zipsoutsider

An entertainingmoment from the press conference, summarized, here. Bowden: We are the Akron Zips, which is our mascot, the kangaroo, which is [named] Zippy, that comes from actually a zipper that came from a boot. But now that that’s all said, the players really like the Z [helmet sticker], The Z is a cool thing. They like that better than the kangaroo head. Kiffin: I’m not very educated. Did you just say there’s live kangaroos in Akron? Bowden (referring to Kiffin’s previouse school, Alabama, which has an elephant as a mascot): There are no elephants in Tuscaloosa. You know the deal. People do crazy things. People do crazy things. I grew up in West Virginia we had the Mannington Gators. There’s no gators in West Virginia, either. But anyway. Mayor Haynie: We have Owls. Kiffin: I’ve actually not seen an Owl, so that might not be true, really. I saw raccoons on our campus this morning when I was driving in, though.

After watching a good chunk of the FAU v North Texas, I think Ohio is probably the most similar team we have faced. The game against North Texas definitely revealed some major vulnerabilities in the passing game that I expect Coach Amato to exploit. I also think we have opportunities with the run and also the big play.

I think for most G5 schools, this is not that uncommon. Exceptional defense's, like our 2015 squad, could do both. What made Toledo different is that they had an exceptional QB and A high caliber receiver, coupled with a strong running game. The closest thing we saw that was similar, all year in the MAC, was, perhaps, Miami, but they are not in the same league, at all with Toledo. The speed does not concern me. It's a lime BGSU from 2015. I think we can adjust to that and we have enough depth to keep up. Ohio did put up a lot of points, and we put up a surprising amount of points, too. Bottom line, I do not see DAY on par with Toledo and I think we have a better shot, if Kato can manage to complete passes. This rests on him and the WRs. On a side note, I thought the run looked better against Toledo and would liked to have seen us go to it more. I understand d we were behind, but it would have helped give the D a breather, too.

I heard Detweiler say that the Zips have been very successful in shutting down one dimension offenses. If the above is the case, we have a much better chance against FAU than we did Toledo. Might be more like playing Western or even Ohio, where we got in Rourke's head, early. We do not have to shut down the run, just stop it enough to force 3rd downs. Back to bend but don't break.

Wow

Did not hear about this.

Yup. Agree to all.

TB is pretty tight-lipped on the making of the sausage as well as the response to Kiffin.

Endorse.

+1 for Memphis. There is a ton to do and something for everyone.

They had a good season but definitely have a higher opinion of themselves than the rest of the world and A complete lack of understanding. Why this match up? Tv ratings. Bowden vs. Kiffin. Both recognizable names to college football fans. I am guessing we were bound for the Camelia Bowl and either Bowden wheeled and sealed his way up or ESPN saw the advantage of us in the Boca bowl and decided they would put us there, instead, and thus we used our bowl tie in with the switch. FWIW, I saw tweets from some OU, IN, and Toledo fans jealous of our bowl pick. Our system is messed up. Congrats, Toledo, you won the MAC Championship. You get to go to Mobile, Alabama! OU, you list the MAC East. You get to go to the Bahamas! Akron, you beat everyone's expectations, but still got soundly beat in the MAC Championship. You get to play Lane Kiffin in the Boca Raton Bowl! UB, you had 6 wins, but still were not that great, you can sit at home. Oh, and by the way, we are going to pass on the Camelia Bowl.

Agreed. The players will definitely prefer Florida to Alabama, especially since they were in Alabama earlier this year. I live this match up and have already seen some Twitter hype about Kiffin vs. Bowden. This might attract a Florida State fanbase.

Buffalo beat FAU this year.

What is the point of a bowl tie-in (Camelia Bowl) if the MAC leaves two 6 win teams at home?

Word is NIU to Detroit. No one from the MAC going to Camelia Bowl.

Live? Where can we catch it?

Perhaps true, but there were missed opportunities when Woody was in, too, including penalties.

This is fair. However, I am not convinced if his true ability, yet and fear his father causes more harm than good. I think a good healthy spring ball QB competition is in order. I was 100% behind going to Woody. Kato was not getting it done, so why not see if Woodson can get things moving? I had no issues with coaching. Our receivers were not getting open, so it's tough to say what could have been done, differently. When we fail to move the ball, it seems that the conclusion is that the problem is in coaching. I think we just faced better athletes, yesterday, who came ready to ball in the first half. Our defenders had good coverage but Woodside put the ball where only Toledo receivers can catch it and they made great grabs. I will agree: special teams remain a disaster. It's time to offer early scholarships to top punters, kickers, and snappers. You cannot offer the kid a scholarship for once they have won the job, any more, and get top specialists. But non-specialist play on special teams has been abysmal. I noticed Alvin Davis did a better job wrapping up yesterday instead of leading with his head. Nice adjustment, Davis. Smith had a good second half and hopefully he does not do anything but practice catching balls in the off season. He needs help though. Gilbert had another great game and Bell and Jamal Davis also played well. I, too, was really pleased to see us right to the end, including busting the spread. There is a lot of young talent and the Zips continue to trend upwards. The venue provided a nice experience and it was a great atmosphere to hear both fan bases cheering. Our band was awesome and they continue to represent the university, well. On to the bowl game, which should be announced, soon.

And that's different from what other teams do....how?

Thanks, that is what I could not remember.

I love the shot of Biddenburg's foot on the 1" line. I really thought the replay showed his foot hitting the white and he just missed it.

The OC was not why his son panicked when the primary receivers were covered.

Lavar is threatening to push his son to transfer and use the hardship excuse to get out of sitting out. This guy is delusiinal aboyt his son's talent. He threw sone TD's against a Toledo team thatbhad stopped playing, could not handle working through his progressions, and as a result was useless in the 1st half. Bowden absolutely did the right thing trying to see if we could be more successful with Woodson. Woodson did move the ball better than Kato, and had the refs not cost us the TD with the Williams TD catch and the big gain that called back, things might have gone differently. Kato has talent but he played like a freshman against a defense that played our receivers, very well.