Lee Adams

Can't argue with the tail end of your statement. I find it rather odd that folks who think 'dropping back' is taboo(not that its going to happen) appear to believe that in spite of history at Akron that soon the football program will become competitive YEAR IN AND YEAR OUT. There hasn't even been an Eastern Division Championship in a decade. A lot of people on this site refer to the MAC in general when talking about being competitive year in and year out at the DI level. We can't talk about our program because it just hasn't ever happened consistently at D-I. Somebody commented that good I-AA schools won't come to a place like Akron to play. It was also commented that DI schools don't play I-AA schools on the road. Teams like OSU don't have to go on the road to play a I-AA. The MAC is not OSU. And,those P-5 schools are going to have to get away from playing any I-AA schools if they want to be in the playoff mix. Teams Like ND State,E.Washington,S.Dakota State don't need to play at a program like Akron or KSWho because there is nothing in it for them. If they win so what? The pay day isn't that great. They are better off playing another good I-AA team or maybe getting an invite from one of the real big boys in D-I. Akron and KSWho used to play Y.town even when Akron moved to D-I. Why not now? Maybe Bowden will get this thing turned into a consistent winner in the next couple of seasons But,there are still a lot of holes to fill on the field and on the sidelines. In the meantime I'll take more than a passing glance at the I-AA championship game,reup my Zips season tix while wearing my 2005 MAC championship hat. Happy Holidays to all!

A bad decision doesn't justify more bad decisions.

Right. Its Christmas. So 'if ifs and buts were candy and nuts'...well U know.

"Dropping back'? I am not a Y.town fan. No connection there. But,Y.town hadn't been in the I-AA playoffs for what,10 years? Pelini is 2 years in and they are playing to go to the National Championship game this week. Its about being consistently competitive at the level at which your program is playing. Hasn't happened at Akron since the move to DI. By the way how come we don't play Y.town or South Dakota State etc,etc?

At this point Natson is a better prospect as special teams than Lane is as receiver. Lane is NOT a WR as the NFL evaluates them. Natson is a solid special teams prospect. I will say it again,Lane might be better off as a TE in the NFL. He is completely unsophisticated as an NFL WR. Not even at the level of a T.Pryor. Lane should have stayed. But, he probably saw that staying another season at Akron with what is going to be here wasn't going to improve his NFL standing. Playing on another losing team wouldn't help him at all.

Youngstown? HMMM.Know they made the I-AA playoffs this year. Lets see what happens over the next 2 seasons and see if Ytown looks better or worse. Deal?

Too bad for the Zips. They surely could have used an experienced WR next season. With Natson gone and Lane choosing to leave that position doesn't look nearly as good as this year. Thats really gonna hurt whomever is next seasons QB. Lane has a lot of raw physical ability. He is big and deceptively fast. His hands seemed to improve over time. Still doesn't appear to be a real good route runner but he is still a relative pup at WR. Next level he will have to improve if he wants to remain a wideout. I wonder if some NFL team might look at his size and speed and take a shot with him as a tight end. Doubtful he can block but Ozzie and Antonio Gates sure made a nice living as TE's that could get open and catch.

There should be another division in college football. Let the 'Power 5' schools have their playground. But,lets stop the charade that conferences like the MAC,Sunbelt,the American,etc,etc can compete year in and year out with the best teams in the P5. They can't. Another division with its own playoffs,like I-AA,DII,DIII would generat far more interest than meaningless bowl games where 6-6 and even 5-6 teams get to play. Frankly, I don't care if Akron ever plays another 'sacrifice' game again. Winning playoff games will bring more attention to the program than getting waxed by OSwhoo,Wisconsin,Mich,PSU etc etc.

Lived in 'the great state of Texas' for years. If you think the folks in CBUS are wacko about OSWhooo, not only is it Austin,but the entire state. They are the Cowboys of college Fball down there. Hope 'ol Tom knows what he is getting himself into. Way more pressure than he has EVER experienced! Nothing around here is close to comparable!

Definition of 'a few years' is what? 1992 was... let me count, what, 24 years? Again,we can't 'blame' what is happening now on what happened in 1992,2002 etc. etc.Other programs have been bad and gotten better. I mean even Faust had some decent seasons. When,if ever does the program not 'suck' anymore?

I watched the WMU-Toledo game. The thing that struck me is how far away the Akron program still is in being able to CONSISTENTLY compete with MAC teams the caliber of WMU,Toledo,OU etc. Doesn't matter who the coaches are at those programs. Doesn't matter if Fleck will be at WMU or not. Doesn't matter if we like Solich and OU because we can't beat 'em. Programs like those,but not just those are CONSISTENTYLY better than Akron. Why is that? Recruiting? Coaching? What? Help!

I find it humorous,having watched Zips football since the 60's how we can rationalize,year,after year,after year that this program has rarely,if ever been able to CONSISTENTLY compete with the top programs in the MAC. I am not talking about 1 or two years of .500 or slightly better. I am talking about 5 out of 6 or 7 years of being .500 or better. There have been enough HC's in and out of here since and including Faust that one would think that the Administration might have stumbled upon a guy by accident if nothing else. I am not talking about going to the MAC championship game every year. But, they HAVE to be able to win at least 5 games in the MAC consistently. Neither this regime nor the ones in recent memory have been able to do that consistently. BUT,there are programs in the MAC that do that. Ya,1 MAC championship game would be great at this point. When does it happen? 2017? 2018? Maybe the Bowden regime will do it.But,he and Amato are not young men. Hopefully,2017will be better.

JD won a MAC championship in 2005 with some REALLY good players from the Lee Owens era and by adding some of his own talented recruits. We all know the names. Was that all JD? Was it all the players or a combo of coaching and the talent coming together. Hard to tell if he was able to put them in a better position to succeed than Owens did or if it was serendipity.

That is accurate. Maybe I don't agree about Bowden having to go if 2017 is as bad as 2016,but IMO I don't attribute the horrible season this year only to injuries..Certainly that was a significant contributor. But,MOST programs have injuries to key players throughout and don't necessarily fall off 'the deep end'. Offensively,the injury to Woodson, at whatever degree of seriousness it might have been was significant. He appeared to be a SERVICEABLE QB given the receiving talent he had to throw to. While he improved over last season,he still doesn't impress me as a QB who can carry a program himself. He has to have help. Bowden gave it to him on the receiving side but IMO didn't do much for the run game. That was sorely needed once the QB situation again became muddled. One of my concerns with this coaching staff is that except maybe for the first season,they have not really been able to recruit enough decent QB's to keep that position stabilized if someone doesn't perform or gets hurt. On top of that offensively,it seems they are not flexible enough to successfully adjust when players get hurt or don't perform. Again,the 'backups that Bowden recruited were not capable(He whiffed on Chapman). And,Goodman just wasn't prepared to be a QB. Never did see Hoyer did we? I believe at least some of the offensive issues this year fall back on the coaching staff. One positive,I thought under the circumstances the O-Line played pretty decently. Defensively,this team was a mess from the jump. Yes,it lost significant talent. But,its also obvious that recruiting has not been at the level necessary to avoid the huge drop offs we saw this season. At this point Bowden and Amato should have developed enough in reserve so that the 'next man up' performed more competently. I am also not convinced that Amato was able/willing to adjust sufficiently to put the talent he had in the best position to be successful. Finally,when we look at the teams the Zips beat this year,they were really weak. Marshall turned out to be bad. They beat Miami early,thankfully or that may have been different. They beat BSU which might have been their 'best' win. But they managed to lose to two of the MAC bottom feeders this year when a couple of wins would have kept them in it. The East was there for the taking. What happens next season. I have seen posters here call for Milwee to be fired. I have seen people discuss how good another freshman Kato Nelson is going to be at QB. Another QB with no experience taking control of the offense? There needs to be some rethink on recruiting objectives. And,there needs to be a rethink on how to adjust when that becomes necessary. Re-up those season tix!

Yep,as I said 'beat the East' that included BGSU,UB and OU and you are in by tiebreaker if nothing else. Didn't really need Toledo if you take care of the Division games. And,those 3 East games certainly 'looked' more winnable than Toledo at the time. It is hard to believe the Miami team we saw early can go to Detroit and/or a bowl game.

So where is the Head Coach in all this?

???

After watching Woodson at the BG game,not sure how motivated he is to play this thing out!

After the Zips beat Ball State, some folks posted here that what they had to do was 'Beat The East'! The Toledo game wasn't that crucial. Unfortunately,the Buffalo game sank the Zip's season. People can rationalize all they want. And thats what I see a lot of people doing on this site. Beat Buffalo,you are playing for the MAC East on 11-22. Whether or not OU lost last night,you gotta beat a team as weak as Buffalo anyway. At this point CMU is significantly stronger than Akron. And,they tore up OU with a big,strong RB running right at OU. Zips can't and won't do that. How likely,that the Zips beat OU in Athens given what is on the line? Lets hear it.

When the post mortem of this season is done in 2 weeks,I think we have to look at the season from Game 1 and not just from the point where injuries started happening. Look at the offensive side from Game 1. Look at the defensive side from game 1. Ask whether recruiting is adequate to keep up with the changes that invariably occur on MAC rosters. Ask whether the type of players being recruited is appropriate for the situation as it stands at Akron now. Ask whether the coaching staff is getting the most out of the players it has chosen. There are certainly some positives but there are also deficiencies. I saw both at that game last night. But,as frustrating as this season has been,wait until after OU.

I have been wondering for the last 2 years why Hoyer hasn't at least played some. There have certainly been situations at QB,including tonight that would have warranted some playing time.

Man,thats generous!

Whether these guys go 6-6 isn't really the issue. The question is,without making excuses for injuries, what improvements did this program make over last season? The defense took a huge step back beginning game 1. No injuries can be blamed on that. On the O side,there are really good WR's. That was in place. Woodson did seem to progress some with his accuracy. There is no run game to speak of. Partly because the RB's aren't that good and partly because TB doesn't like to run. Sorry,you can't include a guy who got booted because of criminal behavior. Is there a realistic possibility that the program can achieve more next season than this season? You have a starting QB coming back on offense. You lose JoJo. You have Lane. Unless the defense can improve significantly upfront all bets are off. Somebody help me be optimistic,please.

This guy is a warrior. Need more like him!

Ya know I don't usually agree with a lot of the posts on this site. I am a homer but not delusional. After 45 years realism sets in. With that said I usually have no problem questioning coaching. I have seen too much. Bowden has gotten the program to this point, But, it is always fair to objectively,evaluate the performance of the coaches and his staff. That includes Old timers and kids. After this season it will be time to look under the hood.