johnnyzip84

GoZips.com story Home: Bowling Green - lose HC Clausen but keep a lot of talent. Eastern Michigan - should be a W Massachusetts - should be a W Miami (Ohio) - should be a W Away: Ball State - lose Wenning and Sneed, but keep HC Lembo....he must have a skeleton or two. Buffalo - lose 3 main players in Mack, Oliver and Neutz Can't State - should be a W Ohio. - no TT makes it a winnable game. Really there is no reason to not have a good chance at a bowl :gun:

They're jumping ship at UAB, even at the top. This is an excellent hire, and it is at least partially indicative of the general perception that Zip football is on the upswing. I hope Coach Peterson is here for a long stay this go around and I certainly don't want to see him leave for Oxford EVER again. That left a bad taste in some of his player's mouths.

The thought did not occur to me, but you're right: Moses could have helped FSU throughout the game. I'm not sure I've ever seen a D-linemen take as long as Jernigan did to regain his wind. The Holidays must have been a little too good to him. Despite the loss, I came away respecting Malzahn's offensive genius even more. KP16 and the Tiger's Marshall are such different QBs that I'm not sure how much Auburn does could transfer to the Zip playbook. But Malzahn's offense looks a little more inventive than those of Holgorsen (WVU), Gundy (Ok St), etc. Maybe there are some nuggets that can be learned from studying Auburn, from afar of course, as I doubt TB is welcome on the Plains.

My thoughts, exactly. Had a feeling it could be a memorable game and it certainly was.

I’m as appalled as anyone with the men’s FT percentage, but the use of a 28.5 in (circumference) ball (versus 29.5 in for men) gives the women a bit of an advantage so we’re not really comparing apples to apples.

Bump. I know someone will discredit the source for reasons having nothing to do with sports, but HERE is a pretty decent article that ties the rust belt's economic decline to the Big 10's struggles in football.

THIS

Now that OOC play is concluded, I believe the most urgent (and potentially rewarding) issue the coaching staff should focus on is Carmelo Betancourt’s confidence, particularly with his shooting. As “Zips Win!” points out, he should be shooting 3-pointers in every spare moment of his day. I would add FTs to his agenda. If he can get up to 25-30% from behind the arc and 70% from the line, the PG situation will largely be solved. I’m sure he works on these deficiencies already, but a heightened level of urgency wouldn’t hurt. I really thought, based on his respectable showing earlier in the game last night, CB12 should have been on the floor with the Zips trying to nurse a 7 point lead down the stretch. KD finally put him in, but not until the Diggs isolation monotony had almost cost UA the game. There is a PG mentality bred into players who play the position from an early age. CB12 has shown that he enjoys distributing the ball and setting up others for the easy basket. He is also, far and away, the most reliable ball handler on the roster. In my opinion, these are not traits that can be instilled in players who have not played the position to any great extent over their careers. The OOC schedule was a bit unusual from the standpoint that the only game with less than a 9 point margin in final score was the Marshall game. We will surely (OK, I’ll stop calling you “Shirley”) witness more games like this in MAC play, and we better have a reliable ball handler in during crunch time or most of these games will slip away from us. I’m not saying Evans and Diggs can’t provide PG minutes as needed. But if this team wants to compete for a MAC championship this year, the most likely scenario is for CB12 to gain some confidence in shooting the basketball and take over as the unquestioned, primary PG. This is the best option this season AND next season. So come on, Melo! You can do this! Go Zips!!!

Wow, no kidding!

Zips are apparently 10 point favorites. Seems a little high to me. Should let us know a lot about what to expect in the MAC, IMHO. Zips have not been in a game this year with a final spread of less than 9 points. Will that end tonight?

Coppin State had a couple of nice players, with Murray and Armstrong standing out to me. I thought the Zips got the benefit of a few whistles, but "Fang" Mitchell could stand to lay off the whining after every call. It's hard to say if this was a step forward or a step sideways tonight. The chemistry of the big 3 still concerns me. But I'll admit guys like Deji and Pat are improving their play with seemingly each new game. I would love to see Melo continue to drive and dish against Marshall on Thursday. This will tell me if he can be effective, in spurts, versus the MAC. I think we're in for a roller coaster ride from here on out.

Me too....with joy Happy New Year!

TB really had no option to pull him with NH15 hurt and not active for the game. The W/L record is a good question. The Louisiana game comes to mind as one that might have gone the other way. I'm not sure about any of the others.

Thanks for the reminder to comment on the 3rd-to-last play and the way the officials called it. After watching the TV replay, I believe the officials correctly spotted the ball about 1/2 yard behind the 1st down marker. LT's knee definitely hit at about the 2 and 1/2 yard line, with the ball at that moment being about 1/2 yard short of the first down. But the 9 seconds lost (and the announcers were in agreement) was clearly a mistake. There should have been 24 seconds left with the Zips facing 3rd and 1/2 yard to go from the 1 1/2 yard line. It's debatable how much those 9 seconds meant given the situation. The Zips had 1 timeout left, the one they used after attempting the sweep on 3rd down. The only way those 9 seconds would have made a difference is if the running play had resulted in a 1st down (and not a touchdown), because aside from that scenario the Zips had 2 plays left regardless of whether they had 24 seconds or 15 seconds. As a side note, it looked like Chisholm should have taken the run outside instead of cutting back like he did. His detractors will be quick to agree, but they'll also likely neglect how hard (and well) he ran for much of the game.

Like a number of us, I made the trip to Ann Arbor and recorded the BTN broadcast for future viewing. Since the ending was so tantalizing, I purposely held off in watching the recording until the end of the season. I finally got around to watching it yesterday. It's funny how one's memory of a live event does not always jive perfectly with the record. Of course the fantastic tailgating at UM might have had something to do with that Regardless, here are a few observations given the benefit of a second look: 1. While he wasn't directly part of the interception party, Malachi Freeman played an unbelievable game. He played great run support AND severely limited Jeremy Gallon in the passing game. I believe he will be the player the team misses most in 2014. Hopefully an effective cover corner can be found among Givens, Cheek, Donte Williams, Trumaine Washington etc. 2. KP16 played even better than I initially thought. Sure the INT from inside the 5 hurt, but several WRs dropped relatively easy throw AND the 1st INT was right off of Dillard's hands. I'm comfortable heading into 2014 with him as the incumbent. 3. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the reactions on the Akron sidelines, throughout the entire game (our seats were high atop the opposite side of the stadium). I especially enjoyed guys like Caponi (who I knew didn't play, but didn't notice the street clothes until yesterday) exhorting his teammates. It provided a stark contrast to the reactions I've been seeing lately from the Zip bench (in a different sport). 4. I was glad to see the BTN sideline reporter giving TB plenty of airtime before each half. Maybe 1 or 2 midwest recruits could have been watching? Regardless, it's great to have a coach who so naturally paints the program in a positive light. 5. Maybe it's because the coaches have their backs to the InfoCision home crowd, but I didn't notice until yesterday how involved DW13 is in running the offense. I expect Dalton to get an even bigger role in 2014. While the ending was just as frustrating as I remember, I actually felt even more excited for 2014 after watching the recording. The Zips made SO many good plays in the UM game. Granted the Wolverines were far from the best team the Zips played in 2013, but still the program took a step forward with the good showing even though the wins would have to wait a few more games.

Although the timing isn't the greatest, tomorrow's Beacon has this story discussing the potential for a new arena.

Thanks, Zg01! I look forward to seeing him play with similar talent around him.

I voted "other" since Alex Abreu wasn't an option.

Story from Providence newspaper. It's not hard to imagine URI playing Fordham over the next few years, setting up a potential match-up between Zip offensive and defensive coordinators from the 2005 MAC Championship team.

Local (Florida) Story Just makes you shake your head. Thoughts and prayers to the Bowden family.

While the hoops team has some big challenges ahead of them, it's ridiculous, in my opinion, to even bring KD's job into the discussion. Let's not forget that a key member of the staff is not able to contribute at this point due to an infinitely more important matter. That's something you can't anticipate.

Conner is going to be a load as well. Glad we're opening with Howard before dealing with Boyd, Conner, Cano, Hackenberg, etc. One thing's for sure. Die-hard Zip fans will certainly get to see some talented individuals next year on the opposing teams.

The improved chemistry KD (and others, including me) thought he was observing sure disappeared in a hurry. Of the three biggest problems I see with this team (no real point guard, FT shooting and fragile character), there seems to be only one (FT shooting) that KD can even TRY to address (and I wouldn't expect big strides there, either). The other two issues are simply the realities of the current roster. Couple this with a generally improved MAC and 2014 is shaping up to be the Zips' most difficult MAC season in years. I'm sure I'll be reminded of how UA has turned around similarly mediocre seasons in recent years, and that is a valid point. But this season feels different to me. Hopefully, I'm wrong.

UMass web site. The timing is strange. He never impressed me on the field, but his recruiting seemed to be going fairly well. Maybe they want to make a run at someone who has or will soon become available?

Thanks for stopping by How could we not be impressed with the Cyclones? Seeing the game end on a 41-19 run was difficult for us Zip fans to endure, but I certainly was impressed with the ball-movement, extra pass, efficiency, effort, offensive rebounding, etc displayed by ISU during the onslaught. There are a lot of things to like about your program. Good luck for the rest of the year and especially in the difficult Big 12.