Lee Adams

Jim Tressel on the left. Coach at Youngstown State at the time. Jerry Faust on the right. Coach at Akron at the time. Game at the Rubber Bowl in the early 1990's if I am not mistaken. Y.town was D-1AA. Akron full D-1. Somebody help me with this. Was this the game where Y.town beat Akron on a freezing cold afternoon?

5-3 in 2015. You are absolutely correct.

The 'Movin' A' making a comeback. Thats going back aways.

Ya,its time for a Bowden coached team to show that it can at least be competitive in the East. Have they had 5 wins in the MAC since he has been here? That would be a big step forward. Beating OU AND Miami would be a tall order this season. But at some point they have to get by OU to be legit. We will get a better idea this week about how much actual progress Woodson has made. The run defense still scares me.

Tight end. Some have been saying for years,find one and use him.

Had to look at the stats Akron(Woodson)-13-24-168; Wolf-6-68 Rush-178(net)-Edwards-14-70, Woodson-24; total net yards-361. Defense-2 Picks-gave up 181 Rush;195 Pass Net-376. Thankfully BGSU imitated Akron in the penalty department. Zips amazingly only 1 for 5yds.!!!!??? The loss of Ball will be a 'killer' over the rest of the season. It takes away one of the few legit. threats the offense had. Nothing remarkable about this game. Zips beat a team that is worse than they are. Thats what you do. They have a chance at home against Ball State this week. They better do it because after that it could get ugly on the road against WMU and Toledo. The only way this works out favorably is if Akron beats Testicle Tech. Then,they have to win at least 3 out of 4 of the games in the East against OU,Miami,Buffalo and KS>U. Which of those 3 do they win? Not just hoping for some bowl game at 6-6 here. They need to show they can at least compete in the East. That would give them 5 wins in the MAC for possibly the first time under Bowden? Please correct if wrong.

Unless there is a huge personality change with this team,even if they win today and possibly next week,its hard to see how they get any momentum. With the two roadies at WMU and Toledo looming. They still have Miami and OU. Those two at least right now are likely the top two in the East. Miami has a really good QB and OU is OU. I wonder how long Bowden will go with Woodson if the offense continues to sputter? Realize that his supporting cast isn't real good. And he needs a better one. But, possibly at some point Bowden might have to 'get the attention' of the team if he wants to salvage something. Or,he might have to hunker down and run the ball and run the ball. Two backs a TE or two. The defense is harder because it has problems stopping the straight ahead run. And,it has had trouble covering the middle of the field. Everyone here is correct. Got to finally beat BGSU or....?

Umm. Interesting to see the different reactions from people to the same circumstances. Not just referring to the Troy game but all previous games. Didn't see the Troy game. Checked the post game stats thoroughly. I saw a Troy team taht was able to pick up a lot of yards against the Akron defense. Even though they also had trouble scoring earlier in the second half Troy made THE long drive it had to in order to win the game in the 4th Q. Akron's defense could not prevent that again. I saw 2 teams that made lots of mistakes. Hundred yard + in penalties both ways. Again,an Akron trademark. Don't know about Troy. I saw an Akron RB who had a 100 yard game! Ya might think that would spell a win at least. But the QB had a -37 yards on the ground(I know sacks are counted there). Can he not run or won't run anymore? Honestly don't know. I saw that Wolf had 70 or so yards receiving. Thats a + as he was their best WR coming back. I saw a QB who only completed 50% of his passes(20-40) and threw 2 interceptions. Much different on the Troy side. And on and on.. I think the frustration is that there appears to be little or very limited growth of the program in general and at specific and very noticeable positions on the field year in and year out. 1-11 has not been a legitimate yardstick for a number of seasons now. The so called point 'spread' never has been a legitimate yardstick by which to measure the progress of a program. What is legit is to measure performance against your closest peers. Here that is teams in the MAC. And if the program is truly progressing it should be measuring itself against the best teams in the MAC and we know who they are: NIU,Toledo,WMU,OU,BGSU. You don't measure progress against the perennial 'bottom feeders'. Finally,you measure progress by looking back to see what the program has done. Is it winning the MAC Championship in 2005? Is it a bowl win a couple of seasons ago? Choose what you will the question remains is the program now performing at those levels?

Probably one of the 'conditions' that ISU demanded for playing a game at Akron.

I have purposely avoided posting here thus far this season. And,I could not articulate it any better than Buckzip. I watched much of the PSU game. Was at the Ark. P-B game. Was at the ISU game yesterday. I wanted to see the Zips actually be competitive against a below average Big 12 team. In reality the reason that the Zips were even within sniffing distance going into the 2nd half was because ISU was 'trying' to do things to themselves that allowed Akron to hang around. But alas, ISU dropped the hammer in the 2nd half and the ZIPS couldn't answer. What have I seen the first 3 weeks? 1) A QB who has definitely lost something. No matter what you may want to say, Woodson's arm is still not 'right'.And it seems obvious that he is trying to protect it by avoiding running. I think the coaching staff probably told him at half time to stop holding the ball so long(which he does to a fault) and either run or ditch the throw. The guy sitting behind me remarked that his best looking pass of the day was the interception. I can't believe Bowden isn't giving Nick Johns a look. 2) The O-Line is well shaky. They have possibilities but they are not there yet. 3) Ball is a TROOPER. Most of his yards he gets 'on his own'. Too bad the line can't give him a bit more room STRAIGHT AHEAD. That's where he is best. I did like the way the finally started using him as a decoy and throwing to him. If he stays healthy he will at least get a look at the next level. 4) The wide receivers are simply a mish mash again. Can't separate etc,etc. I blame that on the coaching staff to an extent. Bowden hasn't been able to consistently bring in decent receivers. So there is no 'next man up' when the team loses WR's like they had last year. You can't always convert QB's to WR's or TE's. 5) Play calling,well its Ground Hog Day. I got it,I got' it..I ain't got it. Apparently that will never change. 6) Defensively,they still generally can't tackle. That has been a trademark of Amato's defenses at Akron. That will not change at this point. Unfortunately,it costs them games. 7) The front 7 gets blown off the ball consistently when teams run straight ahead. They can pursue pretty well but have a hard time filling holes between the tackles. Gilbert is too small to line up at the line. He needs to pursue. He definitely needs to work on pass coverage. 8) The CB's have actually played pretty well. Yesterday they held their own against bigger and more physical receivers. 9) Dumb penalties like the ones this team commits game after game and year after year are a coaching issue. Its never really been addressed apparently because it keeps happening. The trajectory of this team has been downward for the last 1 1/2 seasons. It is nowhere near being competitive with the best teams in the MAC(Toledo,Western,OU,NIU etc). If it can't even win a division in the MAC you have to wonder about progress or lack thereof. Remember this program won a MAC Championship in 2005. I want to see how they play at Troy. That is a better team but plays in a conference that is comparable to the MAC. Its a fair barometer. I think that if there is another sub .500 season,the AD will be looking much more closely at making a change. I have never been a fan of making a change mid season in college sports. I am in favor of making changes on the field position by position. And, I am in favor of the Head Coach making changes in coaching responsibilities in order to improve performance on the field. We will know on October 1. Have at it.

I do not post on this site often anymore concerning football because I observe a lot of the same stuff is posted season, after season, after season. And,in some cases when people post something that someone else dislikes they get 'attacked' or are completely ignored by the other side.(Although that does not seem quite as bad as it used to be.) Anyway,it might do us well to look back further than the last 7 or 8 years to get a perspective on where this program has been and whether or not it is advisable to continue in the current direction. When was the last time the program had several 'successful' seasons in a row? Have to go back to like 2003 2004,2005 I think? How did that happen? Two different coaches yet some winning and a MAC championship. Some damn good talent also. Look at the guys from that era who made it to the NFL and were at least somewhat successful. What has happened since? What happened to those coaches? And why has a coach with even Bowden's perceived stature not YET been able to get the program to win consistently? Maybe it starts this season? Maybe not. I tend to look at what I have seen over time to evaluate what might happen in the future. It doesn't matter if the coach is Bowden or someone else. Its not a personal or personality issue its a results issue. Its about the entire program. This season? There will have to be a lot of holes filled and questions answered for this one to be successful. Hopefully, it happens. One thing,if Bowden's contract ends after the 2018 season as someone mentioned' if this season doesn't go well will he get an extension? Most coaches don't want to be 'lameducks'. It makes recruiting good athletes reeeeeeal difficult. Buy those season tix!

Natson was by far the best offensive player last season. He is much more versatile and more polished as a receiver than Lane. Obviously,Natson will be a special teams guy if he sticks. Good for him. He has guts.

Got a feeling Lane didn't expect to be in this situation. Too bad he jumped when he did. Natson would be a great special teams guy on either side of the ball. He has guts!

Last I looked JD was working in McKInney,TEXAS for some kind of charitable organization. Don't know if he is still there I .Worked in McKinney for years as a PO.. He had had enough of the coaching bullshit. Also last I looked Luke Getsy was some kind of assistant for the Packers? Yes,no?

Spot on. Contrast this pre-season to last. Last season there was a reasonable expectation that the QB situation had at least stabilized. They had two WR's who were reasonably expected to make plays. The O-line was at least acceptable. The running game appeared to be solid(until Ball got hurt). The defense looked solid in the front seven. This pre-season there is no proven QB. The o-line 'might' be solid. The WR's at this point don't compare favorably with Natson and Lane. The run game might be solid if Ball is healthy. The d-line? The linebackers,possibly. The secondary might actually be a strength for what thats worth. Who knows how many 'ifs' will become positives.

No question that Ball is head and shoulders above anybody else the Zips have available at RB,IF HEALTHY! The little we saw of him last season indicated he was too big and too fast for most defenses to handle consistently. Now,Bowden/Milwee have to adjust their play calling to take advantage of that strength on offense. That might be the biggest question given what we have seen from this duo in the past. Its not a sin to be run happy when it works.

You are correct. Problem with Akron spring games and others at this level is that you never really know how good/bad the defense is that that the offense is playing against and vice versa. And as you astutely mention,Bowden knows the D-line is need. He is also again going into the season with an untested QB,unkowns at RB and having lost his two best WR's. Maybe it will all come together in the summer. Hope springs eternal. Buy those season tix.! Is there an 'official' attendance figure for spring games when its free?

I want to see who gets the reps at QB. I want to see what the D-line looks like. I want to see who gets the reps at WR. This team has a lot of holes that are going to need to get filled by transfers or underclassmen. If the QB situation isn't sorted out early there doesn't appear to be enough on the offensive side to be competetive with the top tier in the MAC. Over the top QB play could take the a long way.

Actually no. Forecast is for 50's maybe rain.

Bowden hasn't pulled in future NFL talent on a large scale. But, J.Brown,C.Grice,J.J.Natson(special teams) and J.Lane(as a T.End,maybe) always stood out. Chisholm was OK as far as he went. D.Williams was never a pro prospect but was what Akron needed at the time. But,when you look back to the mid-200's and earlier with D.Smith ,Hixon, Frye,Alleman,Arthur, and I know I am missing a linebacker and some others,there was some pretty good talent at Akron back then. Shoulda won some more games.

Zips far and away the best MAC team over the regular season. But Cay ess Whoo only has to play 40 more minutes to back in to the Dance. If KD can't get these guys ready for this one....

Ummm still tight end to me.

U said it! Playing a 1-AA team that would likely beat U does no good for Akron or the MAC. UMMM.

Why? They are playing for a 1-AA national championship.

Ummm...He can put on a few pounds. Won't get drafted but he should get a free agent look. He is too quick,too shifty and too talented not to get a look. As for the comment about Lane leaving early,mistake. But he doesn't see the Zips being significantly better next season. Might be right on that one.