Captain Kangaroo

It is amazing that, in 2009, K.e.n.t. was 5-4 going into their game vs. the Zips. They had won 3-in-a-row. The Zips started Patrick Nicely at QB, and won 28-20. The common denominator - Each team decided to improve their coaching situation. And based upon the Bell Curve, one AD achieved what we all are after, while the other was "- 5th standard deviation," heart-wrendingly awful.

1.) Why would you presume said people know something? I would say it is much more accurate to presume they know very little. 2.) No high profile recruits are rushing to MAC programs in droves in October. If you want to chug Drano because the Zips aren't kicking everone's ass in recruiting on October 29th, you really don't understand the depths to which Ianello sunk us, and the realities of what it takes to rise above. October 29th is not the time to panic about recruiting. Especially when it is going well for the Zips. 3.) Wistercill 4.) Us getting worse each week is not a commentary on our coaching. It's a commentary on our microscopically thin talent level, and what losing players like D'Orazio, Pressley, Martin, Caponi and Chisholm mean to our competitive potential. There is no way, with our 4th string defensive line, thin OL and Connor Hundly at RB that we had any chance of competing on the road @ CMU. Ianello dug us a hole as deep as any in 1-A history. There's no amount of "coaching up" that can turn us around in 2012. We need to do our best to compete with K.e.n.t., which will be difficult because K.e.n.t. is playing good football, and Ianello so de-emphasised the meaning of the Wagon Wheel ("...its just another game in the process") that I really wonder if we have any chance whatsoever of pulling-off an emotion-led upset. We gotta beat UMass.

We need wins. If the underclassmen give us a better chance to win, they should play. Otherwise, they should sit, learn, work hard in the off season, and make their impact next year. I don't think Pohl gives us a better chance than Williams to win. Our receivers still won't get separation from quality DB's, and our OL will still get pushed back by stronger, fresher DL's as the game wears on. Bowden needs a win. The players need a win. I need a win. My son who's only seen 3 wins in the past 2.75 years...while K.e.n.t. State has SEVEN wins in the past 2 months...he needs to see a win. Win.

Our logo should be Wonder Woman's airplane.

If there was a MAC-sponsored sport for being whiny little bitches, there sure are some All-MAC candidates in that thread. I give the girl that can't tell the difference between K.e.n.t. and Akron my MVP vote.

Wish in one hand... It is a drawback in some respects to not have Quincy, but it is a great opportunity for another player to fill the void. People seem to only remember the positives...Q had drawbacks too. On some teams a player like Q would be irreplaceable. On this Zips team, he is replaceable.

Chisholm, Hines and Alexander out? Yeowch....good luck Conner.

A little different than Ianello, who under the same circumstances said: "If you don't like me, then get the #@!&$# out."

Sounds like the new League has already begun making improvements?

If JD wins that game he's the hot name for the Cincinnati job, and not Kelly.

Another oldie but goodie:

I think the only truly "bad" teams in the MAC this season are Akron, UMass and EMU. Buffalo and Miami are below average. CMU is average. The rest are having pretty awesome seasons. Lee Owens used to go .500 or slightly below in the MAC because he had guaranteed wins vs Buffalo, K.e.n.t. and EMU (they always ended up on our schedule somehow). There really are no such guaranteed MAC wins this year. The top 7 teams are very strong by MAC standards, and despite that strength, the bottom-feeders are no longer getting waxed 65-0 by those top dogs.

I applaud him trying #7 to return kicks. Everyone else we've stuck back there has been pathetic this season. And last season. Have you seen enough of #22 racing to catch a ball at the 7 yard line rather than let it go OB and give the Zips the ball at the 35? Such horrible decisions on punts and kickoffs have been routine this year. You mention we need a burner...I don't think we need one at WR all that desperately, but we sure need one returning kicks. It heartens me that TB is trying whatever he can to jump start the team. It reminds me of an old Lee Owens comment, when discussing his defense getting pushed all over the field - "Maybe I'll put Charlie Frye out there on D next week...at least he'd try to make a play."

Would we throw it deep if we had any burners? The sub bigfoot-sighting frequency of any passes beyond 15 yards makes we wonder...

So it's pretty much exactly like D'Orazio. Good to know I still know what I'm talking about. I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.

I knew you'd be there to one-up me.

Whether you pay or are scholarshipped, your eligibility clock starts with your first class attended. I guess you could consider early-enrollment a "greyshirt without benefits?" Ie. no "bonus" 6th year of eligibility possible. I'd just call it a "shirt."

How can he enroll early, and greyshirt? Once you enroll and take classes, your eligibility clock starts ticking. You have 5 years to play 4. Greyshirting is for non-scholarshipped recruits who enroll a semester after the scholarshipped members of their class sign, either with the promise of getting "the next available scholarship," or achieving a 6th year of eligibility (see D'Orazio, who enrolled in January, greyshirted, then redshirted).

Makes you wonder how many 1-year guys we'll pursue next season. Are we still on the lookout for guys like Williams, Commack, Magnum and Hines? Or is recruiting year #2 of the Bowden era going to be 75% Freshmen and 25% JUCO (as I predict)? Obviously with the stable of young QB's we've assembled, another Williams-like 5th year Senior QB is not going to be recruited for 2013.

I thought he meant Jermaine Reed?

"Yardbarker" is commenting on bad nicknames? That's like Rob Ianello commenting on "Winning Football Strategies."

By the time Akron is going 9-3...10-2...Bowden will be 60 years old. The market for 60 year old D1 coaching hires is fairly small, if not non-existent. Yeah, I know his dad coached until he was 97 (or thereabouts), but that's a different circumstance. The mid-tier schools that would be interested in a 60 year old Terry Bowden are in Akron's "league," and I think we would successfully compete for his services. Proenza will not drop back into the football abyss without a massive fight. Personally, I see Bowden staying here. He'll get good money, he's got great facilities, and Father Time is on the Zips' side. If he does leave...Tressel's banishment should be about over, and we can give him a whistle and a blue vest and let him have at it.

Do you realize we scored 3 or fewer points in 1/3rd of our games in 2011. The running joke of being out-scored by our soccer team seems like a lifetime ago.

I am tired of playing good MAC teams. Where the hell is EMU or Buffalo this season? I tend to agree with JZ84...if we can get some help on the D-line, we can compete. Otherwise, it is chasing points for 4 quarters...and as improved as our 2012 offense is...we can't successfully chase points against mid-and upper-tier MAC teams. The MAC is too improved this season. GP1's generalization that you simply need to wait for an opponent to blow the game is not applicable in 2012. The Zips picked a bad year to make big improvements...the MAC in on an upswing, and everyone else got better too.