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Jonathan Lewis is already making a difference for Louisville started and had an assist in Louisville's 3-0 win tonight

She probably didn't have the Zips game on one screen and the Buckeyes on the other.

Well, I can say I was there. The tailgate atmosphere was very good. Not many questions about our nickname, but one baited comment on Zippy. I thought of using the story that our University founder Buchtel was from Australia and he tried to start a kangaroo ranch here in 1870's, but the darn things kept knocking out the ranch hands. Instead I deferred to the lamer story that our mascot is a carnivorous marsupial native to Ohio and that is why we adopted the critter. Thankfully, no one knew Zippy is a girl. My nephew had a good idea in that we should wear kangaroo pouches to the tailgate, but I thought maybe we should just hand out zippers. Anyhow, their stadium was nice. It did remind me a bit of the Rubber Bowl or Cleveland's Municipal stadium as it was ancient, but the field was top notch and there were about 30-35,000 fans there and they were loud. On the way up in the elevator some NU fan said aloud 'are we going to kick their ass or what' and I leaned into the group with my Zips hat and said 'no Akron will win'. They backed off. Then the same NU fan commented something like 'who was that a coach or something' as I exited and the elevator doors closed. Weather an hour before the game - perfect. As Akron lined up early on, an NU fan I was with commented that Akron looked big on the lines. I said - 300 lbs at the tackles on defense and 300 lbs across the O-line. I had to endure all sorts of crap in the first half with comments like 'that's quite a well oiled machine you got there', as we committed an ungodly amount of penalties. Then the NU fan group near me started acting like they were at a craps table with screams of joy as our center #53 kept coming up with penalties. Despite the outcome so far this was a hard hitting game in the first half. Then all crap shook loose. You know the story by now. Many stars on the Akron side, but Brian Bell physically dominated for Akron. Lako was good too and of course so was Davis. I actually heard an NU fan say they liked our QB better than Thorson. At the end, our D was tired and I knew they were vulnerable. Many NU fans were exiting and I said 'there's 5 minutes left where are you going?'. I grabbed one loud mouth's arm and said 'if it makes you feel any better this could be our first Big 10 win ever'. Most of their fans were great though. To me, the greatest single Zips DIv I A play of all time was Hixon's catch against NIU in 2005, but this NU Zips contest was the best game of all time and I was there.

Got a few minutes this afternoon to give some restaurant advice. Already gave some to folks showing up today to watch the Browns game. I recommended Wallaby's to someone else on the site. Both my son and I thought it was the best place for them to watch the Browns game on Thursday night. It is probably our best sports bar. Classy place. Great artifacts on the walls. Really good food. Local owners. Our most famous place in Hickory Park BBQ. There is always a long line, but never as long a wait as you think. The place is much bigger than it looks. Great food and ice cream. It will be packed with football fans. Again, local owners. Another place I'm hearing good things about is Jethro's BBQ (across the street from Hickory Park). It is new and claims to be the largest sports bar in town. Tons of TVs. It is the Ames restaurant of a Des Moines chain. A non-BBQ, non-sports place is Aunt Maude's. One of our best restaurants. Brick City Grill is also nice. Reminds me of a neighborhood hangout in a nice urban neighborhood. Bar La Tosca on Main Street is a great Italian restaurant. Great bartenders. Two bar scenes. One on Main Street will have more young professionals. The other is Welch Avenue in Campustown will have mostly university students. Olde Main (downtown) is probably our best known brewery (with a full restaurant). But Torrent Brewing (just off Main Street) and Alluvial (north of town) are better, but with no food. El Azteca is great Mexican food prepared by local owners. Two locations (one near I-35/US30 and one on Stange just north of campus). Stomping Grounds is a great place for coffee, crepes, but also mid-day sandwiches. Classic, tiny old school diner is The Grove on Main Street. May be open only for breakfast. Probably packed on Saturday. Tip Top Lounge. A vintage place for chili and drinks to get your day started right. Seriously, about the only time I hear about it is when someone wants to do some pre-tailgating! West Side Pub (southwest corner of Ames) is operated by a huge Cyclone fan who even sponsors a break during each game. "Say it with me, 'We Love the Cyclones!'" Jeff's Pizza on Lincoln Way is the best in town. Great, unique recipes. Great Plains Pizza on Main Street is also good. Make sure to put honey on your crust. Our local Wing Stop franchise is owned by Seneca Wallace. Browns fans know him. If you don't know who he is, Google "Seneca Wallace and The Run." Let me know what you are looking for (or like from these recommendations) and I'll try to give you more info if needed. P.S. I apologize to the local places that I forgot to mention.

If this is who I think it is (same username as on Cyclonefanatic.com), he is an expert on Iowa beers. Valuable resource!

Weather should be ideal for the game. The trainers table on the field was busy in Evanston last week (by the way I swear I saw the Chest on our sideline at the NU game talking to injured players). I hope Jean-Baptiste is back. Three leg injuries and Bell was one of them, but he returned to play. Worried about a let down in Ames, but of course the coaches are on top of that. One thing in our favor is we played this team last year. Yes, they would seem to have the same advantage, but we have a new starting QB, developing receivers, and a senior laden defense that looked across the line of scrimmage at the Cyclones last year. Gildersleeve's conditioning and lifting program is paying dividends too.

A little insight into the ISU defense for those into reading about X's and O's: Running Dime as Your Base - A Lesson from the Big 12

"Iowa State receiver Hakeem Butler caught five passes for 174 yards and two touchdowns against No. 5 Oklahoma. Coach Bowden said if Oklahoma didn’t have a defensive back that could cover the 6-foot-6 Butler, he’s not sure his team does, either." I hope the answer to this question continues to be an effective/creative pass rush. I thought they did a nice job last week.

Keys to the game: Contain Montgomery & Butler Our D has come up big so far. If they can continue that Sat, Zips win. For 5 min the Clones ran over the Jacks before lightning intervened. The above stats came against big time opponents. Can we match those numbers? I think we can come close enough to win. We did pretty good with Larken, a quality back. Our secondary looked real good at open field tackling. Butler got a lot of yards after broken tackles. In addition, I can see some hard hits producing "alligator arms", shrinking Hakeem's catch radius. The biggest question will be, can our O of the last 2 quarters show up for the next 4 quarters?

Aodhan Quinn continues to have an amazing season. 2 goals last night in OC's 5-2 win

VCU 4 Old Dominion 0 (ODU was 4-1-1 before this game) W. Michigan 2 Green Bay 1 (Green Bay was also 4-1-1 before this game) Seattle 4 San Diego 0

Some interesting stats from GoZips.com heading into Ames: "In the NCAA statistics, Akron is the national leader in red zone offense (1.000). The Zips also rank No. 11 in rushing defense (81.0), No. 18 in turnover margin (1.00), No. 21 in redzone defense (0.667), and No. 32 in scoring offense (40.0). Individually, junior CB Alvin Davis, Jr.(Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) is No. 1 in interceptions per game (1.5), No. 1 in total interceptions (3), and No. 11 in passes defended (2.0). Senior LB Brian Bell(Valdosta, Ga.) is No. 4 in passes defended (2.5). Sophomore QB Kato Nelson is No. 13 in passing yards per completion (15.42) and No. 17 in yards per pass (9.43). Junior LB Josh Ward is No. 18 in sacks (1.00)."

while playing for Morgan Hackworth’s dad.

If you are going to the game, please be in your seat by 10:45am CT for the time of honoring Celia. Interestingly, they were going to honor her this week anyway as the Iowa State athlete of the year for last year!

Nebraska is planning on playing in the Big10 championship game

Most of us were introduced to new Zip Bryce Petersen by the referees on Saturday. But here is a nice story that perhaps explains why the coaches had faith in him to right the ship in the second half at Evanston. Seems like he'll be a solid lineman for the next three years.

... and unfortunately they did not win yet this season so there should be no level of overconfidence. The way I see it the Zips are playing with house money at this point. Everybody and their mother said the Zips would be 1-3 before the start of MAC play and we currently sit in a 2-1 worst case scenario.