Boca Raton Bowl–Zips @ Owls

[skip-zip]

1 hour ago, scottditzen said:

 

Hmm. You just gave me a brilliant idea....

 

RUBBER DOME. 

 

You may not recall some of my previous posts about this over the years.  But back in our Akron student days, several of us came up with the name CONDOME

[skip-zip]

3 hours ago, FAU_dad said:

Earlier in the day yesterday it was reported by credible sources (Brett McMurphy and other sites) that we were going to be in the Boca Bowl against Temple (AAC). 

 

Could this explain how we ended up in this bowl unexpectedly?

 

Temple was being discussed yesterday as either Boca or St. Pete.  When they got St. Pete, then a spot opened up in Boca for us?

[FAU_dad]

I would think so.  The pecking order for AAC would usually be something like Liberty -> Birmingham -> St. Pete -> Boca (they have others, just using the ones I know).  When UCF got a New Year's game in the Peach, Memphis went "up" to Liberty, USF to Birmingham, etc.  The Boca Bowl tie-ins are CUSA and AAC.

[clarkwgriswold]

Wait...it's on a TUESDAY NIGHT?  The MAC are the masters of Tuesday night football!  Take the Zips plus the points!!!!!!

[Z.I.P.]

LITTLE bit of a problem with the Boca Burger Bowl's merchandise kick-off!  Check out the name of our university!  I tweeted to them how much this will infuriate many UNIVERSITY OF AKRON fans! 

http://www.shopbocabowl.com/shop/view_product/Akron___Navy?c=1932953&ctype=0&n=9667323&o=0

[zipsoutsider]

7 minutes ago, Z.I.P. said:

LITTLE bit of a problem with the Boca Burger Bowl's merchandise kick-off!  Check out the name of our university!  I tweeted to them how much this will infuriate many UNIVERSITY OF AKRON fans! 

http://www.shopbocabowl.com/shop/view_product/Akron___Navy?c=1932953&ctype=0&n=9667323&o=0

 

Wow

[ZippyRulz]

I will just have to get a MAC East Champs shirt on the GoZips.com team shop instead.

 

[skip-zip]

2 hours ago, Z.I.P. said:

LITTLE bit of a problem with the Boca Burger Bowl's merchandise kick-off!  Check out the name of our university!  I tweeted to them how much this will infuriate many UNIVERSITY OF AKRON fans! 

http://www.shopbocabowl.com/shop/view_product/Akron___Navy?c=1932953&ctype=0&n=9667323&o=0

 

I sure hope that's a design sample, and they have not been printed.  

 

It's not just us.  Our leaders will definitely have something to say about this.  

[NWAkron]

Just "Akron Zips" would be just fine 

[zippy5]

I get FAU fans being a little bummed. Imagine if there was a Rubber Bowl (heh) that we were placed in. Just wouldn't really have the same feel playing in the same place. Let's hope the FAU players aren't up for it either

[Z.I.P.]

Just for comparison, the University of Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors also have a "home bowl", the Hawai'i Bowl and they are always disappointed when they miss their chance to play in it.  The UH has only once in history played in a different bowl game, while playing in the home Aloha or Hawai'i Bowls on double-digit occasions.  I don't get why FAU wouldn't want go play in front of their home fans.

[zippy5]

Hawaii is a bit of a different situation. FAU would still get a decent amount of fans in St Pete. Hawaii's only close option is... Hawaii

[Blue & Gold]

ABJ: Zips will play Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton Bowl

[ZippyRulz]

Groundhog day?

 

http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/odds/las-vegas/

 

Open at 17, bet up to 22. The Kiffinites would do well to look at what happened in the MACC game and note that we won the 2nd half.

 

 

 

Edited December 5, 2017 by ZippyRulz

[3rd&twenty]

11 hours ago, skip-zip said:

 

I sure hope that's a design sample, and they have not been printed.  

 

It's not just us.  Our leaders will definitely have something to say about this.  

I'm late on this, but I assume it said Akron U? If so, someone's been listening.

[skip-zip]

4 minutes ago, 3rd&twenty said:

I'm late on this, but I assume it said Akron U? If so, someone's been listening.

 

Yep.  

 

Z.I.P. said he contacted the bowl, and I did the same.  In fact, I just got back a message from someone saying that it should have been approved by licensing, and they are going to tell them to take down that image.  

 

EDIT:  Ok, I see that they've already changed it. 

Edited December 5, 2017 by skip-zip

[Dr Z]

Here is a November article about FAU's offense. Can an FAU fan give their opinion as to how accurate this is?

 

Their passing game is baaaaaad. The Owls’ passing S&P+ is 111th in the country. They started with Daniel Parr at quarterback, but they moved up Jason Driskel. Driskel has also not been effective, nor is he a very sophisticated runner. How are they doing this without a passing game and without an elite running quarterback? They play faster than anyone in the country (No. 1 in adjusted tempo), they have the best running back that you’ve never heard of, and their offensive line is a bunch of maulers. The running back: Devin Singletary. The sophomore running back is averaging 160 total yards per game, and he is special.One aspect about the Kiffin offense that I’ve loved is that he has a pretty small base package of plays that he runs very often at high speeds, but every base play has a followup. If there’s a jet sweep, there’s a jet-sweep reverse. They don’t mess around. They get to the line and snap the ball. The running game is built on playing with tempo and fooling the eyes of linebackers and safeties. The passing game is built on creating easy throws for Driskel. It felt like 50 percent of all their passes were different styles of screen pass. Even the Owls’ defense has gotten in on the act: The Owls have picked off opposing quarterbacks a nation-leading twice per game!

 

I wonder how coach Amato and coach Stroud will handle the Owl's offensive tempo? They like to do a lot of mass substituting and that may not seem possible against this offensive style. 

 

------------------------------------------------------

 

University of Akron students will receive two (2) free bowl tickets with a valid University I.D.  Students must call or text the ticket office to reserve a ticket. They must also provide a student I.D. number.  Additional student tickets may be purchased for $20 each. Student tickets will be held for Will Call pick up from the Akron table on the day of the game.

[zipsoutsider]

24 minutes ago, Dr Z said:

Here is a November article about FAU's offense. Can an FAU fan give their opinion as to how accurate this is?

 

Their passing game is baaaaaad. The Owls’ passing S&P+ is 111th in the country. They started with Daniel Parr at quarterback, but they moved up Jason Driskel. Driskel has also not been effective, nor is he a very sophisticated runner. How are they doing this without a passing game and without an elite running quarterback? They play faster than anyone in the country (No. 1 in adjusted tempo), they have the best running back that you’ve never heard of, and their offensive line is a bunch of maulers. The running back: Devin Singletary. The sophomore running back is averaging 160 total yards per game, and he is special.One aspect about the Kiffin offense that I’ve loved is that he has a pretty small base package of plays that he runs very often at high speeds, but every base play has a followup. If there’s a jet sweep, there’s a jet-sweep reverse. They don’t mess around. They get to the line and snap the ball. The running game is built on playing with tempo and fooling the eyes of linebackers and safeties. The passing game is built on creating easy throws for Driskel. It felt like 50 percent of all their passes were different styles of screen pass. Even the Owls’ defense has gotten in on the act: The Owls have picked off opposing quarterbacks a nation-leading twice per game!

 

I wonder how coach Amato and coach Stroud will handle the Owl's offensive tempo? They like to do a lot of mass substituting and that may not seem possible against this offensive style. 

I heard Detweiler say that the Zips have been very successful in shutting down one dimension offenses. If the above is the case,  we have a much better chance against FAU than we did Toledo. Might be more like playing Western or even Ohio, where we got in Rourke's head, early. We do not have to shut down the run, just stop it enough to force 3rd downs. Back to bend but don't break.

[Solarplanet]

Hi guys. I'm an FAU fan that's watched all of our games and seen the progression of our team through the season. This is correct in that our running game is substantially better than our passing game. Some teams have tried to shutdown our run by adding an extra safety but it hasn't really worked yet. I think lane understands this so we've been emphazing our passing game all season. And I would agree that we do still lean on our running game, but every week our passing game continues to make huge strides. I think that article is from early November? But since then our passing game has improved dramatically. We don't make many passing plays, maybe 20 the whole game, but our completion rate in November has been 80% or higher. We also rarely throw interceptions - Just four the entire season. Our tempo is killer. We move way faster than the chain crew (they usually run to catch up). This one time we ran 4-5 plays and scored in less than 30 seconds, just imagine how fast we are. And I think what makes it so hard is our offense has a lot of moving parts and trick plays. I think a good way to watch that offense is to look at our conference championship game last week. 

[Zipmeister]

1 hour ago, ZippyRulz said:

Open at 17, bet up to 22. The Kiffinites would do well to look at what happened in the MACC game and note that we won the 2nd half.

I think the odds makers may have focused more on the fact that the Zips have made a habit of playing only half of many of their games.

[skip-zip]

I have also heard the radio comments claiming that we've stopped one-dimensional offenses.   But if OU is the example, they rushed for 282 yards, at 6.6 per carry, and put 34 points on the board.   We were fortunate to score 37 that night, which was very unexpected. 

 

So, right now I'm thinking a lot more about what we can do to score near 40 points, rather than resting my hopes on containing an FAU offense that's been scoring a lot of points consistently.  

 

 

[clarkwgriswold]

Generally, if a team's specialty is shutting down one dimensional offenses, the defense is not very good.   I gave up on Brad Detwiler's analysis when he tried to explain to me during the Penn State game that the real difference between the top teams like PSU and teams like Akron was in depth, not in the quality of the starters.  At the time, the Zips starters were down 42-0 to the PSU starters.

[ZippyRulz]

14 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

I have also heard the radio comments claiming that we've stopped one-dimensional offenses.   But if OU is the example, they rushed for 282 yards, at 6.6 per carry, and put 34 points on the board.   We were fortunate to score 37 that night, which was very unexpected. So, right now I'm thinking a lot more about what we can do to score near 40 points, rather than resting my hopes on containing an FAU offense that's been scoring a lot of points consistently.  

 

Scoring a lot is a risky strategy since we tend to give up a lot of yardage on the ensuing kickoffs.

 

[skip-zip]

1 hour ago, ZippyRulz said:

The Kiffinites would do well to look at what happened in the MACC game and note that we won the 2nd half.

 

I'd think that it would be foolish to think that they might take us more seriously by asking them to only watch what happened in the 4th quarter, and ignoring the events that put Toledo up 38-0 in the first 2-1/2 quarters of the game.  

 

And It's probably also foolish for us to try to make a big deal out of what we accomplished in that game long after it was decided, and Toledo had taken their foot off the gas.  

[zipsoutsider]

2 minutes ago, clarkwgriswold said:

Generally, if a team's specialty is shutting down one dimensional offenses, the defense is not very good.  

I think for most G5 schools, this is not that uncommon. Exceptional defense's, like our 2015 squad, could do both.

 

What made Toledo different is that they had an exceptional QB and  A high caliber receiver, coupled with a strong running game. The closest thing we saw that was similar, all year in the MAC, was, perhaps, Miami, but they are not in the same league, at all with Toledo.

 

The speed does not concern me. It's a lime BGSU from 2015. I think we can adjust to that and we have enough depth to keep up.

 

Ohio did put up a lot of points, and we put up a surprising amount of points, too. 

 

Bottom line, I do not see DAY on par with Toledo and I think we have a better shot, if Kato can manage to complete passes. This rests on him and the WRs.

 

On a side note, I thought the run looked better against Toledo and would liked to have seen us go to it more. I understand d we were behind, but it would have helped give the D a breather, too.