Captain Kangaroo

The noon start is a tough one. I won't be making the trip. Marshall and App State are where we aspire to be as a football program. We aren't there yet. Hence the large point spread. The last time we played Marshall they out-athleted us at pretty much every position. It wasn't fair how easily their DB's covered our WR's. We'll have better match ups this time, but as K92 pointed out, defensively we downgraded in talent and production at two DL and three LB spots. That's essentially half the defense. I trust that Amato will keep adjusting, scheming and improving. But those 5 holes limit our defensive ceiling. The lack of offensive complexity and scheming...the inability to sustain drives is a big concern. As last season progressed, the simple offensive play-calls and 3-and-outs weren't as noticeable because the D was so dominant at year's end. If we are going to make Marshall work, we really need Milwee to move the chains. We don't need to eschew the splash plays...that's probably our biggest offensive strength. But we gotta do some underneath stuff. A sweep. A reverse. Anything but that slow hand off 5 yards deep in the backfield that never goes anywhere. Tough match up this week...

Great to see the Zips bounce back from the disappointing west coast trip with a couple of nice wins.

Hopefully Steve's ears are as bad as his eyesight, and he heard incorrectly. But if he stated it on his show...chances are it's got some validity. Ball would be a near-season-changing injury if he were out (assuming we'd actually utilize him sufficiently at some point). Lawrence's loss would affect Coach Mitchell more than Coach Bowden.

Elton on the MAC LEast

Could they become the first D1-A team ever to lose to two 1-AA schools in the same season? Look out...Monmouth is 2-0!

Our six game winning streak ended at #10 Wisconsin. Six game winning streak. When is the last time Akron Football had one of those? I love our chances in the MAC.

Please stop the personal crap. This is a football forum. I don't want to spend the Zips gameday babysitting this board. FYI - The problematic Wisconsin fans are no longer allowed to post. The Zips are playing a bit better after a rough start. Hope the improvement continues in the 3rd qtr.

Hope is playing well.

No flaming red hair for Coach today. Rats.

Under Solich, OU has never been elite, but they've never sucked either. He's sort of the Marty Schottenheimer of the MAC. It's tough to ever pick OU to suck at the beginning of a season.

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.