GP1

Agreed. As if NIU needed any incentive to'lay half a hundred' on Akron,rubbing their noses in something that happened 5 years ago was not a high minded choice. You especially don't want to do that when they are now a helluva lot better than you are. Maybe OK at another game but not this one. Maybe it shows the real mindset of this athletic department. Homecoming is exactlhy when they should do this type of event. I have no problem with them having a 5 year anniversary on Homecoming. It just so happens we had the team we beat five years ago show up for the game.

I watch a lot of football. Something the past 2-3 years has really started to bother me. Maybe you guys see the same thing at Akron games. It used to be the first two thoughts that went through a DBs mind when the ball was in the air were these two, in this priority: 1. Intercept the ball 2. Knock the ball down It seems today that the first instinct for a DB is to commit a pass interference penalty when the ball is in the air. In the game I was at last light, one DB just reached out and grabbed the jersey of a GaTech WR 15 yards downfield (the next play he missed a tackle that gave up 40 yards and set GaTech up for at least a FG with under a minute). These are WRs in an option offense and really aren't that good. It's as if they don't know the rules. Most of them are in a position to make a clean play and don't take advantage of it. Am I the only one who notices this? Fans talk a lot about coaching vs. recruiting. Maybe this is what happens when the focus of college football becomes recruiting and not coaching. It is a part of the game I am really starting to dislike.

Excellent description of why a pro style offense doesn't work in college. College kids are easily fooled...an NFL player is too prepared to be fooled so there is no sense in trying to trick them. At that point, overpowering the other team and big plays down field are the keys in the NFL. NFL offenses are designed to manage games that result in less points than college games. In college, you need to rack up a ton of points and hope the young players on the other team can't keep up or make enough mistakes for you to win. If you can't get a lot of points in college, you at least need to move the ball to force the other team to move the ball long distances.

I'm not here to defend the coaches. Their pro style offense will never work here and the sooner they are gone the better...along with the guy who hired them, but the players need to show some pride in themselves. Move the freaking ball and stop the other guys every now and then. Why do you say that? Teams that win with pro style offenses have a lot of future pros on their team....Alabama is loaded and runs a pro style offense. They are loaded with future NFL stars. In the MAC, you get MAC talent. I don't think it takes much to make a bad team average or an average team good in college football. Success in the MAC can come from scoring a bunch of points and not shooting yourself in the foot on defense. If you can hang around long enough in a mac game, the other team will hand you the game. How do you get those points?...... CMU was very successful with the spread offense and a great QB the past four years. Cincy did the same thing in the Big East. Score a bunch of points and make teams in bad conferences try to match your point output. It's easier to do in the MAC and Big East than the major BCS conferences. CMU was unsuccessful in bowl games but beat the crap out of the MAC because the moved the ball in a spread offense. Cincy was exposed for being a fraud in the Sugar Bowl last year, but they killed a terrible Big East with the spread. I've said this before, Texas almost beat Alabama last year in the BCS Championship with an off the bench freshman QB. I see average teams win too much with the spread to think that it doesn't work. There are real reasons for the success as well....For example, it makes pass blocking schemes easier for linemen because it moves potential rushers away from the line. Same with the running game. If one OLineman makes a mistake, the whole line breaks down. Make an average line good by moving defenders away and eliminate confusion. The spread is actually a very simple offense that looks complicated. If there was a book about explaining the spread, it would be called, "Offense for Dummies". The Zips don't have time to assemble a team that would be able to run a pro offense and finish any higher than second place in the MAC East. It will take years and by then the coach will have turned over twice already. It just isn't a reality. The reality is, the spread offense turns programs around fast because it doesn't take as many pieces and parts to be successful. A pro style offense takes a lot of good players. The Zips need to win now, not 8 years from now. If we look around at teams that run pro style offenses in the midwest, how successful are they? Wisconsin?....Nice team, but the saying, "Always a bridesmaid and never a bride" comes to mind. Chronic second and third place Big Ten team. Pitt?....Third place Big East. Iowa?....Lost to Arizona who if my memory is correct, is an average team that has become good by running a spread offense. Notre Dame under Weiss?...Hello Kansas City. Stanford is having success with a pro style offense out west, but I'm not sure if they will fall into the Wisconsin and Pitt trap or not. Time will tell with them and they already play in a league with pro style offenses being played around them such as at USC. They crushed Oregon today, but I suspect Oregon will lose more by the end of the year. The spread offense isn't for everyone, but if you want to go from being poor to at least average (we would probably take that right now) or average to good, the spread has been shown to work in the MAC. We are a MAC team and we need to do what works in the MAC. I'm sold...you're hired. (dead serious) Send in your resume, you can be my #1 assistant. I'd like to add more evidence to how effective the spread is with a QB that can run. Please do not take this as an opportunity to start the UofA vs. tOSU argument. It really makes a good point about how the spread offense takes average-good players and makes them good-great. If you are offended and want to continue to read, insert Team X for tosu and you will feel better. Insert "Joe Smith" for Pryor. Pryor was churning out a ton of yards yesterday and tosu was on their way to a blowout of a hapless Illinois team. His yards were gained out of a spread formation running the read option, not from under center. Then Pryor gets hurt and really couldn't run...same guy, no wheels. It was shocking how fast tosu changed into a very average offense at that point. All of the sudden, their RBs couldn't get yards...the Oline didn't look as good.....Pryor wasn't quite as good of a passer as he is when the threat of running is there....their WRs became EXTREMELY average. Pryor is the difference between tosu finishing first in the Big Ten or third. Without Pryor, Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin and maybe MSU are all better teams than tosu. College football is a team sport, but if you can just find a couple of the right pieces, you can be very good very fast.

Good post. French is right. Full scholarship = full effort. I could care less about the coaches and whether or not the players are listening. If they don't want to play, they should quit the team...plain and simple. They are all getting a scholarship to a D-1A school and need to play better. The last point is right on the money. No mac team is 35 points better than another talent wise. Stop reading if you dont' want to hear about my trip to a Wake Forest game. Last night, they almost beat GA Tech and I was at the game. Tech is better than Wake at every position and Wake lost with 15 seconds remaining. Throughout the game, Wake played with heart and nobody left anything on the field. I can live with a team losing like that. A full scholarship to Wake for four years is valued around a quarter of a million dollars. They may not have won, but they earned their scholarships last night. The Zips need to do the same.

I'm not here to defend the coaches. Their pro style offense will never work here and the sooner they are gone the better...along with the guy who hired them, but the players need to show some pride in themselves. Move the freaking ball and stop the other guys every now and then. Why do you say that? Teams that win with pro style offenses have a lot of future pros on their team....Alabama is loaded and runs a pro style offense. They are loaded with future NFL stars. In the MAC, you get MAC talent. I don't think it takes much to make a bad team average or an average team good in college football. Success in the MAC can come from scoring a bunch of points and not shooting yourself in the foot on defense. If you can hang around long enough in a mac game, the other team will hand you the game. How do you get those points?...... CMU was very successful with the spread offense and a great QB the past four years. Cincy did the same thing in the Big East. Score a bunch of points and make teams in bad conferences try to match your point output. It's easier to do in the MAC and Big East than the major BCS conferences. CMU was unsuccessful in bowl games but beat the crap out of the MAC because the moved the ball in a spread offense. Cincy was exposed for being a fraud in the Sugar Bowl last year, but they killed a terrible Big East with the spread. I've said this before, Texas almost beat Alabama last year in the BCS Championship with an off the bench freshman QB. I see average teams win too much with the spread to think that it doesn't work. There are real reasons for the success as well....For example, it makes pass blocking schemes easier for linemen because it moves potential rushers away from the line. Same with the running game. If one OLineman makes a mistake, the whole line breaks down. Make an average line good by moving defenders away and eliminate confusion. The spread is actually a very simple offense that looks complicated. If there was a book about explaining the spread, it would be called, "Offense for Dummies". The Zips don't have time to assemble a team that would be able to run a pro offense and finish any higher than second place in the MAC East. It will take years and by then the coach will have turned over twice already. It just isn't a reality. The reality is, the spread offense turns programs around fast because it doesn't take as many pieces and parts to be successful. A pro style offense takes a lot of good players. The Zips need to win now, not 8 years from now. If we look around at teams that run pro style offenses in the midwest, how successful are they? Wisconsin?....Nice team, but the saying, "Always a bridesmaid and never a bride" comes to mind. Chronic second and third place Big Ten team. Pitt?....Third place Big East. Iowa?....Lost to Arizona who if my memory is correct, is an average team that has become good by running a spread offense. Notre Dame under Weiss?...Hello Kansas City. Stanford is having success with a pro style offense out west, but I'm not sure if they will fall into the Wisconsin and Pitt trap or not. Time will tell with them and they already play in a league with pro style offenses being played around them such as at USC. They crushed Oregon today, but I suspect Oregon will lose more by the end of the year. The spread offense isn't for everyone, but if you want to go from being poor to at least average (we would probably take that right now) or average to good, the spread has been shown to work in the MAC. We are a MAC team and we need to do what works in the MAC. CRUSHED? Is that what it's called? Oh, then we really CRUSHED N.ILL. today. Oops....Heard the score was the other way around. My bad....was at another game and missed the highlights. Anyhhow, it proves my point. Pro style offense gets rolled by a team who runs the spread. Oregon isn't that talented of a team, but they rack up a lot of yards and points.

I'm not here to defend the coaches. Their pro style offense will never work here and the sooner they are gone the better...along with the guy who hired them, but the players need to show some pride in themselves. Move the freaking ball and stop the other guys every now and then. Why do you say that? Teams that win with pro style offenses have a lot of future pros on their team....Alabama is loaded and runs a pro style offense. They are loaded with future NFL stars. In the MAC, you get MAC talent. I don't think it takes much to make a bad team average or an average team good in college football. Success in the MAC can come from scoring a bunch of points and not shooting yourself in the foot on defense. If you can hang around long enough in a mac game, the other team will hand you the game. How do you get those points?...... CMU was very successful with the spread offense and a great QB the past four years. Cincy did the same thing in the Big East. Score a bunch of points and make teams in bad conferences try to match your point output. It's easier to do in the MAC and Big East than the major BCS conferences. CMU was unsuccessful in bowl games but beat the crap out of the MAC because the moved the ball in a spread offense. Cincy was exposed for being a fraud in the Sugar Bowl last year, but they killed a terrible Big East with the spread. I've said this before, Texas almost beat Alabama last year in the BCS Championship with an off the bench freshman QB. I see average teams win too much with the spread to think that it doesn't work. There are real reasons for the success as well....For example, it makes pass blocking schemes easier for linemen because it moves potential rushers away from the line. Same with the running game. If one OLineman makes a mistake, the whole line breaks down. Make an average line good by moving defenders away and eliminate confusion. The spread is actually a very simple offense that looks complicated. If there was a book about explaining the spread, it would be called, "Offense for Dummies". The Zips don't have time to assemble a team that would be able to run a pro offense and finish any higher than second place in the MAC East. It will take years and by then the coach will have turned over twice already. It just isn't a reality. The reality is, the spread offense turns programs around fast because it doesn't take as many pieces and parts to be successful. A pro style offense takes a lot of good players. The Zips need to win now, not 8 years from now. If we look around at teams that run pro style offenses in the midwest, how successful are they? Wisconsin?....Nice team, but the saying, "Always a bridesmaid and never a bride" comes to mind. Chronic second and third place Big Ten team. Pitt?....Third place Big East. Iowa?....Lost to Arizona who if my memory is correct, is an average team that has become good by running a spread offense. Notre Dame under Weiss?...Hello Kansas City. Stanford is having success with a pro style offense out west, but I'm not sure if they will fall into the Wisconsin and Pitt trap or not. Time will tell with them and they already play in a league with pro style offenses being played around them such as at USC. They crushed Oregon today, but I suspect Oregon will lose more by the end of the year. The spread offense isn't for everyone, but if you want to go from being poor to at least average (we would probably take that right now) or average to good, the spread has been shown to work in the MAC. We are a MAC team and we need to do what works in the MAC.

Under 10k. They really need to start the games during the early afternoon. My understanding is it rained. I read somewhere something that said in the fall it rains more in the midwest in the evening than during the afternoon because of temperature changes and moisture movement. Why on God's green Earth we start games in the evening I have no idea. A nice afternoon might draw someone to watch a bad team, but rain and cold to watch a bad team, they will be lucky to have 8,000 at the next game. Sounds like the great marketing idea of selling reserved tickets for $60 for four didn't work. Go figure. They are going to have to start paying you guys to go watch them by the end of the year. That would actually be a good topic if someone wanted to start it. If you have made a decision to not attend any further games this year, how much would they have to pay you to go to another?

In response to the first question, which is normally said, "the coach has lost the team". That is impossible to know unless every player is asked and then it is up for debate. Sort of an old sports cliche that really sounds good to say but nobody knows what it really means. The real question is, do these players have any pride in themselves? 25% (4 in 12) of their drives were three and out. One drive lasted one play and resulted in an INT. 50% of the drives were 5 plays or less. I'm not here to defend the coaches. Their pro style offense will never work here and the sooner they are gone the better...along with the guy who hired them, but the players need to show some pride in themselves. Move the freaking ball and stop the other guys every now and then.

There's something really wrong if he isn't.

ESPN runs promos for college sports and they sometimes call it "Judgement Saturday" or "Rivalry Saturday". Don't turn this Saturday into "Cremation Saturday" with grilled ribs. Just like I expect the Zips players to step up their game Saturday, I expect the same out of you guys. Someone needs to step up and make a rib worthy of eating. Below are the steps to success: Step 1: Take the day off of work today. Step 2: Rent a smoker. Step 3: Buy 5 cases of beer because it is going to be a long night and day. Step 4: Sleeping bag Step 5: Put the wife and kids to bed and leave wife with to do list for tomorrow. Step 6: Lot 9 at 9 PM Friday and set up. Step 7: Let the smoking begin....and not just the ribs. Step 8: Take home best of show rib award for your smoked ribs. Step 9: Go watch the Zips win. Step 10: Eat cold ribs after the Zips victory. Step 11: Wake up Sunday and try to remember what you did Saturday. Get er done.....

This is why LBJ needs to can his entourage. They are amateurs and he now needs professionals. LBJ is no longer in Cleveland where the media threw softballs and ESPN would have never asked a question that might trip up a player. LBJ didn't have to be as polished as say a Michael Jordan was in Chicago. Maimi is a different story and he has acted in a way where some in the media will be looking to knock him down. He needs to tighten up his interviewing skills. He should can his manager and let him move back in full time with his mommy.

Thankfully there are teams like K.e.n.t. who always collapse. That gives me hope for next week. K.e.n.t. always finds a way to beat themselves. But I'm getting ahead of myself.... Who are you trying to kid?......It's never too early to pile on Can't. Did you hear that Can't's library burned down?............They lost both books...............and one hadn't even been colored in yet.

Just when you thought it couldn't get worse for him this news hits. I'll say it again. LBJ has surrounded himself with a bunch of clowns. This question was a chance for him to admit that he made a bit of a fool of himself during LeDecision. Instead, he says there was a racial aspect to the negative view of LeDecision. Basically, he is saying there was nothing wrong with what he did and if you think he was a bit silly doing it, you are a racist. I don't see it that way. Years ago, LBJ should have been schooled by a PR person as to how to handle race questions. His people should have had him prepared for it after LeDecision. Some professionals from Nike need to step in.

I'm sticking with my prediction from earlier this week. Three road games in a row too much for NIU. Zips 27 NIU 20

I agree Brian, I wish the Zips AD was as passionate about it as Mike is. Brian Kelly is the best marketing executive UC had. The new coach....not so much. Brian Kelly = winning = marketing success The formula for marketing sports programs revolves around winning. If we win here, TW will look like he actually knows what he is doing.

None of us, including me, have answered the question. Is the improvement a mirage? I would firmly say no to that question. We are better today than a month ago in every area. How much better we will be Saturday is up to the players. I'm still holding out hope that the MAC is as bad as I believe it to be. If so, we will look even better this week. I wouldn't guarantee a win, but a win is not out of the question. I believe we will win.

The biggest piece of news in this release is one can get a world class education at Towson.

Thank you for your two long posts. You must have been up half the night boiling in anger. I'm sure if you had better writing skills, you could have composed a much shorter response. Every team that loses isn't a fraud. Good teams lose all the time. What makes a fraud is the build-up. These teams and fans think something great is about to happen after a year of winning against less than capable teams. At the end of the year, that team gets destroyed by a much better team they thought they were as good as and the fraud is complete. I have no doubt tOSU will march right through a terrible conference and be in the BCS Championship. Who is going to stop them? Michigan....we saw the Rich Rod 4-0 start last year and how it ends. Iowa (speaking of frauds)....lost to an average Arizona team. Wisconsin......almost lost to an always underperforming PAC 10 team at home and nobody should be impressed. PSU....when Joe Pa retires, they can change their name to the University of Illinois. The best tOSU can hope for is for the voters to lose their minds and actually put Boise State in the championship game. I'm sure everyone in Buckeyeland if rooting for that. Winning a national championship game after beating not a single good team all season is what is needed for tOSU. The last thing they want to see is Alabama lining up on the other side of the ball.

I saw some of this game. That low class piece of crap Tressel threw a QB throw-back with his team up 42-20 in the 3rd quarter. Karma is a bitch..... The fraud will be exposed this year. It may take until January, they fraud will be exposed. Take comfort.

Stay tuned.... The difference between the Big Ten and the MAC is the difference between a guy with a 2" penis and a guy with a 3" penis. Only one team in the top 15 and they were put there by Kirk Hirbstreit after beating an average Oregon in the Rose Bowl. They will be lucky to have 3 in the top 25 by the end of the year. The Big 10 is a second tier league and is garbage. I'm sure Buckzip will have something to say now about all of the NFL players they produce...he won't mention they never see the field in the NFL, but they are NFL players. The SEC, Big 12 and PAC 10 produce NFL stars...the Big Ten produces NFL back-up players. Second tier league....slightly better than the ACC and better than the Big East. The real question is...who will disappoint the citizens of Ohio sooner?: 1. The Ohio State Buckeyes 2. The Cincinnati Reds

Thanks for the trip down Memory Lane. I'm always amazed when I think about how fast the Faust years went sour. Faust deservedly takes a lot of abuse for how bad things were at the end, but there was a time in the middle when things appeard to be heading in the right direction. There were some very, very good players during that time period. There were players who would have easily started and excelled in any era since. A good topic would probably be about how the Zips went from good in 92 to horrible in 94. I think a lot of it had to do with an overreaction by the school in terms of some off the field issues. When the school overreacted, Faust did so even more because he simply was not able to deal with the type of kid who might get into trouble. It was a complete disaster.......

You will see one of the teams play pooly and execute poorly late. I think NIU will execute poorly late and if the Zips don't play worse than a team playing their third road game in a row, they can win.

Come on now akzipper....you aren't being very classy..... Yeah owning that school in every sport isn't very classy of us either. Maybe we should at least give them a chance to win something so they can stop crying! Maybe some day, but not this weekend.....

I was waiting to see if someone would point out that Harnish didn't play against Iowa State - guess not. I'm not sure why actually - but Demarcus Grady was the QB in that game. After watching the North Dakota game, probably a lot of NIU fans would have echoed some of the sentiments expressed here. Harnish missed open receivers, and we had no kicker. In retrospect, I think Harnish was rusty, as he's played better the last couple games. He was injured this offseason. I'm sure we're somewhere between the weak RB running attack of North Dakota and Illinois games, and the 10+ ypc running attack against Minnesota. Harnish has improved and it may not be possible to stack the run as much as in previous years. I guess we'll find out soon enough. Here is what we do know. Your style of play has won you nothing and will win you nothing. All you have to do with NIU is stop the run and force an average QB to beat you....they never do. I hope you're not representative of Akron fans. No class at all. If you can't take some facts, don't come around. Maybe it is the thin skin that keeps you guys from winning anything. What facts can you offer? We didn't lose to Akron because we couldn't throw the ball - the exact opposite. We got into a passing shootout. We lost because we couldn't play defense. And like I said, your fact about Harnish playing poorly against Iowa State wasn't a fact either. Actually, you guys couldn't run late after running the ball all evening and lost because you couldn't run out the clock against a poor defense with an NFL RB and a huge offensive line. Fine, throw out the ISU game. His numbers are still not impressive. You're missing the point. NIU is a good team, but not great. They are just another mac school. The difference between winning and losing in the mac is players executing in a league where the talent level is lacking compared to bcs schools. Most MAC schools don't win games, games are handed to them by the other team. Believe me, UofA has handed away more than our fair share of them over the past 20 years. If Akron makes plays Saturday, we win. If not, we lose. If we drop passes, we lose...If we catch passes, we win. If we tackle, we win....If we don't tackle, we lose. Etc..... A play here or there and you guys may be 1-3. Sorry if I'm not impressed. Would you like me to pretend as if I am impressed?.....I'm a pretty good writer and could probably drum something up real quick. Just say the word and I can make it happen.