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zipsoutsider

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  2. Game #7 Ohio Bobcats

    in Akron Zips Football

    Posted

    I think these are the keys to the game:

    1. Continue last week's trend of fewer penalties.
    2. Another solid special teams performance - thanks to Zach Paul for the punt that was downed on the 1 for the safety and Robert Stein's 46 yard field goal into the wind.
    3. Defense needs to continue to play well. OH hardly has a run game so the defense could be interesting to watch. IF the D comes out strong, it takes some of the pressure off of Woodson. We are due for a defensive score.
    4. Take what they give us offensively. I will not be surprised if they come ready to shut down the run, knowing Woodson is starting. That being said, there is enough film evidence showing that Woodson can be effective that they can't completely load up the line. Woodson might have to prove he can move the ball in the air before the run game is there for us, however.
    5. Protect the ball. Woodson has done a good job protecting the ball. He needs to continue to do that and the receivers, return guys, and running backs need to pay extra attention to taking care of the ball this week to help him out.

    I believe Woodson can play a great game for us this week. Big games are not new to him, as the former Gateway HS QB. I agree that we should see better timing and execution form him this week after having more reps with the starters. He should have some opportunities for the long ball as I believe the Ohio secondary is pretty week. Neither Miami nor EMU had weak secondary units. This might be the easiest match up we have had since Howard in terms of the long ball. The receivers, however, have to make catches. Let's hope they come ready to play. I also think there is more of an opportunity for medium and short range passes as well as run plays to break for big plays due to their secondary.

    Zips 31 Ohio 17

  7. Game #6 Miami (OH) Redhawks

    in Akron Zips Football

    Posted

    Woodson will be fine if we need him to play this week. He will have more reps with the 1st team, which should help the receivers be in better sync with him. I was glad to see a little "zip" on his ball as the fade has really done nothing for us since Howard. We need taller receivers or better match UPS (mismatches) for that to work for us, especially in the end zone. Woodson protected the ball well in all of his appearances thus far. Glad he had the chance to take so many reps in a successful game against Miami and even happier TB and Milwee had previously worked him into live action so that he was ready.

    My takeaways from the game:

    1. Penalties were much better.
    2. We have 2 more than capable running backs and the O line had some huge holes for them. Job well done by Peterson in transforming and improving the line as the season progressed. Neither PSU nor Michigan have shown this kind of progress.
    3. I am glad we didn't just clock stall in the 4th. Get Woodson the reps he needs to continue to improve.
    4. Special teams were stellar. Shout out to Robert Stein for coming back after getting benched. He is having a solid year. Return game made good decisions and protected the ball.
    5. 2 fumbles... they are going to happen, but was surprised by Hundley's. Bickley just got out-muscled. It is more understandable.
    6. Davis and Bickley had good games.
    7. We didn't start out slow - great progress. Defense led the way in this.
    8. 4-2 feels pretty good. Now it's time redeem the Ohio game of last year.

  9. Game #5 Eastern Michigan

    in Akron Zips Football

    Posted

    Thought from the EMU game:

    • Have had trouble consistently connecting on the long ball since Howard. Seems to be a combination of Pohl and receivers. Glad they used EMU as an opportunity to work on it. We will need it at some point. I think the EMU secondary handled our receivers fairly well. I think teams are dialing in on our receivers and this is why the run has been open. Pohl said after Marshall he might have run the ball too much and needed to wait in the pocket more. Now, he seems to be waiting in the pocket too long. That being said, he had a long time in the pocket on Saturday and not as much of a need to run.
    • It seems like the receivers have found their hands, again. After Howard, it looked like the drops of last season were behind us but they came back with a vengeance during PSU, Pitt, and Marshall. Good to see some solid catches. Smith and D'Orazio had good games, but no one strikes me as a big play threat yet. MTB has the potential but needs to be more consistent and more convincing.
    • Chisholm looks good in the open field and ran the ball about as well as Hundley on Saturday (statistically.) Get him the ball off of a bubble screen or HB pass and he is dangerous.
    • Glad to see Bowden working Woodson in with some reps. He needs meaningful experience if Pohl were to go down with an injury. Don't want to chuck the MAC championship or a bowl game down the tubes because the kid was not ready. His drives have come at meaningful points in the last 2 games and he has protected the ball, He is very athletic and will continue to improve.
    • Defense looked surprisingly disoriented to start off the game on Saturday. Not sure what was going on but Chuck the Chest made the needed adjustments. A number of defensive players having outstanding years: March, Brown, Ford, Grice, Pittman, and Givens are among them.
    • The offense is fairly well balanced. With the spread, the pass will always see more plays, but the run looked fairly decent on Saturday.
    • Zach Paul is a beast. Great punting and a very athletic tackle on the fair catch return. (What was the story with that, anyway?) The wind was brutal. Robert Stein does look good, so far this year. Hopefully, we have our kicking issues behind us.
    • Glad to see the future of the Zips in Q4 but what was EMU doing leaving Rob Bolden in during the entire quarter?
    • OL penalties were unacceptable for this point in the season, especially from our vets.

    Did you see that there were a lot of empty seats at MSU this week and that the AD tweeted about how embarrassing it was? It is hard to be surprised that people didn't show up for a bitter cold, wet game on Saturday. The crowd that was present seemed loud and engaged, however. Rome wasn't built in a day. The university and team are doing their parts to fill the seats. Next week they are honoring the military so maybe we will see a bunch more free tickets given away. They make more money giving away tickets (concessions and parking) than they do letting them sit empty.

    • Like 1

  10. Breakout Season In 2014 for Pohl?

    in Akron Zips Football

    Posted

    I was happy to see Bowden put Woodson in for a couple of series. Pohl needs to lead the offense and he was not doing so. The pass that was intercepted was a horrible decision by Pohl, given the coverage. Sometimes sitting the starter for a couple of series gives them the opportunity to need to prove themselves. It also gave Woodson some live snaps with the first team. He looked fine. Receivers seem to drop passes for him, too. It was nice that Woodson had the chance to play a few snaps in front of his family and friends in Pittsburgh.

    Believe it or not, Coach Bowden knows what he is doing and knows the strengths, weaknesses, and what will motivate his QBs better than any of us.

  11. Game #3 Marshall Thundering Herd

    in Akron Zips Football

    Posted

    Here are some random thoughts after giving myself the "sleep on it before posting" rule:

    1. The analogy to last year's OU game seems accurate to me. Let's just hope this is the bottom for 2014.
    2. That's the last time I put any credence into these NCAA football injury report web sites. Not only were Chisholm, Brumbaugh, Hundley, and March out, but so were Goodman (out since Howard) and Bullard (and perhaps 1 or 2 more).
    3. The most disheartening part of the game for me was the complete inability to stop the run. The Herd had 284 yards rushing on 38 attempts for a 7.5 YPC average AFTER your DC says his focus will be to stop the run. I was worried about being able to stop Pitt's power running game, based on the Zips smaller DL, but I did not expect this against MU. I think part of it, per my eyes, is the Herd is a much better ALL-AROUND football team than I thought going into yesterday. MU > PSU if you ask me. Cato is pretty good, but I think the rest of the team is as well. I don't think they'll be much worse next year (post-Cato), unless Doc Holliday takes his practice to Morgantown,
    4. Zip WRs had a tough time getting much separation against PSU - many catches were the result of a ball thrown into a tight space. Zip WRs had an even MORE difficult time getting separation against MU. Pitt and most of the MAC do not appear to have strong secondaries at this point. Hopefully that will make all the difference - otherwise every game could be a struggle.
    5. We still seem to be a little conservative in game planning, particularly against a "solid favorite". I'd like to see a few more blitzes early in the game, because we have had success hurrying poor throws in the 2nd half of the last two games.
    6. I was glad to see Woodson get some time, because we've been in situations in year's past where we didn't have an adequately experienced backup QB. I thought he looked decent against the MU 2nd team.
    7. My understanding is a couple of the injured, March being one of them, might have been able to play if the game had been critical (say, for MAC East crown).
    8. EMU still looks like a win to me, but all other games are in play from my perspective after the 1st three games.

    I 100% agree. Great summary.

    RE: Lawrence - I hope we do see more of him, but not because Chisolm is out. Chisolm has huge arms and able to hold on to the ball against strong defenses. It appeared to me that the boys from Marshall were a lot stronger, physically than PSU. Lawrence will be OK in MAC and probably even against Pitt. Lawrence is the second fastest guy on the team, will keep getting stronger, and will play better.

    I don't think the Zips played horribly (except dropped catches) as much as it was Marshall is the real deal and a much better team. The loss at Ohio last year was the Zips self-destructing.

    It did appear to me though, that the boys looked like they didn't believe they could compete when the score went to 17-0.

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