GP1

What makes the Steelers a great defense is they don't give up the big play and they play better as the game moves forward. They do the same thing on offense. They had 20 TDs scored on them this year and 26 FGs. In the modern game, I'll give up fieldgoals all afternoon. You are right, 12th isn't all that great for a pass defense. Teams move the ball on the Steelers through the air. I'm OK with that part of it because it is a passing league now and teams are good at moving the ball some. The Steelers don't give up a lot of TDs and they force fieldgoals when/if teams get in the red zone. The 60 yards per game on the ground does not matter as it is no longer a running league. In the end, all the Steelers defense has to do is keep the team in the game so Ben can win it in the end. I have a good feeling about this week. NY playing their third game on the road in a row on the road.....

I understand you are kidding on some level. Zips fans have high expectations because in recent years we have seen the program play better and win the MAC Tournament. I don't believe a program can be judged by one year, but you have to look at a three year trend and then decide on the range you believe the Zips are perfoming in. I believe the Zips are still performing in the "good" range (good-average-poor are my groups) over the past three years with this year as one of those three years. Capt. Kangaroo made a good point that the Zips should still go 10-6 in the MAC. I agree. If they do, they are still in the good range. Keep this in mind though. 10-6 is dangerously close to 9-7 or worse yet 8-8. At that point it becomes an average season. Another season like that next year and the program goes from good to average. When a program moves from good to average or average to poor, serious questions have to be asked about every aspect of the program. I for one will be rooting for the Zips to win every game to keep us in that good range. "Coachers" are the worst type of fans and I hate to see them on this board. The Zips players can keep the coachers off of this board by performing better for their coach.

This is why it is being called. I saw something on TV about the crackdown of elbows. If I remember right, the elbow can not be above the shoulder or something like that. Then how does one grab a rebound or shoot or dunk or defend over the head passes or...? I have no idea. It's just what I saw on TV.

This is why it is being called. I saw something on TV about the crackdown of elbows. If I remember right, the elbow can not be above the shoulder or something like that.

They are saying all of those things. I can handle that. However, can a guy get a break from it for a couple of hours to watch a basketball game?

I'm sure KD has no problems communicating his expectations to the players. Even though more than 10 guys dress for a game, there are probably only 9-10 who actually belong on the court at this point. Playing walk-ons is not how games are won. It sounds as if they tried to do things differently. The defense KD deploys is good for the MAC. Most nights in the MAC, if you force the other team to take shots from the outside, you are going to win because there aren't very many good shooting teams. Periodically, you are going to run into a team that shoots well like OU did and you will struggle. It doesn't mean you can't win, it just means you will struggle. At the end of the day, even the kids need to understand (and they probably do) this is not the best avenue for them winning, but they have to play better. When any of us go to a game, we aren't guaranteed winning. We should be guaranteed good effort. I heard an ex-NFL guy once say, "I didn't always do my best, but I always gave my best effort." If the Zips played their best against OU and still lost, credit OU's players. The other team is allowed to play good too.

Dear GoZips.com, The schedule section of your site reads wrong. The OU game was not 79-70 (W). Change the W to an L. Make check payable to "The Great GP1" and send it in the mail. Cheers, The Great GP1

+1 I'm the first one to blame poor performance on players. At the end of the day, they are the people on the court who matter the most. He also shouldn't blame them in public. He has been doing it ever since he became head coach. It's one of those personality traits about KD that I find unappealing and it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. The one hing KD needs to understand is he can take all of the blame all of the time. The soccer coach and KD are untouchable. Just take the blame KD, you are the one who brought the players here and you are the highest paid coach in the Athletic Department. Make them better. It's your job.

I really don't care for bitters in my drinks....

There's an old saying. "You make hay when the sun is up." This guy may never get this chance again and he is going to cash in. I'm not saying it is right or wrong, but the sun is up for this guy.

In football, Stanford normallyis to the Pac10 what Northwestern is to the Big Ten, what Vandy is to the SEC, what Baylor is to the Big 12 and what Wake/Duke are to the ACC and what Columbia is to the Ivy League (I have no idea where I pulled that last one out of). At times they get good, but most of the time they are average at best. I guess on some leve I respect them, but I wouldn't be stupid enough to be a season ticket holder to one of the......wait a minute, I am a season ticket holder to one of them.

Maybe they look at the rosters of the schools in the south and figure they won't get on the field. If you are good enough to be offered a scholarship to an SEC school, you are probably more likely to get on the field sooner at a Big Ten school. Kids want to play. The same kid might sit on the bench for a couple years in the SEC and then get bounced because of oversigning. One point about the SEC that nobody has made. This is going to come off as mean, but here it goes. You can be a near retard and get a scholarship to an SEC school if you are a good football player.

Good point. ESPN recently did an Outside the Lines story on this. There are a few legal cases pending pertaining to oversigning that will prove to be very interesting.

Where to start..... First of all, I don't blame anyone for complaining. I'm not exactly a guy easily offended, but our society is already so vulgar I would like to think that someone going to a basketball game for two hours would be a nice break from the vulgarity. I guess UofA can't even spare a guy that. Secondly, the note above. Is this guy the boss of the Athletic Department or not? If not, who is? If so, this guy is asleep at the wheel. His response should be as follows..."I also find the music offensive and I have addressed this matter with my staff in charge of the Dance Team. This music will not be played at the next game. I apologize for this matter happening." This guy is such an absolute joke I don't even know where to start.

No, I don't agree with the question. The reason the SEC is good goes far beyond money to climate, population, culture, etc. Cheating going on in college football is like gambling going on in Casablanca. It goes on in the SEC...It goes on in the Big Ten....It goes on in the PAC 10...etc. It's going on everywhere and has been since the beginning of college athletics. The only difference is whether or not you get caught.

I don't want them yelled at either. Yelling is for practice. I'm more interested in whether or not a different strategy was deployed.

OU shot a higher percentage in the first half from 3-point range than they did 2-point range. Then they shot about the same from 3-point range in the second half. Were the Zips at least trying to do a better job defending the 3 in the second half? If not, why isn't someone complaining about halftime adjustments? If so, some of the players need to do some soul searching.

This is all interesting stuff; however, I'm not sure what direct ties there are to college football. The only link is a guy who was involved in bribes is also a Auburn booster. That's not unusual as a person who could issue a $180K bribe probably is one of the few people in Alabama who could purchase a casino. There is an interesting logic to conspiracy theorists. If a conspiracy theory is proved wrong, to the conspiracy theorist, the conspiracy only becomes that much great and complex. Sort of like the people who think JFK was shot by the mob or Castro or "others". JFK was shot by a guy out of a building window. This is what I think happened. Cam Newton father probably talked to some parents when his son was at Florida and realized some of them took large sums of money. Some parents drink before games and they all sit together. Loose lips sink ships. The Newtons didn't take any money on his way to Florida or the church is father preached out of in Atlanta wouldn't have been a falling down mess. When his son left Florida to go to JUCO, he realized Cam's rerecruitment to another school could land him a large sum of money to remodel his church. Newton's father actually got to live the old saying, "If I knew then what I know now, I would have..." I think that is where the story ends. I really don't care what posters on a thread have to say about it unless they work for the NCAA, FBI or they are a Federal prosecutor.

If the Zips don't get better soon, everyone will be able to have their own urinal at the games used only by them.

Dictate with the four dlinemen in a 4-2-5 scheme. In normal defenses, the dline is left to bellybump with the offensive line so the linebackers can make all of the tackles. I want to see the four dlinemen attack for tackles and not bellybump for four quarters. The Zips need to be more aggressive with their front. College offenses are much different than pro style offenses. Backside pressure can be achieved easier than in the NFL on running plays. Auburn wasn't blitzing last night, but they found themselves in the backfield a lot. Not run blitzing doesn't mean not aggressive. Pressure up front, cover behind is what needs to be done now. Even Oregon with a small line was able to get pressure in the backfield last night with their line because they were smart about how they achieved that pressure. Both teams last night did a really good job of defending the spread with their base defenses.

Big Zips, it was me who posted that. Everything you said is true. It levels the playing field. Lots of double teams are created at the line so the oline does not have to be as good as the dline man-to-man. We saw that last night. It creates match-ups in the passing game by getting backs against slower linebackers, or more favorable match-ups wr to db. The key is the QB. Can't did well with Cribbs and Eddleman (sp?) in this type of offense. CMU dominated the league with their qb for four years....it wasn't Brian Kelly, it was the QB because they continued to win after Kelly left. In terms of the defense, I also said this year that schools need to go to a really big run stopping defensive line and then guys who can run behind them. We ran the 3-3-5 with JD because at the time it was a defense designed to match speed with speed. It didn't work because there weren't enough big guys on the line and we got pushed around. If anyone notices now, some schools who play a lot against this type of offense have switched to a 4-2-5. Five dbacks are necessary because so many players are going out for passes. You need a really good dline that can function well against the run game by itself or at least take up space for the two lbs to make stops. You also need one top notch pass rusher in the dline...he can be a substitution on passing downs or an every down guy, but you need one. I would not want to be a defensive coordinator in football now. The rules are stacked against you and all of the good players are playing offense and that's the way the powers that be want it. Games are very high scoring. It seems to me the primary key to defense in college now is not giving up the big play from outside of the red zone. Teams are going to move the ball, just don't give up big plays. Force fieldgoals in the red zone or wait for a young college QB to make a mistake in the red zone where the field gets smaller, just don't give up the big play from outside of it. Oregon's QB made a mistake in the red zone last night in the first half and it cost them the game.

Take all of the doors off of the bathroom stalls so a man can feel like he is taking a crap at the Rubber Bowl.

It's January 10th and championship game is tonight. There is something wrong with how late it is being played. No college football should take place after the NFL playoffs have started.

Yes. The level of competition in the NFL is awesome. No worries about kids going to class. No worries about alumni issues. Better money. Better talent. Nothing to worry about other than football. If the players don't like him, they can always leave and go find another job paying the same amout of money. My guess is there is going to be a house cleaning and Troy Smith might be the first one to find the door. Singletary got what he deserved. He was an average coach at best and the players knew it. If Harbaugh can coach, the players will respect him. The players just want to win. Do you think the players in New England care Bill B. didn't play in the NFL? Winning = mo money. They want mo money.

Marshall was 6-6 that year and lost to Akron. (S. Holmes won that game by himself against Marshall) I'm not trying to argue anything, just making lies with stats to try to give myself some kind of hope come September. I wish we weren't playing them this year. Nothing will start my year off worse than losing to them. My dislike for that business grows everyday when I read about the honks that support them. 6-6 is somewhat good for a MAC school. Most years, it is good. While I want the Zips to win every game, I don't get too upset about losing to tOSU or any other BCS level school. What upsets me are loses to schools like GW, non-BCS level schools and then the MAC (in no order). All of those levels we should be as good as if not better. This program really needs to start winning.