Lee Adams

Sometimes when a head coach KNOWS he doesn't have the horses on either side of the ball, he starts trying to protect his team,HOPING they can get a break and somehow win. Good teams do what Can't did today. Akron looked good on the offensive side of the ball early in the season. They have never looked good on the D side. Yep, they need more defensive talent. But, unless the coaches can make adjustments on BOTH sides of the ball during games and week to week, we are going to get what we have been getting all year. Not convinced that all the problem on the D side is just lack talent.

Wow! But....unless the Zips D can pretty much pitch a shut out in the 2nd half.... If K.E.N T. had a bozo D I would say Akron could outscore them again. But you can imagine what is going on in the other locker room at 1/2 time. Maybe the Akron D will step up for once but...my money is not there. If Akron only had a defense one more TD might do it. But,TB obviously had them ready to play. Its fun to see this against that other team in Portage County.

What was the 'line' in 2006 when that team clubbed the Zips out there? Was at that game. Expectations were really high but the Zips under performed. That season should have been better.

First,wasn't in ANY way saying ANYTHING negative about TB! If nothing else he was able to make this team more 'watchable'. So we are to conclude that the talent on the Zips' roster is so inferior to the CONSISTENTLY GOOD MAC teams that it is going to take what,2,3,4 more years to get consistently competetive? It does appear that even though the program is probably 'off the radar'for many recruits he will be able to convince kids who might not come here to take a shot. Might need a heavy dose of JUCO's and transfers to kick start it.

Well,we just aren't good enough to compete with anybody in the MAC who has any modicum of talent at this point. If you listened to the broadcast on Saturday and to TB,it was about being able to handle press coverage on the outside and find receivers running through multiple layers of defenders. Call it what U want.

Yep. How does Hazell in 2 years take K.E.N.T. from an also ran to now the likely team to win the MAC East? Was there superior talent there the last couple of years? Or,did K.E.N.T. simply make a better decision on the HC they hired 2 years ago? They have definitely had better talent on the D side than Akron for a few years. If coaching really makes a difference we should start to see the results in 2013. This year...no. This K.E.N.T. team is probably better overall than the '05 Zips team that won the MAC. Until Akron can get some talent on the D side its not gonna matter who is on the sideline.

Its a good point. There has been no consistent 'winning' around here since the program went to D-I. There have been some individual players who have had a significant amount of talent. Amazingly, most of those guys were recruited under the Lee Owens regime. Dwight Smith,Jason Taylor,Dom Hixon,Chase Blackburn even Charley Frye. There were others. Point,since Faust came in and took the program to D-I there has never been a consistent connect between good recruiting and good coaching and consistent winning. Last time we had all that was when we were D-II. Do you then have to look at the administration? The guys who run the athletic department? But, we know basketball and soccer have generally been consistent winners with some down periods over the past 30 or so years. If TB doesn't compete for a MAC championship in 2 more years,then the administration needs to take a seriuos look at whether this program will ever be able to compete consistently In D-I and MAC in football.

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.