johnnyzip84

I concur, your Captaincy! I get the feeling that he was playing mostly on raw talent for most of last year. I'm hoping a year of seasoning will bring out a more steady, consistent force in the middle of the backfield. His ability to break on the ball is particularly impressive for a safety. I think he has a chance to be as good as Dwight Smith, but more consistent!

Isn't Andre Jones returning as well?

KD told Frenchy before the game that Romeo had been given a 1 game suspension for the usual "violation of athletic department rules". He said he would be back for Nevada.

I'm not sure what good "coordinating with the Wolstein group" is going to do since it's my understanding that they're not putting up any money for the proposed soccer stadium anyway. What motivation would the Wolsteins have to agree to have "their" facility, funded by taxpayers, placed in Akron?

I'm with you, Zipsrifle. Option 1 looks terrific to me. I'm not sure how common it is (or if this presents any "sun" issues during day games) to have the "rotated" orientation, but it really has a nice overall look to it. Incorporating views of both downtown and the rest of the campus are good ideas. The optional tunnel to the fieldhouse looks pretty cool, too! Let's hope that it's not option #1 by accident

Thanks much uakronkid!!

I agree wholeheartedly, Zip81, in thinking ahead and having a continency for a relatively easy (and inexpensive) expansion. I just don't think anything over 30K can fly up front. I have to tell you, I absolutely CAN'T WAIT until we all get to actually sit down and watch a game in the facility when it's finally here! GO ZIPS!!!!

Yeah, we wouldn't want any MAC West rivals turning us in! Just teasing a little Rocket Man BTW, could you provide the link to the UT fan site? While we're at it, is there a common MAC site that would have links to ZipsNation.Org and other school's respective sites?

I suspect that this is more like "neutral" news. Maybe it's a slight plus in that the whole notrthern Summit County soccer stadium/business development plan could be thought of as potential competition to UA's and other's plans for a stadium/shopping/residential development in areas like Spicer town.On another note, I am as big of a Zip fan (anatic) as any, but I have to say that if any of you actually think that a FB stadium with a seating capacity larger than 30K is in the works, I think you are dreaming. Yes, I do think it will be built and it will be successful in bringing more fans, students in particular, to games. But an INITIAL capacity of 35-42K just isn't realistic in any way, shape, or form. That's just my opinion. What would be wrong with something like the Glass Bowl, only an updated version?

Swiech Lights it Up for Elizabeth Forward in Win

We can't say that JD's not hitting the OL's pretty hard, like he said he would. He's also using the JUCO route with some as he suggested he might. This class is looking like it might top all of the others!

This one scared me a few weeks ago, and it scares me even a little more in the wake of UIC's close loss on the road in Champaign. I think it will come down to how evenly the game is called by the refs. If the Zips don't get a total homer job, I see us winning by something like 75-74.

He also happens to be the brother of Ex-Toledo Rocket, now Tampa Bay Buccaneer QB Bruce Gradkowski.

I know that both Middle Tennessee (Sunbelt in everything) and Western Kentucky (currently Sunbelt in everything but football, 1-AA Gateway for football) have been mentioned as potential teams for MAC expansion, but I think either would be invited for all sports if it were to occur. Western has already approved a move to D1-A in football.WKU Regents Approve Move to D1-AGood summary on the Zips move into the MAC, Zips81. The only minor oversite I could see was that Northern rejoined the MAC at the same time as Buffalo (joined) and Marshall (rejoined), in 1997 if I recall correctly. Believe it or not, Northern actually joined the Big West conference (briefly) for football before coming to their senses.

While it's hard to argue that he looked terrific this year as a redshirt freshmen QB, I'm curious to see how he will do outside of the "Kelly system".

I am equally curious if "someone in the know" could possibly shed some light on this. Actually I had "heard" that the Michigan schools were totally against having another Ohio school in the MAC, since there was already a heavy Ohio bias. But I stress that this was purely hearsay. Is there anyone here that can comment from fact?

I wonder where our stellar FOOTBALL FG percentage (6/14 = 42.9%) would place in these standings!!!

That's not at all surprising to people that follow the Zips closely. The big question in my mind however is, how much better would Akron have had to finish for JD to land the UC job? 7-5? 6-6? Did they need to win the MAC East?As far as whether it's good or bad for Akron, the consensus is (and I agree) that the next couple of years will tell. If the recruits keep coming in like they have, maybe this past year will just have been a "speed bump" on the way to MAC dominance. Hey, I can dream right?

Oh, it looks like he originally played HS football in Plano, Texas.Dallas Morning News

Hmmm I wonder if qualifying could be an issue? Scout and Rival have schools like NC State, Iowa St, Illinois, Texas A&M and Baylor interested in him, although he's only rated a 1-star. He looks a little light for a DE (225 LB), but at 6'5" he could fill out nicely. Hope he likes his visit!

I think we dropped because Arkansas-Little Rock is dropping like one.......a Rock that is. I don't think this one loss will keep us out, as long as we keep winning.

Robert Morris made some noise a while back (early '80s I think) by winning a 1st round game in the NCAA tourney. They play the other Pittsburgh area D1 schools (Pitt, Duquesne, WVU) every year and pretty much lose to them every year. They defeated the Dukes (obviously a weaker team with the shooting incident on top of a breaking in a new coach) for what I believe is possibly their 1st (at the most 2nd) win over any of these local rivals. Of course, of Northern Illinois 3 wins, 2 are over Duquesne so that might not be all that impressive. RMU DID beat Marshall in Huntington, for what is probably their biggest win this yeat and only lost to Pitt by 13 or so (was a 5 point half-time deficit).

I agree, UIC will be no gimme. The Horizon is making a strong push to become the next "Valley". I think this result also points out one other thing. The MAC West looks pretty awful right now. Western's had a few decent wins (Va Tech), but also a few bad losses. I guess I have to agree that the Nevada game is a must win to earn an at-large berth (if needed).

Among recently built structures, Papa John's Cardinal Stadium is the 1st to come to mind. I think Troy plays in some Movie Gallery Stadium or something like that. The Carrier Dome may have started the ball rolling in terms of collegiate venues. I'm sure there are others.This reminds of a very stupid joke from the Faust era. Somebody had thrown out the idea once (probably after a particularly rainy home FB schedule) to put a roof over the Rubber Bowl. I always felt the obvious new name for such a revision would have been......cover your ears and start wincing......the "Con-Dome"......ba dump ttttisshhhhh

Yeah, well the whole "build it, and they will come" saying has gotten pretty stale. Here's to the brand new corollary, "name it, and they will build it!!".