Captain Kangaroo

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.

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!