GP1

A Jedi Knight are you? When Luke can't get the X Fighter out of the water and Yoda does, Luke says, "I can't believe it." Yoda responds with, As fans, we can read what players say in the papers and try to come to some sort of conclusion when we read the comments. I don't take too much of it too seriously. What we don't know is what the player thinks at night when he is all alone looking up at the ceiling. Does he really believe he can do the job or is he satisfied with just trying hard? There is a difference. We are going to find out this year if the Zips really believe they are as good as the talent.

Us fans can think because that's all we really have. It's easy to think. Actions are more difficult. The players need to "Do".

I prefer... or "Sweet 16 or Bust" This team is too good to be thinking about things. They need to be doing things.....Like winning 28 games as I predict. Don't think about winning 28 games and making the Sweet 16...Win 28 games and make the Sweet 16.

I agree, there were plenty of points where things could have been turned around. My point is there was sort of a staring point to the down slide and the pick six was that point. It resulted in a loss that kept the Zips out of a bowl game that season. My main point is it didn't seem like much then, but looking back, it was the beginning of something we still haven't recovered from. More than anything, it took all momentum away from the win the week before. If the Zips win that day and go to a bowl, does Harvey become a malcontent and leave the team? I don't know, but a lot changed that day...none for the better.

The difference in going 5-7 or 6-6 and a bowl game that year was the pick six at CMU. The Zips lost by less than a TD that day. If they go to a bowl two years in a row, the state of the program in terms of recruiting and momentum would have been much greater. It all started at CMU. Can't, etc. just followed what was a terrible outcome for the Zips that afternoon. The loss at CMU didn't seem like much at the time, but it was the vibration that started the avalanche that concluded the JD years.

It's funny how everything can come full circle. A few years ago, the Zips went to Raleigh and beat a BCS team in NC State. We had just come off the MAC Championship and the future looked bright. A week after NC State, they went to CMU and a Getsy pick-six right before half resulted in not only a loss, but signaled the beginning of the end for the Zips season that day and the beginning of the end for JD. At the time it just seemed like an unfortunate loss, but the program never recovered. In retrospect, it was a deep cut to the program....One we have yet to recover from. Here we are a few years later. We get beat by a good team and are going to CMU. Could this be the week we pull one off in the place where it all started to go bad and it signals the beginning of the Zips turnaround? I'd like trips to CMU to be a memory of the beginning of something good instead the beginning of something bad.

Good points Lee. You and I are going to have to beat this drum until the rest of the board listens. Two schools run similar offenses as the Zips. Miami and Toledo. Miami's QB has net rushing yardage of 175 yards this season. Toledo's has a net of 242. The Zips QB has a net rushing of 24 yards. I don't think we are asking for a ton of yards...Just be effective and present the QB running as a real threat. It's foolish not to have a QB that can't exploit a 4 man rush with his feet once in a while. A QB running for 3-4 yards is better than an incomplete pass. A QB running for 3-4 yards is better than an INT throwing into 7 man coverage. A QB running for 3-4 yards is better than a sack. I don't want a running QB. I want a QB who can run effectively.

It's time for this team to take it to another level. Everything is there for the greatest season ever. They need to make it happen. I predict 28 total wins. The Zips go undefeated at home this year. The Zips don't lose a game in December. In order for my prediction to be correct (28 wins), the Zips need to win the MAC Tournament.

That would be great if Weeden was playing for the Zips. Am. The only one who notices maybe all of college football has caught up with the offense at about the same time? WVU, ok state,Zips all having trouble this year.

Agreed. I've been saying for how long now a spread offense needs the threat of running on the part of the QB and the QB has to be half decent at running? Defenses have changed from multiple zone blitz schemes to four man rushing and making QBs throw into incredibly small windows with complicated coverages. If the defensive line breaks down even a little, huge lanes open up for a QB to run (see what Miami's QB did to the Zips). I know this isn't TB's philosophy, but if it means we run 75 plays a game with a QB threatening to run in lieu of 80 plays with no threat of run, I'll take the 75 plays. More plays doesn't make a team better. More points makes a team better. Williams was sacked four times for a total of -28 yards. He had a total of six carries (sacks are considered a carry in college football and the negative yards count against rushing totals). He rushed a another two times for an average loss on those two carries of -8 yards. In 2012, this can't happen. A QB has to be able to pick up positive yardage in order to have success. BTW, below was NIU's QB's rushing totals...He was their leading rusher. He is in the Top 5 rushers in the country at any position. Rushing ATT YDS AVG LG TD LYNCH, Jordan 20 131 6.6 35 2 We would be better off is we had a QB who could produce 35% of what Lynch does on the ground.

Because too many people are betting on NIU regardless of the spread. Possibly a feeding frenzy going on in favor of NIU. Sucker bet taking the favorite on this one? Most people make money when they gamble doing the opposite of what everyone else does. Maybe a time to unload on the Zips.

According to....?

He'll fit right in with the QB they draft in two years.

Sort of my point. Work in the fresh QB behind an experienced line and don't write off everyone. TB is making games close. To look at only the won/loss record ignores any improvement. We lost by six yesterday. Ianello would have lost by much more. I don't know who said better coaching would have won three games this year, but that is just crazy talk. Better talent....and a lot more talent, maybe.

Some are discussing benching starters. I'm all for it, but we can't do it in a way the leads to 30 point loses. It's one thing to try to sell a winning program, but it is even more difficult to sell a losing program that loses by 30 points per game down the stretch. I believe we need to work in the freshman QB behind an experienced line. Experience is good for an individual player. Cohesion is important for offensive linemen and that needs to be worked on in the off season. Working in Pohl behind a young line under siege isn't the best way to develop a young QB.

As do I. The biggest problem the team has is talent. We have to attract kids with the idea of playing quickly and thats not the ideal position. "Winners" want to play for a winning team. They also want to compete to be the best and for playing time. They want to compete in practice and in games. Competition makes the team better. Bringing in kids with the promise of getting on the field quickly is the easy way. Not a competitive mindset. Our task is hard and there is a disconnect between the kind of kid we need and the kind of kid who would be attracted to signing with Akron. Our problems aren't impossible to fix, but they are extremely difficult. It's shocking how completely wrecked this program is and I say that as a person who believes they are better than last year. Randy Travis once wrote a song called, "I'm going back to a better class of loser" and I think that's where we are right now. We are still losing, only in less spectacular ways

Get log on from someone who has cable service that carries 3.

I think Carl Albright was thrown under the bus and well deserved. When the next guy who takes over that company finishes cleaning out his incompetent buddies, they are going to have a difficult time finding a job overpaying them the way Carl did. Any of them with a customer facing position will be in big trouble when they hit the streets.

A down year? It's been a downward trending decade. All the Big Ten needs to do is add Rutgers and UCONN and it will be right up there with the SEC....Just ask any Big Ten fan.

Link Maybe a couple of weeks ago, we discussed pass rushers vs. run stoppers. I like run stoppers with athletic talent to disrupt the QB. I think and have posted this as far back as the JD days, most teams should play a type of 4-2-5 defense on most plays. Rushing really good QBs in 2012 with upwards of 5 guys when the offense is using 5 WRs can be suicide. The link above shows in two of the three cases a defense rushing only four and defending with seven. There are no passing lanes and the entire field is covered behind the line. Houston has the type of DLinemen we need to develop. They are great at stopping the run and can block passes at the line. Good pass defense starts with QB disruption. It doesn't always have to equal a sack. A ball batted at the line can be just as good, if not better, than a sack as it can lead to an INT. I hope as the Zips look at what kind of DLine they want in coming years. I hope this type of DLineman is exactly the type of player they are looking at. If we had more guys like him against Miami, we could have defended their QB better. It's 2012. Rush four and cover. Many will say it is "playing not to lose" or a "prevent defense" or whatever cliche they want to bring out of the 20th Century. It isn't. It's responding to the innovation in the game over the past 5-10 years. The innovation of the passing game must be countered with innovation at every level of the defense and this type of player playing for Houston is the future.

Actually, this wouldn't be a bad idea. Win or lose, every game would have a happy ending.

InfoCision works on a "break even guarantee" meaning they get all of the money up to the point the program is paid off. The non-profit doesn't make a dime until that point. Since they bill per completed call and not by caller hour, they make double the rate of every other telemarketing company. InfoCision is in the business of raising money for itself. My guess is the non profits would care if they actually knew how much InfoCision was making per hour compared to their other vendors. But then again, if they knew, the people who run the big non profits wouldn't get to have the the IC executives fly to their towns and take them out to extravagant meals on a regular basis.

Sounds like Z-P might have fallen in love Saturday.....or at least a man crush.

Good post. Chisholm, even if you take out his longest run, averaged over five yards a carry. In the second half, the Zips only ran roughly 1/3 of the plays they ran the entire game and kept the ball for roughly 10 minutes. My guess is the first two possessions of the second half for BG crushed the Zips defense. They scored one TD and one FG. They ran the ball 13 of 16 plays on those two scoring drives with some rather long runs. Those two drives alone lasted roughly 7:30. They completely exploited the lack of depth the Zips have. After BG scored their first TD, the Zips needed to respond with a balanced offense, but instead, they were flagged for five yards on their first play and had to go straight to the pass. The penalty forced a short series and put a tired defense back on the field. It snowballed out of control from there. Confidence and momentum my friends....confidence and momentum.

There is nothing wrong with dreaming in the first season of a new coach, or being positive for that matter. At this point, no loss should be stunning. We all knew what could happen this season based upon the talent level. Like you though, I was hoping it wouldn't happen. It isn't hard to stop an offense if only one RB is running well. Stop the plays they run with that guy and as Lee Adams mentioned, drop seven back in coverage. Makes me even more convinced that having a DLine with four very good run stoppers is better than one with a bunch of pass rusher or a mix of both. Stop the run with as few players as possible (4) and force the pass. With offenses running so many WRs out on patterns and given the rules of the game that don't allow a WR to be touched without a penalty, the logical defense is to out number the WRs with defenders with a combination zone/man defense. If a player hits the QB these days, he gets a head to head penalty, so blitzing opens the door for penalty yards and something I hate even more...big plays. Give the QB nothing to throw to. Turn the ship around? Given the ship was sinking last year, I'm just happy we are no longer taking on water and the ship is actually turning. Brings me to another point. When teams like UB and Akron win the league, it is during a period when the league is down or on a downward trend. The league is much better now than in recent past, but that never lasts. I expect a downturn in the league the next few years while we are on the rise. It will play in our favor.