Captain Kangaroo

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

If you are a redshirt, or a transfer, or injured, you can't participate in games but you can still practice and be under scholarship.

If they were dismissed from NC State in April 2016, I don't see any way they are eligible for the Zips in 2016. The only players not on the roster are ones not academically eligible. If academics are good, but they transferred, they can still be shown on the roster.

Nice job, Rob.

Big win still paying dividends 10 years later?

Others interested in Moris include...

I think he learned it here. Nice report by George. But I wish he'd have also mentioned, in addition to him getting kicked off Michigan's team, that he graduated in only 3 years. That's why he has 2 years remaining.

Will the Zips see a familiar face when they play Georgia Southern?

He seemed to be a very likable kid in his Coach's Show appearances last year. From what I understand, smart too? I guess if he's going NAIA, that pretty much tells you why he left. I wish him a great college career.

Doubt it. He'll make an impact. We're going to have 3-4 wideouts at any given time. If he's at the TE position, who covers him? He's not the traditional lumbering TE that an LB can cover. I think he's really going to put the pressure in the opposing defensive coordinator to pick his poison. Go small on the line (safety or corner) and try to contain MTB. In that instance, a big back like Ball will have an advantage. Or, go big on the DL...and the quicker MTB is going to catch some screens/slants and run a long way. On paper, MTB's work in the weight room should give him the ability to hold his own blocking on the line vs LB's, and flatten MAC safety's and corners. We'll see how it plays out on the field.

I agree the casual Akron fan doesn't know the difference between Valpo and American, but those "fans" wear Ohio State gear and don't come to games anyhow. To the real Akron fans, the ones that actually buy tickets, attend games, and fund the Program, they know Valpo would be an awesome opponent: 20+ wins, year-in-year-out. NCAA appearance 2 of the past 3 seasons, with the lone "miss" being an NIT appearance where they made it to the finals. I can't imagine how excited I'd be about Zips basketball if we could have a 3-year run like that one. I know...Valparaiso doesn't have a football team...blah blah blah... We could get a home-home with Valpo if we wanted it. So there must be another reason we don't play. Reviewing how Valpo's fared over the past 3 seasons with the Zips recent post-season resume...I can probably guess what it is.

Just curious...how many App State fans would you expect to make the trip to Akron. 300? 1,000?

USA Today's Take Not sure what you learn about the Zips in the piece, but you do learn a little about the rest of the MAC.

Addressing the 5 points as follows: 1.) I feel bad that I experienced a lot of meaningless post season pride when the Zips traveled to Boise and beat Utah State in a bowl game. In retrospect, what a meaningless post-season exhibition it was. I watched the replay a couple nights ago. Too bad those Zips players and coaches...the suckers that they are...took pride in that win. They should realize the only games that count are the championship finals. We should have stayed at home with the Kent fans. 2.) I will be the first to admit - I was on the sidelines for the BG/UA tilt. I was really impressed by BG, and wrote a fairly detailed account of the game...in all it's gory detail...with the summary that BG was a high-level MAC program on a roll, that steamrolled the not-ready-for-prime-time-Zips. I'll stand by that Game Day critique. That said - that regular season game has little to do with the bowl game vs. Georgia State. When coached by a substitute teacher, anything can happen. GS was motivated, and BG seemed discombobulated/unmotivated. They were up at halftime, and then had two turnovers deep in their own territory in the 3rd qtr. They couldn't recover. That's football. Tough to excel when your dad leaves the family for another woman. It kinda bums you out. Props to Georgia State on a meaningless exhibition win for their program. 3.) I've never seen a MAC fan look down on another conference. No one would be that stupid. 4.) If the Zips turned 1-A after winning a couple 1-AA championships, we'd have had a much bigger bandwagon...one like ASU. But we have shot ourselves in the foot for a quarter century instead...and no one should be shocked that the stands are empty. Thank God Bowden took a chance on the Zips. Kiss the guy's feet the next time you see him because he turned water into wine for the first time in about 2,000 years. <Insert footnote>: ASU won the D1-AA Championship three consecutive seasons 2005, 2006, 2007 before they beat Michigan. Compare that to any stretch of Zips football...ever. Yes, even the vaunted 2010-2012 Zips seasons. 5.) I would love to see a strong App State road crew at InfoCision. That makes for a fun college football environment! That's what it should be like every fall week in Akron...if you compete for championships and win bowl games. Big fan of K92. Look forward to some stout this fall. But I can't hit the "like" button on the post. My opinion differs. I thought Bowden did an awesome job getting the 2015 Zips better week by week. Even in the October losses, you could see the team was on the cusp of turning the corner. In November, they did. And in December, they made history. Can't wait for the 2106 season to kick off!

Curious to see what our resident Graphic Designers have to say about this one

Sayles Stats His HS team looks like it went 5-17 last season?

He has a track record of that behavior.