Dr Z

If you would like to discuss Zips football, please feel free to do so here.Your stories about your other team should be written here.

By Tom GaffneyThis is how Bryan Williams remembers a conversation with University of Akron football coach J.D. Brookhart after the 2007 season:Brookhart: ''I have been thinking about something.''Williams: ''I already know what you are talking about.''Brookhart: ''Defense?''Williams: ''Defense.''That was basically all it took for Williams, a junior tailback and the Zips' leading rusher in 2007, to agree to make the move to strong safety for his senior season in 2008.''We were thinking about the same thing. I was thinking about it, and I know he was thinking about it. When he came up to me, I knew what he was going to say,'' Williams said. ''We were on the same page.''Brookhart said the position switch did not require a stroke of genius.''As fast as he played on offense, he is faster on defense,'' Brookhart said. ''It made sense. He has speed, toughness, the ability to blitz and to cover. He is a complete player.''Williams was a first-team all-state selection for Buchtel High School in 2004 as a running back (1,831 yards rushing and 26 touchdowns) and as a defensive back (six interceptions).He was recruited as a cornerback by the University ofPittsburgh, but academic issues led him to attend Valley Forge (Pa.) Academy, where he excelled on offense and defense for two years.When he joined the Zips in 2007, running back was a position of concern and the secondary was not. So Brookhart put him at tailback and he went on to lead the team in rushing with 728 yards on 152 attempts (4.8 average) and to be named third-team All-Mid-American Conference.In 2008, virtually all the secondary had departed, so Brookhart asked Williams to make the switch and he has more than met all expectations in the spring and the first week of fall camp.''We have depth at running back now and Bryan has always shown up as a defense player,'' Brookhart said. ''When we lost so many DBs, we felt Bryan was a very good answer to the strong safety position and he has proved us right.''For the record, Brookhart has a track record of success in position switches.In 2003, Domenik Hixon led the Zips in tackles with 111 as a sophomore strong safety but was moved to wide receiver for his last two years. He set a school record for catches in 2004 with 66 and then broke it in 2005 with 75.In addition, Jabari Arthur was a quarterback early in his career with the Zips, but Brookhart moved him to wide receiver in 2007 as a senior. He then broke Hixon's school record for catches with 86.The 5-foot-10, 200-pound Williams vowed to make his move another successful one.''I love it. I was a defensive player coming out of high school. It's the best thing for me,'' Williams said. ''I love defense. That's where my heart is.''I want to have a great season. I want to go out with a bang.''Williams said the biggest transition for him has been learning to stop the run, rather than stop the pass.''Run support is harder. Your responsibility in zone coverage is to get to your zone, which I am comfortable with,'' he said. ''When the other team is running the ball . . . it's been an adjustment going from playing running back to running after a running back.''Williams was more hesitant to talk about how the move will help him in the long run. He said he is concentrating on the 2008 season and any future endeavor (hint: NFL) will take care of itself.However, it's obvious that his professional prospects are better on defense and as a kickoff returner (his 31.9 average in 2007 was second in the nation and first in the MAC).''I have an ultimate goal. Everyone knows what it is,'' said Williams, brushing aside specific questions about the NFL. ''This will help me with it. It's there. I have been thinking about it.''For now, though, being part of a defensive force is his primary goal.''As a defense, we want to stop everything,'' Williams said. ''We want to fly to the ball, be aggressive, get picks. We want to be dogs out there.''Which is exactly what J.D. Brookhart was thinking about nine months ago.Source is Ohio.com

After that first half of football against them last year I felt hustled.PS Rasor is going to camp today, so hopefully he will have a Bowser update for us.

I remember reading in the PD last year that Romeo was on the hot seat and the writer predicted Bill Cowher was coming to Cleveland. Anybody know how that turned out?I agree that everything hinges on the QB play, because that's how the spread offense works. It goes as your QB goes. You better have a good one.Anyone find it odd that we change a whole defense scheme because "it's hard to recruit DL", but we are trying to run the spread offense with average (at best) QB play and unproven wide outs, when most agree that our most talented and deep position is RB? Just a thought.

got my last quarter 10 years ago, don't see that changing anytime soon.PS I remember a similar article that Bluto wrote about Robbie Alomar when he first signed with the Tribe, hope it turns out the same way.

Record the game at 11:30 Friday night against the Vikings, it is being shown on NFL NetworkPS For fans of the NFL, not just your local team, the NFL Network replays most preseason games during the week at one time or another.

Got this in the mail from BetUSATS=Against the spread SU=Straight up

I miss thisFear The Cat

How many goals did Calgary score in that game against YSU?

Your answer is yes per Rasor.

Phil Steele is the only one I'll ever listen to. :lol:Like this gem by Phil:The Orange figure to be an underdog in every Big East game again this year. They also have non-conf tests at Northwestern and home vs Penn St and may only be favored in 2 games this year. They have had just two 10-loss seasons in school history and both have come under Robinson so he gets my vote for the coach on the hottest seat this year.

This is for GP1 only. I couldn't find the "38 Direct Fake Throwback" from wild card weekend. But that one might have one the game for them too.Masterful use of trick plays to win at the highest level.

I agree with you, but I own a pair of Akron flip flops. I find it odd when I can buy a Lowes gift card in line that has OSU, OU and BG logos on them, but not Akron...IN AKRON!!!

Do what Romeo does when he selects his starting QB, flip a coin. Worked out for him. Loser went to the pro bowl.Loser of your coin toss could be the leader of the US.

Your right, that is all that matters. Thank you for the update.I would much rather hear what you have to say than some "expert" at ESPN that has never seen Zeke.I really don't even care what their "film evaluation" is either. IMO you can't judge talent w/o seeing them live.

I'm with you ZW, pick the Zips last EVERY year. You want respect, win the MAC and go to the dance. Then win a few there.And who cares if your 144 or 129 anyway? Both stink.

Unfortunately, I found it here:Akron Police website

Maybe Rasor can help us out here.

You need quick shifty receivers when you use the run & shoot. Just ask Mouse Davis.

Photoshop 101 my friend.

I hope the Zips can have a nightmare season like that one!?!

Pretty cool, I liked his answers and his nickname B Will Zach Anderson has answers too

I agree with TZ. Also picking the Tennessee game back in 1989 is hardly an overview of our program today.Here are some more recent results that gives a better view of how he fair:2007 at OSU 2-20 at IU 24-412006 at PSU 16-34 at NCST 20-14 WIN2005 at Purdue 24-49PS Didn't we score 9 points against UT that game? I also think UT was a top 5 team that year.

The letters "www" are commonly found at the beginning of Web addresses because of the long-standing practice of naming Internet hosts (servers) according to the services they provide. So for example, the host name for a Web server is often "www"; for an FTP server, "ftp"; and for a USENET news server, "news" or "nntp" (after the news protocol NNTP). These host names appear as DNS subdomain names, as in "www.example.com".Some Web browsers will automatically try adding "www." to the beginning, and possibly ".com" to the end, of typed URLs if no host is found without them. Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, and Opera will also prefix "http://www." and append ".com" to the address bar contents if the Control and Enter keys are pressed simultaneously. For example, entering "example" in the address bar and then pressing either just Enter or Control+Enter will usually resolve to "http://www.example.com", depending on the exact browser version and its settings.PS I like the newer look of the website, a much needed update. Only thing it is missing is this link