K92

There is no debating that Syracuse sucked. It was a big win to me for the following reasons: 1. It did carry some weight with my "non-MAC fan" friends, just because Akron beat someone they had heard of. 2. It was a road win, as an underdog against a BCS (albeit shitty) team. 3. Their fanbase lost their minds over the loss. 4. It was the second game of the season and at that moment things looked to be moving in the right direction. As a Zips fan, big wins have been few and far between, and as sad as it may be, I consider this win to be a big one. Sorry for calling you a moron. Maybe I'm the moron.

The Syracuse win wasn't big? You are a true moron.

Penn State hasn't lost everything. They lost 9 players. The talent they put on the field today should have won the game but Ohio outplayed them. If Akron was in Ohio's shoes we would certainly have Zips "fans" on this very board crowing about it as the greatest win ever. We would also have the same naysayers making snide comments as well.

I watched the Ohio game. Very strange vibe at the end of that one. Penn State goes out with a whimper. Ohio totally outplayed them in the second half and won that game fair and square, but it almost looked like they were afraid to celebrate while the remaining fans were doing the We Are chant. PSU players just looked bewildered. Weird. Biggest win ever for OU? It was anti-climactic.

1. Lager Heads Savage Stout 2. Upland Nut Hugger Brown Ale 3. Upland Bad Elmer Porter 4. Upland Dragonfly IPA 5. Upland Helios Pale Ale 6. 3 Floyds Alpha King Pale Ale 7. 3 Floyds Pride & Joy Mild Ale 8. 3 Floyds Robert the Bruce Scottish Ale 9. 3 Floyds Gumballhead Wheat Ale 10. Flat 12 My Name is Amber Ale 11. Flat 12 Pogue's Run Porter 12. Barley Island Barfly IPA 13. Barley Island Blind Tiger Tavern Style Pale Ale 14. Shiner Dortmunder 15. Bell's Porter Thanks to JZ84 for hooking me up with a Bell's Cherry Stout. Very different from what I expected. All tart cherry upfront followed by chocolaty and bitter finish. Quite good. I also had the very best "Hot Apple Pie" of all time, some absolutely delicious brisket & a buffalo chicken spicy dip that was out of this world. Good job to the Akron tailgaters.

I am definitely not giddy about being shellacked 56-14, but... The Zips showed competence on both sides of the ball. Silly penalties were minimized and the players looked to be on the same page with a good grasp of the fundamentals. Not once did the offense line up in an illegal formation! This was a small victory that I was happy about. UCF's personnel was a lot better than Akron's. Period. The fumbles and missed field goal let the game get away from the Zips fast. We just didnt have the talent to play come from behind with these guys. Time will tell the story, but I think the Knights will win a lot of games this year. I thought Dalton Williams looked good. He throws the 5 yard quick out with a lot of zip on the ball. The receivers definitely dropped a lot of catchable balls. QB play was very impressive, in my book. Marquelo Suel had some real nice grabs. The running game that looked good in practice, never found any rhythm at all and the passing game that struggled looked good. Probably says a lot about the strenghts and weaknesses of the Zips & the Knights defenses as much as it does about the offense. The defense just looked overmatched to me. There were a few bright spots there too, though. The d-line got some pressure on UCF quarterbacks which was nice. Overall, I thought they looked really vulnerable to a power running game. Critical mistakes & turnovers doomed the Zips. If they can correct that and start catching the ball, I think they are going to compete nicely in the MAC. So, I guess I basically agree with the rest of you and saw the same things you did. It goes against common sense to feel cautiously optimistic after a beat down, but I do. When the game was over and the players headed for the tunnel, the coaching staff turned them all back around for the alma mater. Small thing, but I liked that. I also liked 81 offensive plays and 19 first downs. I think it's headed in the right direction. At least I want to believe that.

For those who are interested, the beer offerings were released today: MENU AND SALES LOCATIONS Menu selection subject to change. • Concession Stands #2 and #4 (West Concourse) Domestic – Budweiser, Bud Light and Land Shark in 16 oz. can Craft – Goose Island 312 and Goose Island IPA in 12 oz. glass bottle poured into plastic cup Malt Beverage - Lime-A-Rita in 12 oz. can • West Concourse Kiosk Draft Domestic – Yuengling and Yuengling Light in 20 oz. plastic cup Draft Craft – Roo Brew in 16 oz. plastic cup Malt Beverage – Lime-A-Rita in 12 oz. can • Concession Stand #8 (East Concourse) Draft Domestic – Yuengling in 20 oz. plastic cup Draft Craft – Roo Brew in 16 oz. plastic cup Craft – Goose Island 312 and Goose Island IPA in 12 oz. glass bottle poured into plastic cup Domestic – Budweiser, Bud Light and Land Shark in 16 oz. can Malt Beverage – Lime-A-Rita in 12 oz. can • Concession Stand #9 (East Concourse) Domestic – Heineken and Heineken Light in 16 oz. can Craft – Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold and Octoberfest in 12 oz. glass bottle poured into plastic cup Malt Beverage – Mike’s Hard Lemonade in 12 oz. can

You left out "spirited".

Too good. I salute you.

Go Tigers!

Cody Ralston Ted

Connor Price Smilin' Bob

Ariel Hoffman Ben Savage

Rodrigo Quirarte Ashton Kutcher

I agree with Zipgrad that the Zips are not devoid of talent and I think the coaching staff will make the most of the talent that is there. However, the Zips are very thin. Injuries could be a huge problem due to the lack of depth. The Zips have been pretty fortunate the last few years with injuries and hopefully that will continue because I think we will be able to compete in the MAC with our starting group.

How did you like the one comment to the article by Coach Hater? I'll mark him down as undecided.

Nice video. Thanks for sharing. The quality and quantity of "official" videos is way up this year.

Thankful. I am so thankful Coach Bowden came to town. He has already done many things that make me proud to be a Zip. A couple of small examples: Playing the fight song at practice during warmups because he thinks it's important for the team to know the words. Inviting the seniors to his house for a pre-season meal. Team pride. School pride. He has gone far beyond x's & o's. We couldn't have gotten any more fortunate. He is going to make us a winner.

You are a good friend.

Da'Rick Rogers suspended. link

If Mr. Lawrence pans out, what are we going to call him? Copycat and call him the dream? The way this board loves to nickname everybody and everything, I am sure we will come up with something. If Nicely woulda panned out, I was going to have an Akron jersey made with green instead of blue with St. Patrick 7 on the back. Never got the opportunity.

Good post by the Great One. There was a lot of excitement and hype around the UCF program after they closed out the 2010 season with a dramatic victory over Georgia in the Liberty Bowl. Last year the Knights failed to live up to their high expectations, so I have to believe they are going to want to redeem themselves in 2012. They should be hungry. I am trying my hardest not to become irrationally exuberant about the Zips chances in this game. I think at the very least, UCF is the probably the 3rd best team on the schedule and perhaps the best altogether. The 2011 Zips Zips were destroyed by a Temple team that never beat a MAC team with a winning record, so we are talking about a huge challenge here in the first game. I think GP1 pretty much nailed it on his post.

If the Zips lose 31-23, I think that would give me a lot of optimism for the rest of the year. Obviously. UCF looks like a better team on paper than Temple was last year coming in to the first game. I am sure we all remember how the Owls throttled the Zips in every category. Perhaps it is foolhardy to do this, but I will be comparing the Zips performance against UCF to last year's opener. I am with JZ84 and bet the game is much closer against a better team.

Had to resurrect this thread since Derek Dooley pulled the same stunt. Link My bet is Dooley will meet the same fate as Martin. The football gods hate these kind of guys.