Ham

I've been away from the area for a looong time, but back in the 60's, if you wanted student involvement, you got the Greeks involved. Perhaps a punt, pass, and kick completion including Greeks and housing complexes. Qualifiers could be held at every home game culminating at the finally. Involve the student leaders to help devise a prize structure the would excite the students. The completion should be held on the field. If it couldn't be squeezed in the time right before kickoff, something would need to be going on to keep the students involved right up to kick off. I realize this would not appeal to every student, but the ones with a bit of athletic completion in their blood are the ones the we would have a chance to get out for games. This could help create a fun atmosphere that would rub off on Joe & Jane NE Ohioan. When they find out that they can have just as much fun at a Zip game as the sheep in Columbus, Tickets will become a hot item. Lot 9 is doing a good job showing fans entering that side of the stadium what fun can be had. The tailgating needs to spread to the lot on the other side of the stadium.

I don't think one more off topic comment is worth a new thread. We have a top 10 WR from our HS headed to Iowa State next year. He is a big, athletic kid with speed, but I would have rated him as a DB. He runs down field and the QB heaves a ball in his direction and he closes to make a catch. It just looks more like a DB going after an int. Maybe he shows route running skills in camps where there are better QB's. I hope they redshirt this kid; so you all can see him when ISU visits Akron.(Wait a min. that game may be in '19.)

One good thing about the draw, we will be able to lay claim to the undisputed "mythical" Big 10 championship with a win Thursday!

I don't know much about soccer, but I did notice the west coast teams were well spread out in the brackets. It just looks like someone wants to make sure the west coast will have the best chance to be represented in the later rounds. Where they were bunched, it seems that those were the weaker teams from the west.

What's up with the radio feed over the computer?

I think we would have been in the MAC decades ago if the Flushes hadn't "black balled" us. At the time, we were a municipal university, and they used that as an excuse to exclude us from the MAC.

We knock the monkey off our back! Zips 31 Falcons 27

I watched the video earlier this morning, and had a similar reaction to others. If Tree had slammed it down, a "ho hum" reaction could be expected, but this is a freshman! We are just starting preseason practice. What are we going to see come March? Can you imagine an opponent stepping up to take a charge? The after shock has been felt in Iowa!

The La game was my one trip from Iowa to see them in person. That makes evaluating performance a whole lot better than TV, but still way behind watching film. KP16 can make some throws, but it would be fun to watch those first 2 passes with him in the film room. Still exceeds. JC7 looked good, but when he took on 2 defenders head on and fell forward pushed him to slightly exceeds. D transfers didn't impress that much. I don't agree with those calling for more Mizel; 44 looked far better than I expected from comments that I have read here. Jt55 looked engaged this year, but he still has a long way to go to reach his potential. O line just doesn't seem to be able to get the push we need to get our running game moving, but pass blocking was better. On offense, we were like a heavy weight fighter, hesitant to throw a punch in early rounds, content to avoid harm. Don't worry about setting up your left hook. We just need to come out punching! I watched the D give up 35, but they still exceeded. Looking ahead, I believe we have the talent to play with our next 8 foes. Will we make an 8 - 0 run? I'm not smoking anything funny, but I think we will win half of them!

Our speed at DE will force QB to commit early slowing the option. Look for JT55 to have a big game. Zips 30 / Cajins 24

It should go without saying that everyone on this board would hope for a W. I still hope to see our best at the Info beating the Cagins. As for let down; Michigan will absolutely have a let down. The mere premise of the question sets them up. Think about how often a track athlete sets a personal best at a tune up meet. Our guys on the other hand will be set up for their best effort. I don't think we will be intimidated there, but crowd noise could be a factor.

Show up with A game. Make it a game. Don't get anyone hurt!

I expected that we would control the trenches. What happened there? Next week will be hopeless. Mich will name the score unless both sides of the ball step it up. The bright spot is fighting back from adversity, and finally have the final bounce go our way!

HELL YEAH! I think GT got after the "right" story. I look for a major leap in performance in our running game. Pass protection was good, completions % was good, but YAC was yuck! I think we will not only see some completions down field, but also more YAC. Major difference in the game? We will control the trenches, and that is where one wins football games. One guy that stood out last week, ZP, won't see the field much this week!

I don't think it's a must win. It's a will win. We didn't show up with our A game last week. TB will have everyone ready for this one. I'm sure it started last Thursday with coaches and players, and we will see the same turn around that we saw last year. B & B will make some noise. CJMz will make some noise, literally! I think all the TR's saw that they need to show up in practice if they want to see the field. With a couple extra days to prepare, they will have their chance to win pt. The Dukes are a quality FCS team, but we will be ready to take care of business. Zips 49 Dukes 13

How many sacks did we have last year? QB hurries? We are already half way there this year after one game against a quality opponent! I believe that JM is just the ticket to allow our OL to come together. I look for B & B to put some spark in our passing game. We need to trust TB in bringing this team along. You just can't polish a young team in the summer. Even though we do have many upper classmen, they have had only one year in this system at most. Some have had only a few weeks. By December you will have a very different attitude!

Its not that they don't belong; they come unprepared.

After last year playing in the tropics at FIU, I'll bet they have a 3rd platoon in mind for light duty, particularly receivers and DB's.

I think Rant is on the right track, but I think we will see more points.

what depth chart?

I'm with Balsy: Zips by 3! I seem to remember that we gave them 3 TD's last year. I don't see that happening this year. It looks like our D will be hard to run against and we have some people who will actually get to the QB. If Zack is right, and our revamped O line comes together, we will control the ball and put up some points. And down the stretch, our depth will keep us from wilting in the tropical conditions.

Just a note on Iowa State. Their RS Fr put up 67 in a summer league game a couple weeks ago. They have a couple other guys who are lighting it up as well. By Christmas, these guys should be ready to give us a game!

No insight with the players, but consider position changes.

If you watch your opponents QB run for 200 yds., you tend to rethink your position on running QB's.

The world is not perfect, and life isn't fair. Just like the big boys can pay their coaches a lot more, they will be able to pay their players more. That only scratches the surface of potential problems. Is the QB worth more than an OL? etc? What about nonrevenue sports? "Revenue sports" that loose money? Walk-ons? If the rule book were thrown out, there would be 50 or 60 schools that could compete in the Professional College League with only a few realistically able to compete for the title. Have fun with that! If I were in charge, I would try to keep the present conference structure as close as possible. Restructure revenue sharing to help schools like Akron fund their programs. I would pay the FB and BB players a fixed salary on top of their scholarships; perhaps $200/mo. I would fund that with contributions from the NFL and NBA. After all; colleges are basically feeder programs for those leagues. It would only cost them $30 million or so, chump change. How would one get the pros to get on board? Congress gives them a pass on anti-trust laws. Congress could pass a franchise fee law to fund a government subsidy to the D1 schools. Like it or not, the term "student athlete" is not what it once was.