Lee Adams

Actually wasn't referring so much to marketing. I am talking about fans who actually show up at games and are vocal and animated about what goes on during the game. Whether it is a good play by the Zips,a lousy call by the officials or letting opponents know that they will have to deal with the crowd as well as the team. Scare the hell out of the opponents and the officials.

Yesterday was one of the few,maybe the only time I can remember a football crowd in Akron becoming somewhat and only somewhat intimidating. If there were any games at the Bowl I can't really remember. Certainly none at Info. I think the officials will remember what happened on Saturday. Even though the crowd wasn't big it got involved in the game. They will remember that there was actually a reason for them to be escorted off the field by the PD. Thats the kind of 'home field advantage' we need to develop here. When tthe opponents and officials start thinking about how the crowd might get involved it can give the Zips an edge. Not talking about throwing things on the field. But when the officials and opponents realize they can't come in here screw up and ignore the crowd it changes their game. Even 12,000 people can get in your head if they make the right kind of noise.

Funny nobody else here saw that. You're right.

What does this have to do w/yesterday's game?

Anybody see what happened at midfield right after the game? One of the Akron lineman was walking toward the official who made the bad calls and was yelling at him. One of the UAPD ran over got between the official and the player and escorted the official off the field. There were also a couple of swings taken between an Akron player and a a Miami player(#9). That was as intense a game as I have been at in the last 4 years. Good to see from Akron. Has to be frustrating though. Nobody is apologizing for the officials. It was a poorly called/controlled game on their part. And,in the end the 2 calls allowed Miami to score. However,it is frustrating to see the defense taking substitution penalties and at times being obviously confused and out of position during the 5th game into the season. That is not all lack of talent. I don't know how much Coach Bowden inserts himself into the defensive side of things. But,given what the offense is doing,it might only take a couple stops during the game to turn the scoreboard around. Saturday against BGSU will be a good time to do it.

I don't think they actually reviewed a penalty. They reviewed whether the receiver ran out of bounds on his own then came back in and touched the ball. It indeed would have been interference if he had not done so. Unfortunately,the Zips lost the benefit of the interference and the down.

It is a shame that a really bad Akron defense allowed a really bad official to essentially decide the outcome of the game in the 4th Qtr. There is little question that the calls by the official were bad. He was out of position to make the calls. And, a very telling thing was that NO OTHER OFFICIAL THREW A FLAG. Normally the officials 'cover' themselves. If one throws a flag,a second official will toss one in to give the call more 'weight'. That didn't happen. But,like Detwiler said after the game,you can't allow a bad call at the end to decide the outcome. The defense was confused and out of position all day. They were letting receivers run free. They got called for substitution penalties. That should never happen on D. Thats on the coaching staff. Give some credit to Miami. They took advantage. This looked a some previous Miami/Akron games. Dysert was starting to look eerily like Rothlisberger. Its a shame to waste a great effort by the offense. But,they won't score 40 pts every game. Until the D gets 'fixed'we may end up watching a lot of high scoring losses. Get BGSU!

Miami is going to throw a solid D at the Zips. They look for you to make mistakes. Fundamentally sound. Linebackers appear active. They can 'invite' a QB to throw interceptions. Offensively,looks like Dysert is a lot of the the ground game also. Even if Harwell doesn't play,they have plenty of receivers who can hurt you. They will probably try the ground game to see if the Zips will continue to give up yardage there. But,Dysert can throw all day if he has to. Williams will have to be very careful to not force the ball on this D. The Zips will need to try to run right at their D to keep their LB's focused on the run and to slow down thier rush. If they can get some room to pass behind their LB's they can control the ball with the passing game. But to paraphrase Sean Connery,don't show up to a gunfight with a knife. Score early,score OFTEN.

AHHHH they are reelin' 'em in.

Where did that come from?

Thanks for the sanity. They need to win AT HOME. Not just for the wins but to rekindle fan interest. Zips play a tough MAC schedule this year. All the contenders in the West included. If they can win maybe 3 at home,including this Saturday and pull off an upset on the road that would make for a very respectable season to build on.

Hey,I'm all for being a home 'dog' for whatever its worth. IF Williams is healthy AND the Zips give 2 turnovers or less and the coaches can get Chisholm to run N/S instead of E/W lets get into a shootout w/Miami and see who can score last. BUT,don't get into a 20-17 or something like it game. Miami's D is better right now. Easy folks. I know OSU ran it up on them but this year its all about scoring. Like I said,season starts Saturday.

The season starts 9-29! Hopefully the Zips didn't get beat up so badly Saturday that they have nothing in the tank. If they can pull one off this week it kinda sets up the rest of the season at home. If they can get 3-4 wins in the MAC and get Pohl some PT,next year looks REALLY good. But,we need to temper a little this season. This team especially on the D side is still a work in progress.

Whats the injury situation? Is DW healthy?. If they can give another effort like this against Miami...good shot at winning that one.

Couple of things here:1) Playing w/ the 'spread' is fun I guess. But, not germane to anything really. 2) Buffalo crushed Morgan State also. But, could only manage 7 points I think against our fine friends from Portage County. Point,nice the Zips beat Morgan(and the rest of the Earp brothers) last week. 3) I think a potentially important decision! Depending on the condition of Dalton Williams how much IF AT ALL do you play him against Tennessee? We know he is already banged up. This game is essentially meaningless in the big scheme of things.The MAC starts next week. The Miami game is probably the most important game of the season at least to this point. I want Williams as healthy as he can be for MAC play. Lose Williams at this point in the season you have to throw Pohl out there. Pohl will get his shot later in the season and next year. Now? Too many bad things if Williams goes down. If he is gonna get hurt(heaven forbid) and it could happen in any game.I want to see if this team can spring a few upsets in the MAC THIS year

Thankfully,teasm won't be able to pull that crap when strength of schedule becomes more of a factor for the post season. Tressel pulled that because he could win a few BG10 games and still be in the hunt. The BG 10 has already been relegated to the 2nd tier. Urban won't do that because he knows he can't win a national champeenship that way

It is apparent by some of the replies that there are some folks who didn't endure many,if any of the years at the RB. Attendance has nothing to do w/ 'tarping off' sections of the stadium. If you have to do that it just means that you aren't interesting enough people in the program to get a decent crowd.. They tried that at the RB. We still had 20,000 empty seats. If we can get 20,000 for home games next year it will be a miracle. If they don't win the next couple home games there won't be any big crowds. TB,win at home.

Probably right about the largest crowd of this season. As some of us realized long ago,football has never been a great draw even with good teams. The 'new stadium'effect was gone in a few games. This year will be tough. No CAN"T home game. Too bad they go to Tennessee this week. If they get bounced,people will lose interest..again. Only hope is that they could knock off Miami and BGSU while the weather is still decent. 4-5 wins for the season MIGHT get a few more folks interested for next year. Gotta beat MIAMI.

As much as we would all like to have the long term success of a BSU,lets win the MAC Champeenship again...first. Crap on OU all U want but FS has pulled that program out of the boondocks. If TB starts winning here,he will be gone! Once you have tasted Glenmorangie,Dewars ain't so good. BSU is an anomaly. Petersen is a really good coach who hasn't chased the $$$ like the rest of the money grubbers...yet. Unlike a lot of people he has a worth ethic. Obviously,some folks aren't actually attuned to fball history around here.

Several ugly issues here.Info apparently has worked its way inside the University. Uof A students are apparently trained by Info personnel about working in call centers. Its not just the involvement w/the stadium naming rights. One other thing was pointed out in the story was that solicitors were apparently lying to potential donors about what percentage of the funds raised the charity itself actually was able to keep. During the story they played a recording of an Ohio AG investigator making a call and apparently being lied to by a solicitor. One of the administrators of one of the charities admitted the charity did not get the majority of the funds. And,in some cases the charity or non-profit if you will had to pay Info. People can believe the story or not. This is not a ne issue and fits with revalations that have come up in the past. The charity/non-profit wants to get names/phones of potential donors for future use. Of course the donors aren't told. One of the administrators admitted that if they told donors that the non-profit/charity wasn't getting most of the money,nobody would donate. A number of years ago United Way got bound up in this issue. They had to start revealing what percentage of funds that were raised was actually going to the charities under the United Way umbrella. Best thing to do if it bothers you is to not give to non-profits/charities that use outfits like Info. to solicit funds. I didn't read this in the ABJ.

Nice to see some people are paying attention again. Think that the Miami game might be the key to the season. Not only from the team perspective but from the fan support perspective. Somebody close to the program told me that ONE of the concerns this year was fan support. Said they NEEDED to WIN at HOME in September or there would be a lot of empty seats later,again. Assuming they can handle Morgan State,a W over Miami would be huge for team momentum and fan support. 1-4 going into October...no

You are right. Not really going to do much regarding attendance or recruiting. Its a shame. When you are under 2 mins and ahead your D HAS to win the game right there. Doesn't matter what happend the first 3 Q's. Until they start winning consistently at home not many are going to pay attention even though they look like a different team Offensively. Thats why I think TB is going to make more changes over the next 2 weeks in the hope that he has his guys in place for the MAC. I think the Miami game on 9-29 is going to be huge.

Nobody w/ any brains give 2 flyin' f.x about the bottom 10,top 10, middle 10. Yep its definitely better than last year. Don't get too excited. The D is still a long way off. The O still can't or won't RUN effectively. No real playmakers have stepped up at RB or WR. Its a high risk offense. Lots of TO's and mistakes are going to happen. Live w/ it if you like TB! TB may have to bite the bullet and run a little more early in games to 6take the pressure off the passing game and the D. Too bad they really had a chance to win and couldn't figure it out. Morgan State should be easier.