Captain Kangaroo

I will try to post some info from the Media Day later today. A couple quick notes: As previously mentioned by other ZN.o members, Jest and King are out for 2017. It is planned that they attend a JUCO, and return to Akron in January. They had a GPA that was ok per NCAA standards, but fell short of the requirement to play at Akron. King's academic shortcomings were a bit of a surprise, as "..he never had any problems with grades at Miami." Brian Bell is definitely with the Zips in 2017. If he's not on an official roster, I can't control it. The loss of Jest and King isn't really seen as a deal-breaker. Jest needed to get into football shape, and King never played a down for the Zips anyhow...so it is tough to consider him a "loss." Newcomers Brimmage and Sampson are expected to make early impacts.

Zips already penciled-in as a win for the Cyclones

Lots of opportunities to crack the Zips OL depth chart in 2018.

A forward that took 14 three's against Ohio State.

His weight is a huge concern. Pretty scrawny even for a guard?

I bet West Dayton State would play us at the JAR.

I think your post is roughly as accurate as me saying your dream tailgate party consists of funneling warm Schaefer beer with Zach the Zip at an indoor 4H auction site.

My opinion - He didn't stick around for a 6th year of eligibility to sit out the Penn State game. He returned to play football. As a P5 recruit, the nationally televised Penn State game is where he'd like to strut his stuff. The Zips OL is pretty good. I think he can do some damage against Penn State. And that would be a big help to Woody and the air attack. An argument could also be made to sit him against AK PB. Why play in a meaningless blowout? So if he skipped both, he's down to 10 games left in his career. Is the kid here to play football, or make weight lifting videos? Smoke 'em if you got 'em. At least for the 1st half of each game, and then make a decision to sit him based upon the scoreboard.

Makes sense that Hanson's greyshirt status has been upgraded to "roster player." i plan to attend the media day next week, so I'll see what's going on.

Looks like you are correct. Penguins / Flashes on November 11th at the JAR.

2017-18 Opponent YSU

George Thomas "Weights In". No weigh George has a Journalism degree.

i remember a story written about him while he was at Kent where he'd wear heavy chains to his classes in order to strengthen his legs as he walked around campus. His 40 yard scramble on a 4th and 39 versus the Zips is one of the greatest individual efforts I've ever witnessed in 45 years of watching college football. One tough, driven dude.

I beiieve Hanson and Jacobs are greyshirting, so they won't show up on the 2017 roster.

The JAR draws to capacity for big games, when the Zips are competing for championships. That is an irrefutable fact. You can verify it on Wikipedia if you weren't there. InfoCision would draw near it's measly 27k-ish capacity if the Zips football team was playing games of equivalent magnitude. But they haven't...haven't even sniffed a whiff of equivalent success at InfoCision. So there's been no such crowds. There's no tangible comparison between basketball and football whatsoever. Maybe that Zips football drew 15k to Ford Field for the MCB, and Zips basketball drew 3k the last time they played in Detroit (Auburn Hills)? Maybe that is tangible? But not if it doesn't fit your narrative, I guess. Go Zips!

9- or 10-win seasons, and 15k average attendance would make InfoCision a fun place to be.

I don't care about attendance in DeKalb Illinois. Or Muncie Indiana. That is not relevant to Akron attendance. The 15k that drove, or were bussed to Ford Field was a legit Zips attendance number for the Bowl game. It shows me Akron fans will show up in numbers if the Zips actually do "something." The point is simple - until the Zips string together 9- or 10-win seasons and compete for championships, attendance will be weak. If they do it, it will be respectable (18 - 20 k).That is my opinion and it is irrefutable until such winning one day happens. If we continue losing, you can pile up all the washed up 90's band pregame concerts, fireworks, "marquee opponents," whatever you want...people won't show up in numbers beyond what we've seen for the past 30 years. That is also irrefutable. Side note: People will show up if tickets are $5.00, regardless of the team's record.

Please list the times the Zips football program has competed for a championship in the past 30 years. And please, include no season when we were 3-4 in the MAC and praying for some bizarre tiebreaker. I'm talking a 9- or 10-win season. The kind that a program like Toledo produces annually. And Northern Illinois seemed to be pretty good at stringing together until last season. We had 15,000 Zips fans at Ford Field for a Championship game. I remember that one. Next one was...

Compete for championships...good attendance. Compete for the basement...bad attendance. Thank you. Drive home safely.

Rather than start a "Zips in the IFL" thread...

No one here gives a crap about Ohio State's team, attendance, television ratings, ranking, recruiting...whatever. So if everyone would keep their comments and observations related to the Zips it would be greatly appreciated. The Moderators

He also was a redshirt Freshman, and averaged 5.2 rebounds per game. It doesn't take Nostradamus to foresee he's got upside far beyond Aaron Jackson. Put me down as a supporter of "great trade."

You won't know until game day. We have an offense that put up 68 points against Marshall last season. But that was with a healthy Tommy Woodson, and two receivers that are presently in NFL camps. Woodson's September 2017 health after a pretty serious shoulder injury is unknown as of June 2017. His rehab is allegedly on-schedule. Our top 2 WR's have been replaced by a converted QB (Sr. Tre Chapman - former Pitt recruit) and a Redshirt Freshman (Stewart...a PA kid). Kwad Smith and Austin Wolf are legit deep threats. Woodson is very accurate, so if these guys can get separation, we'll have a nice air attack. Our OL is the strength of the offense. They were a great pass blocking crew last season. But didn't get much push on running plays. 4-of-5 guys return...we have a new left tackle - true Soph who was considered the 2nd best player in the Zips 2016 recruiting class. OL gained depth, and will be improved in 2017. RB - Warren "Wrecking" Ball is a 6th year Ohio State transfer that was injured in the Wisconsin game last season. He's an absolute beast if healthy. But health has been an issue for him often in his college career, so it is impossible to bank on him. Bowden may also limit his touches in a game like Penn State, saving him for the less-punishing/more-critical MAC games. Van Edwards is a solid back. But not a game-breaker. Manny Morgan is probably 1/2 a notch below Edwards. So if you ask me how the Zips offense stacks up against the PSU LB's, I'd say "ok," if we are healthy. If you have a solid OL, you can be an effective offensive unit. And the Zips OL is, at worst, in the top half of the MAC.

Sucks to be Georgia State