Captain Kangaroo

He absolutely hates it. There's only FORTY THREE Ohio players on the Zips roster.

I'll re-place this post here. Seems like a more appropriate spot --The one thing that strikes me positively about our 2008 defense is its' "bend but don't break" steadiness. After playing two BCS opponents, the longest TD we've surrendered is 35 yards. The rest were under 15 yards. We get beat up...pushed around...but at least we're making tackles and making the opponent work a bit.I think that bodes well vs a team like Ball State, who thrives on the big play. The couple times Syracuse threw deep, the WR was blanketed by two Zips. If we take away BSU's deep play and make them work, Davis can, and will make mistakes. I have to believe Bryan Williams has Dante Love's picture above his locker. That should be an epic matchup.Can we get pressure on Davis? Maybe. I keep waiting for Christmas when we get our top 2 DL's back on the field. It really sucks not having Lively, Bain and, to a lesser extent, Deni Odefin anchoring our line. Sewell and Grant aren't nearly as disruptive as they could be.I also think our offense's sustained drives are helping our D stay fresh. To-date, we haven't seen the maddening 3-and-outs from last year. I hope it continues.Back in the earliest Lee Owens days we played Marshall w/Chad Pennington. Pennington/Marshall were all the hype that this 2008 BSU team is, and then some. We had a freshman DL named John Lutz that came out of nowhere and had an awesome game. He had 2 sacks, and then he hurt his neck. Unfortunately, he never played again. To beat Ball State we need some defensive "unknown" to step up and wreak some havoc. Maybe it is one of our AWOL DL's...maybe Sewell or Grant goes Virginia Tech-Jason Taylor on Davis' ass. But someone really needs to play at a higher defensive level.It should be an awesome, WAC-type shoot out Saturday afternoon. My grill is packed, the beer's awaiting the cooler and my rifle-like arm is ready to toss some balls around the Rubber Bowl lot!Go Zips!!

I always thought "The Tread Heads" would be a cool fan section to start at the Rubber Bowl.

That could very well be the case, BUT if I knew that one of my key players WAS able (not saying Ryan is) to return to action I'm not sure I would let this information out by simply putting him back on a depth chart that is accessible to the public. I have to think that his return this week is highly doubtful, but I'll wait until tomorrow when (I thought anyway) the injury report will come out. On a related note, I found a site that has injury reports for all FBS teams.Injury ReportsI had another thought earlier this week. Does anyone know if Bain has a red-shirt year left? I'd be the 1st to say how disappointing it would be to not have him be able to play at all this year, but if the season moves along and the Zips are at least playing 0.500 ball without him, maybe it'd make sense to hold him back for 2 years in the Info. Just a thought.He used his RS year last year for his transfer year.His injury must be worse that we were led to believe. I remember at one point there was talk of him playing at Wisci.Then I wonder if he'd be able to apply for a "medical hardship" which can effectively get you two red-shirt years. Maybe if the injury is well documented, he may have a good case for a 6th year of eligibility?Bain wants to play in the NFL. If he did need to sit out 2007 AND 2008, the only way I could see him playing a 6th year @ UA is if his draft stock was severely low. If he has a decent 2009, and that's asking a lot from someone who hadn't played in 2 years, I think he'd opt for the draft.BTW -- Ask Ben Mauk if 6th-year eligibility is something the NCAA freely hands out. It is pretty rare. Hopefully he starts healing soon.

What are you cooking this Saturday morning? I think we're going with the Fowl Balls theme...Swedish Meatballs made with cardinal meat...or turkey if I can't kill and pluck enough cardinals between now and Friday night.

Click for Cardinal Droppings

"The harsh reality: the Zips whipped the Orange" 'nuff said!Mmmmmmmmmmmmm...whipped orange......

The one thing that strikes me positively about our 2008 defense is its' "bend but don't break" steadiness. After playing two BCS opponents, the longest TD we've surrendered is 35 yards. The rest were under 15 yards. We get beat up...pushed around...but at least we're making tackles and making the opponent work a bit.I think that bodes well vs a team like Ball State, who thrives on the big play. The couple times Syracuse threw deep, the WR was blanketed by two Zips. If we take away BSU's deep play and make them work, Davis can, and will make mistakes. I have to believe Bryan Williams has Dante Love's picture above his locker. That should be an epic matchup.Can we get pressure on Davis? Maybe. I keep waiting for Christmas when we get our top 2 DL's back on the field. It really sucks not having Lively, Bain and, to a lesser extent, Deni Odefin anchoring our line. Sewell and Grant aren't nearly as disruptive as they could be.I also think our offense's sustained drives are helping our D stay fresh. To-date, we haven't seen the maddening 3-and-outs from last year. I hope it continues. Back in the earliest Lee Owens days we played Marshall w/Chad Pennington. Pennington/Marshall were all the hype that this 2008 BSU team is, and then some. We had a freshman DL named John Lutz that came out of nowhere and had an awesome game. He had 2 sacks, and then he hurt his neck. Unfortunately, he never played again. To beat Ball State we need some defensive "unknown" to step up and wreak some havoc. Maybe it is one of our AWOL DL's...maybe Sewell or Grant goes Virginia Tech-Jason Taylor on Davis' ass. But someone really needs to play at a higher defensive level.It should be an awesome, WAC-type shoot out Saturday afternoon. My grill is packed, the beer's awaiting the cooler and my rifle-like arm is ready to toss some balls around the Rubber Bowl lot!Go Zips!!

AWESOME

Many of these will be scattered about--

Click for Greatest Report Ever

Maybe their commissioner doesn't suck (like ours)?

Because the state of Florida has very few men's soccer programs and FAU could make a big name for itself in this sports, which has growing media exposure.And...MAC schools like the November road trips to Boca!

EXCELLENT rundown, Dr. Z! Tough to add anything?A few additional thoughts:It was interesting to see Andre Jones go from "looking like a converted DB @ WR" to a legit D1 WR in the span of 1 week. He had a GREAT game.The OL played great, but the RB's were bruising too! Alex Allen was a man amongst boys.Jack was stellar. Converted on 10-14 3rd down opportunities? That's unreal vs. a BCS school. The Zips WR's could not be stopped. If they were open, and they were all day long, Jack hit them between the numbers. The corner route to Jones was a BEAUTIFUL toss.Dr Z is correct -- Jack needs to keep the ball every so often on those tug-of-war handoffs. The deception only works if the QB keeps it every so often.With the Zips offense clicking the way it was, and the defense getting pushed around the way it was...it was tempting to make the comparison to the Lee Owens era. And if you did, you'd be 90% correct. The 10% difference between Owens and Brookhart is: Owens offense had numerous opportunities to win tight games like this. And inevitably the offense couldn't get the first down necessary to ice the game. Then the defense collapsed, and we walked home losers. JD's Zips built a 42-28 lead after being tied 28-28. Late in the game the offense rolled. The defense bent, but didn't break. We walked off the field with the win. When Wayne Cobham watches tape of this game he should wear a bag over his head. If he continues to tackle like that he should change his jersey name to Gramatica because he tackles like a kicker. In the 3-3-5 you need safetys who can tackle...not completely whiff.I have to believe Bowser has only scratched the surface of his ability. He's going to go off for 200 receiving yards one day.We gave the ball to Syracuse on the 30+ yard line after just about every kick. I wish Igor could get some more distance on those kick offs. Speaking of Igor...I could have sworn his FG was good? They never showed the replay so I guess I'll never know..The roll out where Jack crossed the line of scrimmage in the 1st quarter and hit Bowser...that was a GREAT play. I'd like to see it again some time soon...only with the QB not crossing the line. If the DB bites on the run it's a 30+ yard play every time.How will JD shore-up our defense to combat Davis and Ball State? This has the makings of a 56-48 shootout. If the Rubber Bowl is packed, and it should be, I like our chances. 24,000 screaming Zips fans will work miracles for our D. And if we can get Lively and Bain back (and Stewart?) that wouldn't hurt either. An exciting week of Zips Football is upcoming!!!!!

Good.Funny thing is...if he was in our backfield, he'd be 3rd string.

C'mon, Beanie. You can't be serious? The grousing over the 3-3-5 didn't start this season. What's written is a continuation of at least 1 1/2 years of frustration.To be fair -- We're getting mauled, but we're still better than any of Lee Owens' defenses.

True. And it is really unfair to those Crawford teams because they averaged just as many points as our soccer team!

The MAC would have been a 2-bid league last season if we'd have won the tournament.Scheduling teams is worthless if you don't beat them.

Sports Marketing 101: If you win, they will come. If you lose, they won't.Who's Got Extra Tickets!!??

Hence why the JAR rarely sells out, despite the Zips being an excellent team. Squishing together with a complete stranger in a 93 degree gym with your wife and kids ain't where it's at. At least for a lot of folks I know.Too few good seats at the JAR.

Since this is morphing into a game-link thread, here are two good ones:Nice Feature on Dre, and B WillSyracuse RB Situation

27-21...in favor of...

I'm your point man. Just keep in mind the whole UA tailgating topic is a big unknown right now (stadium and lot construction still has a ways to go). I've yet to see a good University map detailing 2009 parking/tailgating plans. It'll eventually become clear, but for now we're all in the dark.

I was at the game, where were you?Look Mr. All-bold, I said "the kid played his ass off." I didn't say "The kid dominated," nor did I say "Boy, we didn't miss Bain or Lively." Stewart worked his ass off in a pretty impossible situation. He is a redshirt freshman walk on, playing in his first collegiate game, facing a top-notch Big Ten offensive line. He played a lot of minutes. From your air conditioned couch, I'm sure it didn't appear like the kid put in all that much work. From my seat, at the game, it was f*cking H-O-T. Easily 100 degrees on the field. You lug your 310 lbs around the field in 100 degree weather in full pads and push on 315 lb Big 10 linemen all day and tell me if you "look tired when you walk off the field." Pendleton is a walk on that apparently couldn't beat out Stewart for the #2 nose guard job. If you're thinking he's going to be the savior of the 3-3-5, you're nuts. By his lack of PT Saturday, and the past 2 seasons, he ain't going to be a factor.Harvey got shoved around just like everyone else. Hazime was the only one I saw that came close to holding his own.

1.) Jack played better than I could have dreamed. We'll know if it was a mirage after this week.2.) Andrew Johnson can go from a dead-stop, to full speed quicker than anyone else on the team. Running out of the shotgun like we do, that's a nice trait to have.3.) I'm still not a Dennis Kennedy fan. 4.) Hasan Hazime looked the best of all our DL's. I hope he sees increased PT this Saturday. He was the 5th or 6th option vs. Wisconsin.5.) My prediction of Bryan Williams being the next Dwight Smith is looking great.6.) My prediction of Buffalo and BG sucking is looking suspect.7.) I wonder if placing 4 or 5 DL's on the line at a single time EVER crosses JD's mind? Just once I'd love to see a defensive "Jumbo Package" given a whirl. Last Saturday, what would it have hurt? Could it have been worse than watching PJ Hill run for 10+ yards, 20-something times?8.) Williams, Miller, Bowser and Bruce are a nice 4-receiver set. Put in Jones if we want 5 wide outs. Otherwise, keep him on defense. He looks like Jabari did when he was first converted to WR. Unlike Jabari however, Jones doesn't have 3 years to figure it out.9.) For the first time in recent memory I left a game happy with our offensive play calling. Unlike OSU last season, we tried to win the game and put up some points.10.) Thank GOD the long looks to the side lines before the snap (to get the play call in) appear to be gone. 11.) Jeremy Bruce looks like a Hendry clone with his north-south, bullet-style runs. He'll break a few this year.12.) Igor didn't have many opportunities Saturday, but he's banging the ball. He'll have a huge season if the offense can continue moving the chains.13.) Stec had a great game. He must have worked on something this past off season, because his hang time was the best I've seen. He's no longer just a directional kicker.14.) If he already doesn't have one, Cowles Stewart deserves a scholarship. He played his ass off on Saturday. Unfortunately, he's a freshman so he took a good beating too. Such is the life of a nose tackle.15.) OL made us go 15 yards for a 1st down instead of 10 5 times. That's not how you beat Wisconsin, nor is it how you beat Syracuse. If they aren't in tune this week, we'll lose. I don't care how bad Syracuse is, we'll lose.16.) I almost forgot -- my prediction that Evan Laube rules also is looking pretty good.