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I'll be looking at two things... 1) Can the new guys come along fast enough to replace the players we lost, therefore giving us the possibility that we could equal or exceed last year's national standing? I would be happy if that happened. 2) Can those new guys completely exceed expectations, and come along really fast, and possibly make us a much better team than last year? We're in Canada this summer because we haven't been challenged in recent years with this much personnel loss at the same time. So, it's a big task if we wish to get well under that #100 mark. KD should be a National Coach of the Year candidate if he can make that happen.

A Top 16 team would absolutely be a title contender. That would be a #4 seed. Are you saying that Akron becoming a Top-16 team is easier than a #4 beating a #1 seed?

Whoa! Looks like another one ready to join GoZips in the "national championship contender" category. GoZips...what was that line again? "Anything short of Top 16 will be a disappointment"? What alcoholic beverage do both of you guys prefer? I want to start drinking what you guys are drinking.

GoZips....I dig your enthusiasm. I know you're still hoping this is a Top-16 team. I wish for that as well... in my dreams. These numbers don't matter much. We still need to win games. But, I think most people are just being realistic. Personally, after losing 4 very experienced players last year, I'll be thrilled if we are anywhere in the Top 100. That alone would be an acknowledgement that people think we could have the potential to replace those guys with our incoming players. A national championship caliber team this season would be beyond anything I could possibly imagine.

Best news I've heard in a while. If/when Zeke develops the strength to not get pushed around by the wide body types the sky is the limit. That's always good to hear. But, expect that to be more of a mental barrier than a physical one. When will he BELIEVE that his best option is to aggressively attack the basket, as opposed to avoiding the defender for a hook shot? And it's not just strength, but also confidence that your feet can beat the defender to a desirable offensive position too.

Based upon what I saw on the field last year, it is pretty easy to make a case that we had scrubs for receivers. I'll be sure to inform some people who evaluate football talent for a living that they've completely screwed up by showing an interest in these two "scrubs". And since we've gotten this good news about two of our former receivers in the last few days, couldn't one conclude that these guys may have had much better numbers if they had a QB who would have delivered the ball to them with any kind of remotely reasonable consistency? It's a much stronger argument when you turn it around the other way, considering the facts. Should I sit back now and wait for a return to the "then it must have been our OL" argument?

I'm pretty sure that goes without saying, point in this thread was that Emory thinks highly of AJ Price. If he is the stud that Emory believes, doesn't that help out whomever is under center for the Zips? Dr. Z....if he's better than what we had, of course it could help the situation, if someone can get the ball to him. But as I just pointed out, we had two senior receivers just get opportunities to play in the NFL. Price will be a freshman with no playing experience. So, I'll have to join you in hoping that he reaches a pretty good level of play very quickly, and have others join him, before we could say that we've improved at that position. Captain...I agree with your assessment that Carter and LaFrance weren't the greatest, and that they have slim chances of making an NFL roster. My point is that, based on their selection by NFL teams in free agency, it would be hard to make a case that we had scrubs for receivers. I'll ask the same question I've presented before....Did the other 114 better QBs in D-1A last year all have good OLs and good WRs? Of course not. And some say that the pro-style offense requires a QB in the 65% range to succeed. We're such a long way from that, and we need dramatic improvement at that position as quickly as possible.

Maybe a better QB would be the best solution to a bad QB situation? Put Luke Getsy at QB for the Zips last season...how many games does he win? With Getsy we win 5. G-W, Can't, Ball State, Miami & Buffalo. If Nicely would have had just a little better efficiency we win the same 5. We were really close in these games and with QB being such an important position, a little better play from your on field leader means a lot. If Getsy played for Buffalo last year, the Zips finish 0-12. But seriously, guys. Now is the time for excitement, anticipation & optimism. The best man for the QB position will emerge and hopefully better production will occur. From number seven or eight. I certainly prefer one over the other. Mostly because one of them has been so bad. Maybe neither is the answer, but we sure have nothing to lose. But, I just hope for much better play from that position. Period. We all know how much of a difference a consistently accurate thrower makes in the MAC. I'm just tired of hearing the blame placed elsewhere. LaFrance and Carter just signed free agent NFL contracts, for God's sake. I'll say it again....a better QB is the best solution to a bad QB situation.

Maybe a better QB would be the best solution to a bad QB situation?

Granted. However, going into the game, there was a better chance of msu winning than a mac school beating a Big Ten school. It's about why teams are playing these games. They are playing them for the money, not because there is a chance they might win one. The bcs schools play them because they are easy wins on their way to six wins and a bowl game and a chance at an 8 home game season. I don't see how that is good for college football. I also think a lot of top level bcs teams don't want to play more difficult teams because they might lose. And since this is a thread about OSWho, we can point out their 64th ranked schedule strength last year as a prime example. Yet, I'm sure they felt as if they belonged in the national title picture at the end of the year. Just ridiculous. If you want to be talked about as one of the top programs in the country, you need to play and beat the top programs. Caleb Porter understands this.

We can at least hang our hopes on the fact that we were within a touchdown well into the 2nd half in our last two trips down there. Getting blown out is far more likely, but anything can happen. We've played with a lot of heart down there in Cowlumbus.

"Tunnel of Pride." How embarrassing. Their faces should be as red as their jerseys. I decided against purchasing tickets for this game and I am glad. I foresee it being a "Restoring Buckeye Pride™" puke story down there for the first game back post-controversy. I don't need to go into a hostile, defensive atmosphere where the crowd will be foaming at the mouth for a beat down of the Zips so they can somehow feel good about themselves again. Maybe it won't be like that and I hope it isn't for those who are going. I wasn't willing to take the chance. I've been there before, but won't be going this time. Pretty much for the same reasons. I don't want to be a part of what I see as their self-proclaimed "resurrection back to greatness" party. But, won't I beat myself senseless if I miss the game this time, and we win. Remember, I'm the same guy who left the Marshall game early in 2004 because I was sure it was over.

I would really like to get some information on that 7 on 7 game, because that is just ridiculous if true. It is all over yappi and scout. Everyone is laughing their a$$es off that we got smoked by a D3 team. I know 7 on 7 doesn't mean much, but there is absolutely no reason that any D3 schools should even be able to compete with us. Nicely mentioned on Twitter after it happened that it was the first time the players got together after summer break. However, I think the same was the case with Mount. Really though, it's just an excuse. A competitor wouldn't make the excuse that it's just a 7 on 7 or that it's the first time back or whatever. I don't think our players tried too hard and were approaching this as a casual practice session, while the Mount players were treating it like an actual game with their Twitter statuses showing them fired up. Mount was there to win, Akron was there to play catch with friends. It speaks to the different mentalities present in the two teams. A competitor would show up to play and would give a full effort and wouldn't let themselves get beat not matter the level of competition, and I don't think our players did that. This is Ianello's greatest challenge, to change the losing mentality, the skate-by-on-minimal-effort mindset that permeates the team. I went back and found this to be an excellent post. That really is the coach's biggest challenge..changing the losing mentality. Could our talent really be that far behind most of the rest of the teams in the MAC that many of them are able to stomp us? That can't be the case, but some scores certainly looked that way last year. I only find the news about the scrimmage against Mount Union alarming for one reason. Last year, I remember someone posting news about a 7 on 7 scrimmage in which we scored 5 or 6 TDs and looked sharp. I'd expect these kinds of things to happen when you're playing in these wide open passing game scrimmages. Yet, it didn't translate over to the season. Did we even score 6 passing TDs against D-1A competition all year? Now, a year later, we have a poor showing in a scrimmage against a D-3 school. So, regardless of the real significance of these scrimmages, if our passing game might be behind where we were last year, that would be incredibly alarming to me.

Depends what I see on the field. Are we moving the ball? Putting drives together? Production from our passing game when we need it? Converting FGs? Receiving the kick off once a game? Getting pressure on the QB? Rob keeps preaching how the team needs to do the "fundamentals", I hope he steps up his game time coaching ability as well. I'm surprised French didn't ask him about that during his interview with him this week. I understand Steve knows where his bread is buttered, but even a softball like, "coach, do you think a years experience on the field as a HC will help you make better decisions during the games this year?" I remember being at the first game after Gardner Webb last year, and when the PA announcer said, "Akron has deferred to the 2nd half" everyone in our section started to applaud. You'd never think that things could ever get that bad.

I'm expecting people to look at our record last year, and the personnel shortages, and predicting a dismal season. Here's my question: For us fans, if we win 2 or 3 games, do we rave about how much we are "improving"? Are you a better or worse team because you won a couple more or a couple fewer games than the year before? Would it take maybe 4-5 wins to get some people feeling even remotely optimistic again? And would those numbers even have any impact at all on anyone other than the die hard fans? I'm just thinking that for most people, it's going to take significant improvement over the next couple of years before most people show any belief in this program and its coach. I'm still laughing hysterically at their prediction that Ken+ will rise to the top of the standings. I'll believe it when I see it. And if they do pull a miracle like that, I am going to be even more frustrated over our selection for a head coach. But just the fact that anyone is seeing some promise at Ken+ tells me something. I grow much more impatient with all of the "just give it some time" crap when I see others making decisions that prompt the so-called "experts" to believe that they could possibly transition to a winner much quicker.

I think any school would be happy to have a QB named GUNNER.

The word "rebuilding" implies they are going to build it back up to what it was before...God help us. Unless it's 1992 or 2005, I'd have to agree with you 100%

"Wee Bit" may be an understatement. I think with a lot of jobs, unbridled optimism seems to change to realism once someone has settled into the chair for awhile. In athletics especially, inserting the word "rebuilding" often seems like a job-protecting choice of words when things aren't working out.

I wish someone could find a clip of French's all time best call.......the 56 yard field goal by Darren Alcorn in 1992 to beat Toledo in an Acme-Zip game in front of a packed Rubber Bowl. It was our first home game ever in the MAC. What a night.

Thanks for the awful reminder on the stats. It heightens the embarrassment when we're reminded that our only scores were a field goal right as the half ended (when we were down 35-0), and a fumble recovery return.

Ouch is right! People say last year was bad (and it was). But how that '95 team managed to win 2 games is a mystery. The VT score was humiliating, but I nominate the season finale in Oxford as perhaps the lowest point in Zips D-1 history (G-Webb certainly contends.....as does the home loss to Delaware St). Miami won 65-0 and IIRC they took a knee in Zips territory BEFORE halftime! Let's hope we don't see any of that this year I think you're right that the Miami massacre in 1995 may have been the lowest point ever. We should never give up 65 to a MAC team....ever. And the Gardner Webb debacle will stick in my brain forever. But, the 56 at home against Western Michigan and the 50 at home against NIU last year may have been almost as embarrassing? For God's sake, these are MAC teams.

Johnny, I didn't make this trip to Blacksburg, but I was there for the massacre in October of 1995 during Owens first season when VT racked up 77 points on us. The funny thing about that game was that we were tailgating with a bunch of Tech fans for hours before the game, and they insisted that we had a chance to keep the game close because they didn't have a very good offense. In fact, they had just been shut out at home by Cincinnati a couple of weeks earlier. Ouch.

I've always enjoyed listening to Akron fans debate over who was bigger....Mangino or that old coach at Toledo.

It's funny how your typical, brainwashed OSWho fan runs around pounding their chests when the media pays a lot of attention to them. But when it's negative, they BASH that SAME MEDIA that's given them their false sense of superiority to begin with.

I had to remind an OSWho fan the other day that they shouldn't be laughing about our record last year without looking at their own. And when it's all said and done, it might not be their only winless season .