Captain Kangaroo

Thanks for the insight, OSZ!

Board: FAU, FIU need not worry By Ted Hutton STAFF WRITER Posted January 11 2005 GRAPEVINE, Texas · Florida Atlantic's jump to Division I-A football got a big boost Monday when it became clear the NCAA I-A Board of Directors had no desire to penalize teams for not averaging 15,000 in home attendance. FAU and Florida International can now move into their second and final year of transition from I-AA to I-A without the threat of having to repeat their first year after failing to meet the average. "It will be of assistance to [FAU and FIU] and a benefit to those who worried about being on the edge," NCAA Vice President David Berst said. "That's very good news," FAU Athletic Director Craig Angelos said. The board did not vote to rescind the rule, but directed the NCAA staff to come back with legislation in April that would eliminate or reduce the number. Berst said sentiment ran toward killing the rule. "It was clear there was a feeling for the need to modify or eliminate the attendance rule," said Robert Hemenway, president of the I-A Board of Directors. The attendance rule was adopted in 2003 as part of a package for I-A football qualification, and was in effect for the first time this season. But opposition had been building, with opponents saying attendance was out of a university's control. The proposed penalties for missing the attendance figure were to increase with each violation. After the first failure, a school is issued a warning and put on a 10-year probation period. A second failure within that 10-year window would get the team banned from a bowl game. A third failure would result in reclassification to I-AA. But Berst said there would be no enforcement until there is final resolution in April. Angelos said that while FAU is pleased the biggest impediment to moving to I-A is on its way to being removed, he still feels the school needs to increase attendance. "Rule or no rule, we have to grow our fan base to increase revenues," Angelos said. Six of the current 117 I-A teams drew fewer than 15,000 this season, according to unaudited NCAA statistics, and eight averaged between 15,000 and 16,000. FIU averaged 10,095 fans and FAU 10,784. Two of the 17 university presidents who make up the I-A Board of Directors are from schools that did not meet the attendance rule -- Sidney McPhee from Middle Tennessee State and Carol Cartwright from Can't State.

Any academic casualties? Any known transfers? I have to believe there are some players that have looked at their chances of playing under the new staff and decided it was best to move on?

I think Dustin Basch is 6' 3", about 255 lbs? First Team All-Cleveland area (Plain Dealer). Does he want to follow his brothers at Akron? Does JD want him? Although Owens' recruits, both Dennis and Dan seemed to have impressed JD, as both were integral parts of the 2004 Zips' offense. Seems like the Basch/Brookhart relationship should be pretty good? Hope to see Dustin in the fold...but I haven't heard anything regarding is recruitment.

Talented QB headed to Akron by Matt Natali The Mentor Cardinals went 7-3 in 2004 finishing ninth in Region 1 and barely missing the playoffs. Despite falling short of the post season, the Cardinals had an overall successful season, thanks in large part to Chris Jacquemain. Jacquemain is among Ohio's elite as he is ranked 82nd among the top 100 in the Class of 2005 according to Ohio High magazine, the official publication of JJHuddle.com. Early in his high school career, Jacquemain attended a couple different schools before finding a home at Mentor and becoming an impact player for the Cardinals. His athleticism and size (6-3, 200 lbs) allowed him to play several different positions in high school, including wide receiver, safety and quarterback. He excelled in all three positions, but was raw in each one since he never had a chance settle into a position for an extended period of time. However, his ability and potential at quarterback had the colleges and universities taking interest. Most of the MAC schools, as well as Pittsburgh, were vying for Jacquemain's services according to Mentor head coach Steve Trivisonno. However, Jacquemain ended his recruiting trail when he gave his verbal commitment to the Akron Zips back in November. "He really s likes the new facilities up there, he likes coach Brookhart, and it is only about fifty minutes from here," said Trivisonno. Although he has been recruited as quarterback, both Jacquemain and Akron are open to moving him to a receiver position should he not pan out at quarterback according to Trivisonno. But, all indications are that after a couple of years of guided development at the college level, Jacquemain could be a special quarterback.

No problem, Artist Formerly Known as Z-Pastie. You're still on my exclusive Tailgating "A-list" (a highly coveted status).

Football Auburn's Jason Campbell, Georgia's David Greene and Arizona State's Andrew Walter will share quarterback duties for the South team in the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. The North quarterbacks are three top NFL prospects: Akron's Charlie Frye, Connecticut's Dan Orlovsky and Purdue's Kyle Orton. Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden will coach the South in the Jan. 29 game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium. Norv Turner of the Oakland Raiders will coach the North.

Even a few days later, that comment bugs me. If a player feels he would get a better education elsewhere, he should have gone "there." I've fired employees with degrees from "better" schools. Why? Becuase they weren't pulling their weight. With a sand wedge from my cubicle I could hit 10 University of Akron graduates that are valuable contributors to our company. Accountants, engineers, graphic designers, heads of QC, product managers, marketing managers, and on and on. Allegedly "better" schools don't translate to "better" students. I'm not so blind to think that The University of Akron is the best place in the free world to get an education, but it is VERY good. In my 16 years of post-graduation work experience, never have I felt at an intellectual disadvantage because of the curriculum. If you graduated from The University of Akron, you are as prepared as anyone to be successful in your profession. If The University of Akron was such a cakewalk, then take your 4.0 and go to grad school at a "better" school.

You know your program is at rock bottom when the "close-to-the-best" player on the team is averaging a whopping 3.6 points per game. I'd jokingly say that "she'll be sorely missed"...but I see the women mustered a nice 40 points tonight versus Toledo...so I guess Stacey accounted for almost 10% of their scoring? It's actually a HUGE hit? :blink: Can we take bets on whether or not the women win a game this year?

What planet have you been on for the past 4 years?

Dude had 270 yards vs. Warren Harding! Doesn't look like he'll be a DB as far as I can tell? Click For 2004 Info

Looks like McFadden's scary passing continued @ Toledo? 0 points, 21 minutes, 5 fouls, 5 turnovers. That's bad stuff. I didn't get the chance to listen to the games, but it appears only Peterson and Travis decided to show up?

I concur!

Still WVU Blackhawk football standout Jeremy Bruce (RB/WR/DB) made a verbal commitment to West Virginia last spring, but made a visit to Akron a few weeks ago. The Akron visit, ironically, sold Bruce on West Virginia. "Akron's been on me pretty good and they asked me to come out," Bruce said. "I went to see their facilities and everything, and it was nice. But I'm sticking with West Virginia. That's where my heart is."

Hoops player too: Kemme flexing muscles at center Thursday, December 16, 2004 PATRICK DOLAN ThisWeek Staff Writer As far as Upper Arlington High School boys basketball coach Tim Casey is concerned, some central Ohio teams can boast of having a taller center than his squad, but few can say it has a stronger post player. At 6-foot-6, 255 pounds, senior Chris Kemme can be a handful for opposing teams. His size enables him to take up a lot of room under the basket, while his strength allows him to outmuscle opponents for rebounds. "He's a moose," Casey said of Kemme, who made a verbal commitment to play football at Akron University on Dec. 7. "He's extremely hard to move. Guys just bounce off him. And he's deceptively quick. He doesn't look like he can move, but he's pretty quick. ... When he's focused, I don't think there's a whole lot of guys who can guard him. And he's a great defender in the middle." Kemme, a three-year varsity player and second-year starter, was third on the team in scoring (9.1 points per game) last season behind Thomas Kluz (15.3) and Ben Lupton (12.7). Given the fact that Kluz and Lupton both graduated, Kemme is being counted on to help carry the offensive load for the Bears this season. And through four games, he is averaging 13.5 points, which ranks him second on the team in scoring behind junior Matt Streng (16.8). "I knew that Matt Streng and I had to replace two good players," Kemme said, referring to Kluz and Lupton. "I knew I had to score more points this year. I had a couple chats with coach Casey before the season about how he needed me to be one of the leaders and about how he needed me to score points." Kemme scored a career-high 19 points in a 57-48 win over visiting Westerville North on Dec. 7 and has been in double figures in points in all but one game. Last season, he scored in double figures in nine of the 21 games. "He's the most experienced guy we have," said Casey, whose team fell to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in the OCC-Ohio Division with a 56-44 loss to Newark last Friday. "He's the one guy we have who has a tremendous amount of varsity experience. ... I told him that we needed to rely on him to score points this year, and he's come through for us. He's been doing a great job. If he stays out of foul trouble, he'll have a great senior year." According to Casey, Kemme is held in high esteem by all his teammates. "He's continuing to grow into the leadership role," Casey said. "He's one of the players in our program that guys instantly respond to. The kids really respect him."

Wasn't Jud Cummins from Upper Arlington?

Wow...and I thought I was frustrated over the past 20 years... BZ's post simply stated we've seen some great QB play in the past 7 years. Your rant about having too few wins during that period is marginally valid, but has noting to do with BZ's post. I'll leave it at that. Regarding the quoted passage above, I couldn't disagree more with respect to thanking the players that have competed for the University over the past several years. Who cares if they got a scholarship? All had opportunities to attend other universities, large or small, yet chose to be Zips. The seniors put "Akron" on their uniforms and represented the University well for 4 to 5 years. I had a blast watching the likes of Matt Cherry, Sparks, Payne, Frye, Dwight Smith, Jason Taylor, Chase Blackburn, Bobby Hendry, Konrad Dean, Jud Cummins, Jake Schifino...and on and on. Yes, the wins were fewer than I'd prefer, but those guys bought into an Akron program with no field house, no championship legacy, no adoring fan base, an ambivolent local media, 6 mile trips to practice in the backs of beater pick up trucks, no $100 OSU booster "hand shakes"...almost zero TV exposure...man...how can you rebuke an Akron fan for thanking these guys? They were the BEST! The saying "Hate the game, not the player" applies here. Get pissed at Dennis Helsel, Bill Muse, Gerry Faust, Lee Owens, Peggy Gordon Elliott...take your pick. But, don't dismiss these player's contributions. They're the bedrock for all the unbelievably positive team accomplishments we're going to witness over the next several years. BTW: A special "Thanks" to the recent players for the two Marshall wins! I'd been waiting 20 years for a legit reason to storm the field after a big win, and you gave it to me...and I am ETERNALLY gratefull! Existing players: Keep doing the great job your doing in selling the new recruits on the University during the recruiting visits! Unreal job thusfar!!

Two comments: Lively's departure somewhat explains the avalanche of TE's we've stockpiled...but not completely. It will be interesting to see what positions some of the guys presently listed as TE's actually end up playing. Plummer went to Indiana State after the Zips gave him the boot. He didn't appear on their roster this season, so I assume his Sycamore career was about as brief as his Zips "career."

Bad news on the doorstep...I couldn't take one more step... What a damn shame. He and Travis have been killing the boards. Can't lost Gerwig last season and did pretty well. Let's hope Futch can pick it up a couple notches...hopefully keeping his butt in the paint, and not hoisting 17 footers. Damn damn damn.

Zips Notes: Sophomore forward Jeremiah Wood (Akron, Ohio/Central-Hower HS), who left Sunday's game against Ohio after injuring his right knee, is scheduled to undergo an MRI Monday evening, X-Rays following Sunday's game were negative.

What's the rule? What is the game # cut-off before you can redshirt a player?

It is likely "guest posting" will be eliminated in the near future.

Random thoughts: Hope Wood is ok. It looked bad. My wife talked to Wood's mom for a second as the ambulance arrived. She said it was just a "twisted leg" and was somewhat confident he'd be ok. X-rays may prove otherwise. The 4th year of the Tim O'Shea's tenure looks bad. $300k/year for him? Larry Hunter looks like John Wooden compared to O'Shea. Futch played very well in Wood's absense. Lots of energy and great D. Nick Meyers is bad...rusty...or both bad and rusty. Looks like Futch will get the lion's share of Wood's minutes, should Wood be out for an extended period. Joyce played another solid game. Best overall Zips PG since Eric McLauglin? I like him better than Ball. Travis is again solid, as it Peterson. In general, the whole team plays hard every night. Dambrot coaches hard too...mixing things up with regularity. It seems like the Zips try to win every possession every game. This group is an easy team to love. Bubba out of his slump? Hope so. What the hell was that line up befor the half? Milum, Middleton, Meyers, Collins and Bubba? Couldn't figure that one for the life of me. Great offensive game by McFadden, but some of his passes were flat out scary. He's not missing his calling as a PG. See where Oakland waxed BG by 20? Can't loses to Ball State To beat OU by double digits without Wood is really impressive. Kudos to the guys for focusing on the job at hand. Toledo up next.

I would say that, at the present commitment pace, Jarvis may find himmself on the outside looking in if he waits until late Jan/early Feb to commit to the Zips. Temple? They aren't even in a conference and may be 1-AA soon. Can't? Hey, if that's what he wants, we're better off without him. I'd love to see him in the Zips Blue and Gold. He seems like a hell of a fun player to watch. Jarvis ready to dispel doubters again By Kevin Gorman TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, January 2, 2005 Forget, for a moment, his size. Take into consideration just his statistics this season. He rushed for 2,196 yards and 34 touchdowns on 266 carries in 13 games. He set a WPIAL championship-game record with 221 yards, tied a PIAA finals record with five touchdowns and became only the fifth player in WPIAL Quad-A history to eclipse 4,000 career yards (4,375). What more could Eugene Jarvis have done? For all his exploits, which includes leading Central Catholic (16-0) to WPIAL and PIAA Class AAAA titles, Jarvis has had as many scholarship offers withdrawn (Bowling Green, Pitt and West Virginia) as he has remaining on the table (Akron, Can't State and Temple). "I was a little upset, with all the accolades I've earned," Jarvis said. "Whoever gets me will be proud they got me." Now is the time to remember that Jarvis is 5-foot-6, 165 pounds. That his academic standing -- he claims to be qualified for freshman eligibility -- is in question. And that he made some comments last spring that irked Pitt's staff. When a Pitt fan-based Internet recruiting site asked Jarvis about the Panthers, he said something to the effect of knowing that at least he can play Division I football. At the time, it sounded like he was making the Panthers an afterthought, a fallback plan if bigger and better schools didn't come through. His words angered Pitt coaches and fans alike, especially after the Johnson-Morelli debacle. "People probably took it the wrong way," Jarvis admits, "but I didn't mean it like that." When Pitt got a commitment from Johnstown's LaRod Stephens -- another diminutive all-purpose back -- it withdrew its offer to Jarvis. Except, nobody from Pitt's coaching staff delivered the news to Jarvis directly. "They gave me an offer face-to-face; I don't understand why they couldn't tell me to my face," said Jarvis, who recently heard that his offer was being pulled by West Virginia directly from assistant Tony Gibson. "Coach Gibson personally told me they weren't taking any more running backs. I can respect him for that." So, Pitt isn't alone in backing off Jarvis -- and Panthers fans are quick to complain that no one criticizes Penn State for not taking overlooked WPIAL prospects - but new Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt is in position to make a splash in local recruiting by re-offering the dynamic playmaker. Wannstedt has emphasized that the running game will be a priority, and Jarvis is not just the WPIAL's best remaining running back but its best running back, period, in years. Jarvis has unique football instincts, a combination of acceleration, elusiveness, quickness and vision that are uncommon. He's a miniature version of Tony Dorsett, and Pitt has been waiting for his second coming since 1976. Yet Jarvis realizes that, at his size, he might be best suited for the Mid-American Conference and an offense that best utilizes his ability to line up in multiple positions. "I know size and speed play a big role in college recruiting," said Jarvis, who runs a consistent 4.4-second 40-yard dash. "There's nothing I can do about that. I know that college has bigger players. I'm not just a running back. I can play in the slot, catch the ball and do returns. "I think heart is the key. If you play football, you're going to take a pounding. I've got a lot of heart." Unless he has a change of heart, Jarvis is scheduled to take official visits to Can't State on Jan. 14, Akron on Jan. 21 and Temple on Jan. 28. He's open to the idea of entertaining more schools, including Pitt. "I'm giving everybody a chance," Jarvis said. "I think the visits are going to play a big role. We'll see at the end." With Jarvis, seeing is believing. He thrives on proving doubters wrong, and relished the opportunity to outshine Upper St. Clair's Sean Lee, Gateway's Justin King, McDowell's Justin Hammond, Bishop McDevitt's LeSean McCoy and Neshaminy's Georg Coleman in the playoffs. Now, Jarvis wants to prove some college coach right. "It gives me another chip on my shoulder," Jarvis said. "I'm going to work hard for whoever I commit to. Whoever misses out on me, that's their fault." And don't say we didn't warn you.

As an informative annex to the "Weak Scheduling" topic, I offer the MAC strength of schedule thusfar, and the present RPI: Can't State--11 (15) NIU--55 (70) Toledo--61 (122) BG--90 (71) Miami--96 (79) WMU--101 (87) Buffalo--116 (109) Ohio--126 (116) Ball St.--159 (169) CMU--175 (198) Marshall--193 (222) EMU--201 (234) Akron--218 (192) Good thing we played Northern Illinois already, or it would be worse!