johnnyzip84

Video wrap-up of the 3rd practice. Link

I would take Akron also. The Orangemen will be one of the worse teams in the country this year! No they won't. Syracuse will be a solid middle of the road BE team that probably gets back into a bowl game come December/January. Their new coach is doing good things up there, they had a solid recruiting class, have some JUCOs that are gonna help out, and have some talent returning. They'll be hurt Week 1 without Carter, but let's remember, we were one of the worst teams in the country last year, and we're going into our first game with two completely new systems on both sides of the ball. There will be miscues and indecision, take it to the bank. If I were a betting man, I'd take Syracuse with this spread. I see Orange 14+... but I hope I'm wrong. If what you say is true, I like Akron's chances even more. I think TWO completely new systems on BOTH sides of the ball will be too difficult to implement effectively early in the season. The major difference is this is the Orange's coach will be in his second year. There should be some level of stability with them. +1 Scouring the internet, you'd be hard-pressed to find a 'Cuse fan who wasn't encouraged by the way the Orange closed the season in Marrone's 1st year. I stick by my belief that the talent level of these clubs is pretty even (especially if Carter doesn't play). But unless RI has the Zips clicking straight out of the box, one would think the Orange would enter the game with more confidence and organization. If the Zip defense is as improved as I and others think it could be, they might keep the game closer than the 8.5 point spread. As far a pulling off the upset, I think for that to occur the component of the Zips that we haven't discussed much of late needs to improve dramatically from their 2009 form. I'm a big fan of Coach Vince Okruch. Hopefully, as Special Teams Coordinator, he can have these guys ready to be the difference in a few close games in 2010. Who will be the PK in 2010? Bronko? Igor? TJ Marchese? This may be the most intriguing position battle for me.

GoZips.com has some video of iCoach discussing the 2nd practice. Link Who is Clay Cameron? Edit: Never mind. He's the preferred walk-on we were discussing a few weeks back. Wow, back-to-back picks is the way to make your presence know quickly!! Clay's ZN Thread

He looks like a nice last-second pickup. I think it's a fair bet that if he hadn't had the trouble with qualifying on time, some of the other schools on these lists would have offered. Rivals Profile Scout Profile

I talked to the guy that is running it. "We are doing everything we can to get it up and running, but we are dealing with a LOT of issues" Maybe this is one of them?

More analysis of the Milk Cup victory and what it might mean for the future of American soccer. It's GREAT having Akron's name thrown around in stories like this. Of course, the implication that Valentin will be turning pro soon isn't great news. But Caleb will just reload! SI Link

I think one of the reasons why K.E.N.T. has been a popular choice for a "dark horse" this year is their defense. I believe they were 5th best in the MAC last year in terms of pts/game. They were also 5th in rushing yards allowed/game. Lainhart and Mixon are definitely two of the best defensive players in the MAC. BUT, they haven't been saddled by a goofy, gimmick scheme either. I believe the Zips have at least as much talent on this side of the ball, and it will be the most interesting part of this season (for me) to see how Sewell, Tonga, Hazime, Lemon, Harvey, Wagner, Thomas, Hall, Fobbs, Marcoux and company perform as the season progresses. Really, K.E.N.T. and UA have quite a few similarities this year. The obvious difference is coaching. We KNOW Martin is a goofball. We HOPE Ianello isn't.

Tuzze played at Lakeland near Scranton. Link

I simply want to see the 2010 football Zips COMPETE. If they do that, I'll be happy to let the Chips fall where they may No matter what, September 4 is going to be a whole lot of fun. I've got my little propane grill ready and a selection of Thirsty Dog in mind. Does anyone remember when they send typically send out season tickets?

Zips land PA H-Back Nick Rossi. He's a 3-star recruit who also played LB and had offers from WVU and Temple. Scranton Times-Tribune Article Scout Profile More on Rossi

We don't know what will happen. Not even EMU has sucked enough to be on watch like this. But wouldn't be fun to see the NCAA's reaction? Maybe the NCAA is still afraid of Martin-Arson

Tom Gaffney now has his first article out on summer camp. Let's hope he keeps up the decent coverage we've seen lately. Link

Speculation on Steve-O heading to Europe before too long. Link

Did not play in Arizona. Came to Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria, California fall of 2008. Played both years there and got his AA. Standout on the field and off. Will he see the field in 2010? Or redshirt? How many years of elig does he have? I'm pretty sure he has 2 years.

Could it be a mistake? He's been listed as an LB during all of last season and in the off-season until just a few days ago. If someone changed his position to TE, you would think either it's legit or a pretty obvious mistake (wrong player?). We'll see if he stays listed as a TE. BTW, I was looking back at his old scout and rivals bios. I knew we beat out Hawaii for him, but I didn't realize Boise St had offered him! Link Edit: His father was an assistant at Boise a while back. Also, Will did catch a game winning TD against Garfield in his senior year.

I just noticed the roster information for Will Fleming has been revised. He is now listed as a tight end. Does anyone recall how well he played on offense while at Hoban? This seems to indicate the coaches are somewhat pleased with the current talent and depth at LB. Roster

More on Steve-O....we're The University of Akron and Akron University in the same article! Link

Of course, but you'd better expect at least 10,000 Domers amongst the 30,000. A 1 for 1 with ND would be the scheduling coup of a lifetime for UA.

Once again....nobody is excited to go watch Marshall. These home and homes need to be against fairly significant teams in order to gain the local interest. If we cant get it from Syracuse and Indiana, we surely wont get it from Marshall. By "fairly significant" I have to assume you mean BCS or BCS-buster (Boise, TCU, etc). I realize Toledo somehow got the Canes to play in the Glass Bowl (assuming this is a home and home and not a 2 for 1), but I just don't see the current Zips pulling off a home and home against anyone who fits that bill. We'd have to offer a considerably higher guarantee than our opponent and that's just not going to happen in today's budget. Getting ANY of the Conf-USA or MWC teams to agree to a home and home would be an accomplishment IMHO. BTW, I'd LOVE to be wrong about this

I know you are out in California, so you can't follow the team all that well. The quarterback I'm speaking about is Patrick Nicely. He's very good. Here is a link where you can learn more about Patrick I'm always happy to help out those who are a little less-versed on the Zips program. Then I'll give you a little more follow-up information about the 1995 team, and verify something I said earlier, so that you can add this to your wealth of knowledge. I think on two separate occasions on this thread, you said that Lee had NO quarterback heading into the 1995 season. And I stated that he had a freshman QB who just came off of a record-breaking performance. And I did verify that my memory is correct. Magrell threw for 347 yards against Ball State in a game at the Rubber Bowl in Nov. of 1994. It was an Akron single-game record, and withstood as a record until Charlie Frye came along. And the amazing thing is, he did NOT even start the game. I think most people would feel a lot more confident about that QB situation entering the next season, compared to the situation we have now. In respect to your overall "this group of guys is more talented than that group of guys" remarks, here's where I think the problem is. We can look back now and see the progression of the careers of players during the transitions of other Akron coaches. We can't do that now. We have no idea where the careers of these players are going. I remember listening to the Magrell game against Ball St on the radio, because the game was played in Muncie. Link Nevertheless, it was quite a performance from a true FR coming off the bench as you noted Skip. But I also have a recollection that Magrell and LO's incoming staff immediately had "issues". Whether is was the change in scheme, personality conflicts or whatever, I believe it was pretty clear early on that Brian would not remain a Zip for long. While there are some similarities to the QB situation in 2010 (change in scheme), I think the chances of Nicely pulling up stakes are pretty remote. Like you, no doubt, I was at the "loser bowl" versus OU later that year. It's just my opinion, but I'll take the talent from last year's Zips over that squad hands down. If the Zips somehow manage to win only 2 games this year, it's ALL on iCoach, IMHO.

So I'm watching the Indians game beat the Jays 2-1 on STO today, and I'm thinking (before I checked on here) how nice it would be if the Zips had some sort of presence on STO. This is great!

I haven't been able to get the interview to download completely, and I apologize if this has been brought up before (was on vacation), but isn't Marshall a good possibility for one of the home-and-homes? I believe the Turd is finishing one up at BG this year. I think renewing the rivalry, even briefly, would be a good thing. Plus, the Zips beat 'em 2 out of the last three games

This is especially true in baseball and tennis where 7 on 7 drills result in the field seeming fairly empty or the court quite full, respectively. Found out that Youngstown State was never stopped on offense, but considering Nicely threw 6 touchdown's I find it hard to believe Akron was ever stopped on offense either. Sounds like each team's defense was pretty ugly. That's only because the Penquin QB didn't have THESE flapping in his face!!!

The kickoff time for the Kentucky game on Sept 18 is 7:00 pm. The game is on several Fox Regional Networks (but not FSO from what I can gather) and ESPN360. There has been no confirmation to rumors that Catwoman will be joining Joker on the Wildcat sidelines for this contest. Link 1 Link 2

Here's another article on Suel. Link