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I think what is frustrating is that this program has made progress since Bowden took over. Shoot,where do you go from 1-11? That's history. But,at least some fans see that some of the same things that were happening in years 2,3 etc. are continuing to occur. That is especially true on the offensive side of the ball. The lack of consistency,the weak play of the offensive lines,the inability to consistently run the ball,the seeming inability to really develop a top notch QB like we have seen at other MAC schools,the lack of player discipline during the games and what many fans who have actually been attending a large number of games over the years see as a maddening inability to develop coherent offensive game plans. Make no mistake,without some of the really good defensive play that we have seen here over the past several years,this program would not have been in a position to go to bowl games or to a MAC championship game by relying on the offense. And yes,when we see over the years the consistent winners at NIU,WMU,Toledo,OU and now a program at UB that has been quickly turned around, fans wonder why not at Akron. Nobody expects a MAC champ every season. But,what they want to see is the ability of this program to play competitively against those top quality teams every year.

You mistake whining for asking for a better product. Do you go to the games? Have you seen the quality of players we are recruiting and how they are being misused? PJ Fleck was 1-11 his first year at WMU. By his third year he had them in a major bowl. Coaching matters and coaching has to be held accountable. Do you really think we should rejoice when we beat a Northwestern and then lose to a poor Miami? We struggle against inferior Kent and CMU while being destroyed by Buffalo. After 7 years I expect better. Let's stop making excuses for poor performance. If Lance Leipold (sp ?) at Buffalo can build a juggernaut in three years we can do it at Akron in seven with better facilities, recruiting base and support. It's not whining to expect quality in a program.

Huskies favored by 4.5. I have not watched an NIU game this year, but just looking at the stats (which is always a terrible idea) below, the teams seem very similar.

Here's a video I "captured" from a local TV show. I recorded it on my phone, so don't expect ,groundbreaking quality!!! http://www.ohiovalleysystem.com/video-1540835004.mp4

I’ve been quiet on the board recently while I finished my (2 month) deck project, but I’ve been keeping an eye on the ebb and flow of fan reactions (and processing my own). We have been to every game so far this season - Including the lightning-cancelled Nebraska kerfuffle. I’ve read and agree with a lot of the statements of HOPE - hoping our defense was good enough to keep us in games while the new faces on offense could get in sync; hoping that our recruiting classes would start to pay dividends in better depth when injuries arose; hoping that the Zips could put it together and have that magical season. And this season has already had several highs and lows. The defense is even better than anticipated and the offense appears to need more work to get in sync than initially imagined. Add injuries into the equation and it’s a brutal reminder that a football season can be as much about attrition as it is about the X’s and O’s. Early in the year, I shared the belief that our offense would eventually be better than last year because I felt like, while the new faces were inexperienced, the new parts appeared to be talented and potentially more dynamic as a group. Last year we lived and died by the deep ball and the big play and we lived more often than died (at least in conference play). I felt like this season we were a more well rounded group (they all had different skill sets) that would be better able to attack opposing defenses in ways we couldn’t last year. While we have lived and died by the big play (even though we’ve seen far fewer than last year), I still feel like we are better equipped to have offensive diversity and not rely on the deep ball to bail us out. I have seen glimpses here and there, but they still haven’t quite put it all together - as evidenced by our last place “Points For” ranking in the conference. AR has been through a similar situation in his high school career where they transformed to a truly diverse and complex offense that was hard to defend. It can happen - it takes some risk and there are some lumps, it requires trust from coaches and openness to collaboration - but it can pay off! We were also at several Spring and Fall scrimmages and, not that it was my personal preference, I could get my head around why the coaches started KN1 - he helped the team get to the MACC game last season, he’s shown potential and ability, and they rightfully expected that a young QB with half a season under his belt would get better with more live game reps. The first scrimmage in the Fall that KN1 was “benched” by TB for getting into a skirmish with teammates was a watershed moment for a few reasons. AR got his first reps with the 1s, and he stepped up in the scrimmage and showed that he could lead this team (went 10-14, 71%, 177 yards 3 Tds) - it was after this scrimmage that TB stated AR was “pushing” KN1 and we had a real QB competition on our hands. As we all know, game reps are king to the development of any player - and particularly at the quarterback position. The Morgan State game was the first live game reps AR had in two years. He threw a pick in that game which was a good decision, as far as where to go with the ball, but was under thrown allowing the safety to get over to the ball. In the Miami game, for the read option - RB and QB aren’t on the same page as far as whose taking/giving the ball. It wasn’t a deal breaker because it was in mop-up duty but just goes to show with every QB, you have to allow for time to acclimate. I’m not sure what’s in store over the remainder of the season and whether they will give AR a shot to play with the ones, get game-week prep in line with being the starter going into the game, etc. AR does bring a set of skills which helps an offense’s overall efficiency - the pace and rhythm with which an offense operates when he’s under center can be a difference maker. And even though he may not be perceived as “explosive” - he can be an effective runner, as TB has said. KN1 has demonstrated some nice things this year. However, I think he sometimes tries to protect the ball too much and it becomes a detriment. It appears that he mitigates the risk he sees on the field by pulling the ball down and running. I’d imagine the coaching staff has made it very clear they want the QB to take care of the ball and I think sometimes KN1 looks at a play and says, “don’t like it”, pulls the ball down and tries to get what he can with his legs. This “indecision” can manifest as him holding the ball too long (which I see as a common complaint) but I think it’s more about him trusting his legs more than his reads. However, today I saw something I haven’t seen a lot of. On one play KN1 kept his eyes down field instead of running. He climbed the pocket, and hit his guy over the middle of the field. So there’s room for both young QBs to grow and that’s the challenge: finding the guy that can make the plays that are there to be made. You’re going to take your lumps with both young QBs - all QBs to be honest. I watch a lot of QBs and even Rodgers throws some head scratchers from time to time. It’s the nature of the beast. I think coaching is mostly about risk mitigation. Most coaches are conservative to a fault realizing that a lot of games come down to who make less mistakes - as evidenced by the W/L ratio of teams winning the turnover battle. I would like to see the offense run more route concepts with a primary read to the middle of the field, running clear outs help the receiver get open - especially against cover 2. This has been effective - KN1 hit Dre on that type of concept a couple times today. I will continue to hope that our offense will find a way to gel, even though that may not prove out in the overall record, MACC or bowl game appearances. TL;DR: Offense is young. They will make mistakes but also grow. Go ZIPS! Fear the Roo!

I hope all of ZipsNation will show up this Saturday Night, November 3rd, to cheer our Zips on to victory and to celebrate our six 2018 senior, 5th year Zips Men’s Soccer players: Marco Micaletto, Ezana Kahsay, Morgan Hackworth, Ben Lundt, Abdi Mohamed, and Joe Korb. Many thanks guys! GO ZIPS!!!

A white out game? Seriously? I hope the maintenance crew has started painting the stands white.

Not taking anything away from 40's accomplishments, but, I think part of the Chips offensive game plan was to avoid 5. I think 40 made the most of his opportunities, and then some. Congrats to him!

Nearly 2 out of every 3 FBS teams (61.5%) make bowl games now. Making a bowl game use to be the benchmark of a good season, but now even 5-7 teams make bowl appearances.

Who wasn't even a Leipold recruit. He's obviously coached him up pretty well, but we'll see where they are when he's gone. I get what others are saying about stagnating, I do. But I think some are underestimating the depths we sank to. I'm really curious how we'll look next year.. We got to two bowl games with the most patchwork recruiting classes I've seen in CFB. Half have been transfers, and the other half were gambles on kids that didn't even have recruiting profiles. Which isn't the be all-end all with recruiting but the odds aren't great if that's all you've got. We're now setting a foundation and bringing in kids with offers from other decent schools. If next year looks the same, I might start to feel the same way. But at the same time, I'm pretty grateful that we're in a spot where a bowl game isn't that huge of a deal anymore to most.

I've heard from multiple sources that Nebraska's payment was originally scheduled for March 2019. So until that time I don't there's going to be much meaningful discussion on the topic. If there's no payment by next March, then things get more concerning.

I remember when JD Brookhart was hired in 2004 after Lee Owens actually had a winning season in 2003(I believe). JD took what was left of Owen's bunch(some of whom were really good,without Charley Frye) and added some solid pieces and managed somehow to win a MAC championship in 2005. A bunch of us were really excited about 2006. Some quality was returning and JD added what appeared to be some solid recruits(had a freshman all America). In 2006 they went to NC State and beat Chuck's boys if memory serves. But,that season while competitive never panned out. '07,'08 and '09 were disappointments also. They did go up to Syracuse one year and beat them. If they had beaten UB in the last game at the Rubber Bowl in '08 they may have won the division again. '09 even with the new stadium wasn't good. JD was gone. 6 years! Point being that some coaches have the ability to get a program to a certain level then things stall. We will know at the end of this season if that's where this program is at now.

What's pathetic is being content with a program that consistently finishes ~.500 with no signs of ever improving. We lost to Toledo twice last year by a combined 44 points and you're trying to say the talent gap between us and the top of the MAC isn't much? NIU, BGSU, and WMU all had runs of being a top tier G5 program. We have the best facilities in the entire MAC and are located in a recruiting hot bed. Why can't that be us? I'm not here complaining about the win. I'm glad to see the win regardless of score. My complaint is with his full body of work (35-47 overall, 23-29 in MAC). He's the second longest tenured coach in the MAC and every player on the roster he played a part in recruiting. Him inheriting a 1-11 program can no longer be an excuse.

If changes were made; you would just find something else to whine about.

? This was back when they also taught that the earth was flat.

Oh I know. Point being that we are all equally neglected and underappreciated

Did the folks at Cedarville get around to asking you to sign a paper stating that you believed the Earth is only a few thousand years old?

I think to "get to the next level" as a G5 school in this day and age takes either a fair amount of luck or recruiting violations. Tgere are a lot if kids spending 4 years on the bench or scout team who really should be playing G5 ball.

1. I love having the wagon wheel, but four straight wins over one of the worst teams in Div 1 would mean nothing if it wasn't Kent, we have just been extremely lucky that our rival has been abysmal for a while now. 2. Like you said, our team last year had no business being in the MAC title, I still don't understand how it happened. 3. That best record in our history is still only 7 regular season wins, that is a let down year for many programs. 4. As for the bowl win and BIG win, I am not a believer that a single victory should factor into a coaches resume too much. I can point out just as many losses in Bowden's regime that shouldn't have happened. I have seen many people here post their appreciation for Bowden bringing our program out of the gutter, but doubt that he can lead us to the next level. That is exactly where I am. I do not understand how you could possibly look at the Zips offense this season and think they are even adequately coached. If you want to say that the failures are due to youth and inexperience, then that is the coaching staffs fault as well. It is their responsibility to make sure that they have players that are ready to play. I was not happy with three straight 1-11 seasons, but that does not mean that I should now be happy with constant 5-7 win seasons. The problem with increasing the quality of a program is that expectations rise right along with it.

One thing a start-up can offer to recruits is early playing time. Potentially a four year starter gig if you're good and nobody better transfers in during your stint.

Actually Central Michigan has a very good pass defense - coming into this game the Chips ranked third in the nation in pass defense. In addition, Central Michigan's total defense (#40) was ranked better than Akron's total defense (#55) before this game.

Nope. Just been from the area my entire life.

That's about what they'd get from Kansas, Louisville or Kentucky. Just no cut to the AAU coach.

Akron still hasn't been paid per Crain's on 10/26. Per "Cathy Bongiovi, Akron's assistant athletics director for communications, said there was "no update at this time."" The trip cost the Zips $165,000.