Captain Kangaroo

Decision Expected Soon On New UC Athletic Director Reported by: Dennis Janson Web produced by: Neil Relyea 10/19/2005 11:07:57 PM A major announcement is anticipated from the University of Cincinnati about its athletic program. 9Sports anchor Dennis Janson has learned that Bob Goin's successor as athletic director may be Mike Thomas. Thomas, who's currently the athletic director at the University of Akron, emerged as the front-runner among three candidates to success the retiring Goin. So far no comment from anyone in the department other than that Thomas is a candidate. An official announcement could come as early as Thursday.

I agree. 9 points seems to be a huge spot for a team that lost to CMU at home by 14...when Army only lost to them by 4. Army may very well be: "The best 0-6 team in the country."

Herndon grad/Akron, Fr. By Brian McNally Examiner Staff Writer Published: Tuesday, October 18, 2005 11:32 PM EDT Grant has already made a big impact on Akron’s defense after redshirting last fall. The 6-foot-2, 235-pound linebacker is Akron’s fourth-leading tackler through six games with 32. He also has two sacks and five tackles for a loss with a forced fumble and a pass breakup. Akron, which hosts Army on Saturday evening, is 3-3 overall with a 2-2 record against Mid-American Conference opponents. Grant had a career-high eight tackles, including one for a loss, in a 17-7 win over Middle Tennessee State on Sept. 17. He also made five tackles in a 48-42 overtime win against Northern Illinois. Grant has made at least five tackles in every game except the season opener, a 49-24 loss at Purdue on Sept. 10. Grant was the 2003 Examiner Defensive Player of the Year at Herndon, where he led the Hornets to a 7-4 record and a Northern Region Division 6 postseason berth as a senior and became known for his highlight-reel hits. Grant broke Herndon’s single-season record for most solo tackles (75), including a career-high 19 in a 42-14 loss to Robinson, and assisted on 66 others. He also had seven sacks and intercepted two passes, returning one for a touchdown, en route to Northern Region defensive player of the year honors.

How is this for a theory: The staff and existing players perform at a level above their capabilities for a great deal of the time. They have to in order to be competitive. If the players didn't give 110% they'd be run off the field of most games. However, preparation and adrenaline only go so far without talent and depth. Over the course of 4 quarters, we simply have trouble matching the better opponent's talent and depth.

Miami Football Breaks NCAA Division I-A Record in Defeat of Akron RedHawks' 21 Points in One Minute Tops Previous Mark by Four Seconds Oct. 17, 2005 OXFORD, Ohio--Miami University's Athletic Media Relations Office has confirmed that Miami's football team set an NCAA Division I-A record last Saturday when it scored 21 points in just one minute of clock time during a 51-23 Mid-American Conference defeat of the University of Akron. According to the Official 2005 NCAA Football Records Book, the previous fastest time for a team to score three touchdowns and convert three PATs was 1:04 during a 1996 game between Can't State University and Akron, in which the Golden flushes recorded two rushing touchdown and an interception return for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

Purdue: Everyone was excited when the Zips posted 24 points vs. the Top 15 Boilermakers. I know I was. Well...the mighty Boilermakers are now 2-4 with 3 consecutive home losses. They are giving up 34.5 points per game. Not as much of a "quality loss" as we thought. On the bright side...man would it suck to be a Boilermaker fan this season. They're competing with Pitt for most-overrated team of 2005. MTSU: Getsy came back to earth a bit. Hixson's outstanding play and some MTSU miscues gave us a win, but a scary pattern began here. Shooting ourselves in the foot in the red zone and closing up shop offensively in the second half. NIU: Our big play offense showed up for 3 quarters. The D did too. Then Part 2 of the seasonal offensive meltdown occurred. O shut it down for the final 15 minutes and the D got pushed all over the field. At the time, I thought it was just the D being winded from the offense's 4th quarter ineptitude. Now I wonder if our D has the mental toughness to protect a lead. Like MTSU, a win allowed us to overlook a lot of bad things. CMU: AGAIN...the O comes out like gangbusters and the D plays solid. Zips take a 17-7 first half lead. AGAIN the O shuts it down in the second half and AGAIN the D is either too tired or not mentally tough enough to hold the 10 point advantage. Or...both. CMU has proven they're a solid team this year, but we gave them that game. Buffalo: Things are reversed from the typical patter, but essentially the same. This time the offense does nothing for the first two quarters, then picks things up in the second half. The D appeared solid throughout, but lets face it...Buffalo's offense isn't all that difficult to stop. Buffalo's defense played well in that game, and held BG to 28 pts this week, BTW. Miami: Here we go again, Zips fans. The O rolls out to a big 17-7 lead. We then get outscored 44-6. The O and D try to outdo each other in one of the worst halves of football the Zips have played against a MAC opponent in some time. Penalties, crucial turnovers, mental breakdowns, you name it. One thing I'll take out of this game: You could tell that Miami had no fear of losing to the Zips. At no point did they begin to panic. This is a team that knows what it is like to win a championship. Knows what it is like to be in a bowl game. And certainly knows what it is like to beat the Zips. Our guys and our staff need to figure out how to get that confident, killer mindset instilled in the Zips program. Or once the start of the game adrenaline wears off, we're going to keep blowing leads and falling apart. Summary: The most frustrating thing about this Zips team is the flushes of brilliance you see. For two...sometimes 3 quarters we can go toe-to-toe with anyone. Then things go in the crapper. If we sucked all the time, it would be much easier to say "Give the staff some more time...these aren't their recruits...we're young..." etc. Somehow in the last 5 games I want to see us learn how to "finish." No simply hold on for dear life and win, as we did vs. NIU....not simply eeek out a win vs. a bad team like Buffalo, but beat them convincingly...not simply hold on against a mediocre team like MTSU, but build on a lead and punish them. It is obvious that the staff is building for the future by redshirting the majority of last season's class. I thought more kids would play once we were in the race (after beating NIU). That said, I've seen the kids that are on the field right now can play good football. The have the talent to win. I just wonder what it is going to take to grab them by the scruff of their necks and get them to play to their capabilities for a full 4 quarters?

What happened to this attitude from only one week ago (see below)? Truth be told...Mackey is the last one who I could say mailed it in early last week. However, it only takes one or two of the 11 guys on the field to start hanging their head and the ballgame is over.

I saw JD in the hotel hallway before the MTSU game and asked him how he thought we'd do. He said "If we play like 18 year olds, we'll lose. If we play the way were capable of playing, we'll be fine." It seems like we get the 18 year old Zips for at least 2 quarters every game? Mental toughness is sorely lacking on our team. The ability to put someone away when you're ahead is lacking. To overcome mistakes and not dwell on them is lacking. There were several player quotes after the Buffalo game describing when the offense came off the field dejected after a bad series, the defense said "No problem...we got your back" and went out and stuffed Buffalo. This week when the offense struggled, the defense rolled over with uncanny predictability. Zips turnovers were immediately met with Miami TD's. 21 points in one minute? Holy hell. Army only lost to CMU 14-10. I guarantee they'll play with poise. If we don't, we'll have a 3 game losing streak on our hands.

Although there is mention of TV coverage via Time Warner, it won't happen in the Akron area. Only in SW Ohio. The silence of the Miami fans is deafening. They are usually the most frequent opponent visitors to the Blue Board. If they have lost their bravado, I have to believe their team is doubting themselves a bit too. Jump on 'em early, Zips! Revised prediction: Zips 34 Miami 24

Wedding anniversary this Saturday. The wife's been a trooper going to MTSU and Buffalo, so I'll have to skip this one. Zipboy - If you could bring an acetylene torch to the game and cut me off a slice of the goal post you tore down, I would really appreciate it.

What network broadcast the match?

It was like night and day with Luke between the first and second half of the Buffalo game. Balls that sailed over guys heads suddenly began hitting them between the numbers. Did his bum hand loosen up? Did a coach identify a flaw in his delivery? I don't know. Maybe it is just the inconsistency you're going to have with a QB that's played all of 5 games since high school in 2002. In hindsight, to have such an inexperienced QB behind a 90% new offensive line an be 3-2 going into Miami is pretty amazing. Hopefully the OL continues to improve and Luke's consistency begins to improve (aren't those things intertwined somehow?). Great half...bad half...great half...bad half. At some point the great halves are going to begin outnumbering the bad halves. Hope it begins this Saturday.

Our defense is for real. You can bank on them to keep the game close. If the offense can move the ball and convert in the red zone, we will win. If our offense has a bunch of 3-and-outs, we're toast. Since Miami seems capable of giving up 500 yards in a game, I think our offense will hold its own. We're a 13 point underdog. I think that's about double what it should be...unless Prentiss or Roethlisberger have eligibility remaining.

My bad. I was thinking 0-3 vs. Roethlisberger.

As a Zips fan it is tough to predict how we'll fare on Saturday. Will the "Evil Zips" that produced 77 total yards in 4 quarters of MAC football show up...or the "Good Zips" that blitzed CMU for two quarters...NIU for 3 quarters...Buffalo for two quarters? Is it possible for our young team to find some consistency and play a full four quarters? I like our chances at Miami. Why? * They've beaten us 7 of the last 8, so we're due! Ok, that's a bit of a reach... * Frye was 0-3 vs. Miami. Now that he's gone we finally have a chance * Brandon Murphy is a lot like NIU's Wolf, and we shut Wolf down quite well. * Betts is mediocre and forces the ball when pressured. Our defense now gets into the backfield with amazing regularity. Look for a couple INT's. * Our best scoring plays are the "big plays." We're much more deadly from 50 yards out than 5 yards. Miami gives up a lot of big plays. In Miami's two league losses to Central Michigan and Northern Illinois the RedHawks gave up 1,085 yards (542.5 ypg) of total offense. The difference in those games were the 15 big plays of 20 yards or longer, which accounted for 586 yards. Five of the 10 touchdowns allowed in those two losses came from outside of 20 yards. Luke HAS to be salivating at those numbers! * As several have stated, we seem to be much better as underdogs than favorites. And we're heavy underdogs Saturday. * Revenge - These are the bastards that kept us from a bowl game last season. We hold on for the final two quarters and we're in the MACC game and going bowling. This game is just as pivotal. The winner competes with BG for a title and the loser plays for, at best, a +.500 season and a seat at home in December. Whether we expected it or not, we're in the hunt for an East title and have as good a shot as anyone at winning it. Ok...we have a LOT better shot than Buffalo or Can't. * Miami has won 11 of their last 12 at home...but showed their vulnerability losing to CMU a couple weeks ago. Prediction: "Good Zips" Show up: Zips 35 Miami 23 "Evil Zips" Show up: Miami 24 Zips 10

If true, thanks to the hot wings from Duff's in Buffalo, I can officially say I was in the state of New York this past weekend. I know...too much information.

• RB Brett Biggs has 95 carries for 357 yards (3.8) and 2 TDs this season. His 71.4 rushing yards per game is ranked fifth in the MAC and tied for 66th in the nation. - Can the offensive line spring him for a big gainer this year? • The offensive line has allowed only eight sacks for 46 yards this season, tied for fourth in the MAC. - Credit Getsy for tossing the ball out of bounds before he gets sacked. He's constantly walking the tightrope between an incomplete pass and intentional grounding...but never gets the grounding call. •The Zips offense is 25-for 80-on third-down conversions (31.2 percent), which ranks ninth in the MAC. - That's because we are still so weak in run blocking. 3rd and 1 might as well be 3rd and a mile for us. • In 18 trips to the red zone, the offense has scored 12 times (66.7 %) including seven TDs and five field goals. The Zips are ranked ninth in the MAC in red-zone efficiency. - 9th is higher than I thought. We have really shot ourselves in the foot when inside the red zone this year. • If you combine the total offense of the last two quarters of the CMU game with the first two quarters of the Buffalo game you get a whopping 77 offensive yards in 4 quarters of football. - I'm glad that stretch is over!

Recruiting notes By Kevin Gorman TRIBUNE-REVIEW Thursday, October 6, 2005 One player whose stock is on the rise is Kiski Area's Mychal Skinner. The 6-foot-3, 210-pounder plays quarterback and safety for the Cavaliers, but is being recruited as an athlete by Division I schools. Skinner doesn't have any scholarship offers, but said he is receiving interest from Akron, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Eastern Michigan, Michigan State and West Virginia. "A lot of people think I could play receiver because of my size," said Skinner, who sent out senior game film last weekend. "I'm pretty much open to playing any position. I dropped my speed this summer. I went from running mid-4.5s, low-4.6s to a legit 4.4." # Connellsville receiver Terrance McCrae -- a big target at 6-3, 195 who caught a corner fade for a touchdown against Woodland Hills last week -- has scholarship offers from Akron, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan and Indiana and is receiving interest from UConn, Michigan State, Northwestern, Pitt and WVU.

A few more, brief notes about the game: * Sullivan nailed a HUGE punt with 2 minutes to go to help seal the win. It was a 40+ yarder into a very stiff wind. * The punt should never have happened. Getsy had the first down by at least a 1/2 yard on the previous play. Nice home spot for the Bulls. * Brion Stokes and Jermaine Reid continue to be terrors. They both seemed to get stronger as the game wore on. * Jabari had his best game in a while. He seemed to get his confidence back. Made a couple nice grabs, and was ready to run once he caught the ball. * When the instant replay gave the ball back to the Bulls with 2 minutes remaining (punt return fumbled) you should have seen our D come back onto the field. They were whooping it up...they wanted to be out there to ice the game! It is scary how good these guys will be in 2006. * I didn't see refigerator Perry anywhere. All that way, and no 'fridge! I want my money back!

It was about us getting screwed by the referees. I hate when people blame games or problems on bad calls, but it was just silly yesterday. At the same time though, they players can't put themselves in a bad position in a close game. That's a fair assessment. I still don't know what the first one was all about...everyone in the stands was puzzled too. The helmet-to-helmet hit by Rohr on their QB was a legit call. It wasn't malicious, but the ref is going to call that one evey time. Luckily, it didn't matter.

Did you ever see the Chris Rock skit where he makes fun of the parents who boast "I TAKE CARE OF MY KIDS!" He replies " You're SUPPOSED to take care of your kids!" It's the freaking AKRON Beacon Journal. Why are Zips fans supposed to do backflips when they're on the AKRON Beacon Journal front page? Do Columbus Post Dispatch readers EVER see their beat writers write OSU's coach's name as "Al Tressel?" Do they ever see their beat writer tout AJ Hawk as a defensive back? Do they ever....oh, I give up. The Beacon Sucks. The more they write, the more they expose themselves for the shoddy operation that they are.

See signature below. Why people want the Beacon to write more regaring the Zips puzzles me. Q: What is the reciprocal of "attention to detail?" A: David Lee Morgan (I'm guessing he's the one that wrote the column?)

Random thoughts, as per usual: * Stayed at the Marriott, which was 1 mile from Campus...maybe less. Kid loved the pool. * Ate at Duff's, as recommended by a Buffalo visitor to our board. Great little wings-n-beer place. Highly recommended if you go check out the Zips hoops team when they travel to Buffalo this season. * Tailgated in a lot on campus. Several groups of Zips fans braved the cold to have some beers around the grill. * Buffalo campus is VERY nice. Beautiful dorms...small lakes...all very new. * Buffalo stadium is nice. The track surrounding the field is a drawback. It was 15% full. It was equivalent to the MTSU stadium. Both decent little 30K venues, but a bit sterile. I would hope that when we build ours it has a little more "charm." * Buffalo offense came out pumped up and pushed us down the field. Their first possession was a wake up call. Our D never really let up again the remainder of the game. * The Zips offensive malaise that began before the 1st half of the CMU game continued into the early 3rd quarter of this game. Getsy was awful in the first half, locking on to one receiver...rolling out the wrong way...accuracy was terrible. The offensive line was terrible. Getsy often ran for his life. Biggs never had any sort of holes to work with. * Buffalo's defense is not bad. I was shocked to see their increase in physical size and quickness from last season. Yes, our OL, and offense in general, executed poorly in half #1, but give the Bulls credit. They have a decent defense. * Buffalo has no playmakers on offense. If they had Ontario Sneed, we would have been in trouble (moreso than we were). Their QB is nothing special, and their WR's and RB's didn't distinguish themselves either. * Our offense in the second half seemed to wake up. Getsy's passes started hitting guys in the numbers instead of sailing over their heads. The offensive line began creating at least a little room for our RB's. As per our redzone performance all season however, we consistently shot ourselves in the foot and blew opportunities to blow the game open. * Swiger's UCONN foot made a guest appearance. That was scary. His 39 yard attempt, with a very strong wind at his back, barely made the crossbar (a miss to the side). * I have no idea what JD was thinking when he eshewed the FG on 4th and 2 from around the 20, when we were down 7-0. Maybe he knew Swiger was off? I doubt it. We should have taken the points. * I will continue to say we need a bruiser fullback. * A win is a win. Buffalo won't go O-fer this season. Their defense will give some MAC teams trouble. Take the win and run, Zips fans. * If we play like we did at game's end, we will compete with Miami quite well. But we need to play 4 solid quarters of football to do so. So far this season, we haven't been able to do play 4 solid quarters of football. Our O will need to keep our D off the field. Can they? In other notes of interest: Iowa pounded Purdue. CMU beat Army 14-10

Zips 41-17 Alex Allen gets his first chance in the backfield. Zips rush for 300+ as Getsy rests his hand.

1.) Nowhere did I say you were an a-hole. Absolutely nowhere. I said a-holes sometimes post on this board, and the critic's "broad brush" comes out. That no one remembers 90% of the people posting here are solid fans with interesting opinions who keep things on a civil level. One a-hole posts something stupid, and all of the sudden EVERYONE on the board is a jerk. That's what I said. Z-P mentioned this in a post too. 2.) Nowhere did I say players love playing to an empty stadium or seeing fans leave. I said that once the whistle blows, the fans are invisible. I read the news releases for the game. Hixson said the team let down. Brookhart said the team lacked intensity. That "we missed more assigments in that game than any other two combined." Of the top 50 things that caused us to lose the game last week, fans exiting the game during the 3rd/4th quarter would not rate...even at #50. CMU won that game and they had all of 34 fans in the seats. Yes, I'm sure it is disappointing to a player to see fans leave. In my post I said it disappointed me too. But they showed up while the rest of NE Ohio stayed home. As I stated earlier, the "early exit" phenomena is in no way unique to Zips fans. Yes I realize that a packed house gives the team energy. It is a lot more fun in the stands when there's 20k+ too. I've beaten this one into the ground. It seems like regardless of what I write, people just read something else anyhow...