MDZip

Not a believer yet. Their three league victories are over EMU, Buffalo and Bal State who have a combined one league wn. I'll wait for the tougher part of the schedule to go by before I crown their ass. They still have OU, Miami, BGSU and WMU on the schedule. Their only "easy" game left is Akron and I wouldn't rule out a Zips victory there either. That's why I think they are a bit of a mirage. I'm saying it now - "No (soup) bowl for you!!" After a few weeks and seeing almost all of the teams, this is my expected order of finish now. East 1. OU 2. Bowling Green (in addtion to scond half dismantling of the Zips, they played Toledo awfully tough and I think Toledo looks like the best team in the MAC). 3. Miami (solely based on Zac Dysert) 4. Can't (by default and have played none of the teams I have listed above them) 5. Akron (we beat CMU and Umass I believe) 6. Buffalo (has the worst MAC west draw, Toledo, NIU and WMU - and have yet to play any of them - ouch) 7. UMass West 1. Toledo 2. NIU 3. WMU 4. Ball State 5. CMU 6. EMU

Think you may be a little premature on that pronouncement. WAC Standings UTSA 1-0 5-0 Idaho 1-0 1-5 Louisiana Tech 0-0 5-0 San Jose State 0-0 4-1 Utah State 0-0 4-2 Texas State 0-0 2-3 New Mexico State 0-2 1-5

Six games left and four of them are against the current top two teams in each division (though Can't is a bit of a mirage). Better beat either UMass or CMU. If we can double our win total each year for this and the next two years, (2-10, 4-8, 8-4) I'll be happy considering the mess this program was just last year.

Defense certainly showed up in the first half. Nice long FG from Stein for a 10-0 halftime lead. Always bemoan the missed chances (fumble on the 4) but as long as they don't come back to bite you... Great job, defense.

Here you go.

And even though it doesn't have anything to do with Miami, another mention in a national publication, this time in SI.com. The last one almost certainly doesn't happen without Terry Bowden and this one obviously doesn't occur without him. Ohio State Buckeyes (5-0) This week's matchup with Nebraska is probably the toughest game left on Ohio State's schedule. If the Buckeyes win, it may be time for all their beat writers to drive to Akron to ask Zips coach Terry Bowden about his 1993 Auburn team. Don't remember those Tigers? Facing NCAA sanctions thanks to the previous regime, Auburn went undefeated and couldn't play for anything at the end of the season.

I'd agree with that but that caveat is that those schools would all probably want a 1-1 and if you have one money game where there is no home return visit, then you need to counterbalance that with a game where there is no away game (and FBS schools have been willing to do that) otherwise eventually you'd run into a situation where you could only have 5 home games and 7 on the road. Otherwise I'd agree there wouldn't be a need to have any crossover.

The Zips got a mention in Gregg Easterbrook's Tuesday Morning Quarterback column on ESPN.com. This weekend, the New Orleans Saints gained 474 yards, the University of Tennessee gained 478 yards and scored 44 points, Virginia gained 625 yards, the Akron Zips gained 629 yards and scored 49 points, NC State gained 664 yards. And all lost, because in the era of Xbox Offense, they didn't score enough.

Playing the "big boys" is good for both the players and the fans, assuming you are not completely out of your league. A schedule of nothing but teams that we are competitive with (like an FIU and UCF) out of conference will not help to raise the national profile at all. In 2014, where I believe we could be getting good, we go to Penn State and Pitt. Knocking off the two of them in the same year (regardless of how good they end up being) gets you some national attention, beating the likes of ECU, UCF, Fresno St and Troy in the same year might be a more impressive accomplishment but not in "Joe Akron's" eyes. So I stand with I am OK with one "money" game, one "buy" game of an FCS school, and then 2 1-1's with schools of "equal" value (non-BCS or lower level BCS). I really like the fact that the two year series with Pitt is a 1-1 (of course history shows sometimes that the bigger schools will buy that second away game out, but at the moment, I think that's great). So non conference I'd love to see something like, "buy" a Youngstown State, get a "money" game at Georgia, get a 1-1 with say, Troy and Iowa State (whom we do have coming up in 2018).

Let's see, since the question came from you, and Biletnikoff played for Florida State in the early sixties, I'm going to guess, Bobby Bowden?

I had a ball at the game on Saturday. The tailgating group is larger, the crowd was into it, there was hope and optimisim. Yes, the outcome was disappointing, but you have to believe the team is getting there. Our defense was even worse last year with effectively the same personnel (and we lost our leading tackler with a year of eligibility left. Man, I wish Brian Wagner was still here, not even so much to help shore up the defense - which I think he would have - but just to give the kid one solid year of fun playing - oh well, water under the bridge). The Zips will pull off at least a couple of conference wins this year. Altogether a fun Akron football experience and the only other time I can say that was the day the stadium opened in 2009. Funniest comment from the Miami board: "Charlie Coles is reading this score and is wondering how Miami could score so many points on the road at Akron. How did Dambrot let that happen?" And as an aside the soccer game was a great ending to the evening, I've never seen a game that one-sided. 4-0 and the Zips had 12 shots on goal and 12 corner kicks. The Bulls had none of each. At one point, after Scott Caldwell (I believe) dribbled through three Bulls, one poor Bulls player not involved in the play screamed at them "For God's sake, suck it up, there are three of you!" ).

I am getting the same feeling with Coach Bowden that I did with Coach Porter and Coach Dambrot, I just trust they know what they are doing. If Bowden sees an opportunity to fill a hole or pick up a great athlete even for a year, he'll do it to plug some gaps until his whole system has time to take root. It's not a process, it's a win now and win even bigger later philosophy. Our record would probably be the same right now had we picked up Winters or any other coach, but I don't think I'd have the same feeling of real, quick and efficient progress being made. Last year I'd come to games to support the Zips and with only the tiniest hope they could somehow pull off a miracle upset, this time I legitimately believe they have a chance to win (and they do). This from what was arguably the worst team in all of FBS last year. That's some amazing stuff.

I will be bringing in some National Bohemian (not great, think the Iron City of Baltimore, but wanted to add it to the list) and some Arrogant Bastard since that's what we should be becoming.

Kind of a cool Bottom 10 this week. First, even after the Tennessee loss we are only on the waiting list. Second even though there are two MAC schools on the list, the MAC got a little love for the four BCS upsets: "Top Chef": Sharpen your knives and enter the Bottom 10 kitchen. Today's special: a Big MAC sandwich with all the fixings. Mix in a little Hawkeyes, Jayhawks, Bulls and Huskies and bon appetit. Knock off Miami and sprinkle a few more wins in and I think we're off this list for quite a while.

The record for receptions in a season is 86 by Jabari Arthur (page 86). On his current pace, Suel would have 96 at seasons end.

Only one touchdown. My apologies. :-) God, it's good to have the Anti-nello coaching for us. I genuinely feel bad for Kansas. They are looking at last place with that Algonquin Round Table in charge.

I'm very excited this is the weekend I selected to come and see the Zips play (thank you schedule makers for combining it with a Zips soccer game). I really believe they can beat Miami, but even if they don't happen to I know it will be a great game and great fun to watch. Add in a happy tailgating group and I haven't been this excited about Zips football since 2005. By luck or design we have acquired not only a great football coach but a great leader and molder of young men. For this year how could you possibly ask/expect anything more? Coach Bowden - thank you!

Shoot, we added Umass. didn't we?

Its only as associate members in wrestling but with Missouri leaving the Big-12 and the SEC having no wrestling (or soccer, no wonder those guys do so well concentrating on football ), they decided the MAC was their best option - kind of like WVU joining in soccer. Akron should really bring back their team.

We knew we'd be off this week because of the win but there is only one MAC school listed. Been quite a while since that has been the case, and we could still pop back on next week but hopefully very soon, this list will be far in the past for us.

Well at the very least, he is coaching somewhere else.

But my favorite quote from the article Quote To Note: “There was room for something big to happen. I thought it was the right time for someone to come in here and be successful. It used to look like a commuter school. Everything has changed. I’m here full-go.”—Akron coach Terry Bowden, on coming back to the program. I seem to recall something similar coming from Caleb Porter. If Bowden sticks around for 7 years and wins a National Championship in his fifth year, I will be quite content.

If we were playing only MAC East teams this year (or even if we got the MAC West cupcake schedule that OU got), I honestly think second would not be out of the question (or more likely about a four way tie for second). There is not one team in the East other than OU that impresses me (including Akron) which means that anybody could finish just about anywhere in the pack (though I think UMass will grab the bottom slot and Buffalo right ahead of them). I could see Miami, Can't, Akron, or BGSU taking anywhere from second to to fifth. The Miami game will be very interesting and telling. Glad I am going to be there for that one. And could someone change the title for Keener to Banal mid-week game?

Can't even begin to describe how disappointed everyone is with Dalton Williams play. Most are just sitting around bemoaning the loss of Moore and Nicely. Nice call.

I laughed for quite a while on that one. Could also be that the Zipmeister is posting there under an assumed name.