zipboy

Thanks, BC makes sense. They came to Ball State last year I believe. Probably a 2 for 1? I also heard that we were going to start a series with Cincy before MT left? Possibly Cincy to replace NC State and then we get them at home in 07?

Everything has been said, just want to add my THANK YOU ZIPS! I had about 25 people come up to me at work today and say what a great game it was. Getsy was amazing. I am glad that I was wrong about him. He came through big time as did the whole team. It feels good to be a Zip.

A couple months ago UAM was being interviewed at halftime. He said that they were close to getting a current top 20 team at the Rubber Bowl for 06. My guess is Va Tech or Louisville.

Thanks for the update. I got caught up at work last night and listened to the 2nd half.

Thanks for writing what we are all feeling. Tomorrow is it. Go Zips!!!

3 of the offensive line 1st teamers are from NIU. Here is hoping that Kiki and company go out with something to prove.

UConn had a crowd of 2,000 at the game. Who would bet that we would not have had more than that at Akron on a warm Sunday afternoon?

Enough talk about attendance and bowl games. Let's talk what really matters, football with 2 good teams. My thoughts on the game. 1. Ever since Horvath went down and the FR stepped in at QB, NIU has been unstoppable. I imagine that Wolfe being healthly has something to do with that. 2. Sam Hurd killed us last time. How do we stop him? I imagine that we still try to shut Wolfe down and make their passing game beat us. 3. Our D has played well ever since the Miami game. I don't see that stopping in this game. I like our run D. We should know early on who is winning in the trenches. Kiki, we need you to play an unbelievable game. 4. Does NIU put 8 guys in the box? If I am Novak I bring the house to stop Biggs and make Getsy beat me. That worked the first time, Luke had his best game of the season. If he plays that way again we win. If he plays a solid unspectacular game, we may be in trouble. I give him credit for coming back after Ball State. He was outstanding vs Ohio and he managed the game well vs Can't. 5. It was nice having 9-10 days to prepare and get our legs back for the last 2 games. Hopefully the team came out healthy after Can't. 6. Special team, special teams, special teams On a side note, I ran into Horvaths' mother at the end of the game back in Sept. I wished her well and told her great Phil played. Nice person, glad that we are playing them in the title game. A caravan of 20 buses heading north is going to be awesome. How about some banners on the outside of those buses to let Ohio know that the ZipsNation is making some noise? Go Zips!!!

Good summary ZP, a few things to add 1. We still can't make FT 2. We still can't rebound to save our life 3. Travis was unstoppable at the end. 4. Without Wood and Conyers, this team is essentially last years team minus McFadden and Collins with the addition of Dials. Not as big of a step up as I had hoped. 5. Team plays hard, they seem to like each other and will win games. I don't know if I see us cracking the national rankings yet as I had hoped. That may be another year away. 6. Disappointed to not see Linhart or Rybak in the rotation. I was hoping that we would go 10 deep this year. A win is still a win. Nice post game show with KD.

I am biased but I think that Rick Chryst is pleasantly surprised. The MAC is only as strong as all of its teams. NIU and Toledo are the only 2 programs who consistenly draw very well even in down years. For as good as BG and Miami are, they just are not in big areas. Everyone ripped on NIU and then they started winning and are now a cornerstone program for the league. We have not had much to brag about before, but if Akron got seriously good, they would be the NIU of the East. We are a big enough area where 20-25K could be the norm for attendance. We are not going to get there by going 4-7 every year. Everyone will be pleasantly surprised next year with the jump in attendance. I look for a good crowd to go to Detroit but not a great crowd. Put it in perspective though, if Akron played Can't at the Q, we would get 18K. IF BG played Toledo, we would get around 10K for the title game. Proximity does play a part. Next to BG, we will bring as many or more fans from the East to Detroit.

Nice write up and some good insights and observations Could anyone see the Beacon traveling 3 hours for a game to cover the Zips?

The one positive that I have finally seen is that it seems the incoming FR class is a couple levels above her past classes. If they could at least win 7-8 games this year and get one more good class next year, they may finally turn the corner. New AD coming in, she will probably be on the hot seat next season.

The MAC title game winner is only assured of a spot. Even if we were 7-4 going into the game, we probably would not go with a loss as Toledo would get the 2nd nod. If we go 6-6, the MAC has to petition the NCAA to allow us to play a bowl game. Given that other teams have better records, that would not happen anyway unless not enough teams were left for a bowl. Glad that we are playing NIU. JD has gushed about Novak and his program for 2 years as the one that we want to emulate. I like our chances but if we lose, I am glad that they can win it.

A very nice write up by Dan.

Folks were talking about going to a bowl game or not if we lose on other posts. IF we brought 5,000 fans to Detroit, bowl committees would start looking at us in a different light. Road travel was the best that I have seen this year in quite some time, about 500 to Miami, 400 at BG. My expectation is that we get close to 2K in Detroit. Double or triple that, and others start taking notice. Go Zips!

Thank you Zips. The whole nation is indebted to you today. Given the circumstances, one of the best peformances by a Zip in what BB did today.

How about the ahole WV coach. Complains about the field, complains about the officials, then says that UConn will beat Akron and go Big East. F him.

No one should be complaining about a backdoor way in. BG was at home with the lead in the 4th quarter and could not close it out. Even in OT, Toledo won it on a 3rd and 7 play. Any team that gets 3 safeties in the same game doesn't deserve to win either. We beat the MAC West Champ. Neither BG or Miami did either. If the Zips win tomorrow, they earned it. We have the best D of all 3 of these teams.

Should be there by 9. Gotta pace myself.

Amen brothers, get it done Zips. You may see grown men crying in the stands tomorrow from sheer joy. Strong, physical football. Go Zips!!!

Thanks for laying it out, I agree with you. But if OU beats Miami (7-7) last I saw, then NIU and WMU becomes meaningless. Go Toledo!!

Seldom does a team get a second chance and rarely if ever a 3rd chance. We have a decent shot to have these games go our way and get a 3rd chance. I hope the team is ready. The way they played last week, Can't will be lucky to cross midfield. Even if things don't go our way, seniors can end their careers in style. As good as I feel about our chances, I remember my jr year at Akron, the lone winning season in anything while I was there except soccer. Can't had the longest losing streak in the country, game was at Can't. I went with some buddies from both Akron and Can't. First drive, I said 5 plays we will score. Well we didn't, Can't won 20-16 and students tore the goal post down. My second Can't football memory when I was in school was the next year when Akron was supposed to win the MAC. Pete Cordeil was the Can't coach at the time and before the game said that Akron had an unfair advantage because they have lower standards than Can't so they could get more athletes. For the one time ever a Gerry Faust team did not dissapoint as Akron rolled 42-7. Other great memories, the last win of the year in 99 when Matt Zuercher cleared an alley for Butchie on the game winning score and there was a rumble after the game. That game was also the greatest win in Syracuse history! How about in 2000, Dwight Smith's last game, quite possibly the most dominating defensive player in Zips history. I think that Dwight returned 2 balls for scores and caused another fumble at the Can't goaline. Or about in 97 when we almost blew a 45-7 4th quarter lead. Regardless of what happens earlier in the week, Thursday should be special. How many yards does BB need for 1000? Go Zips!

Any word on Conyers? CK, how did the team look Sat night? From the looks of things, St V High school may have been a tougher opponent.

Zippy989, thanks for laying this out. In scenario 1 and 2, I don't think that you are counting the Toledo win over BG as an extra point for BG. If you did, BG would get an extra point in both scenario 1 and 2 giving us 1 shot to win it.

I still don't get how Dave is right. Some of the posts in other threads make more sense. But Dave is usually right. Guess that I am rooting for CMU and NIU just in case.