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The Section 210 family Christmas tree is up and ready for an early present on the 19th

My wife was the one who decorated it and made the Z. ........... but my wife also chose the fight song for our wedding recessional and gave me a blue and gold wagon wheel with a name plate that says on 8/15 we tied the knot and kent state still sucks. It took me awhile to find Ms Section210Zip but she was definitely the right one

Let's all play nice I've enjoyed the FAU visitors. They have been mostly respectful. I think we would have similar feelings looking at stats, records, conference championship results, and point spread if we were in their shoes as well. Same thing I said before OU. We play the game for a reason!

I wouldn't be surprised to see Lolla leave Louisville. The money train that was feeding the soccer program there went off the tracks when the Addidas story hit.

Stop it

I don't understand the negative feelings towards Lolla. He hasn't made any disparaging remarks about UA, and his teams are yet to get the best of us when it matters in the NCAAT, quite the opposite. Lolla was burnt out and frustrated here. Why would we want him to stay if he no longer believed in the program and/or university? Besides, his leaving made way for Porter to take the program to new heights. As with KD, it was just Lolla's time to leave. Such transitions don't have to come with harsh feelings, and both programs are better off because of the leadership changes. Now, if you make the argument that playing and beating Louisville is interesting and exciting because of the story-line involving Lolla, I get it. I just don't see it as personal.

Last night, I showed this to my wife, as an example of what our Christmas Tree should look like next year. She disagrees.

Just a word about Groce's use of the zone defense. As Ham implies here, he loves using it on occasion to throw the opponents offense off balance. If you see a lot of zone defense in a game, be concerned. It means we do not match up well against our opponent. Illinois was without a solid point guard for much of Groce's time there (long story), and as a result we had to play a ton of zone defense just to keep the opposing point guard from driving the paint all day. This year the Zips have a mature, physical point guard in Malcolm Duvivier, so I'm confident he will be able to lock down the front porch. Next year with 2 young point guards you might see more zone.

Last! My prediction of a West Coast breakout in the early rounds was woefully off ... Z.I.P.'s bracket was amazing, and would have won the bigsoccer contest also, where a lot more soccer experts threw their hats in the ring ...

Did you pat yourself on the back after posting this? nobody cares for these "fun-facts" because you're basically painting the picture that Akron-Sucks, FAU-is-Awesome, with some apologetics mixed in...on a Zips Forum. Cool. Seriously who cares about any of these stats other than FAU fans?

The banner that UAZipster0305 mentioned.

The Zips played Creighton and Gonzaga before the MAC schedule last year which are superior to anything this year, but I prefer the UT schools, App State, UPFW and the rest over the likes of Coppin State, Mercer, Radford and Adrians that were on last year's schedule.

This is such a weird year that I don't know if you can even compare schedules. For one, I'm sure some of the games were already scheduled before KD left, and two, Groce got a late start and slots were mostly filled across the country. I'm curious to see what next year's looks like

By referring to Kent as Can't, you're doing more than just pandering; you're helping all of humanity. Excellent insight on Groce's use of the zone. I've never understood using just one type of defensive scheme, as most teams don't just use one offensive play or scheme. As previously mentioned, the 1-3-1 is particularly interesting as it's not used as often by teams, and when you set up in a 1-3-1, everyone from above can see you're in a 1-3-1; it's a very definitive formation. Does Groce prefer the 1-3-1 to the 2-3, 3-2, or other zone formations?

I agree with this. He did us a big favor by leaving. Commenting that it couldn't be done at Akron [winning a National Championship] when he left is reason enough to like defeating his team. There is more to it than that, though. I'll say that he is not the same gentleman now that he was when he left Akron and leave it at that. However, I will say that I had no issue with the Louisville fans or players. I wish them the best.

We know all about your offense and your coaches, but they can't score on the bench. I'd also give Amato authority to use 2 of 3 time outs each half if available. Our spread is not good at ball control, but it can be done with slant passes, screens. RPO's, a decent run game, and a controlled mid-range passing game into open pockets given up by FAU. Keep the Owls offense off the field.

Exactly. I hate an all game zone, like Syracuse. You could see when the Zips switched over to it against App State that the App State players had an initial "what the hell is this?" reaction for a possession. I think the 1-3-1 also tends to throw teams due to its little use by teams and it being conductive to traps.

Thanks Connoisser....my comment was made tongue-in-cheek...

??‍♀️

I count 2 real cupcakes on the schedule in MSVU and Concord. Maybe half of what has been there in recent years. Considering the timing of both cupcakes (right before finals and ending OOC), and especially the make up/expectations of our team this year, I have ZERO issue with it.

It's the, "We're too good for you attitude that rubs us the wrong way. Clearly, you aren't. If you want to play a more prestigious team, get a respectable LOC schedule. That's out point. You haven't played anyone serious.

How about Pok-E-man? I did see that first 12 footer by Pok-E-man last game and got all excited. It's just the start of things to come from all of our bigs.

Graduation is Saturday, so the U is putting together a special graduation for players, band members, cheer and dance, and other kids involved with the bowl game for this Wed. Well done, UA. Matt Wilson can stick around for a while and no one would be upset. Notice, no having to beg for money to get the band to the bowl game this year.

Beautiful

I guess I see things a bit differently. Most of the goal celebrations I recall at Akron were either in front of the Rowdies on the northeast berm (which happens to be in front of the opponent's fans, but the players were facing the Rowdies) or in front of our fans along the berm to the west of our bench. I like to see our team celebrate with our fans, allowing their fans to share in their success. That's why I love sitting in the front row as opposed to being high up in the stands so far from them. I don't see the point in celebrating in the face of the other team's fans. I certainly didn't see our guys do that in Louisville nor did I want them to (as much as I would like to be in Lolla's face).

I agree with you on all of this. This is exactly how I feel right now. Our bowl win 2 years ago didn't grab any headlines outside of Akron. This one would. That's exactly the kind of opportunity I want for us in a bowl.

I remembered seeing that. I think it was in UA's game highlights. I agree that it was a classic. I wish I could see it again sometime.

After watching the FG at the 2:12 mark in the video, I no longer like our chances. Clearly you guys use witchcraft, at least in your kicking game. I also haven't heard whether or not our delayed draw play has been removed from the playbook yet.

Let’s just play the game, good luck to FAU but I don’t give a ? about any of that ?, you won 10 games & have coach with a name so you are getting some love, you beat nobody, Troy beat LSU & Toledo won 11 games an hung with Miami, had a bad game against Ohio We haven’t done ? yet, maybe it starts on December 19th GO ZIPS ?

At the beginning of the year: no. But after seeing Groce's offense and how the big men are coached, this doesn't surprise me. There is a lot of off-the-ball movement, back cuts, and slip screens that lead to easy points in the paint. Additionally - as I've mentioned in other posts - the strength at which our forwards go up is terrific. EMan has really found himself in a good situation all of a sudden, seemingly always finding the space behind the defense to get open. As Clark stated, his effort is nothing short of awesome. I will NEVER get upset with Olojakpoke as long as he's pouring in the constant effort we've all seen thus far. Keep it up! On a side note, this is the second MAC East Division Player of the Week honor for a Zip in this young season. That's promising.

The thing I like best about Poke is that he gets it all out of effort. Don't get me wrong, he's a freak raw athlete with his size and jumping ability, but it is obvious that the game is relatively new to him and does not come naturally. He counters that "awkwardness" by just pure effort, hard play and soaking in all he can from the coaches.

I would have never of guessed him to win this award before this week. He played 42 minutes of fantastic basketball. That being said, the Zips will need for him to play smarter and avoid constantly being in foul trouble if we are to succeed this year. We are thin all over the place and as the saying goes, your best ability is your availability.

E-Man all the way. If you walked up to him and called him poke, I doubt he would respond. E-Man or just E.

Don't teach him the handshake until he pays his dues. I'll message him with the address to send the check.

Thanks. I agree with this. It has been insulting to imply that FAU is too good for Akron. We have more losses, but they were to Penn State, very good Iowa State and Troy teams, and with a R-FR on only a couple of days of practice as the starter, and an high quality Toledo team. We lost to Troy in the last minute of the game. We are better than our record shows. We are clearly not an elite MAC team yet, but we have improved all season long. If we are honest, there is a lot of interest in a Kiffin v. Bowden bowl game and that is why we are playing each other.

You're officially one of us!

This is a huge get for us. I've seen RJ play many times and he is a superior lineman. He has the size, strength, speed and smarts to be a a three year starter for us. I could even see him starting four years if he redshirts his freshman year. Congrats to our coaching staff. We will have to work hard to keep him from decommiting as he is the type of kid we need to upgrade our talent level. Thanks coaches. Keep at it.

http://www.hudl.com/profile/2010204/rj-kelly