Captain Kangaroo

There's no alternative. It must be ready.

I don't see JD leaving. If he did, it would be for some assistant position at a BCS school, or to the NFL as some sort of assistant (he has a lot of NFL connections). But...I don't see him leaving. He's got a solid group of young players, and a new stadium within 2 years.If you look at things realistically, OVERALL, the team is probably performing as well as it can. We have limited offensive talent. I can't call this season a "rebuilding year" because we didn't win squat last season. But I can call this season a "building season." I predicted 8-4 worst case for this team a few months ago. Not because of we had a ton of talent, but because we were playing a pretty weak schedule. Knowing now what I didn't know then...I'd say 7-5 is to be expected from this team. Up until the 4th quarter of this week, you could make the argument that the Zips football program had progressed every week of the 2007 season. We were sloppy against Army, but beat them pretty soundly (forget the bad snap at game's end...we were in total control of the game for the most part)We played OSU (#1 team in the country) very tough. JD's ultra-conservative offensive approach combined with Stec's one-hit wonder career game kept us competitive for four quarters.We took a step forward at Indiana, putting up some points and moving the ball well. UConn wasn't a total debacle. The offense moved the ball a bit, and Bryan Williams began to emerge. Losing Mackey, UA's leading tackler, hurt. UConn is a very good football team, too.The conservative offense was just what the doctor ordered vs. K.e.n.t. too. K.e.n.t. will always beat themselves if you give them enough chances, and they did.We played a very aggressive offensive game vs. WMU. We pulled out a miracle in the end, but even if we had lost, as a Zips fan you could say we took a step forward.The Temple game...we regressed. CJ11 had a bad game. He defaulted to the run too soon. His passes were errant. The coaches felt we could run clock and hold on to the lead. Why the Zips staff would think this after seeing our defense peter-out in the second half of virtually every game to-date is puzzling. WMU thought the same thing the week prior, and they too got burnt. And - Temple has some skilled players. UA won't be their last win of 2007, trust me.The Zips offense lacks imagination, no doubt. But game breakers are developing. Al Owen is emerging. Bryan Williams is going to be great. Jabari was highly erratic last season. Now he's a stud. How did that happen? While JD obviously took too many chances on recruits long on talent and short on SAT's and discipline...which has cost us in the defensive depth chart...he's also brought in some great talent. And he's adjusted his recruiting strategy. He's jettisoned the malcontents. He's adapting and learning. People want to bury JD. To me, he's doing as well as anyone can ask. When you hire a 1st year head coach, he's going to make some mistakes. Organizationally. Recruiting-wise. On game day. That's just the way it is. If it were easy to hire an Urban Meyer, everyone would do it. If you went to the Miami Red Hawks message boards after their 42-0 shellacking @ Colorado, the fans wanted Montgomery canned. Now Miami is the MAC East favorite, and they've beaten Syracuse. Brion Stokes will be UA's all time leader in TFL's. Andre Jones is great. Getsy and Alleman would not have been here if it weren't for JD. Our new OL is playing very well, to the point where we can redshirt someone as talented as Paul Simkovich. Our cupboard is far from bare. But offensively it is young. And defensively it is thin.I look for us to get back on track after the bye week. Our defense needs the week off. Unfortunately, we can't claim any free agents. Our depth is what it is until 2008. Our offense is going to need to control the ball and score some points if we want to finish the season strong.I'm pulling for Coach Moorhead to turn things around. How we finish the 2007 season is predominately on his shoulders. Sideways passes and 2nd and 10 fullback draws won't cut it. 41 points will.Lunch break over.

You don't build a $55,000,000 football stadium if you are going 1-AA.

Are we talkin' basketball or volleyball here? If Karch has moved to Akron, you've got a scoop (not a scooter), Cap'em. My bad -- Coach Kraley!Kraley BioKarch Kiraly Bio

20-3 lead...in the 4th quarter...at home...against Big East reject Temple...and we lose. Wow....As many times as I've propped JD for his defense stepping up to win a game...and comparing it to what we'd seen for 9 years prior...this game gets dropped in the "Lee Owens" file. It was vintage Lee. It was Zips vs. Marshall circa 2000....it was Zips vs. UConn circa 2000 and 2003...it was an offense that couldn't get a key first down in perfect harmony with a defense that couldn't make a key stop.I don't think it was a "prevent defense" that burnt us as much as our lack of defensive depth and the offense's inability to so much as threaten to score for the latter 40% of the game. Someone in another thread likened the Zips second half offensive strategy to a "stall" in basketball. The Zips/Miami hoops game was in my mind last night. Up 7 points late in the game, we went conservative...and Miami stayed aggressive...and that's what gave them the chance at a victory at game's end.Twice we had 2nd-and-long, and twice we handed off to the fullback? That's terrible.3rd and short and we line up in the spread, with four wideouts and a single back? What happened to an "I" formation with two tight ends??!!After gradually progressing in 2007, the Zips took a step backwards last night. Their conservative offensive approach...which had served them well this season...finally bit them. Bryan Williams had a hell of a game. Ditto Reggie Corner. I thought Brion Stokes did a nice job too (or Brion "Strokes," if you were looking at the front cover of your game program).Stec struggled yet again. Often times his punts are so bad, they're effective. Maybe that's his strategy and I'm just not saavy enough to grasp it?Temple is a better team that I originally thought. Their quarterback is mobile, and throws a nice ball. The Temple wide receivers ran nice routes, and have good hands. Other than the stupid fake field goal, I thought they were coached well too. If they had a decent field goal kicker, we would certainly have lost by more than four. I give them credit for the win. There was nothing crazy...no fluke plays...they just wore us down, took away Jabari and beat us.Well...it is time to scrub the temporary tatoos off my son's face and move on with my Sunday. JD has two weeks off before the Zips travel to Buffalo. It will be interesting to see if he gives some consideration to a CJ7 + Bryan Williams backfield. I'm not off the CJ11 bandwagon yet, but even the biggest CJ11 supporter has to see our offense can use another playmaker. And having CJ7 on the sidelines the entire game seems to be a waste.

This game reminds me a lot of the Army game a couple years ago. If we are progressing like it appears we are, we win.Zips 38Temple 20If we come into the game all full of ourselves...like the teams did against Army in 2005, we'll lost 20-0.I like this team's character. 38-20.

Quick notes, since I need to get my gear ready for the afternoon tailgate:* Jeremiah Wood is a flat-out monster. I would put his biceps up against just about anyone from the football team. He was also the most outwardly-friendly guys in the autograph session. He's a guy you really like rooting for. Last year he was in good "strength shape." This year he's also in excellent "basketball shape." I think a common phrase to be heard in the JAR this year will be "Romeo who?" I stayed for about 40 minutes of the practice. It was mostly just drills...tough to get a read on anyones skills.I met Steve Sweich. Very nice kid. He said he was enjoying Akron, and was ready to play some ball. He's by far and away the biggest "big man" frosh ever to play here. He's a true wide body. Legs are thick. Not like Bruce Weinkein. Judging from the scrimmage alone, I would say he'll have a tough time with the speed of Division 1 basketball early on. And his game is definintely 6-feet-and-in...his jumper looks like mine. But he has a great attitude, works hard, and really seems to enjoy playing. He'll be an absolute monster in a year or two, and it will be fun watching him develop up until that point.I'm guessing Chris McKnight takes a few more 3's this season. He has a nice shot from out there.His younger brother definitely won't play up until mid-December. I forget the name of the test you need to take when you graduate high school...but whatever that standardized test is, his test scores didn't reach Akron until September 4th...after school had started. Thus he's ineligible. No practice, no nuthin', He is on campus and taking classes. Will he play after mid-December? It will probably depend on how bad he's needed, and how quickly he can catch on to the system. If he's going to be the 3rd man on the depth chart, due either to the guys in front of him playing well, or his learning curve in digesting the plays, terminology, teammates tendencies, etc I can see him redshirting. The guy next to me said "This is the most talent I've ever seen on the floor for a Zips team. Can you believe it was only 5 years ago we were looking at stiffs like Brian Wood and Brian Hipsher getting decent minutes?"I overheard one of the staff talking about Rydell Brooks excellent work ethic. He can't play this year, and no one really seems to know where he'll ultimately fit in. But he's apparently a good kid, and he just got a little homesick @ Niagara.Coach Kraley apparently took Scooter Taylor's old position? No details there. However, the guy that lived every former Zips player's dream...taking a swing at Thunder Dan...Ryan Andrick was seen helping out at practice. Is he now a bench coach? Was he just helping out, taking in a practice at his alma mater? Only The Shadow knows.

Nice crowd, considering the time slot. Nice event for the kids!

Sometimes ya just gotta tell it like it is.

I think K.e.n.t. will punt fewer times than Akron did. Maybe 12 times total?K.e.n.t. will have 7 or 8 turnovers.OSU 51K.e.n.t. 3

That is simply the best. I walked into the bathroom in the press box tunnel at the K.e.n.t. game. The stalls were all occupied. All have no doors. I felt so embarrassed for the guys taking a dump. Are we in Cambodia? How much do a couple pieces of plywood and some hinges cost? Or three shower curtains??!! My guess is the stall toilets in the Heisman Lounge have doors? I guess that's all that matters.

I was puzzled to see the Zips soccer team playing a Saturday evening home match at the same time as the men's football game at the Rubber Bowl. In yet another scheduling decision rife with conflict, the Meet the Team event for the basketball programs is being held tonight...up against the Tribe and HS football. Click for details...my guess is they won't run out of food. BTW - I'll be at the JAR

I was watching that live on Channel 5. You must have found the version edited for the Internet? When shown live, the highlight was cut off just as Alphonso Owen caught the ball, and they switched over to a 10 minute feed of Jim Tressel counting his toe-nail clippings.

QB: Would you take CJ11 over Luke Getsy? It is an interesting question. Luke got a shot with the 49ers because he's a pretty decent QB. But he took a lot of unnecessary sacks. Any he had a penchant for tossing the ball away too soon. Or, simply flipping it in the air to avoid the sack...and getting a grounding penalty.CJ11 looks better and better every game. It is unfair to compare him stat-for-stat against Luke, because he's playing his first few games of football since 2004 @ Mentor HS. Conversely, Luke was a 5th year senior last season. Unless the last couple games are flukes, CJ11 seems to be progressing as well as can be expected...maybe better? He moved the team well at UConn, and moved it VERY well at WMU. The more games he gets under his belt, the more the coaching staff seems to be letting him make plays. CJ7? Unless CJ11 regresses for some reason, I don't see him getting back into the mix.RB: It is no coincidence that the emergence of Bryan Williams has coincided with CJ11's improved play. Having a game-breaking threat at RB makes a QB's life a lot easier. Williams/Allen is a HUGE upgrade over last year's RB corp. Alex Allen is probably going to be like Nick Dials in hoops...getting better and more comfortable every game.WR: Screw it...throw it to "The Man" every play until someone proves they can stop him. The Man has more than made up for David Harvey's departure. Al Owen seems to be getting into the mix, which will only help. At worst, it is a wash thus far when comparing WR production of 2006 to 2007. My gut feeling is a new #2 WR is going to emerge vs. Temple. Wait and see.TE: Invisible. Same as 2006.OL: Can you believe they're collectively playing better than last season's veteran OL? Seems like JD's OL recruiting, and the OL coaching, have been stellar? The spread offense seems to be a big help to our OL. Kicker: Igor is 8-10. He's missed only 1 PAT. It almost makes me want to cry.Punter: I think Stec has improved a bit from 2006, but he still has a ways to go to be All-MAC caliber.KO Returns: David Harvey who? Bryan Williams is averaging 35.2 y/return.Punt Returns: David Harvey who? Andre Jones is averaging 20.2 y/return.D-Line: Thus far, a "wash" when comparing 2006/2007. LB: A "wash" when comparing 2006/2007. Stokes is having a great senior season. Secondary: I think they're playing a little better than last season. The performance has slipped the past few games, but Tate/Jones/Corner will be fine. They've just been dog-tired. As the offense keeps improving, the better-rested secondary will play with a lot more consistency.Overall: I like this (2007) team's upside, and weekly improvements. If we can put together a strong effort against Temple this weekend, I'll feel very confident we can win the MAC East. Temple is dangerous...they played UConn a hell of a lot tougher than we did. And they beat NIU last week, so they'll be confident. But is we stay aggressive on the offensive side of the ball, we win:Zips 38Temple 20Then a bye-week! My liver can use the break.

Remember when Toledo was doing well...and Toledo fans would post fairly regularly on ZipsNation? Funny how that has stopped.

Ryan Bain will make a HUGE impact next season. He's Nate Robinson, but without the motivational issues.Lemon will be bigger. Joe Rash will be ready. Shane Shead will be ready. Deni Odofin, who will see PT the remainder of the season, will be ready.Look for our D-line to make a vast improvement next season. The drawback...we lose Tate & Corner, so we may struggle in the secondary. We'll need an improved pass rush to compensate.BTW - Brion Stokes will break Jason Taylor's all-time career tackles for loss record this year. I thought that was an interesting fact.

It seems to work ok for me? I think when I added Dr Z's option(#4), it erased the previous votes? My first poll on the new site...gotta deal with the learning curve, I guess.

Click for Original CallClick for Option #1Click for Option #2Click for Option #3Click for Option #4(Thanks to Dr. Z)

The thing that struck me was how seat-of-your-pants-crazy the play actually was. From the radio feed, I envisioned it as some organized, crafty play call. Minus 13 pitches, it was the Stanford Band play. I'll take it.

I was told Da'Von tore his ACL. I'll try to get more info.I thought I saw him on the sidelines during the Can't game?You probably did. If you see him this week, it will probably be on crutches.

Word on the street is --Provided the satellite transmission to ESPN went well, the final touchdown at Western Michigan will air on ESPN2 today at 2 pm during its college football show. I don't know when exactly when it will air, but it scheduled to air.Call your wife and have her set the VCR!

I'm eternally jealous of any Zips fan who attended that game!!

I was told Da'Von tore his ACL. I'll try to get more info.

Click for a great column