zipboy

F Pitt after they wimped out and decided not to come here for basketball. I only take the game if we get a home and home in basketball and get a 2 for 1 in football.

Does an RPI in the top 50 with a 20+ win season or an RPI in the top 100 with a 25+ win season help better? The NCAA always screws the MAC and we get doubly screwed. Even if we played and beat 3 teams in the top 20 some excuse would be they lost their last 2 out 4 of on the road or crap like that. Personally I want to see a tough schedule and good games at home but regardless of the schedule, we still would get screwed. The bracket buster is shaping up to be a good game. Nevada and the bracket buster could give 2 high quality teams. Once they get into their conference schedule, Oral Roberts, LM, and ALR and maybe even Binghamton will begin to rise. UIC will also be solid in the Horizon. If we end up 12- 4 in the MAC and lose 1 or 2 mor OOC, we will still end up around 50th for RPI. Being 50 or 30 won't matter. Either Laing Kennedy gets us in or he doesn't. I am a cynic, but I hate the NCAA.

Didn't he get into foul trouble in the 1st half which limited his minutes? I thought the first 4 games, he Dials and Joyce split minutes pretty evenly. But I am going by memory so I may be wrong. Agreed, he needs to see a lot of action. I would like to see him get a shot to score with the game on the line as he is the only one who can create his own shot.

Thanks rocketfootball, are you guys looking at him at RB?

Thanks for the link, good article. Even with the tough weather, they had over 5200 for a nonconference game. The MAC including us is so far behind in fan support.

Our coach said this week that the schedule hopes to be finalized around the end of January. I have not heard that IU is not on the schedule but that does not mean they are still here. I hope that you guys are still coming. I am excited about hosting a Big10 team.

As long as they eliminate the 8 lane track. I like the seats to be on top of the field.

I thought that the UA stadium was not going to have any tax payer money, just donations, proceeds from the loges,etc, naming rights, and possibly student fees.

We definitely need depth at RB.

From JD1. Mike Ward is the most promising of the young OL. Bates and Anderson need to go another notch. Sekinger looked good until he realized he had to redshirt. He slacked off but is now refocused. Corey Woods added 40LBS since high school and is now 280. He is also the most athletic of the young lineman.2. DL recruiting is the biggest concern right now. 3. 7 verbals so far, big weekend coming up 4. Reggie Corner is back next year. JD did not mention this but Parris McNeal should be back as well I believe. Good special teams guy.5. Mackey has emerged as a leader. 6. Schedule hopes to be finalized by end of January. My 2 cents - I have always been opposed to 1-AA teams. After the early schedule this year, it is imperative to get more balance. I vote for a 1-AA at home in August, the same that osu is doing. Carlton or Hakes needs to get a game in under their belts before going to columbusNotes from KD1. Dials hurt his bad knee in practice today. No word on the extent of the injury.

1. JD would have only had 2 years left on the original contract without the extension. Maybe you can argue the length, but don't you think that some extension needed to be given?2. Wasn't the extension supposedly signed before the season? Based off how last season ended, more than a few people wanted to throw the bank at him.3. I don't think the contract is a 5 year extension. The way that I understood it, the old contract was torn up and JD signed a new 5 year deal. His contract runs through 2011. Given that most people are saying see what the next 2 years hold, does the extension really seem too long?4. Whether your think JD is the guy or not, I can't imagine that after what was nationally considered 2 successful seasons at Akron to have the guy play his contract out in hopes of doing better would be good publicity within coaching circles. Part of the cost of doing business is always having several years left on the contract if you think the guy will succeed. The only ones who don't get their contract renewed and play it out get canned. Stan Jolpin was the exception last year.5. I am not going to apologize, I like JD and think that he will be fine. But I like Akron more than JD and want what is best for Akron. From the perspective of the program, the extension to me was warranted. Even if I had doubts about him as a coach, I still would have given him a 2 year extension.

I went back and looked at some stats on the 04 and 05 class. I think that some good points have been raised about who really signs and who stays in the program. From what I remember when LO was here, we generally had 13-15 guys on senior day. The largest that I can remember is 17 with a few being walk ons. Assuming that about 15 make it, just over 50% of the players signed in Feb, make it through 4 or 5 years. I also looked at the # of seniors for 3 of the top teams in the MAC - WMU has 10 this yera, NIU has 15, and Ohio has 19. It seems that ohio state always has 20+ seniors. My guess is the average in the MAC is more around 15. Some guys don't qualify. Some guys see the writing on the wall, they are not going to play, and quit. So if we lose 10 guys per class, that is no different from everyone else. But it also matters who we lose. 5-7 is still 5-7 and that is the final grade regardless. But here are the numbers below. You be the judge.Class# 1 - 20041.Jesse Arntz - not on roster, I don't remember him2. Jemall Benjamin - did not see the field much if at all this year. 3. Garrett Brewster - back up OL. Does he start next year?4. Chris Brown - I liked him a lot last year. Career ending injury and a loss to secondary.5. Jared Cecchetti - last player to get a scholarship. Decent DL, probably exceeded expectations but is no Nate Robinson6. Donte Cloud - highly touted, kicked off team7. Doug Fife - LO recruit, has not gotten playing time8. Brian Flaherty - LO recruit for QB, moved to TE. Played some today.9. Gary Frisby - LO recruit, never enrolled10. Stephon Fuqua - special teams guy, got in today as 4th receiver11. Kevin Grant - All MAC, I thought a better 2nd year than 1st12. CJ Grube- career ending injury13. Jamail Jackson - did he even enroll?14. Eric Lively - back up DL in the 6 man rotation15. Johnny Long - wish he would play more16. Joe McDaniel - starting FB17. Kurt Shoemaker - not getting any PT, transferre to UC. LO recruit18. Renaldo Siler- on team, does not play19. Brion Stokes- All MAC, had a better 1st year than 2nd20. Andre Walker - LO recruit, I would like to see him push for the starting job next year.21. Brandon Williams - 4th receiver22. Doug Williams - starting LBOther additions23. Dennis Kennedy - starting RB24. Luke Getsy - transfer, starting QB the last 2 years25. Andy Alleman - day 2 NFL pick26. Brett Biggs - the greatest JUCO in Zips history and best RB in the last 20 years.In total - 19 of the 26 either are still here or graduated. Taking out the transfers, 17 of 24. From a retention standpoint that is about what you would expect. From who is not here anymore, Cloud was considered one of the top 3 or 4 in the class. The other highly touted guys are still around. Class # 2 - 20051. Alex Allen - torn ACL, highly regarded coming out2. Michael Alphonse - 3rd string3. Brandon Anderson - one of the main DBs4. Zak Anderson - 2nd string, was highly touted coming out5. Al Teric Balaam - emerged as one of the main backups6. Elliot Bates- 2nd string, was highly touted coming out7. Jose Cruz - 4th string, was highly touted coming out8. DeAndre Scott - special teams player9. Rodney Etienne - special teams player10. Kevin Garner - out of program, was highly touted coming out11. Antwon Hight - may be coming back? For now he is gone, was supposedly one of the main coups of the class.12. Keith Huebner- 2nd string OL13. Carlton Jackson - next year's QB? was highly touted coming out14. Chris Jacquemain - probably will be moved to another position or transfer15. Chris Kemme - surprise of class last year, had a sophmore slump this year16. Joshua Kiner - out of program17. Jermaine Lindsey - starting WR, highly touted18. Terricko Marshall - out of program, highly touted19. Bryant McMillan - 4th string RB20. Clarence McPherson - I am going to mark him gone, was highly touted21. Merce Pointexter - in main rotation22. J Sharps - out of program, highly touted23. Joe Tuzze - back up FB, in rotation24. Scott Uziel - out of program, not sure if he was here last year25. Nate Robinson - transfer, back up DL26. Andre Jones - best new comer of the year?Of the 26 guys listed, 7 guys (counting McPherson) are gone. Many of the highly touted DL are gone as well which is what really hurts now. In terms of total numbers, I don't see anything unusual. In terms of quality of talent, we lost some big names, but many of the highly touted kids are still here. Whether they are performing as expected is another questionClass 3 -2006Captain had a post about that class.I am curious to see what others think. I don't see anything glaringly bad from the numbers above. What I do see as bad is we lost our future DL. We really need Stoudamire to be eligible and Cline to be good. I have also been disappointed in the development of the Oline. JD said he may look at the JUCO route which means these kids are not ready to step in to starting roles.

Isn't this about your 85th post about how Akron should drop football and put all their money in basketball?

I disagree. We need to raise the level in both football and basketball. In 10 years time I would be rather thought of as a Pitt or Rutgers or Cincinatti rather than a Xavier or Dayton or Gonzaga. Look at Can't's success in basketball and it has not elevated their university. I love Dambrot too. But we need to be good in both sports.

Time to put it together. I am hoping for dry weather. Come out in the no huddle and keep attacking. Win the next 2 and we are going bowling somewhere.

With CMU's thumping over WMU, if we win out, I think that we are the favorites for the 3rd bowl in Toronto.

Great moves and glad to see both coaches are on equal footing. Both sports and programs are equally important to the university. KDs old salary was 115 so that is a nice jump. It now puts JD and KD in around 4th in the league. Hopefully in 3 more years, these contracts get torn up as well with hefty raises as the program continues to grow and more revenue comes in.

Thank goodness Allen Hanson wanted out of his scholarship.

They would be able to play next year. JD mentioned earlier in the year that they might be looking for an O lineman from the JUCCO route. The off lineman that have been recruited were highly thought of coming out of high school. I don't know if they are progressing enough. Clearly there is a need on the D Line. Hopefully Cline turns out to be good from this years class.

On the pregame yesterday, Mack said he is hoping/expecting an offical announcement summer of 07. I hope that means financing is in place and they will announce everything in conjunction with the final drawing plans currently being done.

The good1. Best running attack in the last 3 years. On the 4th down call where Kennedy pushed 5 yards up the middle was the best key short yardage push by the OLine in a long time.2. Glad to see Walker get some carries. I like Kennedy, but it is obvious that he is not 100%. Someone mentioned that he never puts his shoulder into people and that was evident yesterday. He is playing hard, but he ran different vs NC State and PSU. Remember the one play where he ran Justin King over? But kudos to DK for a good game.3. Johnny Long's 2 catches on the 1st drive were pivotal. Others have harped about this all year long, but he seems like the best WR to move the chains. Harvey is a big play guy but not a possession guy. I love Jabari's attitude and work ethic. But he still does not look consistently comfortable at WR. On 3rd and 7, I think Long is your best option to get open.4. One of my new favorite Zips is Alex Allen. Looking at body language on the sideline, he is one of the most excited guys out there both for the offense and defense. Also good to see Carlton fired up and into the game on the sidelines. Not getting in for 2 weeks in a row when he was expected to, there was no pouting from him. 5. Saw Brian White flushing off his MAC title ring. Also looked like Brett Biggs was on the sideline. Always good to see the alumni return.6. Nice game by Mackey today. Good plays and bad plays by the defense all day.The bad1. One word to desribe the 2006 Zips is self destruct. If we had lost, this post would have been about the stupid key penalties that we continually get. Does our O Line have the most personal fouls of any OLine ever? I still believe that we have good talent. But we are not the smartest football team around. After 9 games, not much is going to change. 2. How is Andy Wills? I heard on the post game not as bad as thought. I hope that was not his last play of his career.3. After the 1st quarter and a half, the D was on their heels again. I feel like they are holding together by a shoestring.4. The drop off in the Dline has been real noticeable the last 2 weeks after Kiki and Reid are out. Of all the positions where recruiting has hurt us with guys not being here, it is very evident there. Do we go the JUCO route in 07?5. Aaris Reed not in uniform. Any word what happened to him? Did we burn his redshirt?6. Red zone offense is still sporadic. How many goal line picks are we going to have this year?

I was told there is no Z-Fund donation necessary for the upper reserved. I tried to donate to the Z-Fund via the ticket office anyhow, but for whatever reason they couldn't handle it. This, even though you can donate to the Z-Fund via the mail-in ticket form. But of course the mail-in form was screwed up, so...oh, forget it. Interesting . . . I was able to donate over the phone through the ticket office. Guess it depends on who you get.

Gametime decision, I am able to make it and am heading out the door now. To sit in this crap for 3 hours, we better win. Go Zips!

I can't imagine anyone in their right mind not being able to see the improvement over the last 3 years. If bball loses the MAC title game and goes to the NIT again, do you want KD to leave as well?CSU may not seem like a step up and talentwise it isn't. But pay wise, they or a school similar to them are probably paying their coach in the 300K range. I am just hoping JD stays at least through next year to give us a shot in Columbus.

Akron wins 26-24.