clarkwgriswold

White out tonight, with first 500 in the door getting a t-shirt. Excitement is building.

I can see the anticipation for this game is building. Just so we know what we're dealing with here-

Maybe I am a little cynical, but I suspect they would not be making such a statement if they were travelling to Boise for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.

Generally, if a team's specialty is shutting down one dimensional offenses, the defense is not very good. I gave up on Brad Detwiler's analysis when he tried to explain to me during the Penn State game that the real difference between the top teams like PSU and teams like Akron was in depth, not in the quality of the starters. At the time, the Zips starters were down 42-0 to the PSU starters.

And wrestled a bear at a county fair!

Wait...it's on a TUESDAY NIGHT? The MAC are the masters of Tuesday night football! Take the Zips plus the points!!!!!!

Big Dog's granddaddy-

Could be a mean DL like his granddaddy Walter Johnson of Browns' fame.

I wasn't there, but I can't believe there are many 6-11, 300+ pound men that look like Big Dog wondering around in the world, let alone in the JAR!

I think a bowl "cheapens" itself when it invites the hometown team. From Akron's perspective, I think it is a tough draw competitively, but good otherwise. I think more alums are likely to go to Boca than Mobile and I think a game involving Kiffin is always likely to draw more interest nationally. Also, as some have mentioned, with Florida as a recruiting base, this helps the Zips visibility down there. I heard Skip and Keener are in charge of the bus trip!

Most importantly, Mastodons is a fantastic team name. We can only hope they're big and slow. The Mastodons come to the JAR at 5-3, with wins over UIC, Delaware State, Defiance, Detrot Mercy and UI Kokomo and losses to Oakland, East Tennessee State and Kentucky. 6-1 senior guard, Purdue transfer, Bryson Scott leads the Mastodons at 22.1 ppg. 6-5 junior guard John Konchar averages 14 ppg and 9.8 rebounds.

This game concerned me all week. Marshall is an experienced relatively talented squad while the Zips are still building. Mama said there'd be days like this...

The problem parents have moved up from youth sports to high school sports to college sports. Damn, there's even one in the NBA now.

Camelia Bowl here we come! Montgomery is beautiful this time of year.

I saw 18 at some point . I did not take it. Damn.

Get it in the end zone and ruin that 18 point spread!

The Zips needed to play a near perfect game to beat Toledo. With the questionable sideline decisions, awful special teams, iffy play calling and mistakes, they were far from perfect. Good to see they're salvaging a little respect in the second half, but I still have to ask myself "is this as good as it gets?"

Good call. All hands on deck!

The D'Antoni maximum shots per game principle sure makes for some exciting basketball.

The Zips travel to Huntington, WV Saturday night to face the 4-3 Thundering Herd. Last year's game at the JAR was one of the more entertaining games of the year. Junior 6-3 guard Jon Elmore leads Marshall at 25.3 ppg, with CH Burks (Jr., 6-4, G) at 18.6 ppg and Ajdin Panava (Jr., 6-9, F)at 17.6 ppg. This game should be a good barometer for the progress of the Zips.

Mocs is actually an abbreviation of "Mock Turtlenecks." You might have noticed they were wearing them in warm ups.

They play UT-Martin next week. I'm so conflicted!

Good and bad tonight. Glad to see Ivey get into the flow of the game. If he gets out on the break and gets a couple of shots to go, it completely opens up his game. I am very pleased with the improved free throw shooting. It is becoming more and more apparent that Salyes is our best option as a big man. I was also very happy to see a zone dropped in unexpectedly. The 1-3-1 with two minutes left threw a curve UTC was not expecting. Good to see Kostelac get some minutes as we'll need big man minutes as the season wears on. As I said a couple of weeks ago, Utomi may lead the MAC in scoring. With our limited post play, we need him and others on the boards as they were tonight. Interior defense was really iffy tonight. 40 points in the paint are too many. Also, the defense was out of position too often when trying to jump into passing lanes. Parrish gave up too many in that fashion tonight. All in all, more god than bad. Nice start so far to the Groce era.

So many tickets tack fouls called tonight.

Hippity hop ball race!!! Yawn.