johnnyzip84

It was Merce's TD that put it out of reach But AA's TD was a thing of beauty

I can't really argue against any of the ones above, but I'll add a few of my own. 1) Merce Poindexter catching a game clinching TD against Syracuse in the dome (extra special because I was there and Frank Stams told me and a buddy the night before that Merce would be a big part of the gameplan. As it turned out he dropped the 1st ball thrown to him which may have limited his chances, but he DID hold on to the most important one!). 2) Dwight Smith covering about 45 yards to run down a Michael Vick heave in the 2nd half of the game CK cites. 3) It was before there was a BCS, but clearly Va Tech is a "BCS program". Jason Taylor going off on Jim Druckenmiller and the Hokies and putting a serious scare in to the #18 team in the country in spite of having absolutely zero offense.

Article on true FR LB Justin March. He looked pretty good to me at the open practice. I look forward to seeing him on special teams Saturday.

Here is Gaffney's take on this week's press conference.

To your 1st point, I am disapppointed not to see Tyler in the lineup somewhere as well. But how do we know the staff isn't planning a little wildcat for him? That's not something you'd put on the depth chart or discuss in a presser. I thought this staff ran a pretty nice wildcat with Gary Pride last year. To your 2nd, I didn't realize how the years were passing you by

Here are parts 1 and 2 of the press conference for game 1: Here are some tidbits: 1) 6 WRs will see playing time (Meriwether, Suel, Dillard, Sconiers, Russell, Price) 2) Several true FR will play this week (Bostick, D. Morgan, Dajour Morris, Isaiah Williams, March, Bre Ford, Rossi), with Rossi the only starter 3) PK was probably decided today (day after video was taken) 4) Rossi beat out Bailey partly due to Austin's slowly recovering from an injury 5) Each RB has had a ding or two. Alexander has a current injury and they don't know if he'll start or go on Saturday. #44 has been going at 100% for a week and a half. 6) Some of the O-lineman (Straight, McCloskey) have only recently been able to practice. 7) Won't rule out PN7 playing, but there is no "rehearsed scenario" for that. 8) Lartey is ahead of Holmes partly due to Anthony's injuries (though he's back practicing now) 9) They were able to do things in practice yesterday that they could never had done last year because of the increased numbers. The 12th man non-scholly program is really helping out. Ianello singled out #47 LB Gary Ransom and PK Robert Stein (in the mix for the starting job) in this regard. Ransom will see some time on special teams for sure this year. 10) The D-line depth sure sounds like it's as good as it's ever been here. Caponi is getting better and better. Harvey has reportedly transformed his body with the new S&C program. Griggs and Wilson are playing well. Hazime and Marcoux are rock steady. Tonga and Isaiah Williams will see snaps. 11) Waller and Richmond are playing as well as they've ever played here.

Mad skillz! It's reminiscent of the original "Mortal Kombat".

Got one set aside for you and JZ. I finished a complete one, which is a compliment to any "fruit" beer. It has a surprisingly decent taste, not perfume tasting. I've handed one to about 6 different people, everyone seemed to enjoy. I call dibs on the FIRST sip, Keener!

Joe B to start, but B. Miller will also see time as expected. Here are the game notes from GoZips.com.

I am redfaced. Now the Aggies are denying they sent any letter to the Big 12.

I was at Barley House on sunday and I did see advertisements stating that they are the official place. After the soccer playoff games last December, I have a renewed faith in the Barley House. It's all up to us. If we can bring the AKRON people, I think they will cater to us. If there's 10 of us in there, and 500 people dressed in red and silver, what could we expect? Maybe it's just me, but the vibe I'm getting from the board lately is that there really aren't a lot of Zip fans excited about this one. I suppose it could be the fear of impending doom. Either way, I don't see us being anywhere near the majority at the Barley House regardless of whether it's the official watch location of 2011. We all know this game has special circumstances in that regard. It's interesting that GoZips has been silent on the issue for the time being. Maybe we'll monitor the situation and make a group decision in a day or two?

So we've talked in the past about potential places to meet and watch the game. One place I've mentioned in the past is Manny's, since it's small enough that even just a few of us would be able to "take over" the place for the duration of the game. And it's so close to the Info. Any other thoughts? I'm game for just about anywhere where I won't be overcome by red & silver. If that means my living room, so be it

NY Times article reportedly makes Texas A&M's intention to leave the Big 12 "official". An announcement is expected today.

Ugh. Quite a few of the players I was expeciting to make immediate impacts this year (this game, ideally) didn't get starting nods - (Chisholm, Griggs, A.J. Price, Suel, Tyler Williams). Hmm. Oh, well. We'll see. Go Zips! [edit]: Quite a few from last year's recruiting class on the 2-deep. I guess we'll find out soon enough if this mean we really do have some quality depth on this team. I suspect the staff might purposely be blurring the lines between starters and backups (other than QB) to encourage the competition to continue. This falls in line with iCoach's quip when asked early in camp what he knew about the starters. All he said was "Brian Wagner is a starter", and left it at that!

OSU announces its depth chart for the Zips. And HERE is the Zips' depth chart. Very disappointed not top see Tyler Williams returning kicks On the other hand, there are a lot of new players in the 2-deep. Rossi is the apparent starter at FB and Alexander is, nominally at least, the starter at TB. It looks like there are quite a few positions, on offense in particular, where there could very well be 1 and 1-A "tandems".

Picked up a nice supply of OBC (Verich Gold, Cardinal Ale, Buckeye Blonde) for the Temple game this weekend, but I appreciate the offer

Classic!

I'll register on bucknuts under any name you want, if we can pull off this win. By the way, I'll never forget Magrell's first game that year. It was nothing short of magical. Lets hope for the same on Saturday. You and me both!

I think the day of a super conference separate from the ncaa isn't far off. Once the 16 team, four super conferences are complete, it's all over for the ncaa. There are haves and have nots in D-1A college football. There is also a group of mostly non-bcs schools who would be called "the don't belongs". The charm I see of the ncaa basketball tournament is taking a Thursday and Friday off of work to watch basketball games between teams you don't really care about and getting drunk in the process. That can be accomplished in the current manner or another way. Would watching Providence get slaughtered by Duke be any different than watching Hampton get slaughtered by Duke? Upsets would still happen, they would just be more known teams upsetting the higher seed. How is Providence getting in the 64 team, post-NCAA tourney? Isn't this going to be for football powers only? For that matter, Duke is unlikely to be selected for the football super-conference. It's the football-basketball debate that's going to hold up the shift to the 64 team super league in football. I'm not saying it won't eventually happen, but there's still a LOT to be worked out. Do you envision separate governing bodies for hoops and football?

I don't think GP1's notion of a group of BCS powers effectively seceding from the NCAA is that far fetched. This sort of thing has been speculated for years. As I see it, there are 2 major hurdles that haven't been effectively addressed however. First (and I've stated this before), I don't buy the idea that there is a clear divide of "haves" and "have nots" in D1 football. I believe D1 football operates on more of a continuum and always has. Sure there are 15 or so programs that are generally among the elite, but the other 49 needed to constitute 4, 16-team mega-conferences are a shifting, unstable bunch. And I believe the feds would eventually be drawn into resolving the inevitable disputes that would arise regarding who gets into "the club" and who doesn't. Second, it's debatable whether the charm of the NCAA hoops tourney would be able to be captured by a 64 team super league. This is all about viewership and money, and if the charm is diminished so could the viewership. The NCAA has this (the tourney) as leverage in keeping the football schools under its umbrella. It's even questionable whether the teams in the super league would be any better than the ones left in the NCAA (in hoops). So I'll continue to watch the power plays with great interest, but I think the seismic shift still has some thick crust to break through first before the NCAA falls into the ocean (keeping with the nautical disaster theme).

I voted "more than 7", since the Zips are only going to win by a mere 18 this week.

My last Zip-OSU prediction ended up being slightly inaccurate This year it'll be different, both for my accuracy and the Zips' fortune! The Red and Silver open the Fickell era in grand style as the kickoff is returned 93 yards for a quick 7-0 OSU lead. The Zips settle down and the only other scoring of the 1st quarter is a long Red and Silver FG. Down 10-0 early in the 2nd quarter, The Lone Ranger starts to click with Russell, Meriwether and Suel. Chisholm take advantage of the safeties playing back and darts 25 yards for the 1st Zip TD of 2011. The celebration is short lived however as Moore is forced to limp to the sidelines after he trips over Bice's feet just after the exchange. X-rays are negative, but iCoach keeps CM8 out for the remainder of the game as a precaution. PN7 struggles to get the offense moving in his only 1st half series. Alternating QBs throughout the game, OSU scores on a long run by Braxton Miller just before the half. The halftime score is OSU 17, Akron 7. Tyler Williams takes the 2nd half kickoff 72 yards to the OSU 15. On 1st down, PN7 fires a strike to Suel in the corner of the end zone and all of a sudden it's "game on" in Columbus! The Zip defense, buoyed by the success of the offense, begins to close the door on Miller and company. The tunnel of pride begins to crack under the weight of Wagner, Hazime, Waller etc. PN7 puts on an aerial display unseen in Zip land since Brian Magrell's 1994 outburst in Muncie. In the end, he connects on 4 TDS to three separate receivers and the Zips takes their second victory in the series by a surprisingly comfortable 38-20 margin. Skip registers as skip-buck on Bucknuts

Afte much deliberation, I'm skipping the whole head/heart thing and going with my inner Zippy. The Zips will finish 7-5, with key home wins over Temple and FIU. Go Zips!

my hopes are high that Montreal keeps them both when they join the MLS +1 The game wrap up is full of ex-Zip references. Since Jesse Marsh has already been named manager for their entry into MLS and he's traveling (not coaching) with them already, the play of these guys (including Knowles) should go a long way towards securing a roster spot for 2012.

Sinisa with a brace and Bush with another clean sheet pace the Montreal Impact to a key 2-0 victory over Minnesota Saturday night. Cameron Knowles also played (the full 90) at defense for Les Zipes.......err.......the Impact.