johnnyzip84

Nico Caponi making a couple of nice plays.

The AGE old Zip weakness.......a running QB.

..

Chryst is finding out the hard way how a plodding and tired offensive scheme works when you don't have five 350 LB mutants for an O-Line.

I think it was Frenchy who asked Coach Bowden during this week's press conference whether the week 1 MAC results left any impression on him (in other words, does the Zip schedule all of a sudden look a little more difficult). Coach didn't really say yes or no, but I'll go ahead and say that, right now, my 4-8 prediction looks to be a bit more challenging. I look forward to seeing how the conference performs today.

CNNSI story on how the FBS newcomers are doing so far this year. C-USA's decision to add UTSA (met with some derision on this board) doesn't look too bad at this point. Maybe they should jump on Texas State as well (they made Mack's job much tougher at UH last weekend).

The Andre Jones return was in Kalamazoo against Western Michigan (2007?). I believe the EMU game from 2008 cited here is the one where the Eag-rons blocked a UA FG late in the game, but our holder (and punter, but can't think of his name right now) picked off the deflected ball and ran for a key 1st down.

I kept thinking to myself as I watched Cincy roll last night, "why couldn't we have scheduled Pitt this year?"

Boy,hopefully most of us don't have the money line as our main concern when it comes to the differences in Akron Temp/Dew Point and Miami Temp/Dew Point Any more predictions for the football game?

@G-mann: I should have said heat & humidity. Until the last week or so, it's been a very dry summer in NE Ohio even if the temps have been higher than usual. There's no comparing Miami heat/humidity with Akron heat/humidity. @Lee: Some of us (myself included) are only interested in the spread for "amusement only". I haven't placed a bet since high school (those sheets where you had to pick 3 games correctly to get 5:1 payback, 4 games to get 8:1, etc), but I still like to know what the betting public expects out of the Zips on a weekly basis. Consider this. If the Zips start to cover the spread consistently, what does that mean? It means they're getting better, for one.

Boy, I’m not sure I’d be ready to put any money down on a Zip football game right now (for or against) until things settle down a bit. With that caveat, here goes my prediction for week 2. Regardless of the Duke-FIU score last week and the patches of Sunbelt contempt permeating this board (like there is any significant difference in strength between top tier MAC and Sunbelt squads ), playing at FIU represents another stiff test for the new Zips. There are simply too many question marks (Pughsley’s health, special teams, run defense) for me to pick an upset in the early season Floridian swelter. I think DW13 will have another respectable game, but I fear FIU will get more pressure on him due to the following: 1. More aggressive defensive play-calling 2. Lack of respect for UA’s running game 3. The heat and its effect on Akron’s depth What is the good news? The Zips make some strides on defense and special teams and they cover! FIU 38 Zips 20

GT Story on Pat

Never had the pleasure of meeting him myself, but I was already blown away in awe by the PD story. Your additional information just amazes me even more. Thanks for posting '82 and thanks for all of your hard work, Joe!

PD Article on Joseph Kennedy, Akron's "King of Polymers"

By "Akron", could this tweet possibly be referring to a visit to Knoxville during the Tennessee-Akron game and not a visit to Akron? Since the 1st guy is already a UT commit, I think this interpretation makes more sense. I believe ceeflashpee#84 is none other than outstanding Vol JUCO transfer WR Cordarrelle Patterson.

Looking back at what you originally wrote, maybe this (not thinking anyone on defense deserved to be called out for good play) was your point. If so, that's another issue. Maybe the coaches know the defense will have times this year where they're simply overmatched and they're merely trying to shore up some confidence in some of the younger players? It's obvious that some improvement must occur on this side of the ball for more than 1 or 2 wins to occur.

Not trying to be the contrarian, but I'll take the opinions of Coach Bowden and Amato over yours in this matter any day of the week. It's preposterous to suggest that since an entire team struggles to defend a rushing attack, it naturally means that none of these individual defenders could possibly have been doing their job or performing well. By this logic, Jason Taylor and Chase Blackburn probably only had a couple of decent outings each during their UA careers. It's a well-worn cliche for a reason: football is the ultimate team game. It only takes one of two guys to miss an assignment or get beat decisively on a play for a running back to have a nice gain. The real questions here are whether Cody can build off of this and become a consistent menace to other team's centers and whether the rest of the defense can improve as the season progresses.

GT article in the Beacon Journal

Somehow, we managed to climb (fall?) to #7 after week one. ZW (welcome back, BTW ) will enjoy the #1 selection.

Perhaps, but he sure is intimidating on the kickoff coverage team!

Lots of detailed information on this game is available here. TY Hilton is now in the NFL, but QB Medlock and RB Rhodes will be difficult to stop. Hopefully, the offense can minimize the drops and put just as much pressure on the FIU defense. And note to MDZip: that huge 6'9" dude is still on their roster, but not starting at DE.

GT's Updated Story Though not related to the O-Line, you have to love this quote from Coach Amato regarding Grice's 1st game as a Zip:

After watching the UCF game highlights on the STO Coach’s show, Jarrod’s limp was quite noticeable. That makes the relatively good pass protection DW13 experienced even more impressive. I like Coach Bowden’s take on this, as it seems he’d rather have him miss a game or two and get him back at close to full strength rather than have him play 6 games at half-strength.

Miami Herald (originally) article on FIU's struggles vs. Duke

Thanks for the insight, Roo2! I thought that (qualifying) might be an issue. It's good to know at least one of them is likely still addending UA.