UA1987

Buffalo and Akron is almost always a good game. It seems the home team wins, however, but I could not vote for Buffalo. I expect their QB to have a big day, but maybe Kato will as well (we need him to in order to win). I also have a sneaky feeling we may see Sands (based on his performance last year against the Bulls) and White more at running back in this game.

The Zips had Charlie Frye ready to be the QB coach this year and then it didn't happen (wonder why). He's now with Lee Owens at Ashland.

These are the same players that played good to great in their first three games. I have to think that Akron was working on their intermediate/short passing game during the bye week and were going to use it to beat Miami. It didn't work. Kato seemed to take too long to get rid of the ball (confusion?). During the game, I wondered why Morris was not targeted more. I watched as Sands, White and other RB's sat on the bench. The game seemed to turn on the shocking hit by Davis, and subsequent helmet popping injury, that sprang a called back TD. Anyhow, one game does not make or break a season. The score was embarrassing, but not as bad as the no face mask football helmet I saw an old man Miami fan wearing. I guess they got the last laugh though. On to Buffalo.

Baptiste, who was playing outstanding, was injured in the first half of the Northwestern game. Plenty of time after for Hanson to get playing time. Maybe as a red-shirt freshman he just has not been ready although he was recruited with some hype. I wonder if Matt is not playing out of position at DT. Stroud may have moved him there due to need this year, but I think he may be a better D/E.

I haven't heard too much out of DT #90 Matt Hanson this year. I thought with Brimage out we would see him racking up some stats behind Boxen. Maybe he will show up against Miami.

I think Bowden is getting more involved in the offense again (saw his name listed as Co-OC). Still, the offense needs more development. Our starting running back needs to average =>3.5 yards a carry or get someone else in there. Nelson was under pressure at the ISU game (4 sacks) as he had 3rd and long yardage situations because we could not run the ball effectively. I do not think it is all the O-line - try to start a different running back!

Look at EMU! -when was the last time they were favored over Northern (Go Eagles!)? I'll take the points and Army. I like Purdue despite a tough beginning to the season (good HC) and because I don't like Nebraska. I would take Iowa State, but I read a Des Moines article (some reporter named Woody - speaks for itself) on how the Cyclones were playing back ups a lot and that's why the score was only 26 to 13 against Akron (yeah right with the score 17 to 13 at the beginning of the 4th Qtr.), so I'm now rooting for TCU in a rout. The rest who cares.

Bring on Sands, Suggs, and White

The way I see it is you have a backup starting at QB. You have about 3 seniors starting on defense. We have the benefit of a top notch strength and conditioning program over the last few year's which may have caught us up a bit to the Power 5 (we are considered Group of 5). Also, we have two new transfers to our receiving corps. One from receiver from WVU and one from Indiana. Literally - think again snipe.

Weather should be ideal for the game. The trainers table on the field was busy in Evanston last week (by the way I swear I saw the Chest on our sideline at the NU game talking to injured players). I hope Jean-Baptiste is back. Three leg injuries and Bell was one of them, but he returned to play. Worried about a let down in Ames, but of course the coaches are on top of that. One thing in our favor is we played this team last year. Yes, they would seem to have the same advantage, but we have a new starting QB, developing receivers, and a senior laden defense that looked across the line of scrimmage at the Cyclones last year. Gildersleeve's conditioning and lifting program is paying dividends too.

Well, I can say I was there. The tailgate atmosphere was very good. Not many questions about our nickname, but one baited comment on Zippy. I thought of using the story that our University founder Buchtel was from Australia and he tried to start a kangaroo ranch here in 1870's, but the darn things kept knocking out the ranch hands. Instead I deferred to the lamer story that our mascot is a carnivorous marsupial native to Ohio and that is why we adopted the critter. Thankfully, no one knew Zippy is a girl. My nephew had a good idea in that we should wear kangaroo pouches to the tailgate, but I thought maybe we should just hand out zippers. Anyhow, their stadium was nice. It did remind me a bit of the Rubber Bowl or Cleveland's Municipal stadium as it was ancient, but the field was top notch and there were about 30-35,000 fans there and they were loud. On the way up in the elevator some NU fan said aloud 'are we going to kick their ass or what' and I leaned into the group with my Zips hat and said 'no Akron will win'. They backed off. Then the same NU fan commented something like 'who was that a coach or something' as I exited and the elevator doors closed. Weather an hour before the game - perfect. As Akron lined up early on, an NU fan I was with commented that Akron looked big on the lines. I said - 300 lbs at the tackles on defense and 300 lbs across the O-line. I had to endure all sorts of crap in the first half with comments like 'that's quite a well oiled machine you got there', as we committed an ungodly amount of penalties. Then the NU fan group near me started acting like they were at a craps table with screams of joy as our center #53 kept coming up with penalties. Despite the outcome so far this was a hard hitting game in the first half. Then all crap shook loose. You know the story by now. Many stars on the Akron side, but Brian Bell physically dominated for Akron. Lako was good too and of course so was Davis. I actually heard an NU fan say they liked our QB better than Thorson. At the end, our D was tired and I knew they were vulnerable. Many NU fans were exiting and I said 'there's 5 minutes left where are you going?'. I grabbed one loud mouth's arm and said 'if it makes you feel any better this could be our first Big 10 win ever'. Most of their fans were great though. To me, the greatest single Zips DIv I A play of all time was Hixon's catch against NIU in 2005, but this NU Zips contest was the best game of all time and I was there.

I agree about our depth finally being built up. I don't see WR Morris on the chart unless I'm missing something. Maybe he shows up on the Fall 2 deep. Lastly, is Bubba Arslanian 5" 9"? I thought he was 6'1"- fire the proofreader.

Yep, I thought Edwards did a good job on kickoff returns so this is where I'd use him (in addition to being a player coach type). Sands was decent at punt returns, but based on seniority he may not be back there (I'd put him there though). My thought would be to start Sands, but rely heavily on White and Alce to take two thirds of the carries till someone makes it clear that they are 'the guy'. That way, with a reduced workload, Sands may not end up on the the injured list and we would have fresh legs in there at all times. Risky playing true freshman I know, but I think we have to do it.

https://www.landof10.com/nebraska/nebraska-football-scott-frost-speed-cornhuskers I'm not sure if this was discussed, but it appears that Frost runs an Oregon spread offense and his strategy is to differentiate from opponents with speed. He started a true freshman at UCF and may do the same with 4* QB A. Martinez with the Huskers. Last year, with UCF, Frost opened up his new offense with a 61-17 win against Florida International.

The big question - How is their QB, Clayton Thorson, doing with his ACL rehab after the bowl game injury at the end of last year? NU's schedule does not set up well early with an opener @ Purdue, then a big game next with Duke. I think Thorson will be back for their opener and will play against Akron in their third contest. NU has no go to backup QB with experience should Thorson have trouble with his knee. Note that Thorson had 15 passing touchdowns last year, but there were also 12 interceptions. Additionally, NU lost their All Big Ten running back J. Jackson to graduation, but have a 4* sophomore in J. Larkin to replace. Larkin rushed for about 600 yards last year in a back up role. The Cats offensive line, however, is not big, so our defensive will not be out matched like in games at Wisconsin, Penn State, and Ohio State. Northwestern returns their top two receivers in 5"11" Flynn Nagel and 6"4" Bennett Skowronek. Each had about 50 receptions in 2017. On defense NU is about the same size as Akron across the defensive line with exceptional D/E's (Gaziano), and they have some big linebackers (Fisher).Their defensive backfield looks good too with athletic safeties. Summary - If you look at the end of last year and compare the Zips and Northwestern, this 2018 game could be a 30 point blowout with a chance for the Cats to get some badly needed work for their backup QB. I'm hoping we can stay close in this one and are able to move the ball. If our offense stalls, then we are going to experience a long evening. We cannot put our defense in bad situations all night long. We need to score early to build momentum and put pressure on their QB to win. Our first game against the other NU (Nebraska) will tell us more of what to expect in Evanston.

Hope this team is having summer workouts - I haven't heard much

You are still basing your opinion of Akron's line play based on our running attack last year after we lost Ball and Sands. Our line play wasn't bad at all in 2017, we just lost two good running backs to injuries. We've already discussed that months ago with others commenting along side. We continue to build the line with good talent and I think Ekkens is doing a very good job. It's good to be optimistic at this time of the year, but our schedule is very strong. It's going to take a lot of surprises to Finish The Climb this year, but as always, I'm all in.

We may have a Gronkowski type of target in Wolfley. I hope Kato listens to Frye. I think one of our true Frosh running backs are going to make a difference this year. OL will be good. We badly need Morris (could he become another Marquelo Suel from 2012?). Defense is going to be OK, but will get chewed up in most of our OOC play. When a team gets hype about their punter it is usually a bad sign (no one else to mention), but hoping we are the exception in 2018.

I'd go but Crud's not going to be there (I guess there really is a band named crud)

I'm surprised to see Wolfley at T/E. Maybe this is just for Spring, but I thought we'd see him on the depth chart at middle linebacker or SAM.

The Rizzo coach in the article has to be ex-Zip lineman Vinnie Rizzo from 2012?

I'd love to see more Federal League recruits on the Zips roster

I don't remember the TV guys saying anything specifically about our OL. I do remember at the Penn State game a lot of talk about our speedy receivers (specifically Smith) and how we may pose a threat to their defense (which never happened), but much of the talk was about their team and not so much about Akron. Against Penn State I'd say we did get pushed around at times, but that is not much of a surprise. Once we lost our top backs later in the year we had guys with heart trying to move through holes that closed quickly (typical for FBS play). One of the last plays I saw on TV in 2017 was Morgan tripping thru a wide open hole against FAU for a 2 yard gain. I like our recent OL recruits and we have some good talent ready to go (Kallay and Fazio are two that could step up - and maybe a young player like Neeley). I think our running game will be better in 2018. I'm more worried about our QB. Better decisions need to come from this position.

Too early to tell as someone may surprise, but it looks to me like White may get playing time at running back in 2018. Sands, Suggs and White may be our trio with Floyd red-shirting. Maybe Edwards on Kick-offs where he seemed to excel.

And why not look at the backs when trying to figure out why our running attack was weak? I think if Ball and Sands had stayed healthy we would not be having this discussion. For example, in the Buffalo game, Sands averaged 10 yards a carry and Morgan averaged 2.9 on about the same number of rushes. Take out Sands long gain in that game and he is still over 5 yards a carry. We all know what Ball would have done if he stayed healthy. Playing thru the tough early games Ball still averaged 4 yards a carry on the season and would have increased that average in MAC play had he not been injured. Next year, I'd put Edwards back on kickoffs and let Sands and the young guns carry the load.