball, it seems that the conclusion is that the problem is in coaching. I think we just faced better athletes, yesterday, who came ready to ball in the first half. Our defenders had good coverage but Woodside put the ball where only Toledo receivers can catch it and they made great grabs.

 

I will agree: special teams remain a disaster. It's time to offer early scholarships to top punters, kickers, and snappers. You cannot offer the kid a scholarship for once they have won the job, any more, and get top specialists. But non-specialist play on special teams has been abysmal.

 

I noticed Alvin Davis did a better job wrapping up yesterday instead of leading with his head. Nice adjustment, Davis.

 

Smith had a good second half and hopefully he does not do anything but practice catching balls in the off season. He needs help though.

 

Gilbert had another great game and Bell and Jamal Davis also played well.

 

I, too, was really pleased to see us right to the end, including busting the spread. There is a lot of young talent and the Zips continue to trend upwards. 

 

The venue provided a nice experience and it was a great atmosphere to hear both fan bases cheering. Our band was awesome and they continue to represent the university, well.

On to the bowl game, which should be announced, soon.

 

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10 minutes ago, zipsoutsider said:

I was 100% behind going to Woody. Kato was not getting it done, so why not see if Woodson can get things moving? 

 

 

Actually, there was a catch-able dropped pass by a receiver in each of Kato's 1st 3 series that helped stall those drives. One each by Chapman, Wolf and Kwad. Not necessarily in that order.

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2 minutes ago, zzx said:

 

Actually, there was a catch-able dropped pass by a receiver in each of Kato's 1st 3 series that helped stall those drives. One each by Chapman, Wolf and Kwad. Not necessarily in that order.

Perhaps true, but there were missed opportunities when Woody was in, too, including penalties.

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This is just my opinion, nothing personal, i don’t think they should of went to Woodson, i think they panicked a little when Toledo scored & thought they needed to pass to stay with them & feel more comfortable with Woodson in that situation & abandoned the game plan,  Woodson was bad though, that late read coming back across the field for a pick was a terrible read.  

 

& i think that made it worse with short offensive possessions & clock stopping on all incomplete passing & i was begging for 0.00 on that clock before halftime because it was like throwing ⛽️ on a ? and it got ugly in a hurry

 

but if i could point to one thing, penalty on Newman’s touchdown followed by another & a blocked field goal.  That was a huge swing

Edited by 94zipgrad
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Was AT the game. First,Ford Field is GREAT Some random comments.Neighborhood is pretty rough though. Toledo is the BEST team in the MAC hands down,notwithstanding their 1 loss. They have lots more SPEED and more SKILL at critical positions,certainly far more so than Akron. That HC is from Mount UNION!!!! Akron's DEFENSE was overwhelmed in the first half.I said the first half not the entire game. I include in that realm KICK COVERAGE which was awful. They didn't tackle well certainly. The D-line and linebackers were chasing a lot in the first half. I know the offense was sputtering in the first half,but this was one of those games when no matter, The defense NEEDED to make a couple more stops early but did not. Got better in the second for whatever reason. But,no doubt the poor kick coverage killed them because even though the defense gave up way too many big plays, there were too many short fields for Toledo after kicks. Better look there for next season. 

 

Offensively,no  question the offense sputtered especially in the first half. The O-line was being beaten at the point of attack a lot and Toledo was able to pressure the QB(whomever he was)

and run down the backs. Toledo was quicker. Please don't try to hang the loss on Nelson. Its like somebody elsewhere said. Everybody loves the back up QB until.... I was talking to a guy sitting behind us in 105. We were both puzzled when Bowden pulled the plug on Nelson so early. Certainly,Nelson was struggling. But,a significant part of that was because the O-line couldn't keep the rush off of him and the running game was going nowhere,again. Frankly, we were not sure what Woodson was going to add on the positive side under the circumstances. Not really anything we hadn't already seen from him. And,in the post game Bowden clearly stated Nelson is the QB of the future. Nelson and the offense were better in the second half but,the O-line had a BAD breakdown on a backside blitz when Nelson got creamed and fumbled. Pretty sure I saw a Tight End(umm) trying to grab the blitzer form behind just as he hit Nelson. I am still not convinced that Nelson and the other QB's wouldn't benefit from bring in an assistant who could help 'coach up' the QB's a little better. But, this was one of those games against a much better team when not being able,or willing to try to control the ball on the ground to keep Toledo off the field could have kept it closer and made Toledo play 'honest'.

 

The officiating wasn't great but didn't cost Akron the game. I thought the Toledo fans were 'bush' when they were cheering the player who got called for targeting and was ejected. Know the rule. Even if you don't like it it WAS targeting.

 

Now,Bowden has to make some changes in order to build on this. Can't be sub-500 next season. Have to consistently get 6 Conference wins and be in the mix for Detroit.

 

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I saw Kato leave the game for a play because his helmet came off, then I noticed that he didn't come right back in.  I wasn't able to watch closely (I was with my wife at a hospital).  Was that seriously the way he got replaced?  

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17 hours ago, LZIp said:

Point is to hold off on the ridiculous knee jerk reactions that losing to by far the best team in the league has somehow undone everything that has happened the past month of the season. Progress was made this year. We obviously aren't striking gold overnight with the Bowden regime, but there is no question that the program is still trending upward under him.

 

I think what you're seeing is people looking at this from two different perspectives.

 

1) We finally played well enough, often enough, to get to the top of the MAC East (yet, everyone will debate forever about how strong the division was this year).  

2) After the two blowout losses to Toledo, we also realizes just how much higher we have to climb to get to the top of the entire league.  

 

I will predict this: Football will now have the dreaded "expectations" going into next year.  And if we don't win the East again, the detractors will be back out.

 

8 hours ago, a-zip said:

we've had some major losses through the season.  

 

Two captains, wow!

 

I've commented on this previously, but I will repeat it here.

 

Without the injury problems, we're only potentially one WIN better than we finished this year (the road loss at Miami).  I don't see any other loss that would have reversed if we still  had a few more of those guys in the lineup.   And we still would have ended up as East Champs, and still would have lost to Toledo on Saturday.  So fortunately, nothing was really impacted by those personnel losses.  Every other team we played likely had key players missing too.  It's part of the game.  

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46 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

 

I think what you're seeing is people looking at this from two different perspectives.

 

1) We finally played well enough, often enough, to get to the top of the MAC East (yet, everyone will debate forever about how strong the division was this year).  

2) After the two blowout losses to Toledo, we also realizes just how much higher we have to climb to get to the top of the entire league.  

 

I will predict this: Football will now have the dreaded "expectations" going into next year.  And if we don't win the East again, the detractors will be back out.

 

 

I've commented on this previously, but I will repeat it here.

 

Without the injury problems, we're only potentially one WIN better than we finished this year (the road loss at Miami).  I don't see any other loss that would have reversed if we still  had a few more of those guys in the lineup.   And we still would have ended up as East Champs, and still would have lost to Toledo on Saturday.  So fortunately, nothing was really impacted by those personnel losses.  Every other team we played likely had key players missing too.  It's part of the game.  

Endorse.

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3 hours ago, skip-zip said:

 

I think what you're seeing is people looking at this from two different perspectives.

 

1) We finally played well enough, often enough, to get to the top of the MAC East (yet, everyone will debate forever about how strong the division was this year).  

2) After the two blowout losses to Toledo, we also realizes just how much higher we have to climb to get to the top of the entire league.  

 

I will predict this: Football will now have the dreaded "expectations" going into next year.  And if we don't win the East again, the detractors will be back out.

 

 

I've commented on this previously, but I will repeat it here.

 

Without the injury problems, we're only potentially one WIN better than we finished this year (the road loss at Miami).  I don't see any other loss that would have reversed if we still  had a few more of those guys in the lineup.   And we still would have ended up as East Champs, and still would have lost to Toledo on Saturday.  So fortunately, nothing was really impacted by those personnel losses.  Every other team we played likely had key players missing too.  It's part of the game.  

I think the loss of the big guy in the backfield really hurt. Ball was a real upgrade to the run game which statistically was pretty bad for the season. His presence would have helped Nelson or Woodson or whoever was at QB. It would have also helped a somewhat inconsistent O-line by giving defenses something they had to really respect. Now Bowden has to find a real threat at RB. And,he needs to shore up the O-line among other things. Hopefully,they will indeed have upgrades at WR. If he can find somebody,someway to 'coach up' Nelson,there should be improvement there. I am just not convinced that Milwee is the guy to 'coach up'  your QB's.

 

And,YES there will be expectations. Finally! Lets enjoy that!

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