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The most grating thing about watching Western is seeing them step up when it matters. Gameday came to town and their fans looked the part on National television. With all the distractions associated with that show, they dispatched Buffalo as they should have. Tonight, they dominated a pretty damn good Toledo team to seal the perfect record. They are not a normal MAC program. So many times, a MAC team stumbles when it matters most. Not these guys. Think of our Zips. Every time they get an opportunity to take the next step they fail. I take that back. They won the Potato Bowl last year. Or should I say, Jatavis Brown won the Potato Bowl last year. Without his strip and Coe's return, the Zips lose. But then again, the Zips probably lose 8-10 more games under Bowden if it wasn't for Jatavis. Thank God for the staff identifying his talent and bringing him in. I'm so freaking jealous. Why not Akron? What does Western have that Akron doesn't? Absolutely nothing. How did they catch lightning in a bottle with Fleck? These are the ramblings of a very frustrated Zips fan. I'm tired of losing. 4 wins better than the worst ever D1 coach ain't good enough. I will never understand how mediocrity can be acceptable to any fan. Excuses attempt to explain it away. That's what Zips fans do best. I'm not trying to call anyone out or put anyone down. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Watching WMU tonight just got on my last nerve. Congrats to them though. I hope their fans enjoy every drop of that Championship nectar.

I think there's a lot of room between messiah and inept that your hyperbole isn't accounting for

I do think play calling could improve. I can't stand stand the slow developing counter that gets stopped for a no gain at best. I think playcalling was a partial result of the defense. As for the talent, when healthy, we had a top 3-4 QB in the MAC, two of the best WRs in the MAC, a potential all conference RB, and potentially our best OLine yet, all of which were 1st year starters. I'm not sure there is any debating any of the above. Chapman, as good as some think he may or may not be, won 2/3 games he started this season. I think its pretty unfair to realistically expect a converted WR to win any games for you. I think we can assume Kato was a better option. Would it have been wise to burn his redshirt to potentially only play 1 game? I think most would agree that would have been an incredibly short sighted move. I'm not sure if I'm really seeing where point #3 is coming from. We literally played QB roulette every week from Kent St on. Both backups had severe limitations. The offense was constantly trying to play catch up because there was no confidence in the defense to stop anybody. I don't understand why Milwee is getting so much criticism. The defense is the one who under performed when healthy. Nobody was complaining when we dropped 65 on Marshall. I think clock management is more of a Bowden issue.That is one of my biggest issues with him. 2 minute drills never look good. I never see Milwee calling timeouts and I doubt he has the authority to determine if the offense should take a few shots or just kneel it to end the half. My opinion is that the biggest issues this season were lack of depth and injuries. I'd take a look at the recruiting coordinator and S&C coach before anybody. Probably moreseo the S&C coach as injuries seemed excessive. I would like to see recruiting improve, but also think lack of depth is somewhat understandable considering the program was essentially starting from scratch when TB took over. I think recruiting is improving. There are more and more young players every year who are contributing. We lose almost all of the D backfield next season, but have players like Davis, Brown, and Featherstone who look poised to step in. Jest might have been our 2nd best DT and he was a true freshman. There are some talented, young 3 star WRs becoming eligible next season. Should have the QB of the future already on the team. Finally looks like we are getting some nice RBs coming in. Wouldn't be shocked to see one of them take Edwards' spot as Ball's (praying he gets the medical redshirt) reliever next season. As low as I am on Edwards, I still think he's much better than a Hakeem Lawrence. The program has had 4 different OL coaches in 4 years. 2 of them left for promotions. The current one may be the best yet. We lost a DB coach to Louisville who took some decent recruits with him if my memory hasn't failed me. Otis Mounds has done a fine job replacing him. There are negatives, but there are also positives. I'm as disappointed on the season as anybody. I think I am pretty critical and have been pretty critical. I'm just trying to keep a level head, be patient, and look at the big picture but I'm sure it'll be written up as making excuses. Patience doesn't last forever though and next year this staff needs to deliver.

1. Awful playcalling. 2. Inept talent assessment. 3. Poor preparation. 4. Unacceptable clock management.

With this game, the difference between a win and a loss is about a 15-point swing in the RPI thanks to the tournament format and facing multiple common opponents. Win and we're in pretty good shape. Lose and we're on the outside of the NIT based on projections I have done here.

I don't think he's a bad coach. He's done a nice job. It's only been 2 years, though. Not a real good sample size. I wish him luck. I'm no hater. On the other hand, Houston has been good in the past. They have a great fertile recruiting ground. Western has gone to a place they've never been before. On top of this, and perhaps most importantly, I could give 2 squirts about Houston. I am green with envy over Western. Just to be real honest.

Bubba Arslanian, MLB from Aurora has been offered. Suburban League and Northeast Inland District DPOY. http://www.hudl.com/profile/4626977/bubba-arslanian

This has always cracked me up. I think the truth is that coaches get way too much credit for wins, and way too much blame for losses. The players on the field are the ones that have to block, tackle, complete passes, etc., or your team won't win. The coaches can't do that for them.

3 of his 5 seasons the Zips were 5-7. I'd say that's not much of a trend in either direction more so just hovering around mediocrity. I'm not saying fire him, but I do think he deserves to be on the hot seat. And I sure as hell don't think he is gods gift to Akron football as he really hasn't accomplished anything special in the larger grand scheme of things. Great Akron set a program record for wins, but we still finished 7th in the MAC last year and got sent to the least desirable MAC bowl. The fact that it took only 8 wins to set the program record was more a testament to how bad Bowdens predecessors were more than anything else. App State achieved double figure wins its 2nd year in FBS. We have top notch facilities and play in fertile recruiting ground. There is no reason why we can't consistently be a top 3-4 team in the MAC. We've yet to reach that point under Bowden.

4 out of Bowden's 5 seasons at Akron have ended with Akron having a losing record. I'd call that a trend.

And then tanked to 5-7 while getting spanked by buffalo and bowling green.

Sure

Watching good MAC football makes me sad.

I will still be blaming him 10 years from now, because that is how much he set us back. You also act like the only injuries we had were to are QB's. We lost 2 QB's, 2 RB's, 4 DL, and there were intermittent injuries on the O-Line and in our linebacking corp. At some point, no matter how deep a team is, that starts to take a toll. There are changes that should be made from an offensive scheme standpoint. If I see a 1st and 10 bomb, followed up by a 2nd and 10 bomb, followed up by a draw again I'm going to punch the person sitting next to me and blame it on iCoach.

#1: Same-rules overtime periods and PK shootout tie-breaker