72 Roo

you are right. This isn't rocket science, just poor play calling.

Thanks Skip. As said before, I feel this is one area of coaching that can be improved. There are many on this board who saw the game and very much agree. Our team and university deserve better. But that's up to TB and his bosses. I hope he (our OC) over-achieves at Toledo.

Thanks to both K92 and Zipsoutsider. Beat Toledo. I'll be there.

Incredible job Timbers organization. First class!

Because I voiced an opinion that was against the competence of our OC in no way means I am not thrilled with our victory over a very respected conference opponent. To hint otherwise is just picking a fight. I'll assume that was not your intention. I still do not agree with your argument. Our OC shut down our offense in the second half and showed no creativity when the pass was not working. As for third and two, no team in the world with bad weather needs to throw. If we can't get two yards in two plays we have a bigger problem. Remember we were on their 34 and if the run failed we were not giving up poor field position. When the longer pass (15+ yards) is not working there are other ways to slow their pass rush i.e. screen, counters, trap counters, throwing to the TE, throwing to a back, student body right or left w/QB running, end around, etc. We primarily used the draw or slant. We can do better. If TB keeps his job and that means Milwee continues, so be it. Wilson and Miller will make the best decision they can and I will support them. There is much to like about this team and hope grows for a good future. I want that to continue. I just see a new OC as an area of improvement. If you and others feel otherwise, good for you. At the end of the day we all want the Zips to be outstanding.

Milwee is the single most powerful force in stopping the Zip offense. Unfortunately he is also our OC. His greatest contribution today was sharing his offensive genius with the WMU OC. The affects showed. Western's OC was horrible. I honestly think TB could improve this team and program most significantly by firing Milwee. That action would also save TB's job IMHO. Why on earth would you throw the ball when on the WMU 34 with third and 2, and you must sustain the drive and use up the clock? Woody throws a pick and Western goes in for a TD. Hell we were in two down territory to get 2 lost yards and a first down. With a first down we would have at least had the chance for a FG and maybe ice the game. I cannnot stand Milwee and feel he is not capable of being an OC. That tempers my enthusiasm for our prospects. I wish TB was not so loyal and a better judge of ability as measured by results. I need a beer!

Z.I.P., I am totally in favor of Wynalda over Gulati as the next leader of US soccer. Gullet's leadership is ineffective and his hands as dirty with all the CONCACAF corruption that has gone on while he led US soccer. He knew about it, did nothing and there is circumstantial evidence that he personally benefitted from the payoffs. Wynalda has already written a 100+ page manifesto on what US soccer needs and what he would do. He is not afraid to lead and change the status quo.

Damn right. Succinctly said.

My two cents: Raeghi drove me nuts with describing the year of Sands. It was true freshman, RS freshman, RS soph. C'mob Michael get it right and stick to it. The Zips were disciplined for the first time this year. The results showed. Unsung hero was Boxen. He tied up the middle and created opportunities for the LB's. Woody's arm is back, but I don't buy the excuse of tricky wind in missing so many deep open WR's The BSU OC was horrible. Makes me glad to have Milwee, ..... not. Sands is explosive and earned more carries and a start Cato should get more than 1 series per game. It will develop him and give opposing DC's more to prepare for. Loved his outside shoulder pass. The OL seems to be improving their run blocking. I have been very critical of them on this issue. I salute them for improving. I think the WMU game will come down to which team has more heart. Go Zips! Keep it going.

Collier left Hoban because he did not take care of his academics. Approach him with caution. He cared little about being a student and we should not tolerate that regardless of the stress we see our program in.

You assume that Milwee knows what a Tight End is. An OC shouldn't need the head coach to come to him and say start using the TE. Milwee has rarely used him since he has become our OC. I have no confidence in his ability to be creative or to use all the talent resources our team has.

Skip, I also believe we could be different. I further think that that sentiment is shared by Toledo and Northern. We aren't there, but we must continue to strive to get there Good things will happen by setting higher sights and when the opportunity presents itself we will be ready. BTW, this is not code for thinking we can get into the P5, but we can go a lot higher in the G5.

I went to the BG game. We did not play good football and that is what I think has the majority of our fans upset. I don't want Terry to lose his job, but I do want a coach who can take us beyond 5-7. I have been convinced that's not TB. The rest is up to Williams and Wilson. What stood out the most to me in the game was how bad BG is. They are also just as bad in managing the game event. Their promotions are pathetic and make us look like the Big 10. I have heard that with the building of the Stroh Center with a capacity of 5,000 BG was sending a message it was glad to just be in the MAC. Winning it is not a priority for most of their sports. I believe it. BTW, as bad as the evening was BG still charged $10 for parking and $24 for the cheapest ticket. I feel as if I was taken to the cleaners. Poor me

This announcement doesn't make any sense to me. If there is not already committed outside funding for the baseball program this could be a disaster and the first blunder of the Williams AD leadership. To have a competitive team in the MAC in baseball you need approximately $2,000,000 annually. Where is that going to come from. Kent is the hallmark of MAC teams and their budget is higher. If we are going to play in Canal Park, a logical home field, how are we going to get the $500,000 the owner of the Rubber Ducks wanted in order to build locker rooms previously when the idea was floated and we had a emerging competitive team? Issues of travel, NCAA full allotment of schollies, coaching staff, Ohio vs out of state talent, spring trips, equipment all need to be funded. If not the MAC will kill us. Why add more sports when revenue is flat and all sports need more resources. A previous poster noted men's BB had its budget cut. Men's soccer lost its operations director when Oliver Slawson left to coach Ashland and his position was eliminated to cut the budget. Jared's scheduling opponents who have more coaches and resources than he has. Is it any wonder our best program has slipped. Baseball and women's lacrosse will draw funding away from the other sports that have a chance to excel, not considering football. I'd rather see the time and energy required to pull this off go to bringing all sports to the level of track and men's soccer. I doubt this is going to bring us any closer to getting a better venue to host our men's and women's BBall team's. That is also more pressing to me. These two new sports, as presented in the announcement, seem to be based on a modified D-III model. Yes, schollies are there but only to the tune of what the community will fund. Is it up to the baseball alumni to beat the bushes for the sport's funding? That assures we will be last in the MAC in both sports. I sure hope there is more to this than we have been told. It seems we are passing club sports off as our new varsity offerings.

It seems we specialize in that when it comes to attendance. We are very creative in Akron.

That would have sent a message that we have high standards which all players must uphold. Cheap crap is not tolerable. The bench can teach many good lessons if the players want to learn. If not, get rid of them. Being, and acting, first class should be one of our highest core values.

We had an outside chance to win this game. As much as ISU stopped us we equally stopped ourselves. I'll offer these points just to get s**t off my chest. The trademark of Bowden teams is lack of discipline. He just does not demand it. Penalties are not the result of passion, they are the result of no discipline, no commitment to team values and coaching. The results today spoke for themselves. Taunting, horse collar, targeting, whining, sloppy tackling, facemarks. We made ISU better than they were. Our OL sucks. Last year I said they could not run block. This year I'll say they cannot block! Get the young guys in. Just because you have been on the line for years doesn't mean you are good. Look at the results. In the second half I thought it was time to give Kato a lot of PT. After his display of immaturity I think Kelly has earned more time. I like TW's arm but with this pee poor line I think we need to add a run dimension to the QB position. Our D has improved but still has a way to go. The attacking D the announcers gave to Amato was non-existent. Where they got that is beyond me. I will not throw him under the bus though. He needs to work on our secondary. It may be able to improve. I doubt we can say the same thing for our DL. I began the year predicting 6-6. I now can't see us any better than 5-7. Larry Williams needs to get a short list of HC candidates. Look at the results.

One final point. Tell the Zips to tuck in those damn gold undershirts. The team looked sloppy with a third of the players having a foot of shirt hanging out against their navy blues jerseys and pants. Against a classy all navy uni it looked bush league.

Hard to gauge the team based on this game. We out-talented them the same way PSU out-talented us. Some random observations: Star of the game was either Warren Ball or the referee. She was nice to look at and in great form, so to speak. I give the nod to Ball. She hurt her chances by taking too long to sort out penalties Junk at TE was a disaster. Bowden got so mad you could see him pull Junk and gave the spot to Meeks, a true freshman. Good call on Terry's part. Let the frosh run with it until he proves he can't handle it. Until then it should be his spot Our receiving is crying for the return of Wolfe. Too many mistakes and drops Woody showed his arm tonight and he had all the strength we need. The OL was good but considering the opponent it means nothing. The DL improved. Boxen and Reinke look to be the real deal. Lots of guys got PT which bodes well for the future Cato appears to be a solid #2 at QB. I hope he gets more and more reps. At some point in the season we will need him Not sold on our DB's. They look average at best. Against ISU they will have their hands full.

Ham, You are definitely a glass-half-full kind of guy. Keep it up. We need more like you. The thing you have overlooked is that last year, against MAC teams, our OL could not get holes for our backs. This has nothing to do with the QB injuries or Ball being out. Morgan and Edwards can hit holes if they are there. So the situation continued in our first game against a good, but rebuilt PSU DL. There was not one ray of hope the whole game long. That's quite an indictment as to their quality in run blocking. If they have character they will work harder and come back. ISU and Troy will be big challenges.

Like many on this board after a frustrating game I have to post some thoughts so here goes. No one expected us to win, but no one expected us to play so poorly My biggest concern was the OL. They could not run block. The announcer on the sideline even said it was striking how bad our OL was being pushed back on obvious running downs. This by a rebuilt PSU DL. Run downs are where our big nasties should be firing off the line. I've said in the spring that our OL pass blocks OK but does not open any holes when a run is obvious. That was very apparent against MAC teams last year. Let's get real and accept that just because they have been together for several seasons they are not skilled. Too many people believe they have to be because they have been around for so long. They aren't. Start working the future in and let them learn. Our RB's will be good if the OL can learn to block. Again, I 'd make changes there TW is healthy but he lacks timing, arm strength, the ability to be a run threat and leadership. His whining on TV was pathetic. I hope we have a plan to gradually work Kato in. The college game today demands a QB with a strong arm or the ability to be a dual threat. Our DL and WR's will be OK. They were over-matched but will improve I am the biggest critic of Milwee on this board. Also in the spring I called him incompetent. I did not see that this Saturday. His play-calling, while still not creative , was OK considering the opponent. We just never executed Our DB's were exposed as over-rated. I think they can improve but they also have a lot of work to do. Same as regards the LB's. I thought they were regularly out of position. I predicted 6-6 this year. I am revising that to 5-7. This is based on the strong showings Ball State and WMU had against Illinois and USC respectively.

I couldn't agree more Buck. My only hope is that PSU doesn't back out of the game.

Agreed. I think the team has more respect for TC than TW. They know they need TW to have a good year but they have never seen him as a leader. Many players have voiced that opinion. They like him but don't see him as their leader. Ball on the other hand commands respect and attention. TC is respected for his level of sacrifice.

A 10 inch increase in vertical jump is nothing short of incredible. If coach can increase every player's performance like that we are making the big dance for sure.

Dr Z, you make a good point here. It seems Sam is getting a lot of press this pre-season. For our sake I hope he lives up to it. I am also of the opinion that Stuart when healthy is one hell of a weapon. He seemed to be more of a natural scorer than Sam. Of course Stu has got to learn to stay healthy. This could be a great year for the Zips if both are in good form.