Lee Adams

What if the opponent is offensively 1-dimensional, with a crappy quarterback? Interesting historical note: Garrett Wolf ran for around 200yards against us twice in 2005, and we beat Northern both times (going off memory, but I believe it is true). Gosh that QB was crappy wasn't he? I'm an Akron fan but not exactly a zealot. The NIU staff knew exactly what they could do against Akron and did it. Thats good coaching. Pass to set up the run when you know the opposing defense has linebackers and secondary that can't cover. When they start dropping off coverages 15 yards then you can run. Hopefully somewhere on down the road Akron can return the favor.

Yep, that third road game just killed the Huskies. Brilliant!

http://www.thetaphouseakron.com/ He's a businessman who needs to eat and pay the bills. Few Zips show up for the shows. He's a Zip fan. What would you have the guy do? He gets a salary from the university. It is far larger than the people the University wants showing up at the games. How much do you need?

This is an opinion question. Many here wanted to see a coach brought in with successful head coaching experience at at least the I-AA or D-II level. Please comment on the the advantages of bringing in a head coach with the type of experience that you bring to Akron as opposed to a successful head coach at a different level. Thanks!

I was waiting to see if someone would point out that Harnish didn't play against Iowa State - guess not. I'm not sure why actually - but Demarcus Grady was the QB in that game. After watching the North Dakota game, probably a lot of NIU fans would have echoed some of the sentiments expressed here. Harnish missed open receivers, and we had no kicker. In retrospect, I think Harnish was rusty, as he's played better the last couple games. He was injured this offseason. I'm sure we're somewhere between the weak RB running attack of North Dakota and Illinois games, and the 10+ ypc running attack against Minnesota. Harnish has improved and it may not be possible to stack the run as much as in previous years. I guess we'll find out soon enough. Here is what we do know. Your style of play has won you nothing and will win you nothing. All you have to do with NIU is stop the run and force an average QB to beat you....they never do. I hope you're not representative of Akron fans. No class at all. If you can't take some facts, don't come around. Maybe it is the thin skin that keeps you guys from winning anything. What facts can you offer? We didn't lose to Akron because we couldn't throw the ball - the exact opposite. We got into a passing shootout. We lost because we couldn't play defense. And like I said, your fact about Harnish playing poorly against Iowa State wasn't a fact either. Actually, you guys couldn't run late after running the ball all evening and lost because you couldn't run out the clock against a poor defense with an NFL RB and a huge offensive line. Fine, throw out the ISU game. His numbers are still not impressive. You're missing the point. NIU is a good team, but not great. They are just another mac school. The difference between winning and losing in the mac is players executing in a league where the talent level is lacking compared to bcs schools. Most MAC schools don't win games, games are handed to them by the other team. Believe me, UofA has handed away more than our fair share of them over the past 20 years. If Akron makes plays Saturday, we win. If not, we lose. If we drop passes, we lose...If we catch passes, we win. If we tackle, we win....If we don't tackle, we lose. Etc..... A play here or there and you guys may be 1-3. Sorry if I'm not impressed. Would you like me to pretend as if I am impressed?.....I'm a pretty good writer and could probably drum something up real quick. Just say the word and I can make it happen. I am impressed.

I love to read the comments on this site because I can always find something to laugh about. What is especially humorous is the way some contributors have no compunction about telling other people that their comments are stupid,wrong etc. Now that in and of itself would not be that humorous except that some of those who are doing the name calling have over the years themselves not exhibited a lot of special knowledge about how this footbal program has operated or would perform. Keep it up,its great theatre.

Question,if the difference in talent team to team in the MAC is not that much different then what becomes the difference between teams winning and losing. I agree that the overall talent difference between say Akron and NIU should not allow for NIU to 'lay half a hundred' on Akron in the 5th game of the season. The team did not quit at the beginning of the game. So where is the difference when teams start losing consistently over years and years?

Agreed. As if NIU needed any incentive to'lay half a hundred' on Akron,rubbing their noses in something that happened 5 years ago was not a high minded choice. You especially don't want to do that when they are now a helluva lot better than you are. Maybe OK at another game but not this one. Maybe it shows the real mindset of this athletic department.

I think many of our coaches aren't good coaches. Both our offensive and defensive coordinators are beyond terrible. Some of our position coaches can't actually coach, but were brought in to be recruiters. I'm sick of hearing about how great recruiters these people are. I want to have a staff that can coach, that can take an unpolished kid with some potential and turn him into an all-MAC player in four years. I was one of the few at the game. This season goes beyond what some here are suggesting as the players not playing...What Ianello has done to this point has not allowed for any significant improvement by the players. Examples? Where to start? The defensive backfield appears to be worse. The corners looked like jr. high kids trying to cover Jerry Rice. The safeties are not much better if at all. Quarterback! Coach Ianello,apparently you and the ex-ND qb are not communicating with Nicely. He is always coming off the field looking like he was trying to figure out the questions on an advanced calculus exam. The receivers,and you were a receivers coach, can't separate from anything except there uniforms after the game. Please stop calling that pass in the flat. It ain't workin'. The running game is a little better but inconsistent. There are always some kids on a team who 'quit'. Before last nights butt whoopin' that was not the problem. These coaches are not communicating or can not communicate there message at this point. This program appears to now be farther away from competing in the MAC than it was 5 games ago.

they had it on the miami 10 w/2mins or so w/ a td to win...looks like temple and miami early in the east

oh by the way Harnish can run the ball...running qb's have always caused problems for akron...

akron is coming off 2 tough road games also...niu is a tough physical team that plays defense and obviously can run the ball...has akron improved to the point with 'back to basics' that it can control the ball on the ground,make few if any mistakes on the offensive side and keep Spann from gashing them possession after possession...and then there is the akron secondary which appears to always be vunerable...thing is i guess if you have to catch niu this might be the only good time to do it...akron HAS to score early..feed allen and burney and keep it simple for Nicely....maybe the improvement that was seen last week will continue...

very true

funny thing...i thought i read in the paper that Ianello said maybe the coaches were expecting the players to absorb too much too quickly and that the game plan was going to get a little more basic or something of that nature...said he wanted the players to be able to 'play' instead of having to have to 'think' about assignments...maybe the coaches finally figured out something...we will see saturday...first 'real' game of the season against a mac contender should show whether this team can compete this year...

Oh Zipmeister........here Zipmeister......another possible nominee for the irony award? irony is so...well ironic...especially when the word is used in the incorrect context...the context here is vulgarity on this site..please enlighten the great unwashed...

Shouldn't have skipped math class. You lose out on about $40,000 first off. Second, the reason the ACME-Zip game (please search it on here) went away is that the school was losing money and not sustaining a fan base after the game. Therefore it was pointless to do. as confucius once say...you so smart...what the gentleman was trying to suggest was generating some type of interest which is not there now..the football program has to do the rest...

you are right...hc in over his head...then why not hire someone with experience as a hc?...too late isn't it?...you're limited ability to use appropriate english does not give you the liberty of classifying everyone in the category of human being to which you might belong...fool me once shame on you...fool me twice...

Minnehaha as well Minnesota is pretty much Akron's Big Ten twin brother. Never can seem to get it going, rarely show signs of being anything better than mediocre at best. Both open new stadiums during the same year and lose to a FCS team on the same day. play 'em 5 times...how many does akron win?...based on current conditions

y'all can keep asking questions to answer questions if you want...thats pointless...its obvious that conferences like the MAC,Sunbelt and some others of that ilg can not and could not play in the SEC,Big Ten,ACC,Big 12,PAC whatever they are now WEEK AFTER WEEK and YEAR after YEAR and win any games consistently for reasons that others have stated...those schools have far too many advantages and frankly i think its ridiculous that Ohio State gets away with playing several teams a year like Eastern Mich,Marshall,Akron etc patsies they are called just to pad its win total to have a shot at the BCS...OSU is not the only one obviously just the most familiar...maybe there should be another top division where those big schools had to play in order to compete in the BCS or playoff or whatvever..i would rather go watch what should be competetive games week after week...right now the MAC is probably on a level with a conference like the Sunbelt from top to bottom and if you read the mags thats what others think also...maybe we need to play more teams like that,develop some rivalries by playing competetive games and winning more...right now for a lot of teams at this level it ain't working very well...

check page 75 of the program for the Syracuse game...coach 'Ron' Ianello is in his first year...thats the problem...anyway the coach is not going away this year or next...we may not have agreed with the hire but he will get his chance over the next 2 years at least...will the 'light come on' sooner than later?...this coach is still trying to figure out what he has on the field and who can/will play in his system...it is obvious that some players who have been here for a while are not making the adjustment yet...i look at a couple guys on the defensive and offensive lines for example..and obviously the qb and his receivers are not in sync with the new system...so lets go to the games and hope that bright light at the end of the tunnel is not a train and that the tunnel is shorter than it looks...

i totally agree on the point about Biggsy...w/o him the '05 team never does what it does...there ARE players on this team who SHOULD be able to step up and lead...plenty of sr's here...maybe Ianello is not encouraging that,maybe the guys who have been here aren't comfortable stepping up...hard for me to believe there are not 1or 2 guys who are capable...AA seems to be a 'rah,rah' type active on the sideline..hope someone steps up because the majority of the team is not behind this staff yet..

too late to talk about a different coach...many here were hoping for head coaching experience to come in here...but...we all know how this game is played...a faculty member sitting next to us in 212 made the comment about how the football program and the athletic department in general has to live off of student fees...can't support itself...maybe part of the problem is that the AD feels no sense of responsibility to fans because they know their income will be there even if the product is lets say subpar..obviously most of those kids who pay the fees never go to any athletic events...not saying that this dosen't happen in most other places but it sure removes a lot of incentive for the AD and its employees..shoot,coaches get fired and still get paid..oh well 10-2 Northern Illinois...

Attendance was 10,086 of which half were present. Next home game we will get 3,000. These are the lowest of days to be a Zip. i was there...i doubt there were 10,000 of anything there unless you count high school bands,their instruments and the shoes everyone was wearing...

hell it might not just be nicely..could be lots of people unfortunately...

the guy sitting next to us in section 212 commented about what a smart game Gardner-Webb played...well coached...never panicked...exploited akron's weaknesses...the sign of a good coach is being able to finesse when you are physically overmatched...GW's staff did that to akron...BUT the zips are even worse than i thought...the secondary especially the safeties, is a train wreck..still no consistent pass rush...nicely is still lost in this system..thankfully Nate Burney is emerging from the hole that brookhart had him buried in