johnnyzip84

That's true and it was Lemon who was the "extra" lineman. It was sort of his break out game coming off the edge. But I think Army had some trouble running it up the gut too.

I thought there was talk of an injury sometime during camp. Maybe the staff has considered him a certain red shirt since then. Does anyone know if you have to put red shirted players on the roster?

I was thinking about this during the week, and does anyone else find it strange that the one game that sticks out this year in which the defense did a pretty nice job in stopping the run just happened to be against a team that focuses almost solely on the run? Now perhaps because the Zips didn't have to worry too much about Army's passing game, this may have made the job easier. On the other hand, other Army opponents didn't have to worry too much about the pass (against EMU, the Knights failed to complete a single pass) either, and they have still managed to run the ball pretty effectively.One other thing I remembered about the Army game. It was the ONLY game this year in which Wally Pendleton was forced into a starting role. In fact it's the only game this year in which he really saw the field very much at all. Now if you look at the game stats, I don't think he had many tackles, but that really isn't the NT's job. Am I oversimplifying this by concluding that the big guy is very effective in stopping the run?

I'm going with probably. But if we lose tomorrow, I might adjust it to probably not. I'll say it again though. IMHO this is the best overall home slate, from a quality of play on the field standpoint, that has ever traveled to the Rubber Bowl. It's kind of fitting in a way, but it WOULD truly suck to have the "old lady" go out without one blasted win :blink:

Sounds like a plan to me. Who shall knock them out? Me, or you? Because god knows that niether defense will get to them.Well I'll be in Pittsburgh, so you might have to take care of business. If you can't let me know ASAP. I'll see if Ryan Myers is busy this weekend or not

I chose the 1st option, even thought EMU DOES scare me in Rynearson because I believe Schmidt is a pretty good QB. Here's the twist. Both Schmidt and Jacq will get knocked out early, and Rodgers will easily outshine McMahon as the Zips pull away convincingly 38-17.

The Zips are a 3 to 4 point favorite this Saturday against the largest bird native to Australia. The one thing that bothers me about this game is the fact that EMU QB Andy Schmidt is only now getting back to around 100% and he has the ability to do some of the same things that Sheehan did in the 4th quarter last week. We can't let this guy get into a rhythm. They have a couple of decent RBs too. While this may seem an unlikely event to many here, the defense is going to HAVE to step up, I believe, or this will likely be another disappointing loss. I haven't decided just yet whether I think the defense is going to rise to the occasion or not.

I couldn't disagree more. We MUST win at EMU and that still doesn't mean anything for the rest of the season. EMU is a horrible team and beating them isn't a reason to pat our backs.You're just feeling the heat because I'm closing in on you in total number of posts Seriously, I guess we'll find out who is more correct in due time. I'll clarify with some specifics. If we lose this weekend, we will finish UNDER 0.500. If we win, we'll finish OVER 0.500. It looks like I'm ruling out a 0.500 record, but I'll take that risk.

The BG game provided an interesting contrast, because THEIR center kept snapping the ball consistently LOW to Sheehan (of course, that's easier to do with his height).

It's sort of obvious, but I'll state it anyway. As the EMU game goes, so goes the rest of the season.

KD is putting an emphasis on instilling mental toughness on the young squad.Leakin' Urinal Link

I have a family engagement in Pittsburgh this weekend, or I would be there for sure. After all, I'm 2-0 in road games this year BTW, I heard that "BYE" has opened as a 14 point favorite over the Golden flushes

I certainly appreciate the promptness of your report, and the appearance as well. PRESENTATION: A+Now to the other grades.I'm not quite sure how I answered my own question when I didn't even pose one. FOLLOWING DIRECTIONS: FIn the latest Sagarin ratings, Ball St is #19, Cincy is #41 and BG is #70. That is an average ranking of 43.3 and I challenge anyone to cite a more difficult 3 game home stretch in recent Zips history (or even all of Zips history). RESEARCH: Incomplete FINAL GRADE: C+ not quite excellent OK, I DO understand that a discussion of JD's future is not entirely out of line, especially if they lose in Ypsilanti this weekend (I don't think they're going to, but I also would not COUNT on a W either). I was only pointing out that strength of schedule needs to be considered when an AD is weighing his or her options, especially in the MAC. I just did a little research on MAC overall records since JD took over (excluding Temple, who would easily be under 0.500 as well), including this year. Here is a summary.UA 25-30Toledo 30-25EMU 15-38NIU 28-27WMU 27-27Can't 16-37UB 12-40BG 30-24Miami 24-31CMU 32-24Ball St. 25-29OU 25-30As you can see, only 4 teams were ABOVE 0.500 over that period. Here's another interesting note. It's Ball St.'s records under Brady Hoke.2003 4-82004 2-92005 4-72006 5-72007 7-62008 7-0If you look at the 1st five years, he's well under 0.500. What would have happened if Ball St. decided to give up on him after last season? I think if JD can finish 6-6 this year (much like Brady's 7-6 last year), he has to be given a chance to open the Info.

We used to go to Acme-Zip every year. It was great. It sucked when they stopped that. I have some great memories from those days.The Akron band has always been ok, but never great. Anyone that feels they were great must be comparing them to the high school bands they are used to hearing. I am not saying they are/were bad, but they aren't as good as many others.I remember going to the game a few years ago against Hampton and there were a few other college bands at the RB.The other bands simply blew the UA band away. Whenever the UA band would play we wanted them to stop so we could hear the other bands better.It was actually Howard (I think the Central St. band was there too), but you're right Buckzip. I felt sorry for the UA band for having to follow THAT amazing display of brass, rhythm, choreography and entertainment.

We're winless at home for a couple of reasons. Yes we have squandered our own opportunities and that should be put on JD and staff above all. But to dismiss the fact that the home schedule has been difficult to date is being ignorant to the facts. In fact, I DEMAND that YOU perform a more EXCELLENT review of the teams that have defeated us at the rubber bowl this year (insert Bill and Ted guitar riff here). I expect a full report on my desk in the morning.

The emergence of the "dead horse" should make all of us careful before we start a new thread. After all, who really wants to be the inspiration for its THIRD post ever? :DI've stated these thoughts elsewhere before but I'll summarize again.6-6 or better --> JD definitely stays (and should)5-7 --> JD probably stays (and should IMO)4-8 or less --> JD could (and perhaps should) goIf he does manage to get himself fired, the good news is that there is PLENTY of talent here at UA right now. I, for one though, am still rooting for him to finish this season on an upswing.

I didn't grow up in Akron, but I did start attending UA in 1979 and saw much of the "big time" atmosphere to which you refer. Yes it was nice to sell out the bowl once every year, but I would like to point out a POSITIVE in the relatively smaller crowds I have seen in the last few years. First of all, many of those Acme-Zip fans left after halftime. I don't see that nearly as often with the "decent" (16-18K) crowds in more recent years. Also, we may not get the +30K crowd any more, but we have seen years with MULTIPLE 16-18K crowds, an indication of a more stable and reliable fan base.

If the NCAA rules committee ever decides to make the forward pass illegal, then Dennison just might be the guy! Seriously, Jim was a fine coach during his tenure, but he comes from the mold of the old Big 10's "3 yards and a cloud of dust" philosophy. That simply won't cut it in ANY FBS conference these days.

I'm still middle of the road regarding Jacq, BUT does anyone know if Rodgers can run better than a 5.5 sec forty (my estimate for Jacq's footspeed)? For that reason alone it would be interesting to see what he can do for a series. It's not like the other pieces to the offensive puzzle are missing.

I voted for a combination, and that would have to be centered on coaching and the defense. The state of liberty play was a bad gamble as mentioned by several before. BTW, I thought it that was Bruce who muffed the exchange from Jacq, not Tuzze, but I could be wrong. I could have sworn I saw Bruce pounding his helmet in anguish on the sidelines after the play. I thing many of us supected at the time that the play could come back to haunt us. Regarding the defense, I am really puzzled why we aren't subbing more along the d-line lately. Lively, Sewell, and Lemon are playing too many downs and it showed towards the end of the Can't game and last night. Marcoux played some as did Odofin, but where is Hazime, Pendleton (swallow your pride a little, Fleming) and Harvey?Having said this I'm not ready to give up on JD and the staff. Obviously the EMU game is huge, as will just about every game be from here on out. I said it earlier in the season, but I'll repeat. This home schedule is as fine a slate as has ever been seen at the Rubber Bowl. Sure it sucks to have lost all three games here (I'm fortunate enough to have seen them win 2 road games), but it's not like the level of competition has been second rate. If the teams goes into a tailspin from this point, then JD's future at UA needs to come into question. I'll wait to see how the rest of the season plays out before drawing any conclusions, but I do think that 5-7 or 6-6 is still achievable (and perhaps necessary for JD to stay).

The Zips will win by 7, on the strength of a BWill INT return for a TD. He's been making big plays consistently on run defense all season, and this is the week he takes advantage of a mistake in the passing game by Sheehan.Zips 38BUGS 31

He will have missed 2 straight years. I wonder how effective he will be next year.Hopefully he will be available for spring ball to get some practice in.IMO, the ONLY way he isn't effective next year is if the foot injury (os a new injury) never completely comes around. This is a real shame for Ryan and I hope he is able to focus on the things he needs to focus on until he is eligible once again. I do see a possible silver lining however. With the Zips forced to play a number of true FR and RS FR this year along the defensive front, I can see us being even stronger here next year as a result (assuming Bain plays in 2009).

If a male is playing Zippy, does that make him a cross dresser? Funny! But I'm guessing that males usually play Zippy. My wife and I used to eat lunch in the Summit Lounge back in the early '80s and we would always see a couple there in the opposite corner. We noticed HER as being one of the football cheerleaders. Apparently apart from that, we also used to notice that Zippy seemed to "favor" this cheerleader at the football games. It wasn't until Zippy was "revealed" in a newspaper article that we put 2 and 2 together. Zippy and the guy in Summit lounge were one in the same

Nice find. OK, let's start the chant now.....WE'RE #1, WE'RE #1, WE'RE #1, WE'RE #1, WE'RE #1, WE'RE #1!!Fumbles Recovered

Oh yeah, keep it going lads! You know with all the talk of BUGS around here lately, it got me to thinking. It's not MUCH of a stretch to transform A-K-R-O-N into O-R-K-I-N. Perhaps THESE could be our new UNIS next year