GP1

He built us right into a loss last weekend and is looking to double down on the very actions that contributed to the loss last weekend. I've been pretty supportive of Bowden. However, his handling of the QB situation this year and particularly the last two weeks has been poor.

Funny, I was thinking the same thing about a bowl game. This situation with Bowden's insistence on putting the team in less than favorable positions takes me back a few years and it has nothing to do with Akron football. A few years ago, Wake had one of the best college QBs I have ever seen. His name was Riley Skinner and in his first three years, Wake went to bowl games, including an Orange Bowl appearance. I always said that Skinner rhymed with winner for a reason. Some guys don't have NFL talent, but they win. His senior season, that dinosaur Jim Grobe decided it was more important to go back to his 1960s coaching ideas than to win games. Mid season, they lost a game at Miami 17-14, or something like that, in a game where Grobe was insisting to run the fullback into the line all day instead of using one of the best QBs the school had ever had. Miami did not have a good team back then and the game was easily winnable. The team never recovered and ended up going 5-7. At the end of that season, it was obvious Grobe had destroyed any momentum the program had that day and it spiraled out of control into the condition it is in today. I have that odd sense about the Zips this year as I did about Wake a few years ago. In two weeks, Bowden with his goofy ideas about playing a favorite in lieu of guy who wins, we are not in a very good position with a team playing a second road game in a row. Let's review. After the Miami game, we were 4-2 with a QB who was 8-3 in his last 11 games. Additionally, we had a ton of confidence and momentum. We were a team with low turnovers and a solid defense. We had also beaten a BCS level team. Today we are a team, for no good reason, is moronically in search of a QB and it can't be helpful to the psychological make up of the team. The players aren't idiots and understand what is going on around them and can't be happy about it. We had three turnovers last week with two of them being interceptions. There can't be much confidence or momentum at this point after the pants pooping last for minutes of last Saturday. Traditional losing programs like ours don't recover easily from those episodes and are more likely to repeat them instead of recover from them. I told all of you that if Pohl went down, we would be lucky to go 3-3 in our final six games. I stand by that. While Pohl is now back and could have played last week, Bowden has created his reason to play Woodson and will continue to do so because he is looking for that one time out of ten when he does something "exciting". I'll take boring winning over exciting losing every day. Head coaches get paid to get the bid decisions right. Starting QB is a huge decision for a team and shouldn't be farted around with mid season for the unknown. Or worse, a pet project. As far as I'm concerned, Bowden has mismanaged the QB situation since the beginning of the season and continues to mismanage it even worse than early in the season. Stability and the appearance of stability are critical not only for the QB, but the rest of the team as well. Last week, it cost the Zips a win. Looks like he may be hedging a little this week, but my bet is he doubles down on Woodson and it will cost us another win somehow.The Zips are in a bit of a hole right now. The first thing you need to do when you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging. Stop digging Terry.

Well, it is a "building process". What we have been building for 20+ years is still unclear, but it surely isn't winning.

My question would be as follows: "Coach Bowden, Given Pohl has gone 8-3 in the last 11 starts, why do you refuse to make him the clear starter?" After some follow up questions about that which could include a question about grasp of offense depending on the answers, I might go into some questions about whether losing with excitement while having more turnovers is more important than winning with a less flashy QB who doesn't make mistakes. I might even directly ask him if he is trying to create a situation for HIMSELF where he can justify playing Woodson because he is enamored with him and whatever skills he believes he may have but we have not seen yet. Reporters questions too often stray away from the central requirements for winning into talk radio questions. A team wins with big plays and turnovers/points off of turnovers. We aren't a big play team so we need turnovers and we need keep our turnovers down on offense. If you could get Bowden to admit that Woodson is a turnover waiting to happen, it might make him less enamored with him and he could see more clearly.

I sense your frustration. Many times in life, we go off searching for a solution to a non-existent problem in an attempt to get the results we want. For example, many who support voter ID laws are out to solve non-existent voter fraud. It's goofy. The real purpose of these laws is to keep classes of people from voting. I could be completely wrong, but it's starting to look like Woodson is Bowden's solution to his non-existent QB problem. It looks as if Bowden badly wants Woodson to be the starting QB and is willing to risk a lot of losing to get him in that spot. He has a QB who is 8-3 in his last 11 starts, yet he has this goofy idea that starting a freshman QB with questionable skills is the solution to his QB problem. Maybe he thinks this fake competition he has created is something that will motivate Pohl. Pohl can't be so stupid at this point to believe Woodson presents any threat in any other way than a coach's desire to make a bad decision. This goofy behavior needs to stop if we are going to have the type of season we believe we can have. Bowden needs to stop playing goofy QB games and get to winning. Snap out of it Terry!

Wow. I'd like to think that this isn't foremost in KD's mind when he is making decisions. But then again.....

I thought Dr. Bowden had a JD and not an MD (anyone with a law degree has a doctorate). With the attention paid to concussions in 2014, a cleared to play player should play. The protocols they take are thorough and the medical staffs are more than capable to evaluate a players condition. Pohl should have been on the field if he was cleared.

Good remarks. My guess is OU went in to the game having made the decision that they were going to stop the run and have a freshman, back-up QB who has not shown much beat them. Smart game plan. If one takes out CH's and JC's longest runs, one is left with 11 rushing attempts for 21 yards (1.9 yards per carry). That isn't going to beat anyone and results in wasted downs. When Bowden said something along the lines that they were stuffing the run, he was right. The running game resulted in zero points. Woodson played like a freshman QB and still almost won the game passing. Playing on the road in a divisional game is always difficult and the Zips found themselves in a game they didn't want to play, but had to play. All things considered, maybe it could have been a lot worse. If not for the pants pooping in the final four minutes, we might be having a different discussion today. If the defense is going to stop your running game, you have to be able to pass. If the defense is going to stop your passing game, you have to be able to run. It's D1A football in 2014. Doing the opposite of what the defense wants stop is a winning strategy if you can make it work.

If you have two starting QBs, then you don't have a starting QB. It's one of the worst coaching moves a coach can make.

I did not know this and I find it concerning. There isn't a coach in the world who hasn't had a pet player he wanted to play more than another. Maybe Woodson is the guy Bowden really wants to start and is trying to find a reason to start him. It's sort of one of those things coaches do when they want things to be one way, but they are the other way. The Zips are in the middle of a potential 8 win season and they have a QB who is 8-3 in his last 11 starts and Bowden is "waiting until game time" to name the starter and both are taking snaps with the first team, per GT? I could see waiting until game time to try and throw the other team off, but both taking snaps doesn't make sense to me. The Zips have rounded the final turn and are coming down the stretch on what could be a great season. Pohl is the horse we need to ride and the team needs to know he is the horse as well. Experimentation is for spring practice and some in the fall. It's time to win. Let's get the guy who wins in the game.

If you read my posts, I am one of the people who wants them to run more. However, that didn't cause the loss. The Zips were in the game with 4:01 to go and promptly pooped their pants. The game was there for the taking and they threw away the opportunity with turnovers. None of us ever knows what would have happened. We only know what happened. What happened was, the Zips pooped their pants in the final four minutes of the game.

I pay a little over $100 per game for two tickets and a parking pass to watch Wake Forest. As dreadful as Wake is, it is still worth the money and cheap compared to other D1A teams in the Carolinas. Wake's stadium is only about 60% full these days because they are so bad. They do a little better when the visiting team is relatively close. Wake isn't scrambling to sell $5 tickets. What they are doing is offering five dollars off face value to season ticket holders if they buy extra tickets. If Akron goes back to selling tickets for five dollars or less, they are no further forward than they were in 1987.

Ticket prices are not the problem. My guess is 99% of the people in Summit County have no idea what the price to a Zips game is.

I sell products in the construction industry for a living. One of the things people always say is, "The easiest thing in the world to do is to have a big construction company. The hardest thing to do is to make money with a big company." It's easy to pick up work if you sell is for next to nothing. It's hard to make money doing that though. The easiest thing the Athletic Department can do is sell tickets for one dollar each. It's the worst thing they can do. First, people come to expect one dollar tickets. Second, it tells people your product is only worth one dollar to watch so if you try to raise the price to two dollars per ticket, they scream about a one hundred percent increase in prices and hold a grudge for years. Third, it isn't worth five thousand dollars to end of with results one and two. The problem with attendance has nothing to do with the price of tickets and everything to do with weeknight games and years of losing. Stop those two things and people will show up and pay more for tickets. To devalue the tickets at this point is a mistake.

I'm in! Only if all three of us get 45% though.

One other thing. What would a recommendation to a town be without some dinner recommendations. 42nd Street Oyster Bar Great sea food and local. Recommend the blackened, bacon wrapped scallops for an appetizer. They have a great blackening so if you wanted it with your main course, it would be great. Good bar scene if you are going to be there on Thursday, Friday or Saturday nights. My personal favorite in Raleigh. Vivace They have one in Charlotte and it is a great gourmet Italian restaurant. Bloomsbury Bistro Has been recognized nationally. I've never been there. I should have my own food recommendation thread on this website. People could ask questions about places to eat in towns they have never been to. I've traveled the country and have eaten at some pretty good places. Anytime anyone needs a recommendation, just ask.

I think the early season game everyone should be on the look out for to gauge the potential of the Zips is if the fates bring UNCC and Akron together in Charleston. The 49ers typically are a solid, but rarely great, mid major basketball team from a decent conference. They also play some pretty decent names OOC. They went 17-14 last year but were pretty young, but have 4 starters returning this season. This game would be a good gauge for the Zips.

Another bad team we should beat (Good grief, the MAC is bad this year). They have loses to Army and Indiana State. Enough said with Indiana State. I saw Army play in person this year...they are every bit the team that lost to Yale. My biggest concern is their offense is showing improvement as the season progresses. Always dangerous to play on the road against a team with an offense that is finding itself. We can and should be able to beat them with either Pohl or Woodson in the line up. The ZipsWin! jinx should not be on us since the game is not in Athens. At least the football team only has to suffer through that once every two years. KD and his guys have to carry that cross annually. I look for the Zips to right the ship this week.

They had the ball twice yesterday with under four minutes to go in the game and didn't put points on the board. They were not only in a position to put points on the board, but they were in a position to win the game. They didn't. Maybe Akron did do the best job it could at putting the QB in a position to put points on the board. OU had the #114 ranked pass defense and the #47 ranked run defense. Passing a lot isn't out of the world of reality against a team like that. It's D1A football in 2014 and passing a lot is normal. Our running backs ran the ball 13 times and both averaged under 4 yards per carry. Take out a decent run by CH and he averages one yard per carry in his five other carries. On what planet was that going to win a divisional game on the road? Are we trying to get down and distance to third and eight instead of third and ten? What's the difference? It's exactly the opposite of putting the QB in a position to win.

Understood. However, he isn't the one who fumbled at the 50 with a little under 4 minutes to go. His stats weren't bad for the day....they just weren't the kind necessary to win a divisional game on the road. He needs to dust himself off, learn some lessons and get back at it. His future is bright.

Happy to shine some light on a Sunday morning Dave. The truth is I am one of the people who thinks the Zips should run more. Most just want more running in order to "establish the run", which is stupid. A team should run to establish more scoring, not for the sake of establishing something that doesn't lead to points. The Steelers showed America last week what "establishing the run" does by rushing for a lot of yards and not scoring. It's a stupid way to approach football in 2014 at any level beyond high school. I want more running in a way that ties running and passing together better than the staff currently does. By better, I mean the execution of big plays that lead to at least a shift in field position if not a quick score. It's about scoring in 2014. However, the lack of running isn't the reason they lost yesterday. They had their chances late and didn't execute. Execution in the clutch separates good teams from great teams. It was really that simple.

Today's lesson is an old one, but in need of repeating after the loss yesterday. The subject is, "How to win a MAC game?". This lesson applies to football and basketball. Typically, there are two steps to winning a football game. Step one, win turnovers. Step two, big plays and scoring off of big plays after turnovers. Step three applies to the MAC, Wait for the the other team to poop their pants. OU executed on all three steps yesterday. OU created more turnovers yesterday than we did, 3-2. One resulted in a score off of a turnover that won the game. The other ended the game. OU scored on a 49 yard pass their first series of the game. As far as I could tell, it was the only play over 40 yards yesterday so they had the only big play and it resulted in a TD. At this point, I'm sure the Zips felt a rumbling in the upper bowels, but they were probably hoping it was just a fart. As the game progressed, Akron almost never had the lead, which is extremely dangerous when you are trying to win on the road in your division. I'm sure throughout the game, it became apparent those bowel rumblings might be more than a fart. A player or two might even have sharted in their pants prior to the middle of the fourth quarter. Akron gets the ball with 4:01 to go and their bowels are in complete upheaval. Sure enough, Pratt fumbles. Then the defense can't force a long field goal try and worse,they give up a first down and Akron is forced to use a timeout. OU kicks what amounts to the winning field goal. Akron gets the ball back and with a large amount of poo in their pants with more to come and can't go on a scoring drive. There is one more turnover. Game over. Lots of complaining about play calling. Here is the fact of the matter. Play calling didn't have a direct impact on losing the game. Akron had the ball with 4:01 to go in a tied game and pooped their pants. Just when we thought they might be done pooping their pants, they had one more opportunity to at least tie the game with a FG and released one final, pants staining movement into their pants. I'm sure Kevin O'Connor had his work cut out for him last night. All of the bitching about play calling and not establishing the run, blah, blah, blah is just static noise around the fact that when they had their opportunities to win the game, the players didn't execute. This behavior is no different than when people bitch about KD's offense after a two point loss that included six missed layups. It ignores the real reasons for losing and replaces it with fantasy. When you are playing for something (ie: the MAC East Championship) you need guys who have "been there". We don't have any of those because it's been years since we have had anything to play for. Since we don't have anyone who has "been there", we at least need experience and someone who is accustomed to winning AND a guy that the team wins around. That guy wasn't on the field yesterday for good reason. Pohl may not be the best QB in the world, but the team was 8-3 with him as starting QB in the last 11 games. They lost to a below average team yesterday without him. There is something to be said for guys who win games and the team wins games around Pohl. It's sort of one of those intangible things that can't be measured. The sooner he can get back on the field, the better. Winners win. Woodson IS going to be a good QB for the Zips some day. He just needs some more off season development. Yesterday, he was just another back-up freshman QB. I hope he isn't too down on himself today. In summary, OU had the one big play, won turnovers and waited for the Zips to poop their pants. It was a text book example of how to win a MAC game.

Friends, Tomorrow, I will explain to everyone exactly why this game was lost. Here are some hints: 1. OU followed the fool proof method of winning a MAC sporting event. 2. Turnover margin. 3. Big plays, or the lack thereof. 4. The importance of veteran players. 5. Things that seem like they should matter, but they really don't: A discussion of direct vs. indirect causes of losing. (most fans don't understand what really causes losing...numbers one and two above are good direct causes) Thank you and have a nice evening. Respectfully, The Great GP1

They moved him around a little last week and I think it took some pressure off of him. I would like to see more of that this week. Could be the wrinkle the Zips include in the offense that has not been heavily filmed this season. Could catch them by surprise, get a couple of early scores and ride out the defense with a late TD and some field goals. With a full week as the #1 QB, Woodson should be better than last week. Let's make certain we don't duplicate what the Jets did last night. Need to score points.

The floor is open for nominations.