Game #6 Ohio

[Hilltopper]

  Zipmeister said:

You guys should have been there. What a match and a huge crowd with the "free bullet to the first 5,000 in attendance" promotion.

Most importantly, no major injuries.

So that's the reason I can't find any .22LR ammunition for sale anywhere.

[dre22era]

Ohio University has made it to a Bowl Game the past 5 years.

If they can do it we can do it.

[Quickzips]

  zipsbandman said:

Quick, you're standing on the I-480 bridge. If you don't think we can win in football, what makes you think we can be this powerhouse basketball program? What other ingredients do we have besides KD? Basketball can tank just as easily as the football program can. KD won't be here forever, and we are way overachieving in that area (One bid league, dumpy gym, no ncaa wins, etc.). With that said, Wistricill is the guy who wrecked this football program and pretty much sentenced us to a decade in the basement. He screwed up the biggest hire in his tenure, and he should not live it down until the football program gets it right. We changed ADs because the guys we had previously got hired for better gigs. This guy is here because he cannot get a better gig. If you want a common denominator look there.

But those of you thinking that either dropping football or moving down a division is the answer think again. We would just become CSU south. If countless other Ohio schools can figure out a way to get it done, there is absolutely no reason we cannot. Maybe it is time for new leadership in the athletic department.

I don't believe I've ever stated that we can be a powerhouse basketball program. I think we can and have been a very good basketball program, but to say that we can be a powerhouse, which I define as a perennial sweet-16 team or better is a little unreasonable. However, we have been on a steady upward trend for about 8 years now, and I haven't seen any signs of that slowing down. Most of that is on KD as you stated, but the results are hard to deny. Especially when you start comparing them to football. Really, there is no comparison. Football hasn't had anything close to the success that the basketball program has enjoyed over the last decade. Comparing the two is apples and oranges.

I don't think the football team's lack of success can be entirely blamed on TW. There is no doubt that his hiring of Ianello was a mistake of absolutely devastating proportions but honestly, where were we before Ianello? In our best years we struggled to get to .500 when the MAC was at it's lowest point in decades with no top-25 programs and struggling just to find teams to fill our guaranteed bowl slots. Other than that we've been a sub-.500 ballclub basically since we entered D-I. There is nothing to indicate that a better coaching decision would have brought us any measure of immediate success, or that we would be in a significantly better position today with a different decision back then. Could we maybe be a 4 or 5 win a season program right now with a better coach 4 years ago? Maybe, but is that really all that much better than what we have now? 4-8 or 5-7 still isn't going to a bowl and it still isn't anywhere close to being a powerhouse in the MAC or relevant in any way on the national scene.

I know Toledo has had some success, and BG as well, and I saw what Can't did a year ago. So, I don't necessarily think it is a matter of us just being in the wrong area of the country. Like a lot of other things in life, it is just a combination of factors holding us back. A history of poor coaching hires (Faust, Ownes, Brookhart, Ianello), a lack of any meaningful tradition (please don't cite Heisman to me, the guy coached here for a couple of seasons early in his career over 100 years ago, that is hardly a tradition), decades of poor football, a dysfunctional administration, fan apathy. It all adds up to a program that is stuck in the mud and going nowhere.

And please do not read my initial post as stating that we should drop football or move down a division. My point was simply that people need to re-think their long term expectations for this program. You can't just look at NIU or Toledo or Ohio and see what they are doing in the same conference and say why can't we do that too? Nothing in this programs history gives any indication that we have the ability to achieve the levels of success that those teams have had. It takes more than 1 good AD or 1 good coach or a shiny new stadium to fix the problems with Akron football, and it isn't happening today, tomorrow, next season or any time in the next decade. There is no quick fix for the kind of bad that runs through every blade of artificial turf on Summa Field.

[legendofzippy]

A few have mentioned what Can't did last year. Look, that was one year. We had one good year a little while back. I'm talking about success on an on long-term basis.

I will agree that BG and Toledo have done a much better job. Maybe it's because they can pull from the Detroit area? I don't know their history as well.

I don't agree that it might just be bad luck. Akron has made some horrible decisions. It might take TB a lot longer to dig out from that than we hoped.

So...... when does basketball start?

[akronad]

Thankfully, we never made it in to the game (or what you call a game). Our tailgating group was having such a good time and with the rain, we just decided to stay put and listen to the game on the radio. It was a good thing that we had margarita jello shots to ease the pain. The mistakes and penalties killed us. It truly reminded me of the Ianello era.

I haven't given up on the Zips yet, but I believe there needs to be some restructuring of players and after the season a thorough evaluation of the coaching staff.

[Dr Z]

The Zips’ defense dealt with a severe loss against Ohio when defensive end C.J. James, who leads the team with six tackles for loss, didn’t play because of an NCAA eligibility issue. At issue is credits, Bowden said. “He’s practicing but it’s an eligibility issue that came up,” he said. “It’s not in our offices; it’s in the administrative offices. They’re talking to people and trying to figure out what the situation is. They’re trying to be cautious

source

[Captain Kangaroo]

  Dr Z said:

The Zips’ defense dealt with a severe loss against Ohio when defensive end C.J. James, who leads the team with six tackles for loss, didn’t play because of an NCAA eligibility issue. At issue is credits, Bowden said. “He’s practicing but it’s an eligibility issue that came up,” he said. “It’s not in our offices; it’s in the administrative offices. They’re talking to people and trying to figure out what the situation is. They’re trying to be cautious

source

I'm guessing the same whiz kids that screwed up the Harney/Treadwell paperwork last year got promoted to Football Operations?

[GP1]

  Quickzips said:

Like a lot of other things in life, it is just a combination of factors holding us back. A history of poor coaching hires (Faust, Ownes, Brookhart, Ianello), a lack of any meaningful tradition (please don't cite Heisman to me, the guy coached here for a couple of seasons early in his career over 100 years ago, that is hardly a tradition), decades of poor football, a dysfunctional administration, fan apathy. It all adds up to a program that is stuck in the mud and going nowhere.

I would disagree completely that Faust and Brookhart were bad hires. Faust won seven games in a year and at one point had some really good talent on the team. He had a huge name at the time. Brookhart won the MAC and at one point was one of the hot coordinators in the country when he was at Pitt. The problem with Faust was holding on to him for nine years. The transition to Owens wasn't all that bad either, but holding on to him for nine years was a mistake as well...once a second place coach, always a second place coach. If we didn't have a QB that turned himself into a junkie, who knows what might have happened to Brookhart. Ianello...worst hire in all college football ever. If anyone can name one worse, I'll listen.

Lack of tradition has made us a bad program. Teams that win tend to always win. Teams that are middling tend to always be middling. Teams that are good always tend to be good. Tradition leads to good recruiting. Good recruiting well leads to winning.

You call it "dysfunctional administration". I call it clueless. Clueless going back to 1986 and believing a D-1A team can win playing in the Rubber Bowl. Not a big fan of the "building process", but we were so far away from the competition in 1986, I can't believe none of the adults around UofA couldn't see it. It took us over 20 years to build a new stadium and on campus practice area. 20 YEARS! Ever year that went by during those 20 years added more and more weight to the sled the program was pulling. We are still pulling that weight. Yet, we continue to employ one of the people who heaped one of the heaviest weights on the sled in TW. Did I mention the administration was clueless?

I'm telling you guys, there is a book to be written about the UofA football program and bad decision making by a university. It would have to be a case study history book, because 25+ years of stupidity is hard to squeeze into a historical fiction book. It's one that other people would find amazing that it actually happened. For example, imagine you move to another part of the country and talk to someone about your school's football program. You tell them the story about how a coach like Ianello gets hired and fired in two years. They would understand that part of the story. Then the story would continue with the insanity part. They would look at you like you were lying when you told them that after two more years the guy who hired him is still employed in the same job and the football team only has two wins (zero agains I-A programs) since hiring the new coach. It's amazing to watch what goes on around UofA football from a distance. I think for a lot of Zips fans, it has become a normal part of being a fan. Like the saying, "The altered eye alters all."

[GP1]

  Dr Z said:

The Zips’ defense dealt with a severe loss against Ohio when defensive end C.J. James, who leads the team with six tackles for loss, didn’t play because of an NCAA eligibility issue. At issue is credits, Bowden said. “He’s practicing but it’s an eligibility issue that came up,” he said. “It’s not in our offices; it’s in the administrative offices. They’re talking to people and trying to figure out what the situation is. They’re trying to be cautious

source

How to solve this problem? Play the guy and limit the exposure.

What have we learned about the ncaa in recent years? Schools can screw up all day long and as long as they turn themselves in and show they are somehow changing themselves to avoid it in the future, nothing happens to them. Am I the only one that sees this obvious solution?

[MDZip]

  Dr Z said:

The Zips’ defense dealt with a severe loss against Ohio when defensive end C.J. James, who leads the team with six tackles for loss, didn’t play because of an NCAA eligibility issue. At issue is credits, Bowden said. “He’s practicing but it’s an eligibility issue that came up,” he said. “It’s not in our offices; it’s in the administrative offices. They’re talking to people and trying to figure out what the situation is. They’re trying to be cautious

source

Yes, but if we played him and he was found to be ineligible, we'd have to vacate all of the wins.

[LZIp]

christ...how hard is it to make sure a guy is taking the right amount of credits?

[Z.I.P.]

  MDZip said:

Yes, but if we played him and he was found to be ineligible, we'd have to vacate all of the wins.

God, I love sarcasm!

[Dave in Green]

This is ZN.o at its very best. Keep the great posts coming.

[Dr Z]

CJ James Update from George

Unfortunately for the Zips, there has been no word on senior defensive end C.J. James, who didn’t play last week against Ohio and still hasn’t had his NCAA eligibility issue cleared up. He is able to practice with the team, but cannot travel or play.

[Captain Kangaroo]

  Dr Z said:

He is able to practice with the team, but cannot travel or play.

At least the NCAA lets him do the fun stuff.

Allen Iverson would like this one single bit.

[UA1987]

  Dr Z said:

CJ James Update from George

Unfortunately for the Zips, there has been no word on senior defensive end C.J. James, who didn’t play last week against Ohio and still hasn’t had his NCAA eligibility issue cleared up. He is able to practice with the team, but cannot travel or play.

We miss James for sure, but I've been waiting for the right time to say something good about Albert Presley. He's been very fast off the edge and now he has a chance to take back his starting position and maybe get noticed by a scout or two.

[Dr Z]

  UA1987 said:

He's been very fast off the edge and now he has a chance to take back his starting position and maybe get noticed by a scout or two.

Fast off edge, needs work on run support / tackling technique.

[LZIp]

Central Michigan is up on OU 10-3 at the half. The same CMU that was stomped by Michigan 59-9. College football is weird.

[Lee Adams]

  MDZip said:

Yes, but if we played him and he was found to be ineligible, we'd have to vacate all of the wins.

[Lee Adams]

  LZip said:

Central Michigan is up on OU 10-3 at the half. The same CMU that was stomped by Michigan 59-9. College football is weird.

CMU,s RB has also put up over 170 yds. rushing by himself. Thats CMU,not BGSU,Toledo,Can't State or NIU.

[LZIp]

and ohio lost to central michigan lol

[LZIp]

how in the f did we lose to Ohio by 40 point. Can't is currently up 24-14 and I wouldnt be shocked at all if they win.

[Dave in Green]

Can't scored again, and OU apparently lost a point , so the score is now 31-13.

[MDZip]

  Dave in Green said:

Can't scored again, and OU apparently lost a point , so the score is now 31-13.

Most fun play of the game was a Can't State fake punt to a lineman who was lined up as an up back and who ran 60 yards including hurdling the Ohio return man. #MACtion Two mishandled punts earlier in the game. #NotMAction Can't State just went up 44-13. I agree, how the hell did OU beat us 43-3?

[GP1]

  MDZip said:

Can't State just went up 44-13. I agree, how the hell did OU beat us 43-3?

Confidence and momentum. They were riding pretty high when they played us as they were on a three game winning streak. They were on a two game losing streak going into last light. Not only had they lost two in a row, they lost them in a bad way.

OU Schedule with results YTD

When a MAC team goes south, they can land pretty hard.