Lee Adams

Interesting topic. I used to be a Pohl supporter. I am no longer enamored with him. I commented last season that if Hirschman hadn't been hurt he would have taken most of the snaps over Pohl. And, Pohl didn't show anything yesterday that indicated to me that he has taken charge of the offense. I realize Pohl was injured last year. But, he wasn't playing that well before he got hurt. And, TB said they had to 'dumb down' the O last year. I don't see the coaching staff tolerating mediocre play at the QB very long this year. There are plenty of weapons on offensive. Pohl gets the first month to show if he has improved. If not,Hirschman gets to play. Honestly, the 2 QB's they have 'in waiting' may be the best that have been here in a while. Woodson is not one of them.

The key to improvement this season is Pohl. Secondarily,the O-line needs to hold its own early. May be difficult with the losses there. Front 7 on D should actually be better. Back end of the D looks weak so Coach Chuck better be effective at dialing up blitzes. Maybe more off the corners and or safeties. But,Pohl is still the key. Bowden had to somewhat throttle back the offense for him last season. Can't do that anymore. Pohl has to be aggressive and decisive throwing the ball. He has a go to in D'Orazio. He has an adequate running game. There are enough tools for Pohl to work with. He needs to take charge of the offense and use them.

You mean they didn't tell us? why!!!!!!!????

Surely nobody here was naive to think that old slippery lips Tressel was going to stay where he is for the next 10 years. Whether or not he gets the Browns' job he wasn't going to be doing what he is doing now very much longer. He IS A FOOTBALL COACH. Actually it doesn't really seem to mean much for the football program either way. Especially IF Bowden continues his progression. My concern is with Wistrcill and how much longer he will infect the program.

First,lets not get carried away with this years record. These guys will have a bunch of holes to fill,again. If TB gets 'em to 6-6 with 5-3 in the MAC,thats cool. As far as old 'slippery lips' Tressel is concerned,I would be surprised if he came here without at least an assurance that he would at be considered for for a higher level administrative job than he has now. He could get another coaching job if he wanted it after the sanction is up. But, he can certainly sweet talk boosters into giving money to the University if he gets an administrative position. Could AD be a lesser option?

Really? Where? I lived there too. Go there every winter for some decent weather. Can't imagine that getting out of here in the winter isn't some type of 'vacation'. And,if the Zips are in a bowl game....how much better could it get? Ever hit the Four Peaks Brewery?

I agree that Fickell probably is not a top notch coach. BUT, if Urban Meyer had a real problem with what OSU's D was doing,he's the HEAD coach. Its his problem. Walk down the sideline and tell LF that what he was doing wasn't makin' it. Thats on Meyer too.

Disagree. They were too lazy to clean the restrooms and the sections where many season ticket holders sit. We were not given any info. regarding why they didn't bother to allow us to sit in our season ticket seats or what to do if we had a complaint. It was obvious they didn't want to spend the resources to clean up any more seating areas or the restrooms. And, obviously they weren't going to volunteer any information. We shouldn't have to complain about this kind of stuff at the last game of the season with the temp in the 30's and probably only 7000 or 8000 if that in the place. They want the money from season tickets but then do crap like this. They spent more time getting the place ready for the St. Ed's-Mentor game. And, then during the season they do 'giveaways' on tickets but don't give season ticket holders any breaks on pricing. I buy seasons to support the program. I could pay less and get GA seats in essentially the same location on the other side of the field. The east side upper is essentially empty for many games. I contacted the AD's office and some others about this. Waiting.

Problem was 'those high priced 50 yard line seats' were pretty much full. And they were only a few rows in front of where we normally sit. We paid to sit where we wanted to sit,not where somebody told us to sit. But thanks for the input.

Went to the Toledo game and was told I could not sit in the seats where I have season tickets. No reason given. They jammed everyone into a small section in the upper deck. Didn't bother to clean off any of the other seats on the east side,upper. Couldn't have been for safety reasons because the entire upper deck had been covered in snow. Also noticed they hadn't bothered to clean the restrooms after the high school game last weekend. There was crap all over the seats and on the floors of some of the stalls. Good thing they won.

The FIRST half of this game was about as well as I have seen an Akron team play against a decent MAC team in several years. Second half almost got away because of some bonehead plays and some less than stellar play calling. It was nice to see them finally use a tight end effectively. It was nice to see the secondary play aggresively. It was nice to see Pohl execute the offense effectively for at least a half. Fun game to watch. They hung around a found a way to win against a decent MAC opponent.

You say that why?

'Mediocre' at 6-6 is fine for next year. Average,mediocre,the words are meaningless for this program. They really need to get to'medocre' next season. At Akron,that would most definetly be progress. That may not be as easy as some might assume,unfortunately. 5-3 in the MAC makes you at least competitive. Its not going to win the division most likely but you will be in the hunt in November. As stated previously,next season is critical for this program.

Ahhh,1992,long,long time ago. The 'unbridaled' optimism is just that. But, it sure would be nice for those of us who have gone to all the home games and some of the away games to finally see an over and above effort by this team,THIS YEAR.

Pohl hasn't learned how to 'make plays' with his arm or his legs yet. He has no spontaniety at all. He is still a high school QB who hasn't quite learned to play at the speed required even at the MAC level. Best case scenario is he figures it out before August 2014. Worst case is that Bowden has to go to his second option at QB to get this team to 6-6 next year.

Was at the game. What a neat place Gillette Stadium and the area around it is. All kinds of retail/restaurant activity right next to the stadium. No charge for parking. All kinds of space to tailgate. Crowd wasn't too bad either. Maybe a 75 or so Akron people there. Four wins was my benchmark for this year. Done. Great. The team looked 'flat' whatever that is.But,you are right,unless the play at QB improves significantly next season it will be hard to show the results in the record. The best the offense looked on Saturday was when Bowden committed to handing the ball to Hundley in the second half and letting him run down hill. They still don't get the ball to Dorazio enough. By far the best receiver. If Pohl doesn't improve significantly through spring and summer Bowden may crank up the competition. Hirscman is listed as a Jr. Is that right?

Testicle Tech beat up the Zips here. NIU beat them by 7 in DeKalb. The comparison in the Akron scores is meaningless. That game may very well be a defensive 'struggle'. TT has a nice O-line. Have two good receivers. We know all about Lynch etc etc. This may just be the old home field advantage,whatever that is unless one or the other gets behind early due to TO's,penalties,etc.

At least Bowden finally figured out that at least right now Pohl is not the playmaker he needs at the QB position. MAYBE next season. But, It may never happen with him. As much as I have been down on Chisholm, it appears the coaches have 'heated up' his behind. He is running harder and making a more concerted effort to run north/south than he ever has. Reminds me a bit of Dennis Kennedy. His first season here he ran sideline to sideline. In his senior year Brookhart finally got him going north/south. Didn't help much,but he was a better runner. They did beat K.S.U,however.

Read the article in the ABJ on Friday. Dealt mostly with Pohl. He doesn't exactly inspire confidence. He doesn't seem to have a lot of confidence in his own ability even after being around the Bowden program for a couple of years and starting 9 games. Wonder if Hirschman had been healthy in some previous games if Bowden would have gone to the bullpen? What happens if Pohl starts struggling again against K.S.U.?

Be careful. If Akron gets behind early which is not unusual,Can't State will be able to run the ball and run the ball...Akron wins ONLY if they stay very close early or score first. Buffalo ran the ball VERY effectively against Can't State once they got ahead...early. Akron doesn't have the D talent that Buffalo has but, if Can't State can hand off to Archer and Durham a lot,they have the edge. The Akron offense in general and Pohl specifically have not been able to make plays once they get behind by any substantial margin. Here is hoping that Amato has the D ready to play from the get go for a change for a change. And, Bowden is not afraid to establish the run from the first snap. That means Chisholm AND Hundley get at least 15 carries each.

COACHING