Captain Kangaroo

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

That's pretty classy of you. Thanks!

Dambrot mentioned a downtown arena at this summer's golf outing. He said "I don't want to discuss it. We need to fill up the JAR. Next question."His reply led me to believe the downtown arena ain't no where near a reality. The improvements coming to the JAR will be in the locker rooms and the coaches offices. Other things, such as seating, will be improved too. But it will take time.I look for a new arena in 5-8 years. No sooner.

CJ11 starts. CJ7 should start looking at Jabari's success and start thinking about a career at WR before he starts falling too far behind Al Owen.Someone took the shackles off CJ11. Thank God. He looked like the guy I saw in summer camp. If the staff has confidence in CJ11, I do too. Why? My job doesn't depend on his success. Their's does.The Zips have losses to Indiana, Ohio State and UConn. They've beaten Army, K.e.n.t and Western Michigan. To be 3-3 with that shedule is pretty respectable. Yeah, tonight was a miracle, but good teams make miracles happen. Teams rarely stay the same during a given season...they either improve, or regress. The Zips are improving. Unfortunately, so is Miami. And...Buffalo??!

He is enrolled at UA.You are right...we know nothing for sure about Moore. I keep hearing he is enrolled and on the roster, but he was nowhere to be seen on the sidelines during the Can't game. I also didn't see him on the sidelines of the UConn game, although that doesn't surprise me. No need to travel him half way through the season. All that being said....I will wait until I actually see him in uniform before I believe anybody on his status.I'll rephrase it, because I don't think I was very clear: He is enrolled at UA.

Surreal win. Unbelievable.Who else had f.lashbacks to Ball State circa 2005? 2 minutes to go. First down at the seven...and we throw 4 times into the endzone?? Did someone kidnap Bryan Williams and Dennis Kennedy and Frenchy didn't tell me??God Bless the Zips. What a text book, never-say-die performance.

He is enrolled at UA.

Not being too heavy here -- I think it is best to avoid the May 4th smack. It doesn't reflect well on us.K.e.n.t. gives all of us so very many opportunities to laugh each and every day, we don't need to go "there."Hope that makes sense.

Guys...you just have to accept that if K.e.n.t. Fan wants to sit at his computer and vote against Zippy, there's really nothing you can do to stop it. "Oh Zippy, how you vex me!!"

80% of the recruit's status' are pretty cut-n-dry. Others...like this guy or Vince Hill...change(d) like the wind.

It will be interesting to see what game plan is unveiled for the Bronco's game this Saturday. One train of thought is that JD has played his cards close to the vest offensively thus far. Ok...that's no revelation. But what is unknown is what does the guy have up his sleeve?We've gone on the road against two Big 10 teams and an undefeated Big East team. And we've done so with totally inexperienced QBs, total inexperience @ starting RB (Kennedy is now 3rd string)...total inexperience at WR anywhere beneath Jabari...an OL 2-deep that's about 80% new...with all the new faces it is pretty obvious that it would be suicide to institute some highly complex play calling. Unless...you really dig fumbles, sacks and INT's. Last season we had a lot of seniors and some solid offensive fire power. It was a good year to go for broke and win a BCS game. This season, I have to believe beating decent BCS teams just wasn't in the cards. And the staff knew complex offensive schemes would only have led to some severe beat-downs....which would lead to a demoralized team...which leads to a train-wreck season. Our best chance at a bowl in 2007 was to survive the BCS games, improve every week, and start hitting our stride during the MAC season.If this theory is true, and JD has been spoon-feeding his young offense, this is the week these kids start eating "solid food." The baby formula is in the garbage. How long will CJ11 last at QB vs. the Broncos? He played "ok" at UConn. But as a fans, you wonder if he has the skills to ever be better than just "ok." He is a better running QB than he's shown thus far. But his indecision on game day has led to WAY too many sacks. Will the staff let the guy make more than 1 throw into the endzone per game? Hell...is he allowed to throw forward? It is time to take at least one of the shackles off CJ11 and let him play a bit. I'll take an INT here and there if we're trying to score and keep a defense honest.CJ7 is clearly the better playmaker QB. He's beaten K.e.n.t., which ain't too shabby. And he did so playing a pretty poor game. He throws the best deep ball of our present QB's. But he's acting like Allen Iverson. And it appears JD has drawn a line in the sand regarding missed practices and punctuality. Does CJ 7 want to be the next Nate Robinson? Or the next Butchie Washington? I'm all for letting him rot on the bench until he decides winning football games on Saturday's is important. Seeing how Indiana's QB tore WMU a new a-hole a few weeks ago, a mentally prepared CJ7 probably could have had a monster game in Kalamazoo. Oh well.The TE position seems to have fallen off the radar receiving-wise. But the blocking has been more than adequate. Overall, the OL seems to have improved with each game. Alex Allen and Bryan Williams are improving with each game. Jabari is playing great. I like the direction our offense is heading...I just wish it were heading that direction a lot faster.Western Michigan has shown they've got a very porous defense. You think giving up 44 to UConn is bad, try allowing Missouri to put up 52, or WVU posting a 62-spot on you. Or losing to Indiana 31-7 (garbage time points made the score a seemingly respectable 38-24) IN KALAMAZOO. The Zips offense has no excuse this week. WMU is a MAC opponent with a bad defense. It is time the Zips break out.WMU can score...they put up 42 on Toledo last week. But in this game, our offense should give the D sufficient rest to play a full 4 quarters.Zips 27 WMU 24

Heart set on Penn State, but He's Injured

The Browns? That's flat-out mean! What did Dominick ever do to you to deserve that?

A lot of you have already some nice post-game summaries. I'll list my thoughts here, from the perspective of having personally sat through the game:Pre-gameI flew in to Hartford on Friday. The stadium is a solid 30-40 minutes from the Storrs campus. From what I understand the State wanted the stadium near Hartford to allow the big insurance companies (and others) to entertain clients. The long drive to the stadium didn't deter many students from attending. The place was full to about 94% of capacity.I stayed about 6 miles from the center of campus. It was a good choice. The college environment beats a city environment any time. When we arrived we were pretty hungry so we went to an off-campus hole-in-the-wall pizza shop cammed "Mama's Pizza." As soon as I walked in the door in my Zips-logo gear, the owner spotted me and started talking about the game. He knew our defense was highly rated...that we played OSU tough...I thought that was pretty impressive. The guy also owned a local sports bar and gave me a couple passes (they had a band playing that night). Very nice hospitality overall around campus. Met some good people.Game DayVERY impressed with the tailgating environment. Tons of people with tents, grills etc. I can describe it like our own Rubber Bowl "fence row," but multiplied by 100. The weather was great...you couldn't beat it. The "local" micro brew beer I selected was a "sample" 12-pack from Magic Hat Brewing Company. Man, one beer sucked worse than the next! Thank God I had a few other local beers that came in 22 oz bottles. The name of the brewery escapes me, but they were EXCELLENT. I also had a beer from Otter Creek Brewing called Otter Roo? It was ok, no need to fear that roo. I could locate no other Zips in the tailgate lot.GameNot too many Zips fans in attendance. I'd guess no more than 75 combined? I ran some good smack with a group of students in a near by section...until the 3rd quarter. Then I endured a Rodney King-esque beating.The weather was pretty hot. On the field, I'd guess it was over 80 degrees. I think that, coupled with our offensive problems, coupled with playing K.e.n.t plus two Big 10 schools prior...took it's toll on our D in the second half.If you want to look at positives from the game, there were a few.I thought the offensive line had a solid day. It helped to get Schepp back behind center. Decent holes to run through, and good pass protection a good portion of the day.But...they say games are won and lost in the trenches. That's true if you have a decent quarterback. CJ11 (I like Zipsrifle's identifier) had a nice game statistically, but he was a drive-killer Saturday. I know the guy is young, but there a certain "something" you see in a good quarterback. The "it" factor. Something that you can't teach. I don't see it in CJ11. He runs good play fakes, has a good arm, but as many have witnessed...they guy just flat out refuses to get rid of the ball. He takes WAY too many sacks. The sideline play at the end of the first half...I don't see any scenario where that should happen. What happened to the play-making CJ11 I saw in summer camp? He's been very different under game conditions.Is it CJ11's fault? No. It is Carlton Jackson's. CJ11 shouldn't have been in that game. If our starting QB is sitting on the sidelines due to "undisclosed" personal whatever, that sucks. I gave CJ7 the benefit of the doubt regarding the "personal issues" that were rumored last year, but it doesn't appear they were rumors. If CJ7 doesn't want to lead this team, it is time to warm up Matt Rogers. BTW - This COULD have been Shawn Hakes' team too. CJ11's limitations plus CJ7's issues have left the QB door wide open. IF Hakes were any good, he could have gone nuts with Jabari this year. Alex Allen seems to get better every week, and as some have noted, Brian Williams is slowly slipping into the "game-breaker" shoes.Jabari has been "The Man" thus far. I wish we'd throw to him 15 times per game.Fuqua - Is the guy allowed to catch a pass beyond the line of scrimmage? The sideline screens are killing me.The D had a rough second half. Thanks to Nate Robinson for skipping at least one practice this week and getting pulled from the travel squad. He wouldn't have helped defend the run. In the second half our secondary was gassed. I haven't seen our CB's give that much cushion since Jesse Smith graduated. Gotta get back to work. I'll finish by stating:UConn is a solid team. They have good size, and excellent team speed. They are well coached and don't make many mistakes (unlike K.e.n.t for example, who was poorly coached and made many mistakes). Yeah, they haven't played anyone "major" yet, but that doesn't mean anything. After two "down" seasons, they appear to have righted their ship. Give them credit. The Zips need to get a mentally tough CJ7 behind center for four quarters if we want to win anything this year. 8-4 is still very realistic considering the MAC East schedule. 4-8 is too, if we continue moving sideways offensively, instead of forward.I'm not worried about our defense. It is fine.