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What The F*** ? Kidnapping? Boy, I can't wait for the details to come out on this one.

I'll sum this up even further. With a loss Wednesday, every goal we could have had this year will be done. No Bowl Game, and no remaining chance at a division or conference title. The season is on the line. Regardless of some of the bad luck that's hit us this year, the majority of the fans (or potential future fans) won't be impressed with a 5-7 record after the promise we showed last season.

If nothing else, this surge up the polls by WMU could at least be a barometer for how high a MAC team can go with an undefeated season and a couple of decent OOC wins. I'm also feeling a little less jaded today concerning my belief that the press no longer gives a fair shot to a good team from a low level conference.

Wow. CMU had so much going on earlier this year. I had hoped that their loss to Kent was a fluke. Apparently, they are in a free fall. If Miami runs the table to end the season, and costs us that chance to play OU for the title, it would be a pretty bizarre scenario. Especially after we already beat them and hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.

I'm glad this came up. Lane's 91 yd. Touchdown pass came while he was coming from the TE position. I'm sure this was a little trickery to hide him on the line like a TE, and have him take off down the middle of the field. Watch the replay. Maybe we need to try that again this year. I'm with everyone who thought it was good to move MTB somewhere else. I think initially I was upset about the move, and we predictably never threw to him this year, but we do have plenty of WRs. And you didn't even mention Kwadarius.

The only thing that matters to me right now is that Miami and OU lose once, and we beat BG. I just want a chance to play for the MAC East title. I can worry about the resurgence of Miami and EMU next year

I know that, but I still can't believe that we're talking about them having a chance to win the title. That's not just an improvement, that's a pretty big one considering where they've been.

I'll definitely be a CMU fan for the rest of the regular season. Out of the 3 teams who could end Miami's chances, they are the one that seems most likely, and they play tonight. That will hopefully get that scenario out of the way. Then we just need them to win at home against OU on the 15th. If CMU plans to get back to playing some good football this year, now is the time. Oh, one more thing. I can't believe we are even talking about Miami !!!

I think it's really premature to question how the defense is being coached, considering the massive personnel losses coming into this year, and so many key injuries throughout this year. I'm sure we can all talk about what they could do differently, but I know we're really limited in how we can perform right now. Give it until next year, and I bet we see big improvement. In the meantime, hope for some big 3rd down stops and turnovers to help us the rest of the way. I think we actually did a great job of keeping Toledo's points to a minimum for most of the first half, and demonstrated some inspired play. I think they just wore us down with our lack of fresh bodies after that.

I saw a guy on either CNN or FoxNews being interviewed as a voter in NE Ohio standing on the street. And he was wearing a big AKRON ZIPS sweatshirt.

I continually remind myself that we return every offensive player next year except JoJo. That's an unbelievable position to be in. But there's always room for adjustments. I think this offense has under-performed in many recent games, with Zero against WMU, and 20 and 17 the last two weeks. I really think we need to look very seriously at bringing in an offensive mind that can maximize what we have. I'm sure Terry and the rest of his network know plenty of people. I think that, in addition to one more year of experience and training could potentially make us a Toledo-like offense next year. The defense, of course, is an entirely different story. On that side of the ball, I think some transfers have not worked out the way we expected. We definitely need some additional talent over there, and much better luck with health next year.

Well......I won't say that I would ever defend anyone who already has a ticket for skipping the Zips for another sporting event. But, you're right that this one had far more legitimacy than many of the other excuses.

The understatement of the day. And that applies to every game anyway. I'm sure "no-shows" were at a premium last nigh though. In fact, I saw someone outside the Stadium asking if anyone wanted to buy his tickets. My wife and I laughed. I probably should have saved him from the effort, and told him to just hand them to someone. What was he thinking?

We're probably too decimated up front to stop the run or rush the passer with any degree of success from here on out. We have to live with that. Here's how I see it: 1) Beat BG and go to a Bowl. I hate the idea of going to a Bowl Game as a .500 team, but it is what it is. 2) Take advantage of the 2 weeks off to give OU all we got. As much as we hated the late bye week, it's going to be a blessing. It shouldn't surprise anyone that we're going to have to outscore people. We were already in that situation before the season began. It's simply become more evident.

20 points against Buffalo last week and 17 tonight against this Toledo defense isn't doing much to support that.

I feel like we were keeping enough points off the board for Toledo early in the game to make a run at them. Then our offense does little after the first series. We HAVE to be able to score against this Toledo defense.

Thanks Kreed. Maybe I should also be more clear about what we're usually looking for over the years. Pleading for someone to turn on a TV in a corner so that we can watch a Zips game in a bar crowded full of OSWho fans doesn't excite anyone in my group. So, although there have been places where we popped in and can't find anyone willing to help us out, the real lack of any kind of Akron crowd or Akron atmosphere anywhere is what's really disappointing. That reminds me. Has anyone been in the new Gridiron (Old BW3)? The layout is the same, but the Blue and Gold paint makes me feel a little bit at home, and they've increased the amount of Zips paraphernalia around the place. I read an article that actually said that this was their intention. I appreciate that, and intend to give them a little more business, when I can.

By "Stadium TVs", I am assuming that these are the ones in the concourse. If they go through with this, there will be roughly 150 people actually in the stands and focused on the game. And to think, we were all laughing among each other last week sitting over at a friend's house watching the sparse crowd in Buffalo. It sucks for us because we can probably guarantee that we will never get this kind of weather again for a November ESPN game.

Good for you. I've even been in bars with larger groups of people, and we've had to leave to try somewhere else. Haven't had very good luck over the years, and I don't think we should have to beg to see Akron games getting aired in Akron bars. Please, give us a list here of those who are accommodating. I'm not the only one who's had that problem. It's gotten discussed on here plenty over the years.

Good luck with that. After probably dozens of failures over the years to try to get Akron bars to turn on an Akron game on a NORMAL night, I'm putting the odds at 50 to 1

We are going to the Zips game. But, neither of us is much of a baseball fan, or any pro sports in general. I suppose for some people who are big Zips fans but also love Indians baseball, they are going to be torn tonight.

I had to read this a couple of times because I thought it might have been a joke. An Akron team, in the MAC, that's "competitive" with an 8-win season draws a 30k crowd to The Info after hell freezes over. Our 2015 and 2016 teams are right in that ballpark. Two years, similar win total, and in competition for a MAC title. So, how do those attendance numbers look to you? And one of the biggest games of the year on the agenda tomorrow. So, what you you guess? 3k to 4k? Maybe 5K if the Indians aren't playing? So, where do you see something changing in the future where we might draw 10 TIMES THAT MANY FANS to a similar game, under similar circumstances?

Did we get a new player this year? ANTONIO Jackson? I'll be biased and say that I'd like our chances against most of those teams listed ahead of us.

You know I completely agree with you on this part. I harp on here often that this is the real difference maker. As a MAC program, we've stagnated, even with all of the wins. A move into the national picture would change all of that. We're not getting too far off topic. We're still talking about Football attendance, which is certainly relevant in a Bowden Ball discussion.

1) That would be a significant difference maker, I agree. 2) Winning more games correlates to jumps in attendance? (See Akron Zips Basketball) (See Response #1). 3) OU's football success over the last decades was cited as an attainable level of success by Balsy, and I agreed. It was not someone's lofty aspiration.