Captain Kangaroo

Maine and Canton are the early favorites, IMO. Celtics remain very thin at the 5 position.

Kwad+Coney+Chapman+Wolf is not a bad set of wide-outs. They should be getting the lion's share of the playing time. Next season, the door is wide open for the young guys.

Would "win" be too strong of a word?

I was able to attend a few of the August scrimmages, so you could compare his arm strength and accuracy to his three competitors (Kato/Johns/Kelley). His opportunities were limited because he was definitely redshirting in 2017 and the other guys needed to audition, but he noticeably stood out. You will like him.

Assuming the invested candidates remain in Akron in 2018, there will be an extremely interesting battle for the starting QB position. Kato is the leading candidate at this time, but Alex Ramart is really really good. I'll enjoy the Zips 2017 stretch run, and think about '18 in a couple months....

He and Hauser are both former walk on's, and both had INT's in Saturday's game. Reinke is another "impact" walk-on. In the past 2 years Bowden has shied away from the 5th year grad transfers and instead invested in grayshirts and walk-ons. Seems to be a more stable, sustainable route?

Hoban update

Per former Zips Marketing Director Mike Waddell the change from "pee yellow" (Mike's words) to the existing blue and gold was made: 1.) Because Akron is supposed to be - "Blue and Gold" 2,) The pee yellow and navy colors were the same as Kent State. And you don't want the same colors as Kent State.

Quickie interview with Ball State’s OL Vinnie Palazeti at the July MAC Media Day Question: "You were 4-8 last season. How is Ball State a better team this year?" “We're bringing back 5 offensive linemen with game experience. We’re returning guys like this (points across the table to RB James Gilbert) – 1st team All-MAC. Our quarterback is now a true junior. We’ve got a lot of really good prospects coming in from the south at wide receiver, so offensively we’re gonna be really good.” “Last season we had a sophomore quarterback and sophomore running back…we had a young backfield, and older guys at wide out. We had a bit of an inexperienced offensive line last year, but we were still third in the conference in rushing. Bringing back those younger guys from last year, now with game experience, is going to be a big positive for us this season.” I realize no Pulitzers will be handed out for that one, but I thought it was interesting to hear the opinion of one of their better players.

If we're donning the Moving A, then you gotta have an old school honorary Captain!

Anyone else find it funny that George corrected himself - Kwad Smith was a Junior and not a freshman. But in the column above it he mistakenly lists sophomore Deltron Sands as a freshman?

Awesome kid and fantastic representative of the University. Insanely bright future ahead of him! Sucks that we're not halfway through the season and we've lost our offensive and defensive captains for the season. Next man up.

Won ugly tonight but it's a win. Beat Ball State next week and we'll be at .500. It's a "must win."

It looks to me like someone handed the column to The ABJ, whose only responsibility was to write the headline.

Most-detailed MAC Pregame Write-up in the History of the World

Congrats to the soccer team! Awesome win!

Bowden reflects on the game

Who could?

One team knew how to win, and the other didn't. Plays like lobbing that 2nd qtr end zone INT into triple coverage or missing a 34 yard field goal just aren't want winning teams do. To allow the opponent to go 97 yards for a TD at the game's end shows you don't know how to close it out. Our offense had time to drive down the field and win the game. Not a ton of time...but getting possession with 1 minute to go was enough time to work with. TW tossed a quick INT. It reminded me of the end to last year's App State game. We made a nice comeback (down 31-14). We had 2 minutes remaining to tie, or win it, and ...and sack-sack-sack. Their defense knew how to close a game out. The Zips really needed that win. And gave it away. The margin for error on a bowl-eligible season is now razor-thin, with WMU and Toledo looking like losses. I hope the team and staff figures it out. There's no way the Zips can afford a loss this week. They need to pull off a convincing, statement-making win. Make it fun to be a Zips fan...for the first time in...in way too long.

My conclusion is - we lost Lane, Natson and Wolf for the first 3 games of this season. And Woodson is shaking off some rust. So our passing game is off to a slow start. After last game, it's time to give Stewart more snaps.. He took advantage of his pt. Kato had his chance to make an impression and whiffed. I liked looking at our defense last week and seeing do many underclassmen. Amato will be having them playing some great ball at year's end if everyone stays healthy. Win or lose, if this week's Zips team plays a good football game they will be bowling come December. If they completely suck this weekend, it's cause for concern. Hopefully a healthy Wolf at wide out is the jumpstart our offense needs. I have no concerns regarding the D. It will continue to get better every game.

The next time he referrs to Brock Boxen as anyone else but Brock Berlin it will the first time. He isn't good with names. Can we please return to the discussions of why the Zips can't competete with Big 10 and Big 12 teams? I can't quite grasp that concept? We should be able to wax the programs that draw 60k to 100k fans to their stadiums? Must be bad coaching? Go Zips! Beat Troy!

Embedding issue is hopefully fixed.

Will the Cyclones overlook Akron?

I voted for Williams because we need some downfield plays from our WR's. If Burkhart and his 40-inch vertical give us that threat, then by all means let's see more of him. Our edge rush has also been "meh." If Sampson can put some heat on the opposing QB, get him some reps. This is week #3. There really hasn't been any reason for Bowden to open up the playbook in week's #1 or #2. Incumbent players have had their fair chance to prove they should be starting. I expect to see some new wrinkles in the Zips offense and defense this week. And, some new, younger faces getting more PT too.

Tough to retain a guy that quit to pursue his "Dream Job." Do people think we were going to pony-up $1,000,000 for him? If you were a KD Fan more than you were a Zips Fan, you probably won't be missed. Hopefully the KD Fans leaving open up some good lower-level seats for Zips Fans.