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I’ve been pretty busy since I got back from Muncie, but here are a few observations after reading some of the most “shot-from-the-hip” commentary I’ve ever seen on ZNo: Ball State has quite a nice tailgating atmosphere. It was almost as if there were more people tailgating than those who eventually attended the game. Woodson’s 4 picks need no further attention in terms of their immediate and drastic impact on the 2nd half, but Amani Davis’s muffed punt was an incalculable momentum switch. Mizell had just leveled Edwards (it was even more impressive in person) causing the Zip sideline to erupt with much needed hope. All that hope was gone in less than 60 seconds. Maybe it’s time to stick Drew Philips back for punts and kickoffs. He looks very comfortable in that role. I’m tired of holding my breath when the other team is punting. Of course 4 INTs will kill your chances of winning every time, but Tyler Williams and Andrew Pratt simply have to catch those deep balls. The one to Williams was underthrown due to the strong headwind, but he made the necessary adjustment (the hard part) but dropped the ball (the easier part) as he was falling to the turf. Pratt’s ball was laid right into his hands – in fact I didn’t realize he hadn’t caught it until he stood up without the ball. With Hundley having another fine outing and DJ Jones willing and able to spell him, maybe it’s time to move Chisholm to slot receiver for the remainder of the year. He has better hands than some of the guys playing there and his speed just might provide somewhat of a deep threat. You could certainly see Woodson’s confidence rapidly erode with each new misstep. I could be wrong, but it’s hard for me to imagine him shaking this off any time soon. It’s a shame because he played a really good 1st half. At the risk of being branded a loser or a Bowden apologist, I can’t help but frame the Zips current 4-4 (2-2) record against the backdrop of 30+ years of D1 gridiron frustration. People generally like to see improvement in a linear fashion. Unfortunately, that’s typically not the case. Improvement in areas such as athletics tends to follow more of a “stock market like” ascent, with the temporary setbacks being difficult to swallow. The mysterious QB situation is concerning and hopefully things will be cleared up very soon in this regard. Regardless, this team has everything left to play for in 2014. I’m more than willing to see how things transpire before concluding anything about this season or about this staff.

Here are a few recruiting-related tidbits I recently stumbled across. Jacob Harrison, the 2016 QB recruit was offered early after a standout performance at the Zips summer Camp. Milwee apparently loves him, and Jacob likes the opportunity to be a passing QB in such an air-centric offense. Donterio Fowler and Jason Williams are both in Prep Schools and expected to enroll at UA next year. Matt Blaha, the 6' 4" 365 lb OL prospect recently spotted on the Zips sideline, is indeed walking-on with the Zips. Jerry Klue, the Medina/Northwestern DB...we hardly knew ye. He has already left the team. The "soft verbal" of Ronnie Hoggins is more porous than ever. Don't expect to see him in a Zips uniform. Shipman, Dixon, Dunkleberger and Jan Johnson remain solid verbals. The confirmed transfer list for the 2015 season includes: Jamal Marcus (Ohio State) TreVon Chapman (Ashland/Pitt) Larry Hope (Miami Fl) Rodney Coe (Iowa State) Donnell Alexander (Colorado State) Demarco Haynes (5' 8", 160lb WR - Northern Michigan) AJ Coney (Weber State) Travonte Junius is a 2015 grey shirt, as is K'von Wilson. Look for 6' 4" TE Josh McNeil at Tuesday night's BGSU game. This well-traveled, highly-recruited TE will be having an official visit with the Zips. Hopes are high that he'll be in the Blue and Gold next fall. BJ Bonner is another recruit high on the Zips list. Lunch time's over. Apologies up front for any typos. More updates will follow!

This is a game of Contenders vs. Pretenders. Confidence and momentum are a huge part of football. I doubt we have very much right now and I'm not sure we are capable of making the big plays on offense or special teams that gain it back. BG is going to be ready after losing badly to WMU and they aren't going to let the Zips, mired in mid season stupidity, off of their backs. Starting QB only difference in how bad the Zips lose next week. If a horrible BSU team destroyed us last week in Muncie. A good defending MAC Champion BG makes a statement to the rest of the MAC East and destroys us in Akron. BGSU 48 Akron 17

I hope this week mainly consists of the Zips offense practicing how to beat zone coverage. Use the 20 yard hole on the sideline. Run hard sharp curls. Use D'orazio to catch the ball instead of clearing. Use motion. If we practice that, we can win. If the Zips run the same plays as the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarter like last week against the zone...it won't matter if Hoyer is the QB. Any receiver that runs a curl Tuesday and doesn't come back to the ball should be benched immediately. Effective running plays can help dictate the coverage also. See Pitt game.

W if Pohl plays. L if he doesn't.

Generally speaking, conspiracy theorists are predisposed to see only what they want to see when they want to see it. They have an uncanny ability to tune out anything that doesn't fit with their preconceived notions. They tend to stick together in tight little cliques, shutting out the rest of the world as unworthy of consideration.

Wrong, Go listen to the MAC head coach's call. Sorry to disappoint the conspiracy theorists.

Condolences to the Peters family and all of ZipsNation who mourn his passing. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

A championship visit is still possible folks...don't give up so easily. The Zips are still in control of their own destiny.

I have been concerned with the offense for the last 20 games not just the last 2. I am extremely pissed right now because a golden opportunity just slipped through the Zips fingers. The team should be 6-2. Period. I just can't believe that it is on the kids that the offense can't perform like they should. I don't want to believe it. I think if the coaching staff stopped pulling back on the reins we could consistently score over 30 a game. Perhaps GP1 is correct and that's what the staff wants to do but they don't have a QB to run "Bowden Ball". But again, I don't want to believe that. The staff watched Kyle Pohl in practice through 11 games in 2012 before the handed the team to him after the first series in Toledo. If the staff had their reservations about Kyle's ability or that the offense would have to be dumbed down for him and still took Dalton out of the game. . .Well that's unconscionable to me. First of all because that was a winnable game and second of all that kept Dalton's name off the top of the heap for single season passing yards. (Yes, I love Dalton Williams.) Again, I don't want to believe that scenario is true. What I do believe, and I have no solid proof of this, is that we have fallen victim to the old "Defense Wins Championships" bullshit. Three yards and a cloud of dust is out the window. Back when teams lined up against each other and decided who could kick whose ass in tight formations, defense could win you the game. Not now. Offenses are way too sophisticated and they can not be shut down very often unless it's a total mismatch. In today's game, your defense needs to be good enough to get off the field so the offense can score again. Akron's defense is good enough to do this multiple times a game. You can have a good defense and still give up 30 points these days. Scoring is the name of the game. We are fooling ourselves if we think we can leave it in the hands of the defense, but it seems like that is what the staff is content to do. Another thing. Just because guys are getting on here and blowing off steam doesn't mean they are fair weather fans. Losing sucks. Show me someone who thinks losing is acceptable and I will show you a loser. It ain't all sunshine and lollipops after 2 bitter losses for me. Wish it were so. It's also not an unforgivable sin to question the coaching staff. I realize local media gives our coaches a free pass on everything, but if the Zips were in a power conference the talking heads would be all over the implosion of the last 2 weeks. It's not a bad thing to question the coaching decisions. That's what happens in big-boy athletics. No one here is calling for Bowden's head other than one tongue-in-cheek reference. Why is it that we turn on each other so much? there aren't enough of us to be at each other's throats all the time. I am sorry if I pissed anyone off. Just trying to get some points across.

My current frustration is not that the Zips are losing, but rather the new ways they are finding to lose. At the beginning of the season, if you were to tell me that the Zips would struggle as a road team, and only win two on the road all season, but only lose one at home, I would be happy. That's 7-5! If you were to tell me that the Zips started to turn the corner, but will have a mid-season slump, losing against teams with crappy records, I would have been as upset at the beginning of the season as I am now. I have come to expect a more consistent effort from Bowden and Amato. Buckzip, I don't think the title of this thread is intended as sarcasm. Our defense is FANTASTIC - giving their all every game, not making many mistakes, and I couldn't be happier with their level of play right now. This is one of the best Zips' defenses that I can remember. Our offense and offensive coaching on the other hand is making me sick to my stomach with all the turnovers, inconsistent play, limited play-calling, and puzzling personnel decisions. It is easy to think that I know better than the coach - if our winningest QB in years is healthy enough to play, he should play right? If he can't play, we know that his backup is turnover prone, so we should be running the ball more and more short passes right? Connor Hundley ran roughshod over a P5 school - he can handle the MAC right? We as fans get justifiably upset when we believe the coach has problems, and Ianello has made most of us twice-shy when dealing with coaching incompetence. The next 10 days, I just keep repeating to myself 'Bowden is not Ianello' and hope and pray for a convincing win over BG. This one game puts us in 1st place in the MAC east, and in charge of our own destiny for winning the division. This would be much easier to take if Bowden gave convincing explanations about Woodson, Pohl, and run vs pass playcalling.