Captain Kangaroo

I dont know how good i would be at legends of the practice squad, but there were some pretty good players during the Faust years that spent/are spending time in prison. Now that would be a fun topic. I'll have to put some thought into it. We could call it "Legends of the prison exercise yard brought to you by the University of Akron.....or something like that. If we can get 22 guys from that, it will be truly sad! Only guy off the top of my head that I played with that served any real time was Thomas Plummer. Mack Warren was crack dealer/DT (recruited by Faust, but busted under Owens). He was arrested, and subsequently kicked off the team. Of course, he finished his career at K.e.n.t. State.

The funniest line in this column is from Gaffney, regarding fan reaction to the 0-3 start: "That (record) has led to disparaging comments from fans who want instant results and credibility." Oh those unreasonable fans who are dissatisfied with scoring 3 points in the home opener, and losing to a 1-AA team at home the following week...those guys are demanding WAAAY too much from the Zips. "Instant results?" How about fans that are tired of losing, and who simply want to see some semblance of hope that the team is getting better rather than worse? It must be nice to be an impartial observer who could care less if the Zips won or lost... or got smoked vs. losing respectably.

Can EJ Lilly get the other RB spot? Or should it be Christian Morgan?

Bain was a bust, but Tonga is only in his 4th game (of a 2-year eligibility window). He has time to do something.

Ben Ruhlin - The Zips career leader in Blue Gold Game carries and rushing yardage.

Down in Lexington this past weekend an easy conversation-starter was former UK recruit Dakotah Euton ending up at Akron. Their basketball fans are as well-versed about their program as they can possibly be, and everyone I spoke to knew of Dakotah. People who attended his AAU games, and who saw him play in high school, all thought he was a pretty talented player. Good shooting skills and footwork. Not much to add beyond that. I just thought it was interesting that no one said "He was fat...slow...unskilled...not an SEC talent..."etc. A lot of Kentucky fans wanted to see what he could have done in a Kentucky uniform. Now Billie Gillespie? They hated that dude.

Stop it with the Ohio State stuff. Both pro and con. Please take it to the Smack Forum. Thanks.

A late Rodgers-to-Russell TD caps the improbable comeback. Porter had to think he had this one in the bag?

Thoughts on the game are as follows -- * Met some absolutely great people out-and-about in Lexington. The guy who runs the WildcatNation board even met us for a couple beers at 1am Saturday morning. Fantastic hospitality. * Hard to believe 60k+ would turn out to see the Zips in Lexington, but they did. Fantastic home team support from the Wildcat fans. Great tailgating environment too. Tents and parties for as far as the eye could see. * I agree the play calling was excellent in the first half. The coaching staff did all they could to get us in a position to be successful. In stark contrast to JD's Penn State game last season...where we basically laid down and took a paycheck, Ianello tried to win this game. I give him a lot of credit for devising a game plan that had the Wildcats worried for the better part of the 1st half. * In the first game of the season where the wide receivers got some separation, and where he actually had a little time, Nicely didn't take advantage of it. He has a small margin for error on offense, and when the OL and WR's do their jobs, he has to convert. It will be interesting to see what he does at Indiana. * Can Rodgers see time next week? Sure, I guess. But to take Nicely's job away after the OOC portion of the schedule would be bush-league. He deserves the chance to get better and make some mistakes without constantly looking over his shoulder. * Other than the Zips punting game, there are no hosanna's to be tossed about anywhere. Every other position graded-out poorly on Saturday. If the offense could have sustained ANY drives, maybe the defense could have caught their wind and played better. But overall...we were over-matched. Everywhere. 540 - 172 is as big a domination as it gets. And until the last garbage-time drive, we had an unbelievable 99 yards of total offense. * Antoine Russell made a nice play on his TD catch. Great to see one of our receivers go up and fight for a ball. I hope he gets some confidence from it. * LaFrance is a huge disappointment so far this year. * From my seat, Jalil Carter gave up on his deep route early in the game. Then he realized he had a chance at the ball... but it was too late. It would not have been an easy catch, but I would have loved to see him stretch out and dive for the ball. * Who is this Igor kid? He looks to be our answer at kicker? * The Zips #27 got absolutely killed on a kick off return. I thought he would be knocked out cold. Helmet flew off... bone-crushing shot. To his credit he shook it off and jogged to the sideline unassisted. * How many penalties did we have on Saturday? Very few, considering it was a road game in a packed SEC stadium. Despite Nicely's anemic yardage and TD totals, he has thrown only 1 interception in 3 games. And the Zips have lost only 1 fumble in 3 games. Small victories...but terrible MAC teams usually have a cavalcade of turnovers and penalties over 3-game stretches. We're just flat-out not moving the football. If we are to win 3-4 games, as GP1 prognosticates, the offense needs to execute a lot better. If LaFrance can catch a football, and PN7 can throw it, we at least have a chance. But Nicely is no Getsy...and LaFrance is no David Harvey. And Getsy & Harvey only won 5. We're going to need others to step it up if we're to beat anyone, let alone win 4. No regrets on the trip to Ken.tucky. It was an absolute blast. I get the feeling the coaching staff will have this team prepared for Indiana. It seems like they are getting a better read on everyone's capabilities... and the players are getting better at knowing their assignments. Baby steps, unfortunately.

My complaint would be that anyone who ever attended a Zips game knew that Zips tickets were priced too high for the typical family of 4, and that GA tickets were also priced too high to get any sort of a decent walk-up crowd. Several of my friends have young families of 5. $100 bucks to watch the Zips get mauled by Syracuse (plus food, parking, etc) is simply too much. Especially when we suck. YouTube Tom went into this season thinking he could treat Akron fans like they were getting a Big 10 product (I actually have an email to prove this). 1/3rd of the way through the home season, they are realizing what everyone has known for years - they are selling a MAC product. And presently, a bad one. G-Mann - weren't you the one to ridicule my "Buck-a-Roo Night?" How is this promotion any different? I told them 6 months ago they'd need to do something like this to get butts in the seats. Once again, ZipsNation knows more than the AD.

After enduring a week-long sales meeting I am back just in time to pack the truck. The Kangaroos are leaving for Lexington in about 2 hours.

The Captain said Nicely is a solid QB. It's a fact. The Captain said our OL can't pass protect, our WR's suck, our special teams suck, and our coaching, to-date, has sucked. That is truth. Truth and facts always mess with a guy that fawns over Charlie Frye's Iowa game. Where Iowa called off the dogs after being up on Charlie 37-0 after 15 minutes. Yes, that was 37 - 0 after one quarter. Gheezus... do you think everyone on this board was born yesterday? Maybe some of the newbies can be mesmorised by weak hyperbole, but don't pull that garbage with someone who knows facts and history.

The mismanagement of the QB should be a future post. 21 passes? Are you freaking kidding me? He is the best player on offense. Let him throw the freaking ball for crying out loud. If you weren't at a Wake game you'd realize -- Nicely has NO ONE to throw to. LaFrance would be the #4 receiver on any Owens team. None of the other active WR's would even make an Owens practice squad. Cherry, Irvin, Sparks...and MAYBE LaFrance could have beaten out Montgomery for the #4 spot. Quit looking at box scores in the Charlotte Observer and acting like you have a clue about what's going on in Akron. Your a bloated, empty windbag. You credibility is almost negligible anymore. Time for a snack.

You summary makes no sense. Mack left because he had a better job offer. CUSA is a better conference every day of the week. It has nothing to do with the players on the football team. My summary makes complete sense to anyone with 1/2 a brain. Rhoades road the wave of Mike Thomas' work, and parlayed it into a sweet job upgrade in Houston. Rhoades "managed the game" while he was at UA. But he did nothing spectacular on his own. Thomas got the stadium off the ground (that's why it looks like UVA's), and Thomas hired Dambrot. And the search committee that nabed Caleb was formed prior to Rhoades. Mack took credit on his bio for building the Stiles Center, even though it was completed years before he stepped on campus. The Rhoades administration took credit for a big donation to complete the Stiles Center football coach offices...but that was a donation from JD's father in law. Mack saw that JD was not not the answer, and he got the hell out of Akron while he had a spotless record. He's no dummy. He's as saavy a dude as I've ever met. Learn from me, GP1. You'll be a better person for it. You knowledge of UA athletics is pretty weak anymore. Being 400 miles from campus really shows. Your bravado is as big as ever, but you really have no clue what you're talking about. Looking at a box score and ranting about "The Big Dialer" is weak. Alot like ITZ fawning over Charlie Frye's 230 yards passing...after Frye was down 37 - 0 after 15 minutes. Can't wait for your next Charlie Frye post. It'll be your 1,000th. I'm going to have a snack after I read it.

Waiting until 20 hours after the game to post an observation is kind of unfair. Everyone has already writtn some good observations, and I don't want to repeat anything. So here's my attempt to avoid beating dead horses, and repeating what's already been said. And, attempting to give credit to those who've touched on the point elsewhere -- 1.) I can't help but highlight what Zipsrifle touched upon -- G-W was better than the Zips in every phase of the game. They actually out-sized us. They has better offense, defense, special teams, coaching... I have no idea why, but this pedestrian 1-AA program is absolutely better than the Akron Zips?! Is this Ianello's fault? If you are an Ianello's guy, you can easily state the following: "Look at our O-line...Thanks for leaving me with absolutley nothing, JD Brookhart." "Look at our wide receivers - Thanks for leaving me with absolutely nothing JD Brookhart." "Look at our secondary -- Thanks for leaving be absolutely nothing, JD Brookhart." "Look at my kickers - Thanks for leaving me with absolutely nothing, JD Brookhart." Stepping back and taking a realistic look at our team... we are aggregiously bereft of D-1 A talent. We haver a decent QB, decent LB's and decent RB's (Bailey looks like a winner at FB). The key work being "Decent." We have noo studs (Wagner is on of 11 guys on defense, he can only do so much). Other than Wagner, no All-MAC selections, even a 3rd teamer (Carter would need to see the field in order to get post-season recognition). Our talent is 30% decent, and 70% bottom-of-the-barrel. What other team would a guy like Gary Pride ever see the field? Ashland? He's our #2 wide out? Summary - Mack Rhoades is a crafty bugger... the guy knew when to buy, and he knew when to sell. I give him all the credit in the world. 2.) Does lack of talent give Ianello a free pass? Absolutely not. The guy is unbelievably conservative. Our playcalling on both sides of the ball shows very little feel for the flow of the game. We play soft cover-2 when we need to stop a short pass. We elect to switch to passing mode when we're running the ball down the opponent's throat. Stupid penalties abound, and mistakes like kicking off in both halves, which typically only happen to K.e.n.t. State, are now happening to the Zips. I have seen almost nothing from this staff that gives me any sense of urgency that they want to win. The vibe in the stands is -- This is a learning season for all of us, so let's just get the games over and hope no one gets hurt. What are the odds that Ianello tries a reverse...a fake punt/kick... a hook and ladder...that he goes for a "4th and anything risky"? Seemingly - Zero. If Ianello were ice cream, vanilla would make fun of him. Summary - Two games into the season, the coaching staff has given no one any hope for a turnaround. 3.) What is Wistercill's answer when Proenza asks him "What is my beautiful new stadium 70% empty?" "Why is the student section 80% empty?" "Why are the loges empty?" "Why are we losing to a 1-AA program?" Summary - I'm guessing Wistercill's resume highlights are tilted heavily towards basketball and soccer, with fingers crossed that his future employers simply don't know Akron has a football team. 4.) I was disappointed to see Mike Rasor's post game notes are so passive. He states he's "...disappointed, but not heartbroken." I guess that is the benefit of being 26, rather than 44. To me, yesterday's loss was profoundly heartbreaking. I graduated 21 years ago, and if you'd have told me that 21 years later, the Zips would still be one of the bottom 10 football programs in the nation, losing to 1-AA programs at home, I'd have never believed it. Having that beautiful new stadium, and fielding the embarassment that we saw yesterday, is heartbreaking. I'm sick of walking out of the home stadium as a loser for 60%+ of the games I attend. I'm sick of rebuilding. I want to win. Now. Ianello may have been left with some suspect talent. But he's playing a MAC schedule, with a 1-AA team included. There's NO excuse for an 0-12...or even a 3-9 season. Many of the other programs we play are equally as inept as ourselves. Thus it will come down to our staff motivating the players that we have, and creating winning game plans for us to execute. After 2 weeks, I see that 0 - 12 is looking a lot more realistic than 4-8. And, to me, that's heartbreaking.

Maybe for football.

You are an IDIOT! EVERYONE who agrees are IDIOTS as well! You all are the type of fans that will only be satisfied . First you called for JD’s head and you IDIOTS got your wish. Now 2 games in your calling for Coach I’s head?? You’re a joke, and a complete IDIOT, as a fan you are worthless and the University of Akron would be better off if you never came back to another sporting event! 90% of the people on the board know absolutely nothing about football or the inter-workings of a division 1 program. Yes that includes Captain K I am sick of reading all of the bs on this board. I am going to sit down tonight and school you idiots! So what is your point?

A buddy of mine and I both think he's physically similar to Anthony Buford (minus the 80's short-shorts). Be nice if it played-out that way...

OK... then who would replace Peters?

Wonder who will replace him?

I'd like to see McNees at SG , since it would mean Abreu is a great PG. We would field a better team. If McNees needs to play the point because Abreu can't, Abreu sits on the bench. And we are weaker at SG.

I like how it gives you the option of "Permanently Skip this Page," but when you click on that option...it simply refreshes the splash page. Best site ever.

I can't understand being worried about a Chicago-area recruit, a 6' 3" guard who can jump out of the gym, who led his team in scoring, rebounds and assists as a Junior. Zips basketball fans worry about too much. You should be celebrating and popping champagne corks, and instead you're consumed with fear of shooting someone in the eye.

That's akin to saying -- "I don't want to build a team that's solely designed to beat UCLA, and struggles with a lot of other programs." If your team consistently beats K.e.n.t, who's been a premier basketball program in the MAC for over a decade, you will not struggle with a lot of other programs. You'll beat a lot of them. And win a lot of championships.