Lee Adams

Its amazing how this far into the season its hard for teams, especially bad teams to change their patterns. Akron can't take advantage. CMU can't take advantage even though they are trying to hand each other the game. When you have opportunities and can't take advantage....Oh well.

I think we all know what he said. I think we all know what he wished for. 'The best laid plans....' What I have seen this year gives me the expectation that in maybe 2014 this program will be able to compete with the BEST teams in the MAC. That is going to take experience at key positions like QB,LB,OL,DL,...that isn't going to happen next year. And, this far into the season,unless this team runs off 3-4 wins to finish,its not going to make a difference for next season. We all want to see the program succeed. But,nobody wanst to sit through 3-4 win seasons for the next 2-3 years. The best MAC programs have buit and sustained for a number of years. Thats something Akron has not been able to do since the '70's.

The problem with the program right now is that there will be as many questions next year as this year.. Yes,it would be nice to beat a patsy like UMass and they should. Its possible(and ANYTHING is possible) that they pull the upset on the road and beat CMU. We lose a starting QB. We lose at least one very effective D-lineman. We lose a few on the O-line etc,etc. We lose some others on the D who may or may not be significant. The point being,at this juncture TB can't get enough wins this year to really serve any purpose. And, if you go into next season with a QB with no meaninful game experience throwing to essentially the same receiving corp or are trying to break in new people on a bad D,the prospects for next year aren't very good. This program has already lost most fans. If TB doesn't win some games early next year we will be staring at more empty seats in that wonderful facility that gets as many people for some HS games as it does for the Zips.

Yep,Williams surprised with how he was able to step in and run the offense. He did what he could. Only thing I wish he could have done was run the ball to help keep defenses 'honest'. But he is not a runner. Generally no complaints about him. But,get some playing time for the underclassmen.

Again,really don't see that.But, like a lot of things we all have opinions. Too many other chances both wins and losses that year and in the next couple of years to say one play or even one game got anybody fired...or not. They lost Biggs and Hixon among others after '05. Shoot,the Jacquemain thing was going on during those years also. There was too much off the field stuff that affected on the field stuff in '06,'07 and '08. But,what is happening now isn't really a function of what happened in '06 anyway. Next year has to be better. By the way,I think I saw one of the Bowdens at the Natatorium in Cuy. Falls today. Is that possible?

Don't know if I agree with that. No question '06 was disappointing. But, the Can't game that year was one that was the killer for that season. After the CMU loss they came back and beat North Texas. I went to the Can't game and figured they would win. They should have. They got blown out. While they lost to Cincy the next week,they came back and beat BGSU and Buffalo. They were still in it. The real killer was OU on a Thusday night in Athens. I went to that game. I watched David Harvey decide not to show up. I watched him quit on a ball Getsy threw to him that would have turned the game around.(Final was 17-7 OU). The CMU wasn't the defining game that year. Shoot,the 35-32 loss to CMU in '07 was possibly more critical. I liked JD. But he 'lost' the program. It was time for him to go. It was a whole bunch of games. Hell,if they had beaten Buffalo in the last game at the Bowl in'08 they would have had a shot that year. They beat Syracuse. They were in a position to win the MAC East in'08. It was a progression of bad decisions that brought us to where we are today.

Well said!

If we just look at the last 2 home games we can see what defenses are doing to the Zips. They are able to generally control the line of scrimmage with their D-line. Sometimes leaving 1 LB in the box when its not an obviuos run situation. They are pressing the outside receiver on the weak side regularly. Sometimes also on the strong side. They end up with 6-7 in the secondary normally w/ 2 safeties over the top. They are forcing the throws into the inside traffic. The safeties are sitting on the deep balls. Thats how Williams threw that pick. Deep middle. Off side safety waited until the ball was in the air and.. pick. Up in 212 we could see it before it happened. Until there is a consistent running threat that CAN include the QB also defenses will clutter up the secondary and punish the receivers on the short routes. It would help if the Zips D could force some turnovers and get the O on a short field once in a while. Ain't gonna happen.

It was pretty apparent that this team had no gas in the tank. They have been getting beaten on all season and it has caught up. Commack should be embarassed if he got run over by Lynch. Thats inexcusable. But,NIU,BGSU,OU etc etc have clearly been superior in talent and on the field play to anything Akron can do. Anyone who thought that this was going to be more than a 2-3 win season was smokin' something I haven't in years. There are at least another 2 years before this program brings in enough player AND coaching talent to be competetive. Meanwhile the folks in Portage County go Bowling.

Think its a shame. TB made what seemed like a desparate decision 8 games in. We were commenting before the kickoff about why now? It wasn't just the returners on special teams. Return teams front to back have not been very good again this year. You are right about William's arm. But TB knew that going in. On the pick on the post pattern,you could watch the offside safety laying off until the ball was in the air. Williams threw it into the teeth of a 2 deep zone. If nothing else rotate QB's during the game. Don't like it but, Pohl gets nothing from playing in garbage time. With all the other losses on both sides of the ball after this season,don't go into next season with a QB with no playing time.

Lot more wrong with this team than the QB. Its time to get Pohl playing time but not because of what Wiliiams is or isn't doing. its time to play him for next season. Akron is clearly not ready to compete with the better programs in the MAC. TB's offense looked good for awhile. But we are now seeing what decent defenses are doing to it. BGSU and NIU basically had the same formula. Yep its time to get Pohl and other underclassmen on both sides more playing time during the games. Maybe go to a two QB rotation. I don't like it either. But,TB sure as hell doesn't want to start next season with another QB who has had no meaningful minutes.

It didn't take too long for the MAC to catch up w/TB's offense. We are seeing against the better MAC teams like BGSU,OU and NIU that Akron is just not going to be able to outscore anyone. Those teams are basically controlling the line with their front 4 and making Akron try to run more. When Williams is throwing he is seeing little separation by his receivers because they are running into 6-7 man secondaries. Thats not Williams' fault. Pohl wouldn't make any difference unless he is willing to run more than Williams. TB was trying to stack the backfield more to get the run going. But,this is a passing offense that needs a QB who can also be a running threat. Some things I noticed at the game: Chisholm played little. Why TB suddenly decided Chisholm was a kick returner 8 games in is puzzling. The O line was pretty much over matched by the NIU D line. That was especially true of the right side of the Akron line. Williams was forcing more passes out of frustration. Whoever the DB was who got run over by the NIU QB when he was heading into the end zone should check for cleat marks on his chest. Too many NIU receivers running way to free. Zips can't handle a running QB...again. NIU is a VERY good MAC team and has been consistently for a number of years now. Why? Akron has 'run out of gas'. They need a week off but don't have one. Attendance has taken another hit for at least one more season unless they win early at home next year. Akron is still at least 2 years away from being consistently competetive w/the best teams in the MAC.

Looks like another tough assignment. NIU is #1 in rush O, #1 in scoring O, #2 in scoring D and #5 in total D in the MAC. A bit of a switch from the ATM scoring machine they had w/Harnish. The fact that they can run is scary for TB and coach Chuck.

I think at this point we all get the idea that TB has done a good job at keeping players motivated and generating at least some fan interest. He knew when he came in it was going to be really tough to win this year. And as has been repeated 'repeatedly' its probably a good idea to start getting underclassmen more playing time during the course of the remaining games. Doesn't mean he 'benches' the starters. Just means they don't get as much playing time. Can we kind of move on from that and concentrate on which returners actually will be contributing next year,

Absolutely! I think TB probably had a good idea that this year was going to be a crapshoot. He has done a helluva job just getting these guys to play their asses off each week. But since Williams is a one and done and some of the O line will be leaving its time. Start the #1's but start rotating more underclassmen during the game. They need to find some D linemen,LB's,O line and get Pohl some meaningful minutes. This team is obviuosly going to live and die w/the offense At this point attendance is not an issue for this year. If they can win 1 or 2 more and start strong next season,more fans will pay attention.

First couple of home games in the reserved section we sit in I noticed a significant number of people,including students who sat down and then started moving around during the game. Meaning that they were not supposed to be sitting in the section and were probably moving to avoid getting busted. Some of the students were pretty obvious. They showed up in a group and moved during the game as a group. Obviuosly somebody complained because last week the ushers were actually checking tickets before we sat down. Couple of times they actually walked into the seats to check and chase people away. Other side of this has nothing to do with the fact that attendance stinks with lots of empty seats. If you are actually paying for a season ticket but someone who pays for a general ad or a student sits in 'your' section why pay for a season ticket? I buy season tix to support the program and still have decent seats. But I could show up on game day and pay less for a GA tick. and sit in a similar seat on the east side. IF these guys ever start winning this issue will go away to some extent. Won't be as many empty seats.

Only good thing was that Citizens United got screwed. A lot of this was information already reported in the papers and on the radio. I also understand that Infocision is inside UofA doing instruction.

TB took the responsibility for not making the adjustments while on the other side Clawson made them. Its not like anyone is pointing a finger at TB that he is not pointing at himself. Gave up on the run when Chisholm(to his credit) was running well. With this offense its sometimes hard to slow down the game when its needed. BGSU had them figured out. TB needed to slow down the game and give his D a chance to breathe. The D is what it has been,is and will be this year. When playing good teams the offense has to score 30+ to give this team a chance to win. Yep,there is and has been little depth. Thats from day one. Injuries simply magnify the effects of lack of depth. Won't change this year. Pretty quickly its going to be time to start working in more underclassmen so they get PT to build on for next season. Thats not throwing in the towel. Thats building a program.

On the football side,Chisholm was running well until Bowden forgot about the running game. Some real good catches by the receivers to make something out of nothing. Season is getting longer.

Bowden said it. And yes he was out coached. He gave up on the run way too early. Chisholm was going pretty good again.TB put Willaims in bad spots by forcing the passing game with his play calling. BG was basically dropping 7 into coverage and daring Williams to throw into a crowd. Even some of the completions needed spectacular catches to be completions. The TD pass was actually covered pretty well by BG. This offense is fun to watch. But,sometimes TB is going to have to bite the bullet and force the run. Didn't expect anything from the D. No real reason to. Said the offense needed to score 30 to win. That would have done it.But the BG D is solid. Season gets real long now.

Its game day for the Zips and at the top of this board are threads about OSU and spring football????? No wonder less than 10,000 will actually be there today. We better make a hell of a lot of noise! Must win? That team needs a win just to keep the season from getting frustrating.And,they desparately need a win at home. Except for UMass the schedule is tougher after this week. More games on the road and more of the top teams in the MAC. Will they win today? IF Coach Chuck has got his defense in order AND if the O can put up 30,yep.

Didn't see the word 'vaunted' in my post. Musta missed that. Point was/is they have a good QB. They also have something of a running game which Miami didn't(oh,except for Dysert). Ya don't have to score 40 if your D can help control the game and your offense can run the ball effectively. Here's hoping the Zips have figured out something on their D side.

I did want to say something similar. I have not been a big Chisholm fan thus far. He still has a lot of work to do with footwork. But, he has obviously learned from this coaching staff. Particularly Saturday,he was making sharper cuts and running more north/south than sideline to sideline. He just appeared to be running harder at the line of scrimmage. Credit also to an offensive line that has shown that in this system they are performing much better than the pas tfew years.

TB w/o being disparaging is saying the defense has to improve. He specifically mentioned people being out of position on that side of the ball. He also seemed to say that he doesn't really insert himself on the D side. BGSU is going to be tougher defensively than Miami. They are probably more well rounded on offensive which doesn't bode well for the Zips D. Don't expect 40-50 points from the offense this week. BGSU has some All-MAC caliber players on the D side. They have a high caliber QB.The D HAS to be able to stop BGSU if the Zips want to have a chance in this one.

Yep! At some point losing close games drains the players and coaches. You start to wait for something bad to happen instead of making something good happen. The Defense better step it up this week!