Captain Kangaroo

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.

Beautiful weather slated for Saturday? I almost forget what it's like to tailgate at InfoCision in warm sun.

They had to edit-out some of the players to make room for the intro.

Sampson is a rush DE that also plays WR and returns kicks. 6' 2", 215 lbs going into his senior season. Seems like a similar skill set to Lane's? I'll bet both offensive and defensive Zips coaches will be lobbying Bowden for his services.

A little VMI history and info This one's gotta be a 63-13 Zips win.

WWSD What Would Scarbotough Have Done

Exciting stuff. To see UA's football perception in the eyes of local HS athletes improving almost by the minute is pretty cool. I wonder if the recruitment of local fans is as successful? It sure would be fun to see 20k in InfoCision next Saturday.

Since Jatavis committed without even taking an on-campus visit, I think it is safe to say he saw something in Bowden, Amato and the Zips that few other HS recruits at that time did.

I have two comments: 1.) We are already getting P5 recruits. Quite a few of them. They just have a stop at the P5 school before attending UA. 2.) I agree that we need that level of 4-year P5 recruit to go to "the next level." But there are multiple levels you first need to ascend: Level 1 - You absolutely suck. Zips status - Completed. Level 2 - You are competitive, but either don't know how to win, or don't have the athletes to win. Zip status - Completed Level 3 - You begin beating like-talented, and less-talented teams. However, you're note quite ready for prime time. You're bowl eligible. Zips status - Completed Level 4 - You compete for championships. You beat upper-tier, like-talented MAC teams at home, and go 50/50 with them on the road. Zips status - In process Level 5 - You've "arrived." You consistently play for MAC championships and expect 9+ wins per season. You expect to beat lower-tier P5 programs. You begin wooing some lower-tier P5 recruits straight out of high school. Zips status - Not yet started Level 6 - You outgrow the MAC and move to a P5 conference. Zips status - Not yet started. We have completed Level 3. The "Next Level" for the Zips is Level 4. Everyone wants to skip levels, but it isn't possible. Actually it is...only in the negative direction. Hire Rob Ianello and you go directly to Level 1. After the Zips lost highly-competitive games to OU and CMU at home last season, I wasn't pissed off. For the first time in the history of InfoCision I watched the Zips play solid football against a solid opponent. After those games, we went on our late-season tear and the rest is history. That point in time reminded me of a Winston Churchhill quote: "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." For the Bowden era, the beginning has ended. Do the Zips complete Level 4 this year? I hope. The Level 5 teams like NIU and Toledo look like they're having a lot of fun. I want a piece of that action.

Congrats to Matt! He was a good friend to ZipsNation back in the Waddell era...which was really the hey day for UA Marketing. Nothing has remotely approached that level of enthusiasm and creativity since. Great hire! Welcome home Matt!

From pure football perspective, it's exciting to have a kid that's one of the best athletes on a local state championship caliber HS program coming to UA. From an overall perspective – We’ve had a lot of transfers coming into the Program with some baggage. Bowden seems to have an uncanny knack for getting these kids to make the most of their second chance, which is great. But that type of “mercenary” player can’t be the Program’s backbone. The backbone should be the 4- or 5-year kid. But you couldn’t get too many of that player type coming off a couple 1-11 seasons (and the ones that weren’t 1-11, weren’t much better). Jatavis was obviously a 4-year kid that saw through the bad records and recognized the potential of the Program and Staff early-on. But he was special. If you coach at any level, it’s rare that you get a kid that’s one of the best athletes, and also the toughest competitor and a leader. That package just doesn’t come along too often. This kid’s on-the-field resume is solid. That Coach Wattley speaks so highly of his character and leadership tells me he’s also got something the other kids don’t. I look forward to great things from him in the future. The caliber of UA football recruit is rapidly trending upward. In recruit’s eyes we’re now being viewed as a winning program where, if you perform, you will also get a good look from the NFL. Bowden and Amato have done nothing to make me doubt they can identify the talent necessary to run with the big dogs in the MAC. I love it. The season can’t start fast enough for me!

Ohio.com with a little more info

OOC Schedule 2015-16 Akron Men's Basketball Non-Conference Schedule November 12th - @ YSU (AWAY) November 17th - vs. American (HOME) November 20th – vs. Radford, Savannah Event (HOME) November 22nd – vs. Georgia Southern, Savannah Event (HOME) November 25th – vs. Air Force, Savannah Event (AWAY)(Neutral Site) November 26th – vs. East Carolina or Mercer, Savannah Event (AWAY) November 30th - vs. Adrian (DIII) (HOME) December 3rd - @ Creighton (AWAY) December 7th - vs. Coppin St (HOME) December 10th - @ Gonzaga (AWAY) December 17th - vs. Marshall (HOME) December 21st – vs. UC Irvine, Sun Bowl/El Paso Event (AWAY) (Neutral Site) December 22nd – vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore or UTEP, Sun Bowl Invitational (AWAY)

Woodson article

Granted you can skip through it...but the 1:20 minute intro for a 2:20 minute video is a bit excessive. Nice to put a voice and personality to the players. Otherwise you'd only know their name and number. Since Akron has no TV coverage, it's really the only chance to hear most of the guys.

I'm thinking if we advertise "Zips vs. Georgia Southern Trump Rally" this season we can increase attendance at the JAR by roughly 4,000 fans.

If you donate $100 to the Z-Fund, you can get the Lot 9 pass, if you ask for it. If you don't ask, they automatically give you 36. It sucks that you have to call them regarding the Lot 9 pass every year, but they never give you the option for 9 up front, when you buy the tickets. So that's what you gotta do.

Akron overlook a 1-AA program? NEVER!

I would love to see a couple of the new kids give us consistent offensive production in 2016-17. You never knew what you were going to get with Kretzer, Forsythe and McAdams. It's been a long time since we've had so many question marks, and needed to bank on so many new/unproven commodities for major minutes. Utomi...who knows anything about what he can do at the D1 level? Eubanks? I don't know squat about his game. Ivey? Hope he worked on his shot and ballhandling over the summer. Olojakpoke? Don't know squat about him. Dunn-Martin? Who knows how his game will translate to D1 hoops? Big Mike? Who knows? Can Aaron Jackson stay healthy? Can Kwan do anything consistently besides defend the rim?

Short article

The reason UA football is in the situation we see today is - Our Department of Athletics has been run by carpetbaggers, ladder climbers or imbeciles for a quarter century. If you want to judge Zips football by what a former Black Sabbath roadie has to say, it speaks to your sports acumen:

I agree the game's competitiveness rides on how Bowden approaches it. I've seen Bowden teams go full-bore conservative and simply try to get out of the game with a slightly embarrassing score and a healthy team (Oklahoma...Marshall...etc). I've seen him go balls-out and almost beat Michigan. I hope the days of us simply trying to run clock and get out of a game in good health are over. We have an offense that should be able to post big numbers on just about anyone. And our defense should be stout enough to bail the offense out if we have a couple consecutive 3-and-out drives. Wisconsin was almost upset before... Actually...they were upset before.... I'd be remiss if I didn't also mention the Zips near miss in Camp Randall, when Hendry got stuffed on a 4th and 1 in the 4th quarter that would have given the Zips the lead. On the next play Lee Evans burnt Jesse Smith for a 99 yard TD and the dream died.

I hope this thread dies soon. Every time I glance at the title it looks like "Keith Dambrot Resignation," and I get a minor heart attack.

Everything I hear is - we might be really good this year too.

Pluto Story