Captain Kangaroo

You gotta quit beating that drum, dude. Name me one of those vaunted 13 QB's that did anything once they left the Zips. Where are all these studs? Most were walk-ons who were worth a look back in the 1-11 days. But nothing more.

I recall an article on Hoyer when he transferred to UA from Mercyhurst. I don't think Hoyer has ever had any intentions on being the Zips starting QB. He is here to learn under Bowden and be around the program, and probably parlay that experience into a coaching job one day. He's a walk on. He's not the Zips solution at QB, unless we need someone kneeling in the victory formation with 00:02 remaining in a game. And unfortunately it's been too long since we've needed a QB with that specific skill set.

East Season Ends - A Few UA Mentions Included

Hey, I thought we had 2 of our top 5 starters that could have have transferred anywhere in the country? And we lost to YSU? Embarrassing. No other way to spin it.

Regarding "Why we can't hang with Toledo?" - I'd add: Our previous two coaches prior to Bowden are: 1.) Fired from UA. Selling Software. 2.) Fired from UA. Fired from Kansas. Coaching WR's at Buffalo Toledo's previous two coaches: 1.) Hired-away by Illinois 2.) Hired-away by Iowa State Putting it mildly - The table wasn't quite set as nicely for Bowden as it was for Coach Candle. One came in to rebuild Hiroshima. The other came in to comparatively maintain the Bahamas.

Did Kent burn any pre-game oars?

Serious answer - I don't have the least bit of concern that an undefeated Western Michigan team drove 6 hours to play a sorry Kent team in the cold rain, and overlooked them for a couple quarters. We beat Kent, at Kent, with our back up QB. That game holds more comparative weight to me. I hate that Toledo and WMU whipped our butts. It sucks to watch that in your own stadium. But what can you expect given our situation (recent program history, graduation losses, injuries)? I feel we're exponentially better off than 5 years ago, and progressing at a decent clip. IF we can get any semblance of a defense next season, we can have that great year we're all waiting for. The offense will be awesome. If we don't address or defensive needs next season, it will be a crime. And I'll probably put some really good season tickets back on the market...cause I can't take much more.

Good for them. Akron 31 Kent 27

Marcus was our best returning defensive lineman, and we lost him for the entire season. Boxen was our best interior lineman, and he's missing the complete 2nd half of the season. Moore and others have missed multiple games. For a group that was already thin, it was too much to overcome. How do you replace Coe, Grice, Monroe, Evans, Brown and Marcus? That's a tall order. Our front 7 is no doubt terrible. But if Marcus and Boxen had relatively healthy seasons, it would have been good enough to win another game or 2. Hope the free agent crop is good this spring. If I'm a decent DL or LB grad transfer, I'm pretty excited to join Chuck Amato, where I can be pretty much guaranteed I'm gonna get a lot of playing time, and have the support of a high-scoring offense. Next season could be awesome, but we need some serious defensive help.

Gettin' Ziggy with it

Not too shabby for 10 games.

Pretty much "Put up or Shut up" for the Zips this week. Nationally televised game...beatable opponent who thoroughly embarrassed the Zips in 2015...bowl eligibility on the line... No excuses...Zips need to win this game.

He has missed the last 2 games due to injury, so that affects his numbers a little. He also played 3 games with Chapman at QB. I think MTB would have been really effective over the middle against Toledo. Too bad he was hurt. Prior to the season's start we didn't know what we had in Natson, and didn't know how much Wolf had improved. With Lane, Wolf and Natson, there's not a whole lot of balls to be caught by anyone else. He has several TD's this season, so I guess I'm happy he's being utilized in some meaningful capacity, regardless of the position. Just my 2 cents...

Seems like the lighting was about perfect for photography last night? Bad game, great photos. If I'm Woodson, I take photo #1 and blow it up to dorm room wall size.

True. But most of that was in "garbage time." Unfortunately for the Zips, there was roughly 57 minutes of garbage time last night.

I think you are high by roughly 4.2k.

Zips

He limps after a good sneeze. I can't imagine him on the D line for more than 3 plays before the trainer is involved.

I enjoy that Balsey likes your attendance post.

Contributing factors to this defense being down are: 2015 was, on a MAC scale, an all-time great group. It is tough to ever replace that assembly of talent. Marcus hasn't been healthy all season. That's a huge loss. Pittman has to be banged up, right? Moore has been out Boxen's season ended in Miami. He'd been playing better as the season progressed. Sans UGIII, LB's are completely inexperienced. Time will fix this for some, but there is also a lack of talent that needs addressed. I like what I've seen from Jest. But he's an 18 year old kid going up against 22 year old OL's. A redshirt year would have been nice. So I'm not debating that the defensive line and LBs are bad. Collectively, they are. But major injuries have played a part in making the drop off from 2015 to 2016 so steep. Regardless - there can't be any more Buffalo-like defensive performances...that was the worst. I'm with you...if I'm playing the Zips I never throw. Our best hope is Woodson & Co. light up the scoreboard and we get a lead. That forces the opponent to throw a bit, and we have a chance. Just my 2 cents. I trust Amato. The D will be revamped in 2017. Somehow. It has to be.

The fallacy I see in your argument is - if the was the same potential to draw Akron area football fans to InfoCision as there is drawing basketball fans the JAR, they would have built a 5,500 seat football stadium.

How will the Zips stop the run? To date, every decent team we've played...and most not-so-decent teams...have gouged the Zips run defense. Zips offense can't go 1-&-out like we did last week. It's one of those "first-one-to-50 wins" games. I hope Woodson's shoulder is ok. And perhaps TB surprises us with a Warren Ball sighting.

InfoCision seats 30,000. The JAR seats 5,500. The basketball program averages 3,500/game. If you equate Joe Akron's attendance as identical for football and basketball, then InfoCision would be filled to an average of 19,000/game under identical circumstances. You say an average 3,500 fans in a 5,500 seat arena shows Joe Akron doesn't care about winning. Why do you feel a football team with 19,000 fans per game would show that Joe Akron doesn't care? Moral of the story - if the Zips basketball program plays the schedule it plays, and wins 20+ games per year, and really does nothing "magical" (we haven't done anything truly magical btw), you will fill the JAR to an average of 3.5k. This is indisputable. If the football team competes for a MAC Championship and wins 8+ games per year, it will eventually fill InfoCision to the same capacity. Sell out big games...draw 12k for cup cakes. That's a safe bet. I hope I live to see the day that it is indisputable.

We won 5 games combined from 2009 - 12. So to have won 5 games to finish 2015....and win another 5 games between September 3rd 2016 through October 22nd 2016 shows Bowden has made substantial progress. Last year was the best defense I've ever seen at UA. Bowden and Amato get the credit. Bowl win, and 8 total wins - that's ground-braking stuff at UA. This year has been tough. Graduation on the defensive side has hit us hard. And the replacements are either too young, too injured or too limited to remotely approach the level of play we saw last season. The Buffalo game was as bad a defense performance as I've ever seen. The offense has been awesome...when healthy. And when not playing in Buffalo. Bowden's transfer-heavy plan has yielded decent results. I love Jojo, and loved Coe and loved a healthy Jamal Marcus. And many others. But relying heavily on which 1-year players annually come across on the waiver wire comes up snake eyes on occasion too. We rolled a few of those this summer. With Marcus, Moore, Pittman and Boxen all either severely hobbled or completely out, that's just too much to overcome. Other than Gilbert, our LB play has ranged from inconsistent, to flat-out bad. That's been crippling. With a healthy offense, maybe with Ball returning, we can wreak some havoc against Toledo Wednesday. But Kareem Hunt could go for 300 yards. We need to stack the box and take our chances 1-on-1 with the DB's. So getting back to the original question - my opinion is we're WAY better off than we were 5 years ago. Our offense will be great again next season, so I'm not concerned there. But we need a big influx of IMPACT DL's and LB's in 2017 if we're going to become the team we all want the Zips to be. And the one that Larry Williams wants the Zips to be. We'll see how this season ultimately plays out, plus next season. Bowden's not as sexy as Fleck, but he's definitely earned 6 years. He bought in to the Program at a really difficult time, and represents UA football very well today.

Blade Column