johnnyzip84

Nice article. I'm jealous of their crowd of 6,063. I just returned from Huntington at 2 today. In the end I was happy I made the 4.5 hour trek. My daughters wanted to see the Marshall football stadium and commemorative plaques from the 1970 team as they have watched the movie a half- dozen times… A very quaint campus and town with an awesome bar near in Fat Patty’s..to bad it was too crowded before and after to get a seat… Walking the halls of the old arena I noticed that the Knicks head coach attended Marshall…How knew? And yes, the crowd was great…over 6K and MU did have a terrible shooting night, both at in the field and at the line… However, I was very impressed with the following: Other than a few touch fouls on Zeke, I thought the officiating was terrific. They allowed both teams to play a physical game. Gilliam gave us a big lift hitting 5-7. The two misses were good shots. This made up for Q’s lack of scoring. We went to Zeke early and often, he was a force on the defensive end. They pulled the chair out from under him once and hit the deck hard. A foul was called and the place booed loudly. I kinda agreed….where was the foul? Tree was awesome. He gave us a great lift with his offensive rebounding…When we get him to make his layups and dunks, I see an All-MAC performer. Harney, too. He played 9 minutes. I want to see him more as his natural talent is unlimited. I do realize minutes are tight, though. Especially with Nik playing one of his best games. What a huge difference it makes when his 2- foot shots go in…And he kept his cool… Finally, pound for pound, AA may be the toughest dude on the team.. He was slightly overmatched with a little taller guards from MU and he was relentless on both sides. He penetrated the lane early and often and got guys better shots. If we can get comfortable taking care of the ball, look out Mid-American Conference…This team can flat out ball.. Thanks for the detailed report! Sounds like a great trip.

Some more weeping.

Nice hire. Mike was one of the very good young coaches on Faust's initial staff. Good experience including time in the NFL. Here's an LA Times account of him winning the Super Lotto back in the '80s.

More discussion in the Orlando Sentinel regarding Terrell Buckley and his reported CB coach position at Akron. With these new FSU connections, will Jenn Sterger be seen in Zips gear in 2012?

Wasn't he the guy who won the lottery during his previous stint at UA? He was here the same time T-Bow was with the Zips in 86. Good memory! Yes, he is the same guy. I though it strange that Terry specifically mentioned him as being present during the introductory press conference. I believe Mike came from Middle Tennessee prior to his 1st stint at Akron. This is shaping up to be a staff chock full of guys who are certainly not in it primarily for the money.

Great win against a quality foe on the road. That's the way to bounce back Zips!!!

Pulling away! Awesome job by everyone with Zeke sitting

Way to go Alex!

Come on Zips, close these guys out!

Haven't posted on this game yet, because I took this loss badly for some reason and didn't exactly exhibit a great deal of sportmanship sitting in my seat as the last few minutes unfolded. Thus, I placed myself on a 3-day ban from ZNO as punishment Now I will weigh in on the "Nik handling the ball" debate. IMO Nik with the ball in space versus the opponent's #4 or #5 is a complete mismatch in the Zips favor, and one I'll take any time. The 3-ball he attempted is another story. Sure he was WIDE open, but if he's going to take that shot in that situation he needs to learn to shoot it with confidence and without fear.

:bow: What he said!

We've had many discussions regarding the shift of power in college football, and I thought that with an ex-SEC coach now at the helm (and one who is quoted a few times in the article) this topic deserved its own thread. It's written basically from a Nebraska Cornhusker perspective. I figure this makes it a reasonably objective viewpoint, and I think it comes across this way. Link

It's pretty cool to have your HC quoted in a story like this

Wiki says he's currently the assistant strength & conditioning coach at FSU. I wonder if he'll be the head S&C coach here or work in another capacity.

Here is Todd Porter's (Canton Repository) take on the press conference. Not suprisingly, he brings up Bowden's comments on Stark County in particular. I wonder if a career HS coach like Whiting at NW would ever consider a spot on Terry's staff?

Here is his Scout profile (listed primarily as a cornerback). It must have been the head-to-head defeat of VMI that made the difference Seriously, at least it (the VMI offer) shows the kid probably has a pretty good head on his shoulders. We probably can't be overly picky with the 2012 class, although I agree with Terry's statement regarding NOT wanting to just bring in 25 nobodies either.

On second look, UMass IS playing a full MAC schedule in 2012.

I still have my old OBC growler from the brew pub. Hopefully with the new Ohio law allowing for brewery tasting rooms without a 2nd ($4,000/year) permit, I'll be able to fill it there again before long. The law doesn't go into effect until March 19 however

You are partially correct (see last sentence). BTW, I'm sure new UMass HC Charley Molnar is familiar to many. He was the offensive coordinator for that place to the East over a number of years.

Wasn't there some talk, when UMass was 1st admitted for football, that they and Temple would NOT be thrown into the same division? I could see that complicating things (if true).

Thanks! I like Steel Valley as well. I hope to see them bottle a bigger selection before too long. Zip Hop Ale is a great double IPA they brewed once or twice when they had the brew pub. Alternative Amber was also a favorite of mine. I think I heard them say O'Hoppy Ale would be bottled soon.

Don't forget the MAC champs. NIU still has to face Arkansas St in the GoDaddy Bowl on Jan 8.

George Thomas article in the ABJ regarding the influence the facilities had on landing Bowden. One interesting morsel here is the fact that Bobby Bowden was apparently excited for Terry the more he (Terry) told him about the job.

I caught the 4th quarter of the Toledo/Air Force game. I was pretty impressed by Matt Campbell's debut as HC. I liked his cool and relaxed demeanour. Based on his post-game interview on the field, he's appears to be an excellent communicator irrespective of his age. I'm glad Toledo signed him as I believe this will help MAC football in general (obviously on the upswing already). BTW, they announced WR Eric Page will return next year. Expect the scoreboard to continue to explode in the Glass Bowl in 2012.

Where did you pick up the 6 pack, if I may ask? I was able to sample Jingle Bell Ale on tap at the party OBC threw in their Selle St production facility around Halloween, but I've had zero luck finding it at a few Giant Eagles and Acmes. That's an interesting guess on the secret ingredient, BTW. I believe the flavor you're tasting is vanilla.