Captain Kangaroo

I don't think that's possible.

I like this kid. Old school, punishing tight end.

Hustle Belt

UA-Wisconsin Column

Nice work yet again, Zach. Thank you for the update. Beaven on Marquise

I only quoted this section. I'll respond as follows: You'd have great points above, if talented young players never improved. Lane was a hybrid defensive lineman at the beginning of last season. Last year was his first crack at WR, and he was really raw. He's gotten better every game, and last week's 10 rec/200yd performance was impressive regardless of the opponent. His dad played in the NBA forever. He's a legit P5 athlete. He'll wreak havoc, if our QB has any time to throw. Ball has the best balance and power of any Zips back I've seen in... forever. He was stuck behind NFL first rounders his whole OSU career. I don't know that our OL can move the Wisconsin DL, but if they do Ball will put on a show. Woodson was an Arizona recruit that was accidentally shot in the leg in HS. Rodriguez pulled his scholarship, and he ended up at Akron. He weighed roughly 260 lbs his Freshman year. Threw a bunch of INT's. But showed a cannon for an arm. Last year he came into camp in much better shape. He had a really nice season considering his OL's pass protection was terrible, and his WR's were either inexperienced, or mediocre. If all you do is look at last year's numbers, sure, Ball, Woodson and Lane aren't impressive. But last year's numbers have zero impact on 2016. We'll see if our OL can have a collective good game on Saturday. If they do, the three names above will soon be familiar to Badger fans. If the OL struggles...at least the beer and brats in Madison are good.

I would say the keys to a Zips win are: 1.) Woodson can hit open receivers, if he has time to throw. Last week he had plenty of time in the pocket. With all that time, he didn't need to throw to the TE. The deep ball was open all night. 2.) Our WR's are Big10 caliber. Wolf has good size, speed and hands. Lane will be the best WR in the game, regardless of team. And Natson more than passed the eyeball test last week...I can't wait for him to catch a quick slant this season. Bowden needs to have that aggressive "Michigan game" mindset and take some chances deep. 3.) The OL looked pretty good last week. They need to improve this week. They will. They're all older players who simply haven't played together much to-date. If the OL can hold it's own, I think we win the game. Ball + our WR's wilI put up enough points to beat the Badgers. 4.) The loss off Coe and Grice was not offset by Boxen and Copeland. Week #1 was a big drop in interior line play from 2015. Jelani Hamilton, who's barely played football the past 2 years, needs to plug the middle like an all star. If the 6' 5", 300 lb Hamilton can remind us of Coe or Grice, then Marcus and Pittman will make Houston's life miserable. If we are as ineffective in the middle as we were last week, it will be a long day against Wisconsin. 5.) Marcus needs to go "Jason Taylor" in the backfield. He needs a career-defining day if we're to have a chance at a win. He can do it. 6.) O'Leary needs to make his kicks. We can't have missed chip shots and XP's and win this game. Beyond the lost points, the misses absolutely kill the team morale. 7.) We need a #2 linebacker to step up and complement UGIII. Bell was underwhelming last week. Yeah yeah...true soph, in his first start...I know. Bottom line - Bell needs to make an impact this week. 8.) Lastly - Ball needs to be a workhorse. 20+ carries. If he can move the chains on the ground, we eat clock and shorten the game. And, open up Woody/Lane for the deep ball. Ball hits the hole hard. If the OL can give him some running lanes, and that's a big "if" since they didn't provide much running room vs VMI, we really have a great chance to come out of Camp Randall with a "W." A lot of things need to go our way to get a win, but we have the horses to do it. Signing washed-up 90's bands to perform on Jackson Field is one way to try and increase InfoCision 2016 attendance. But beating #10 Wisconsin would probably be a little better. Hope Terry brings back that fire-red hair from our program-defining 21-3 loss to Penn State, and amps it up to 11! To those travelling to Madison this weekend - Have a blast. It's a fun town. Get a few beers at student center and check out the girls sunbathing on the docks by the lake!

This former AD has moved back to Virginia.

How does Wisconsin avoid a letdown?

Catching up with Mike Johnson, and Mike Johnson Jr.

After one of Woodson's first TD tosses, a guy behind me said "I think he had more time to throw on that play than he did combined all of last season." If we can give Woodson some time to throw on Saturday, we'll put up some points. If the offensive line can create a few holes for Ball, we have a puncher's chance to win. I hope Milwee realizes Ball is likely a once-in-a-lifetime back for the Zips. He can't be used sparingly like Hundly or Chisholm. Ball should have 16+ TD's this season. I LOVE having him in the backfield when we're near the goal line.

Wisconsin column. A few comments on what the Badgers expect from the Zips.

comment from Captain Kangaroo: "Damn, that was a butt whuppin'" Has a #1 ranked Program ever been smoked that badly? Sucks that this is the first year they are running soccer scores on the prime time ESPN ticker. You just don't want to see a 6-1 loss over and over. Turn the page and move forward, I guess...

You sure spent a lot of your Labor Day on our site. Glad you enjoy it.

BGSU's loss - really embarrassing. Buffalo's loss - Predictable. How many times does someone hire Rob Ianello and absolutely B-L-O-W? Look at the guy's track record at Notre Dame, Akron, Kansas...and you still hire him. You reap what you sew. NIU - I only watched the first half of this one, but it looked like a big time homer job to me. I saw a couple phantom pass interference calls. Laramie looks like a bad place to play a road game. OU - Hung really well with the Longhorns. Impressive. Wait...strike that comment. WMU - Got oh-so-lucky that the 2016 bonehead play of the season was nullified because the WMU player stepped out of bounds, EMU - Hey...a win's a win.Can't be picky. Ball State - ditto. K.e.n.t. - still sucks. Toledo - Looking like the West favorite? Nice road win. CMU and Akron - Not much to draw from those games. Like EMU - a win's a win.

I'll be there at 3 pm. I expect a spot will be available. Would UA hose their season ticket-holding, Z-Fund donating, Lot 9 paying fans to make a quick couple hundred bucks in GA parking? I can't imagine they would.

I don't know if Ball State is a legit team or not, but Toledo is. They drubbed a solid Ak St team on their home field. The Zips will have their hands full with the Rockets later this season. I love another great team coming to InfoCision. Hope the Zips are in a good place for Toledo and the locals show up for a weekday game. Larry Williams impresses thus far. He's not a putz mugging for YouTube videos.

You didn't see his two XP efforts. I have no idea how the first one made it through. If his FG attempt was from 22 yards, he'd still have missed it by a mile.

It is a 100% accurate comparison. People follow OSU because they win. Give OSU the Zips record over the past 25 years and see how full the 'shoe is. At best, it would look like a Pitt home game.

They built their following by winning national championships, year after year after year. Had the Zips stayed at the 1-AA level and won double-digit games, and national championships, season-after-season, and then turned 1-A, they'd have z-e-r-o problems with InfoCision attendance. But we didn't. Until last season, the Zips accomplished what? They lost a Pioneer Bowl when I was about 9 years old? That's our football resume. I's a joke compared to App State's.

We've already played them 3 times in the past 12 years. That's fine. I think you are confusing OSU with Garner Webb. It isn't Who would? We had Cincinnati a few years back, and no one showed up. At InfoCision we've had Syracuse, Pitt, Indiana, Marshall...soon App State & Iowa State...those are great home opponents for UA football. Local interest is directly proportional to winning, not the opponent. That's why Ohio State can play Youngstown State, and sell-out their stadium.

Quaffing Time?

I don't expect to arrive until 3:00 pm.

I thought App State played great. They executed their game plan perfectly. In OT, that stick at the goal line was awesome. As with a lot of G5 college teams...having a kicker that can't convert a simple extra point cost them the game. Until I see a couple kicks from our guy, I'm justifiably concerned about the Zips extra point conversions and FG's this season too.