Balsy

Can't's Education College is better than Akron's (I'm saying that as a graduate of the College of Education)...It's more organized, has better faculty, actually has a dean in charge, UA still has an interim dean in charge of the department. Can't's Geology Department I'd rank higher than ours on research opportunities (I say that as a secondary graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences, with a geology degree). Though everything else I agree with you 100%. Bliss Institute is PHENOMENAL.

That'd be awesome. I'm actually really excited to follow the team this year. I followed them a lot last year, but I'm going to pay close attention to them this season. They started strong last night and then lost their grove for about 10 min in the first half after Binghamton hit consecutive threes. They showed steady improvement throughout the game though. It'll be fun to watch the lady zips the of the season. Kerri McHahan looks very impressive, great replacement for Kacie Cassell.

Yes. And I'd say that Woodson doesn't have the experience to orchestrate the offense with a lead: the experience to throw the ball out of bounds when the play clearly isn't there...to live another day...something Pohl does some of the time.

I agree with this, however with one slight modification: I don't think Pohl usta be anything special to begin with. Pohl was never the game manager, field general that some on this forum have touted him to be (throwing around the 9-3 in the last 11 stat). We're not seeing a Pohl that was radically changed by a concussion, we're seeing the same Pohl as before, there's really no difference. Forcing the ball to a receiver who isn't open, not going through all the reads, not taking command of the offense. He's never been the fearless leader the Zips need on the QB. Coming from a red-shirt freshman no less.

Good thoughts Skip. I especially like this one. I thought Evans gave us some speed off the bench.

That, was pretty epic! Thanks for posting!

Boy was that a good call! They put it together the second half though and finished strong. I really enjoyed the game!

Didn't we try that against BGSU and it failed miserably? I can't remember. I would like to see us on a short yardage situation with Cody Grice in the backfield, have a tight end slip past the defensive line and have Grice (or who ever) throw it to them.

I'm in...at least for part of the Trifecta.

Yes...hindsight is 20/20...which is exactly my point. Again, try to actually understand me instead of just being a Troll. And I still do believe Bowden is the guy who's going to bring us the winner we all want, just needs more time to develop that talent and mentality. I'm guilty of having unrealistic expectations. I'm advocating that Zips fans take a step back from the cliff, stop throwing Bowden and co under the Bus, and ground ourselves in reality. But I'm done feeding trolls. Exactly. Thank you. I should have listened to your caution earlier in the season, instead of getting overly excited

The overly hyped 2014 expectations of the Zips were not made by the players and coaches. (First interview of the season before the Howard game, Bowden talks over...and over...and over again) about how the expectations are a bit "pre-mature", but they've made it as a challenge to the players to rise to those expectations, as pre-mature as they be. While you cherry-pick quotes from Bowden about having a chance to do a lot of good things, in the same conference he was cautionary about what the expectations of this team should be. I wouldn't blame a senior LB who started with one of the worst coaches in college football history to make comments such as that, especially when those comments are coming from your leaders. That doesn't make it a realistic expectation. That doesn't make it less "pre-mature". It's more a guy who just wants to win, and less what the reality of the situation is. 10-2 was an unrealistic expectation for this team, as unfortunate and hard to accept as that may be. Please try to understand what I'm saying instead of just flinging crap against the wall: I'm advocating that it's unfair for us Zips fans to unfairly judge this season, the coaches, the players, based on pre-mature, unrealistic expectations.

Notice I said coach...not players. See above.

You're right. And Bowden et. al. will rally the troops to a victory.

I defend Bowden because I think he's doing a good job with what he was given. I'm not ready to throw Bowden and co under the bus. The majority of the players on offense are non-Bowden guys. Bowden has done a good job of bringing in transfers to fill a few holes, but it's still not enough. I'm willing to give Bowden the benefit of the doubt. If I don't see drastic improvement in the next two years, then I'll be on board with the rest of you. The problems we're having now are the same problems we were having at the beginning of the year. The offense stunk in spring practice, it stunk against Howard for a awkward amount of time, it stunk against EMU and Miami, Marshall. Pitt was the outlier as opposed to the trend. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but the Zips offense has never a led substantial, come from behind win under Bowden. Almost every game we've won under Bowden against D-I opponents has been because the defense held the other team's offense just enough to win.

But isn't that on us the fans? We put unrealistic expectations on this team, where reality was no where near those expectations. Isn't it unfair to get irate (as you put it) at coaches and players who didn't develop the overly hyped, unrealistic expectations? Coach reminded us (fans), time and time again not to get to far ahead of ourselves, yet (as fans always do) we got overly excited. For the record: I'm not happy about this season's results either. I expected a 7-5 season in order to consider it a success. It is not.

Which is exactly what I've been saying.

Bowden has said numerous times that firing coaches in the middle of the season isn't a recipe for success with programs. Any changes I'd expect Bowden to make with the team as far as coaches, I'd expect him to make in the off season. I'd also expect the coaching staff (as a whole) to make drastic changes on offense by next season. The offense has been a liability for two seasons, and Pohl isn't getting it done. I'd start questioning Bowden if Pohl is the starter next year. As for not addresing a supposedly "legitimate" hint dropped by Terry last week...you yourself said in your previous comment in the bolded portion above about coachspeak not having any value as it is "bullshit". It doesn't matter if we had a media source that's worth a damn (that is a shot at you ABJ), because you'd still get coach speak. You'd still get the same, what you call bullshit, answers. Terry is a Bowden for goodness sake, you don't think Bowdens can handle "hostile" media? Give me a break. As for PJ Fleck. WMU is in an entirely different situation than Akron. You should know better than I do just how deep the hole Akron was in to have to dig out. WMU had one 1-11 season (with Fleck at the helm). We had 3, consecutively. The third happening because the previous coach had voided the team of any talent or culture that the current coach had to almost build from scratch.

The injury at QB in the miami game really showed how vulnerable this team is. The team lacks viable leadership on the offensive side of the ball. Bowden and co have worked on changing the culture...but we just don't have enough leaders right now. We need to find a handful of guys on offense to be our leaders, we have zero right now. That is the biggest problem I see with this team. I don't care how good your defense is, or how good your leadership is on defense. You cannot go 0-9 with zero first downs on offense, after grabbing two takeaways. Buffalo's leaders rallied Buffalo...the Zips didn't have the leaders on offense to do it.

Then stop watching the Zips if you have such little faith in Bowden. Again I ask you, who would you have brought here (or would bring here now) that would do any better/different than Bowden has given the absolutely terrible situation he started with. (cue the cricket noise).... Any stock you have remaining in Pohl needs to be sold immediately. He isn't the vocal leader the Zips need on an offense.

What a joke. Good night ZIpsnation. Sleep well.

Are Keener and I switching roles between Doom-and-gloom/keep hope alive?

Really? Because Rob Ianello, JD Brookheart...or whatever other loser coach we could have possibly brought here is SO much better than Bowden. Pohl needs to be a leader, and lead the offense down the field. Will the offense to points. He won't because he isn't capable.