Blue & Gold

Disappointing loss. Again. At the start of each season, the Zips always throw a wet blanket on fans. Curb your enthusiasm, "Joe Akron." We'll be good come conference play. But I want to see the Zips dominant out of the shoot. I want a Top 25 ranking. The potential for that is gone now. Unless, of course, we get to 14-1 or 15-1. The hope of an at-large is gone. No way the NCAA selection committee takes a mid-major with a loss to Coastal Carolina. Yes, not having Nick & Tree was unfortunate. Good/great programs overcome circumstances & say, "We won in spite of..." We've got a solid, deep team. We still don't have a stud, go-to player. Exceedingly unfortunate loss. See the rest of you diehards at the JAR on Monday night. Go Zips!

That's a big boy! Is your older son redshirting this season?

I remember TB saying he prefer his QB not scramble. At all. In his thinking, it keeps the QB from getting the play from the sideline as quickly as he likes & getting the next play off before the defense is set. However, I feel that Pohl may loosen things up a bit next year by merely being capable of possibly running. I think defenses figured out a couple weeks ago that there is absolutely no threat of DW taking off with the ball. We don't want a true Dual-Threat QB, but it'll be nice to have a Pro-Style QB who has the ability to pick up 3-4 yards if the defense just sits back.

I agree. And you even neglected to mention Jake Kretzer. Add those young six to our incoming stud-four (yes, assuming all four sign) - BJ Gladden, Aaron Jackson, Isaiah Johnson and Kwan Cheatham - and wow, better get a pair of Zip Watcher's shades.

And promising for the future, considering Kyle Pohl was neck-and-neck with DW to be named the starter. IIRC, Coach Bowden said that it was essentially a coin flip between KP & DW, but DW had more experience @ the position & w/ the spread.

He hasn't seen the field yet and is not listed on the 2-deep depth chart. He's probably going to redshirt this year.

I'm listening right now. It's pretty good. I just appreciate a local sports show talking about local sports - yeah, they talk about the Browns, but a little bit of that's okay. They do talk a lot about Akron and local high schools. They're talking about Walsh University right now, so that's pretty cool. Joe comes across as a little bit dorky, but nice guy. We're going to need a local show like this as the football program continues to rise.

Ouch. He was quickly becoming one of my favorite Zips. It's really time for L.T. Smith to step up & fulfill the potential Coach Bowden sees in him.

ESPN3 has the game archived. I've watched the first half of the Tennessee game a few times now. If you're able, access the ESPN3 archive and check out Avis Commack's pick-6. But look for #45 Justin March. Incredible play for #45 - not only does he get the sack, but he then ABSOLUTELY DE-CLEATS a Tennessee OL on Commack's return. JM absolutely obliterates the dude - completely raises the guy up off of the ground and pancakes him onto his backside.

I was watching on ESPN3, so I'd love to hear a replay of Frenchy's call on Quentin Hines' TD run.

Excellent game last night. We did ourselves proud. Ianello's 2011 halftime score vs. Cincy: 0 - 49. Coach Bowden's 2012 halftime score vs. Tennessee: 23 - 23 The Zips are on the rise.

Agreed. For the Zips, this is an A+ recruiting effort. When Jackson committed, I read a text from B.J. Gladden to Aaron Jackson congratulating him on joining him @ Akron and then he went on to say something to the effect, "now we've gotta get Jack & Big Ike to come." Though our 3 available schollies are gone, I've got to wonder if KD & Co. are still recruiting Jack Gibbs?

It gives me hope that DW was pushed so hard for the starting job by R-Frosh Kyle Pohl. Hopefully KP will step in next year keep things clicking.

Thanks, fellas.

Who are our 2 verbals from this list? Also, I searched the sight but couldn't find a list of our current 2013 football verbals. I'm almost positive I've seen a list. Could someone post a link?

Looking through the roster on GoZips.com, I see that neither the OL from Canton McKinley nor Cameron Black's "little" brother from Can't Roosevelt (their names are escaping me) are listed. Did they not qualify? Also, I don't see Medina's Benny Cunningham listed. Any news there as to why? Also, it is interesting (and a bit disconcerting) that besides Dalton Williams (Sr.) all of our QB's are either true freshmen (4) or redshirt freshmen (1 - Kyle Pohl). There couldn't possibly be another team in the country with this QB situation. Going to be an interesting year. Go Zips!

George, I really appreciate the great coverage you've been giving Zips athletics. We've never had such a dedicated beat writer. I also want to express appreciation for your reading of - and getting the answers to - many of the questions posted here. Thanks for the good work you do! Go Akron. Go Zips.

Wow. Proof positive that

I don't know. Actually, I don't believe any rules at all were being broken. But the NCAA came up with, what seemed to me an arbitrary policy, that AAU tournaments couldn't be held on college campuses before a certain date. IIRC, it only effected LeBron's K.J. Tourney. Maybe someone else with more time could get better details (Dave). But it just smelled like the NCAA was arbitrarily singling out UA & LeBron's tourney. The King James AAU Tourney, btw, was where I saw Zeke for the first time. He was playing in the student rec center. I also had the privilege of meeting Momma Zeke.

This is one of the dumbest discussions in the history of ZN.o. And there have been plenty. LeBron works out & plays pickup basketball with our team over the summer, brings in friends like Kevin Durant, D-Wade, C-Bosh & Chris Paul & is friends with everyone on the team. (Hint: has anyone noticed the slight uptick in athletic talent KD's been able to recruit over the last two years?) There better not be ANYTHING more explicit going on beyond what LeBron already does, or the NCAA would hit us with the death penalty quicker than I can make this post - they already made he & Coach Joyce move the King James Classic off of our campus. Lord have mercy on us all. Good grief.

Well said. This is why I can't stand ESPN anymore. ESPN owned the pre-internet world. Now it's just sad to watch.

Literally, UA doesn't have enough $$$ to buy that kind of publicity. Simply extraordinary.

Mail or email?

Courtesy of the ABJ. "Kenmore High School defensive standout Deontae Moore and his coach, Ed Peltz, took in practice, which was held outdoors at InfoCision Stadium on Tuesday."