johnnyzip84

Stewart Mandel story on CNNSI This is a a pretty big deal for the MAC. Honestly, I'm pleasantly surprised that, at least theoretically, a MAC team can make it to one of these games in the future.

I watched the coach’s show last night on STO, and TB mentioned having 4 or 5 players joining the team in January. At first I thought he might be talking about JUCO guys, but I think he was probably referring to guys who may regain eligibility in the spring semester. He did bring up DT James Price by name in this regard. He says he’s up to 315 LB. Hopefully we’ll get an indication soon on some of the players from the 2012 class who were not able to qualify initially. I know it’s getting toward the end of the season, but one segment I hope they either improve or remove next season is the so-called scouting report for the upcoming opponent. Now I’m not 100% sure that they won’t have another show next Monday, but last night they spent about 20 seconds (seriously) discussing Toledo. The only thing they said about the Rockets is that they’re coached by local product Matt Campbell. Not even one player was mentioned. If you’re going to have a scouting report at all, I think you need some video and a discussion of key players on both sides of the ball. Hopefully, they’ll keep the show going next year and invest a little more into the details. By the way, there was no mention on who might play QB in the finale. TB remains upbeat and positive, which is really important when the players are probably feeling the mounting effects of the losses.

Even though I've had my share of doubts over the last few weeks, I believe you are correct with this notion. That's the most disappointing part of the 2012 season to me - the realization that even a coach the caliber of TB won't be able to get this thing totally corrected any time soon. A five year window seems to be pretty realistic at this point. There IS a potential silver lining with this situation, however. IF somehow TB had been able to get the Zips to (say) .500 this year, the odds of UA being able to retain him much longer would have gone down considerably. The "turnaround" would have likely been mostly on the surface, without the long term staying power needed to lay a solid foundation for a consistent winner. Now it appears TB won't be getting these looks from other schools, so his only option over the next few years (aside from giving it up entirely) is probably limited to Akron, Ohio. Now if the turnaround eventually occurs, it SHOULD be longer lasting and perhaps by then he would be at an advanced age to simply want to remain here and keep the program going indefinitely. I also need to comment on the premature FCS talk. The most likely FCS conference affiliation for the Zips would be the MVC (former Gateway). Most astute college football observers realize that, in a typical season (the MAC is having an otherworldly successful run at present) there really isn't much difference between the MAC and the MVC. So dropping "down" to the MVC really doesn't offer a much easier path toward gridiron success. If you're going to bother to try to get competitive within the MVC, you might as well stay in the MAC and try to be competitive there first. Another option could be to go independent in FCS (to lessen the strength of schedule), but I think this would be a disaster for the overall athletic program (we know how great that worked in the '80s). We need to suck it up and have some patience, no matter how bad it is right now. Anything else is a knee-jerk reaction, IMHO.

Earth to Terry Bowden: Dalton Williams' eligibility runs out after the 2012 season,

The most pathetic half of Zip football in 15 years!!!!

I'm looking forward to the battle between our Chauncey and theirs -->

It's hard to argue with their rankings too much. They have the MAC about where it should be (on balance). I hadn't realized how crazy the A-10 race will be this year (one time deal at 16 teams). They may even put 6 or 7 teams in.

At this point, I’m not really concerned about WHY Tree and Nick won’t play tomorrow night. I’m far more concerned over HOW the Zips perform without them. Coastal has been a consistently good program, they are picked by many to represent the Big South in the 2013 NCAA Tourney, AND they’re opening up their brand new (though small) gym. If Alex isn’t near 100% (or can’t play much), if the talented freshmen have many “deer in the headlights” moments, and/or if the refs in Conway decide to serve up the home cooking, this game could easily slip away from the talented Zips. I have a feeling Pat Forsythe might come up big to prevent that from happening.

GT article in the Beacon

Massachusetts article on Molnar's connections to the area

Amen, Brother Wally! The 'meister will like your prediction. Here's mine: UA 45 UMass 28 Here's my lock: A good time will be had by all in Lot 9 before and after the game!

Well played Now for our regularly scheduled program.

I'm not sure how many Zip fans are headed to Conway, but at least the CCU message board is already talking about the game. I figured there would be some discussion on ZNO by now. Is Alex going to be ready?

UMass message board (the URL says it all!)

She was directly in front of us (we were in the K.E.N.T. student section) for the 1st half (we joined the bulk of the Akron fans after HT). I hadn't read anything about her, so I was a bit surprised myself. I assume she must be a backup kicker. They might have beaten us if they had her in 2008!

Line is up to 17.

Hey, somebody had to pick up the Bowden Ball after NZF muffed it onto the carpet a few weeks ago

From the sounds of things at the K.E.N.T. tailgate, I expect quite a few versions of chili this Saturday. If the Zips can pull off the win, we could be looking at a perfect fall day Go Zips!!

Don't you mean UCF and NIU? There will be beer! There will be chili! Stand up and cheer! Beat UMass silly!

Count me in the club who wishes TB had gone for it on 4th down during the opening series of the 2nd half. I think if you're going to pull off the road upset, those are the plays you need to make. But if we're going to second guess the staff on plays like these, we also have to give credit where it's due. The Zips did a lot of things well yesterday against a solid, dare I say Vest-like, football team. UA looked like a team that had been preparing all week to WIN this football game. 1) After a few weeks of struggles in this area, I only recall one (maybe 2?) false starts. 2) DW13 was on time and on target almost the entire day. 3) Chisholm came back at 100%, in spite of the costly turnover. His 50 yard sprint for a TD in the 2nd quarter ranks right up there with most exciting Zip plays of 2012. 4) The staff obviously noticed that Nix, great player that he is, often gains an advantage by guessing on the snap count. The hard count developed was MASTERFUL and it directly resulted in one TD and set up one other. 5) Aside from one poor decision on a kickoff return, the special teams played very well. Granted the short kickoff strategy yielded consistently decent field position for K.E.N.T., but it was probably a better strategy than letting Archer take a shot at a home run every time. Stein and Paul are settling in as solid, dependable kickers (and that bodes well for 2013 and on). 6) The defense battled all game and allowed the Zips to win the yardage battle. They played with an attitude, yet kept things within the rules. They set the offense up with the ball and enough time (4 minutes and change) to win the game. They really deserved a better fate. I look at it this way. Hazell's early game decisions nearly cost his team, a 21 point favorite at home, a chance to win the game. Even though he (Hazell) will likely be the head coach other schools come callin' for at the end of the season, I think TB clearly got the better of him yesterday.

I agree there is a need to go heavier on JUCO for the near term. There is a big missing piece of information however: how many of the non-qualifiers from the 2012 class will be on the team next year? IIRC there were about 5 or 6 players, some of them highly touted (Arlington McClinton comes to mind), who didn't qualify in 2012 but may surprise in 2013. The last I heard, someone posted here that Arlington was enrolled and in class at UA. There are also a few guys (James Price being one) who had been on the team, but ran into grade issues at UA. I wonder if GT can shed some light?

It really is quite remarkable how the MAC has turned things around, especially given the discrepancy in financial resources versus the BCS schools. Of course we can expect a few coaches to get plucked after this kind of success, but that's how it's always been.

That's good news indeed. I also agree with the tactic of breaking in Nico and Albert slowly. Having both had leg injuries, it's unlikely either are in full condition to go many plays anyway. I really want them healthy and ready to go next week as well. Somehow I missed my alarm to listen to the coaches show Any other late week tidbits of note?

Here are my additions to what has already been said: 1. I really like Forsythe’s game. He provides so many options for the Zips this year. I really hope KD decides to play a little offensive/defensive substitution with him and Zeke in close games as this could definitely provide an advantage in crunch time. 2. I like the way we controlled the boards with Tree and Pat on the floor at the same time. Conversely, the rebounding suffered (especially on the defensive end) when both were on the bench. Consequently, I hope one of them is on the floor at all times this year, even though I like their chemistry together. 3. Deji hit a couple of those odd set-shot threes, but he doesn’t look very comfortable to me at the point whatsoever. I love his defense and hustle, but it’s hard for me to see exactly where he fits on offense. I’m not sure he has a “natural” position at this level. 4. Justice struggled by forcing things, but I don’t think I’d write him off just yet. 5. Melo, although not spectacular, was solid at the point. He looks to be a definite upgrade over past back-ups at the point. He seemed to play much more relaxed in the second half, although the Dragons were running low on flames by that time. 6. Kretzer looks like a force. It’s hard to imagine how powerful he could be by the time he’s a senior. He seems to understand the game well also. 7. As advertised, McAdams brings a whole bunch of goodness to the table. The thing that struck me most about him is his confidence. He’s been compared to several other Zips, but I think he’s sort of in another category. He’s much quicker and faster than Linhart, and he handles the ball far better as well. It’s unlikely he’ll finish or play shut-down defense like Q, but he sees the floor better and looks to have a more consistent touch from outside. He could conceivably wind up being one of the best all-around Zips of the KD era when his career is over.