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Let me try to simplify this a bit, from someone who has seen everything that has happened to this football program for nearly 3 decades.I have often pondered the reason or poor attendance.At one time, I thought it was due to lack of high-level competition, until I saw only 12,000 people show up for a game against Virginia Tech at the Rubber Bowl.Is it that we aren't winning? Well, 3 years ago we were playing Miami in the season finale for the right to go to the MAC title game. And once again, the crowd was dissappointing. I even left an Ohio State / Michigan party to go to that game, and most of the people at the party looked at me like I was crazy.Which leads me to my final analysis.....There's only going to be so many people that are interested in a football program that does not compete on a NATIONAL level. So, unfortunately for us, most people in this area have much more interest in sitting in front of the TV watching #6 play #9 on a Saturday night.Until we someday reach that level, the challenge of getting more people interested in Akron football will be limited. So, please stop with the "facilities" argument. If we were a nationally-ranked football program, the Rubber Bowl would be packed.

ZipAlumn....yes, I was watching the same game.Our running game stalled when they started bringing more defenders into the box. And this is happening because we can't complete passes.

Of all of the people from the old regime, Stacy is a guy I would want back here.I really believe our running game has made great strides this year. The offensive line has gelled a bit, and both Williams and Allen look to have tremendous potential. The problem is that when we can't complete passes, more guys start to come up on the line of scrimmage. That is exactly what happened last night.

Jabari's been good for us. But, he doesn't catch the ball consistently enough to play in the NFL. I think that's a no brainer.

Ummm...It certainly won't be Stams.

We know this much.....CJ11 can't throw on the run. Heck, he's having trouble throwing from the pocket too. CJ7 was thrown in to try to give the offense a lift. An offense that was doing NOTHING. How can that be a bad coaching decision? However, because of the result, I think he's seen his last snap as a QB in an Akron uniform. The dropped passes are killing me too.During my entire 3 decades as a Zips fan, I've probably never shaken my head so much during a football game.It's still amazing to me that we can't throw, even with having two good running backs that are a threat to any defense we play. Miami got smart and put 8 guys on the line of scrimmage, and we still couldn't pass.

I'll add some thoughts...1) I think I've answered my own question about how much John Mackey means to that defense. Under any normal circumstances, you WIN a football game when you put together a defensive performance like that. Sure, they bailed themselves out with a couple of INTs, but they did everything possible for us to win this game.2) I think Carlton Jackson just saw his last snap as an Akron QB. He'll either be gone, or being groomed as a DB or WR by spring training camp next year. He'll certainly be a better asset to this team in that capacity, and we should hope that he stays to help us in another capacity. And I hope everyone now sees why JD has had his reservations about playing him, and why he went with "the guy who makes less mistakes". It all makes sense now.3) Before any of you think I like CJ11, don't go there. He's clearly not the answer either. Unfortunately, we probably won't see Rogers since it would make no sense to pull his redshirt this late in the season. So, essentially, we'll be right back where we started this year with our QB situation. It looks like Sean Hakes made a huge mistake. 4) Running wide on a fast defense, and not doing a very good job of mixing the run and pass should probably spell doom for our OC. This needs to be looked at seriously. MAC talent does not waiver all that much from one team to another to see an offense look that silly. I can't explain this beyond bad play calling at this point. It sure seems to me like we made the wrong call WAY too often. 5) ON THE BRIGHT SIDE, we have an OL that is really starting to come together, and two really good running backs. This should give us a good nucleus to really start to build our offense next year. 6) ONE OTHER BRIGHT SPOT. In what must be the craziest set of circumstances ever, you would have won if you had taken Akron +9 tonight, EVEN THOUGH THEY DIDN'T SCORE A SINGLE POINT.

Captain....I was only making the point that it did not say MAC Tournament Champion. But I do agree with your point that the tournament is very important, because of the automatic bid. And certainly, the regular season championship gives you that bye, and the highest seed, which can go a long way towards making your tournament journey a whole lot easier. The regular season vs. tournament championship, and which benefits you more in the long run, is certainly a good topic for discussion and differing opinions.

Did anyone notice that their website says that they are the Mid-American Conference Basketball Champions? I guess they decided to conveniently omit the word "tournament".And after their last-second win against Xavier, I hope they have now officially fallen off the "lucky train", and have now gotten their fill of last second miracle wins against better teams.

Zip Watcher....you're right. We would have progressed in that tournament, and added teams that would have bolstered our SOS. Wow. Thanks for reminding me. What a missed opportunity.

I've asked myself that question many times...Would 1 or 2 more wins had made a difference last year?If we had beaten UALR and/or UIC, our SOS would still have been the same, You'd like to think that they certainly could not have passed us up with 27 or 28 wins, but I'm thinking that they stopped taking a serious look at us as soon as they evaluated our schedule. In my lifetime (and I'm old) I have not seen a change in philosophy when it comes to the selection committees. They still appear to put a lot more weight on who you play, and not how many games you win. I wish that wasn't the case, because it's hurt us in the past, but that might be the reality we have to deal with for quite some time to come.

We're forgetting the lessons of the past 25 years.On several occassions during the Huggins era, and now today, we've been snubbed by the tournaments, even though we had outstanding records. The only thing that changes that process is scheduling bigger programs, getting better recruits, increasing SOS, and eventually being able to knock off a few of them.uakronkid....better schedules do indeed serve as recruiting tools. I'm just not understanding why anyone feels optimistic that winning 25 games with a weak SOS is going to get us into a tournament. History keeps repeating itself. It's been doing that ever since I have been a Zips basketball fan going back to the early 80's. And last year was an indication that the tournament selection committees are not looking at our resume any differently now than they did 25 years ago.

skhorbotly. I don't think it really matters if he is trying to make a name for himself, or for the program.You have to play and beat big schools before anyone gives you any kind of status. Plus, just playing those teams helps recruiting. If we're passing up those opportunities because we can't get a return trip, and think that we're better off substituting that with a game against Binghamton, we're not advancing the program.

trimmy10...I'm with ya.If nothing else, our win over Can't State to avenge last year's embarrassing loss, and the fact that they have again returned to football obscurity, has been one of the highlights of this football season for me.

BirdZip..that is why I keep saying that we don't have opportunities to pull "upsets" on our schedule. At least not the kinds of upset that will be noticed at tournament time. Being ranked at #78, and going into every game during the season being the favorite, is not going to give people a reason to hoist Akron into an at-large tournament spot in March. So, is this schedule really accomplishing anything? We'll see. Yes, Can't does return all 5 starters. But, if I recall, Can't had some very young guys in their starting backcourt last year, which may be why they are still referring to them as having a young backcourt. To the contrary, we have seniors in our backcourt, and many people think that really makes a difference in this conference. Once again....We'll see.Ok..I'll say it again. I still wish we had some opportunities to pull some legitimate upsets that would turn heads.

gozips88..that is hilarious. Mr. Redhawk, let me tell you that I am a much older Zips fan. And the way you people seem to boast about being the high and mighty of the MAC has just created an impression that, I assure you, is not what you probably want.Plus, we kicked your tails last year at the Rubber Bowl while we were in the midst of a 5-7 season. If I were you, I wouldn't think that warrants degrading the team the put that licking on you.

I'll agree. He took over a really poor program, and has held his own. He proved last night that we indeed have not fallen far behind the best in the conference during a rebuilding year, which is very encouraging.

skhorbotly...Unfortunately, winning games in that Alaska tournament will likely not be considered upsets. Have you seen the teams in that tournament? I understand your desire to pull off some upsets early in the season, but we're not set up that way. In fact, are there any teams on our non-C schedule who we'll be considered underdogs against??

As I'm thinking about it, I can't resist one more thought.I know some of you will say, "well, that is just the surprising nature of MAC football", but how in the world did we hang up 48 points on a defense that we could not score on last year until the very end of the game?Sure, they may not be exactly the same defense, but it's still not at all what I expected to see tonight, in my wildest imagination.

No, we're not going to a bowl game, but the effort was outstanding. We did have a couple of breaks go our way, but I say it's about time.I guess this answers our question about whether JDs guys were quitting on him, because we were out of the title hunt.I'm seeing the positives on the horizon for the coming year. And before today, I wasn't seeing really that. That player should have been ejected. And if I was OUs coach, I would have pulled him for being a moron, and then bragging about it.

My thoughts.....Weather wasn't anywhere near as bad as I expected, but the crowd still stayed away. Best 3rd Q we played all year, but we still could have finished off the game very early if not for allowing OU to score a TD on a 4th and 10 from the Akron 40 on a bomb in the 3rd Q.However, best job of closing out a close game late as we've had all year. Running game really developing well with the Allen/Williams combination.Linebackers making solid tackles tonight, on a team with a good running attack. Well, except for that nice, long, scary run that they had in the first half.DBs knocking away some passes on some key 3rd down plays.What's with CJ7 playing 1st Q, and CJ11 playing the rest of the game? Not the rotation we've been seeing up to this point.Best offensive play of the game: CJ11 rolling out, getting the DB to commit, and hitting the open TE for the clinching TD.

zen...you're exactly right. The Browns were able to get more for Frye. But, sgm will probably say that it was because of Anderson's stellar performance in the last 3 quarters of the Steelers game. Again, there's nothing we can do now to compare the two QBs. All we have is 2006. Charlie is holding a clipboard in Seattle because he's learning the offense and developing in their system, something that would have benefitted him tremendously had he gone to a team like Seattle from the beginning. If you read the ABJ article last weekend, his role is going to continue to grow as he progresses.Thanks to sgm for acknowledging that we don't know what Charlie would have done this year. I really think that is all anyone is trying to say. Sorry about the spelling error.....I wasn't an English major.

Thanks zipsdiehard....couldn't have said it better myself.sgm....Charlie is not here anymore to compare how they are playing under the same circumstances. It's over. He's gone, and he's not coming back. It's a mute point.When they were both here, Charlie was the starter, and Anderson sat the bench. There was a reason for that. The coaches consistently deemed one to be better than the other. I'm sure you probably think Jeff Garcia stinks too.

I'm not sure I could ever believe that a coach at the mid-major level was playing certain players to spite people, or prove a point. I'm sure JD wants the best players out there, who will give him the best chance to win.If this was not the case, he wouldn't have a job very long. And D-1 head coaching positions are not that easy to find.