Captain Kangaroo

This is what happens when you recruit the caliber of student athlete that JD is recruiting. Big schools are trying to steal our recruits. That tells you something.

I agree. NIU will have their hands full with TCU, and the others should equate to 3 MAC bowl wins. All four teams will represent the MAC well.

What did I miss with Kemme this season? For as much grief as Crouch got all season, I didn't think Kemme or Donaldson were that much better.

I disagree. We need a coach that can win. Period. If he's winning, and another school covets him, good for him. We should have an AD in place who can select another great coach.

My home internet has been down for a week. Here are my thoughts regarding the final game. * Beautiful night for a football game...wish I saw one.* Our offense was absolutely pathetic. It was the worst offensive line performance I have seen at the Rubber Bowl in 20 years. Worse than Army. Say what you want regarding Luke's mobility...and you are probably correct...but no QB on the face of the earth would have had a snowball's chance in hell behind that line last Friday. WMU has a good defense...we made them look like OSU. How an offensive line consisting of 80% seniors...mostly 5th year seniors, could be so thoroughly dominated on senior day...at home...just makes me shake my head...Why?* When we were inside the 10 yard line...how predictable was it: A sack, followed by a Crouch holding penalty...followed by a missed FG. That's how we roll, I guess...* WMU's defensive complexity dwarfed our 3-3-5. You never knew where the WMU defenders were coming from. That said...our defense played a solid game. We still couldn't get pressure on the QB to save our lives...but played well enough to win if the O could have helped.* For all his competitive fire, for all his size (he dwarfs any MAC DB) Jabari still plays like a converted QB. He still has his head on a swivel awaiting a DB's hit. His fumble was a killer.* If Dennis Kennedy gets 90% of the RB carries next season, we are in a heap of trouble. In my perfect world he's a Marcus Allen or Moe Williams...someone that is primarily reserved for redzone situations. He can't carry the load for a full season. He was manhandled by the WMU defense. Yes the OL's invisibility had a lot to do with it, but he had ample opportunities to break a tackle...throw a stiff arm...spin...twist...fight...and he just goes down like a house of cards if someone sneezes on his shoelace.* John Mackey played his usual hard hitting game.* Our FG kicking was again atrocious. The call to use Domonokos on those two long FG's was correct...McClain would have been short on either of them. But Domonokos' fungoes were awful.* WMU is a solid team. Unlike the Zips, they beat an ACC team (Virginia) and didn't blow out their shoulders by patting themselves on the back afterwards. They scored a TD to go 26-28 on Florida State last week...only to have it called back on a phantom penalty. Funny how local scribes bemoaned the fact that the Zips played "big boys" and would get beaten up, while WMU plays an ACC school at year's end...narrowly loses to them...them follows it up with a 17-0 shut out of the defending MAC champs, on the road, the following week. Some teams "sack up" and other don't.* WMU will represent the MAC well in a Bowl this year. Had the Zips somehow eeeked into a Bowl, as a MAC fan I shudder to think how things would have panned-out.* BTW...WMU was 1-10 only two years ago.* In 20 years of attending Zips games, I can't remember a game I left early. I had to leave the WMU game with about 4 minutes left. It was too much to bear.* What a different feeling than last season. I can just hear Chris Berman: "Your soccer team didn't make the NCAA tourney...your senior-laden football team underachieved, going 5-7...Yes, It's a shitty time to be a Zips fan."I'll save any other comments for a season wrap-up column.

You're the man Balki...I second that. This chant is horrible, it is not even a chant... it is a commercial for something maybe. It must be the chant that replaces the old "Give....me...an...."A"....Give...me...a..."K"...Give...me...an..."R"...etc. cheer that that AC Slater look-alike rocked the JAR with early last season?

I saw enough of Paul Winters during Lee Owens' tenure. His offense put up points fine...until the game was on the line. There were countless games under his watch that required only a simple first down to "ice"...and Paul choked. Putting up 65 on Howard is great...but what matters is when you need a 1st down to ice a game against Marshall or UConn...or a TD vs. Wisconsin...that you can come up with something to get the job done. Winters NEVER came up with that play.If Paul Winters were selected as the next Akron football coach out of all the available candidates in North America, that would be the sign of a really stupid, lazy AD.K.e.n.t can have him after Martin shoots himself in the head.

Kemme in, Alleman not. Figure that one out.

Hopefully it is in response to some hot leads on OL and DL prospects. Several of them.

I truely believe that is true. But. I also believe in:AndUC's going to lose a successful coach (by UC standards this was a successful season) and fill the void with a 5-7 coach form Akron? I'm sure that will happen. UC trustees will sign off on that one without hesitation.

After all these years, zff's identity is revealed. Welcome to the board, Elton Alexander.

I have my own thoughts on this, but I'll save them for some ridiculousy lengthy post in a week or two. Click Me for ColumnAnd someone called him a "Polyanna?"

Just so you know the game has been changed to 3:30 PM to accomodate ESPN U. As of today...Wednesday...it seems many of the "hardcore" fans still are unaware of the Friday time change. I wonder how many people are going to show up at 1pm for the game? I'm betting quite a few. Oh well...at least they'll be there early instead of late.

I think Milum will make up for the loss of Preston's shot blocking. Mc Knight will cover for Futch's inside presence, and will likely shoot mant fewer 3's. I think the wild card for this team is the improvement of Linhart and the emergence of Conyers. Conyers can make up for the lost offense in Preston and Peterson, and then some...IF he fulfills KD's prophecy.I like this team's linup better than last season's. Preston was a "tweener"..a big man that played more like a "3." Futch was an enigma...a big man that too often wanted to be a "2" and who attracted fouls like K.e.n.t cheerleaders attract flies. And Peterson was either hurt, or in the doghouse too often. McKnight is a solid MAC "4" who doesn't seem to have any illusions of leading the MAC in 3's. Milum also knows his role, and plays D like a 7-footer. I think KD is just trying to motivate the guys. I think we're close to being set with our 9-man rotation.

Every tough team we've played this season has been on the road. We finally catch a break and play one at home, where we play decent ball. Zips 23WMU 21

Game time is 3:30pm, not 1pm. It was changed to accomodate a MAC doubleheader on ESPNU.Note: I received my local newspaper this weekend and it still had the game time listed as 1pm. What a blunder. I guess that's one thing the new administration will need to learn - don't assume the local newpapers will carry through on updating ads. More often than not, they will run the "old" ad with incorrect game dates and times. It happens every year. The papers need their hand held, and you need to follow up with them 10 times a day to confirm the changes were made. Even then, you only improve your chances of a "correct" game day ad to 50%.

I've noticed Dambrot and the players making some strong statements over the past few weeks too. It really seems like all of them are on a mission. You could see the attitude manifest itself in the Tiffin game. Instead of it turning into the sloppily-played dunkfest typical of such a blowout, the Zips played balls-to-the-walls the entire 40 minutes. You mention the football team. I think that's an interesting comparison. The vibe I get from this basketball team is they have a swagger, and a determination to be champions from top to bottom. I got that vibe from the football team @ NC State. But I never felt it the remainder of the year.

I think Harvey is a lot like Beanie Wells at OSU. Both freshman have a ton of talent and have made some amazing plays this year. And both have made some big freshman mistakes too. The difference between the two is OSU has the horses to overcome a freshman mistake, while any big mistake in a Zips drive this season has basically killed us. I look forward to Harvey and Lindsay next season. Jabari too, for that matter. I hope they're utilizing the indoor facility w/CJ and Hakes all winter and spring. The spring game this season should really be interesting...lots of new faces competing for starting positions.

Several days too late I finally get a chance to throw random thoughts about regarding the OU game. For only the second time this season, I didn’t personally attend the game. I was only able to watch the 4th quarter and the post game highlights on ESPNU. I taped the games, but I can’t bear to watch it. · On our first drive, sideline reported Joe Dunn states “Gosh Steve, this is the best-looking drive the Zips have put together this season.” High praise for a team that had just reached the opponent’s 37 yard line. Of course on the next play Luke lobbed a hurried “duck” to an OU linebacker.· On Luke – He had a bad game. There is no doubt. However, if his WR’s could hold onto a football, no one would be ripping on the guy. For all of Jabari’s fire, strength and effort, his hands are still wholly unreliable. Even the lone Zips’ TD he pulled in was a severe bobble. Looking ahead to 2007, Jabari MUST develop some hands. He can scream and rant and run smack all day long, but all that intensity is worthless if he’s the guy dropping critical pass after critical pass. And Harvey and Lindsay are in similar situations. All too often you see them bunched together. Someone, or both of them are running incorrect routes. And the drops are also killers. Luke is what he is. A reliable passer when he gets time to throw. Perfect? Hardly. The “flick/shovel” pass of his is maddening. He’s pretty immobile. But he’s also been the victim of some terrible OL play and a lot of drops. He’ll go down as the #2 statistical QB in Akron history with 40+ TD’s in two seasons. That is far from sucking.· Speaking of the OL – this week will be your last chance to watch one of the best OL’s to ever don a Zips uniform. Andy Alleman will be drafted in April. I believe the only other Zips offensive lineman to be drafted was John Buddenberg back in 1989?· I mentioned this before – Why was McClain sent in to kick that 48 yarder? I think he has a size 5 shoe? Domonokos should kick the long ones.· The on-side kick that Andre Jones recovered was a terrible call. That ref should be fired. He cost us any chance at a comeback. That’s not just sour grapes, it is a fact.· Speaking of McClain kicking – How predictable was it that once we got inside the twenty early in the game, that we’d march backwards? I was really torn between whether we’d take a sack, or if we’d get a penalty. Steve French must have thought the same thing as he said: “The one thing Luke absolutely can not do here is take a sack.” Sure enough he took the sack, and on came McClain.· Kennedy came back to earth. No surprise that on a slippery field he couldn’t turn the corner. We need a solid #2 RB for next season. IMO – we need a solid #1. I would love to see someone step up and give Kennedy some real competition. If we got someone who could juke a safety, stiff-arm and LB or cut towards the middle instead of going out of bounds, I’d be in heaven.· Why can’t we convert in the redzone? Why? That’s all I can offer. I hope we show up on Friday. For some reason, 6-6 sounds a whole lot better to me than 5-7.

I think those are all very good follow-up points. It looks like either Salee or Goddard will actually see some playing time this season...if they can prove they can play some D and handle the ball.Conyers' dunk was great. You can see f.lashes of why he's so highly touted...he reminds me a lot of Anthony Buford. But, it is going to take him some time to really contribute. I hope things begin clicking for him by the time MAC play rolls around.McKnight looks like he can contribute now. He plays beyond his years underneath the hoop. Hustles constantly too.I'm sure you can play Bardo and McNees at this time and not jeopardize their redshirt. Seeing them on the bench during a game like Tiffin tells me they're slated for a redshirt too. Unlike Conyers they will be able to practice with the team, which should help them to quickly acclimate to D-1 play in 2007-8.If Wood's knee acted up...or one of our three guards was seriously injured, you can probably bet the redshirt plan would be scrapped.

Wow...they made people pay to watch that? I was told it was supposed to be another Hillsdale "open seating" event. Someone decided to pass it off as a "real" event. Probably the same person who'd schedule the game on Browns/Steelers Sunday. Or maybe the same one who decided not to give any PA updates on said game. Or the one that put the football game on the center big screen after the Tiffin beatdown was complete..then decided to pull the plug with the Steelers on the 6 yard line with 20 seconds left. Tiffin blows. Their defensive complexity is rivaled only by the worst intramural teams in middle school history. Great coaching move to play a 2-3 zone THE ENTIRE GAME! I'll go out on a limb and speculate this Tiffin coach will not parallel former Tiffin coach Keith Dambrot's career progression as time goes on.The few things I can take out of the game:* The Zips played the entire game like they were on a mission. They never let up or started clowning around. They beat the Fighting Muffins mercilessly.* Cedrick was great. * Wood's low post game is looking pretty nice.* Conyers is lost. The game seems to be moving way to fast for him. I wonder at what point in the season will it "click" for him? He has great size and a smooth demeanor on the court, but he struggled quite a bit defensively against some really bad players today. Offensively he was never in the flow.* I thought Rybek might light it up against a weak opponent, but he still continues to lack confidence in his shot and miss badly in games.That's all that's worth writing about on this one.

I kinda wondered the same thing.

Glad to see Nick's mom checking in!

It's only a scrimmage vs. Tiffin. If it were a "real" opponent, then it would suck.

Pride will be an all-purpose back. I don't know about Brinson. Hopefully his grades are good...if not, there's no DB/RB decision to make.BTW - Listening to the game on the radio Thursday, I heard Reggie Corner may get a 5th year of eligibility?