GP1

There are reasons whey we can't win. They have more money, better fan bases, better access to TV money, more alumni support, more support for their foundation, bigger stadiums, etc. When a MAC school beats a BCS level school, it says more about the BCS school than it does the MAC school. For example, Toledo beats Purdue. Is Toledo a great program (see how they did against a midlevel PAC10 school in Toledo earlier this year), or is Purdue a laughable Big 10 program? I'd go with Purdue is a laughable Big 10 program. Could someone please go see how the MAC's record against BCS schools this season? While you are at it, how did we do against non-bcs schools and I-AA schools? If this is the best schedule ever, you must enjoy 0-4 and 1-3 starts. In fact, I'm pretty certain that as a Browns fan, you have become accustomed to these starts and find comfort/enjoyment in them the way an abused wife finds some level of comfort in her wifebeating husband. I for one have seen enough losing and I don't want guaranteed wins, but I want to see some competition against equal schools. We have around a 25% chance of beating bottomfeeder bcs schools, that is not equal competition. I would go as far as to say that if we played Indiana ten times, we would lose 9 of 10. I was not a math major at Akron, but I believe in this scenario, we'd win 1 out of every 4 times, not 1 out of every 10 times That's around 25%.....

BTW, did anyone notice how IU's "building process" has turned out. They don't sell out their home games, but the expand their stadium and the new seats sit empty. Smart use of taxpayers money there. Those empty seats sit as a monument to the stupidity of athletic directors around the country. There should be a law...."Any school that cannot fill their existing stadium shall not be allowed to add to it." Actually, if you look at college football stadiums on TV these days, there are lots of empty seats even at known programs. FSU was on TV at my house yesterday and about 25% of their stadium sits empty. The USC game I went to this year against So. Miss had easily 50% of the upper deck empty. Goes to show how the current state of our economy has impacted college football. There was a construction bubble in college football as well it appears.

There are reasons whey we can't win. They have more money, better fan bases, better access to TV money, more alumni support, more support for their foundation, bigger stadiums, etc. When a MAC school beats a BCS level school, it says more about the BCS school than it does the MAC school. For example, Toledo beats Purdue. Is Toledo a great program (see how they did against a midlevel PAC10 school in Toledo earlier this year), or is Purdue a laughable Big 10 program? I'd go with Purdue is a laughable Big 10 program. Could someone please go see how the MAC's record against BCS schools this season? While you are at it, how did we do against non-bcs schools and I-AA schools? If this is the best schedule ever, you must enjoy 0-4 and 1-3 starts. In fact, I'm pretty certain that as a Browns fan, you have become accustomed to these starts and find comfort/enjoyment in them the way an abused wife finds some level of comfort in her wifebeating husband. I for one have seen enough losing and I don't want guaranteed wins, but I want to see some competition against equal schools. We have around a 25% chance of beating bottomfeeder bcs schools, that is not equal competition. I would go as far as to say that if we played Indiana ten times, we would lose 9 of 10.

We should play ONE of those bottom feeders a year....I would totally agree with that. This is just a general comment. Sometimes when I read a fan board, I wonder how often the fans go to games outside of their own team. The one thing you guys have to understand is we are lightyears away from the level of play of the three top conference. We should never schedule a Big 12, PAC 10 or SEC school. Those are the top tier conferences and we would have zero chance of winning. Once we get into the second tier, we should stay clear of the upper 75% of the Big Ten, Big East and ACC. That would get us past the BCS schools and we would still only have about a 25% chance of winning. We need to schedule two third tier teams each year. I don't care who they are, we should be able to compete against them. The level of player should be equal and we should have a 50/50 shot at winning. 50/50 is where you want to be. At that level, you competing fairly against good teams at your level and the best team that day wins.

While our OOC scheduling disaster is fresh in our minds, does anyone still believe playing three BCS schools is a good idea? Let's play one BCS, one I-AA and two D-1A non-bcs schools. Miami and BG both played nonbcs schools and won games at home. Both games were evenly matched and won by the MAC schools. As it stands now, we are 0-4 with little momentum going into the MAC schedule and we have a disinterested community. How is this scheduling working out for us? Does anyone still believe this is the direction we should be going.

I agree. It is as simple as you describe. Close games are decided by 1-3 plays...it happens in the NFL every week. The team that makes them wins and the team that doesn't make them comes up short.

Ignore the GW game, when we get to the MAC we will not be as outmatched talentwise as we have been against the three BCS schools we played. We can win mac games....if they players just play better throughout the game.

Against our pass defense, a team could find a way to get their center open.....

Same themes as my brilliant post from last week, but less harsh. Dear Mr #82, If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you please catch the ball when you are wide open 40 yards down field. We are trying to win this thing called a "game" and when you miss passes mid fourth quarter that would have put us down only by 8, it hurts our feelings. You are getting this thing called a "scholarship" and some of us would really like you to earn that money. All other receivers played well. If #82 cant catch, he needs to be replaced. Dear PN7, Better than last week, but not good enough. You are the most important person on the field and we expect you to complete passes. Yes, there were some drops, but your accuracy is still lacking....especially in critical moments. Improvement is needed. Defense...not as good as last week, but much better in the second half. #34 needs to make plays closer to the LOS and not five yards down field. We need to be more physical. Kicker...great job tonight. Kick offs....I said last week we needed less of the pop up kick. I wasn't typing that for fun. We covered kicks well tonight. Have faith ICoach. Coaching....Good aggression on offense this week and good creativity early. Defense was not prepared but responded well. The MAC....It sucks....Let's go out and win the MAC East. It's there for the taking and we played good enough tonight to win it.

How about if we just catch the ball when we are wide open 40 yards down field and the ball hits our guy in both hands at the same time? They need to make big plays to win, or at least be respectable in a game like this. A FB and TE only will give a team 2-4 first downs...they really aren't going to change the score much. Nicely needs more accuracy, the WRs need to catch. The solution is easy.

Someone call this guy a cab.....

I'm overwhelmed with the excitement of waiting the the announcement of the two next giants of college football to join the MAC.

This would be a good start. Just catch the freaking ball already.

Dude, it's the whole scene that is funny. There is a guy in a cat suit clocking a guy with a big foam nut on his head while a bunch of guys are praying behind them. Before they get to that, the team storms out of the lockerroom, the band is playing, cheerleaders lead the team onto the field and 101,000 people with nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon than to go watch a BCS team destroy a MAC school rise to their feet to cheer on their team......and then WHAM, an internet classic is created. Don't just watch the Buckeye and Cat, watch everything around them and it is even more funny.

There's room for all. We can have a depth chart. We should limit it to an 85 man roster.

I dont know how good i would be at legends of the practice squad, but there were some pretty good players during the Faust years that spent/are spending time in prison. Now that would be a fun topic. I'll have to put some thought into it. We could call it "Legends of the prison exercise yard brought to you by the University of Akron.....or something like that.

I saw Miami and BG both play last weekend. Both have better QBs. BTW everyone, Miami played great against a bigger and faster CSU team. They made plays, they caught passes and generally executed a good game plan. I could write the same thing about BG against Marshall. Both had big and early leads like we could have had...like we had against GW until we choked it away. Both of these teams played non-bcs D-1A schools and won. They have no different physical abilities than the Zips....same size, same speed, our QB actually has a stronger arm than either. The only difference is they make plays. Both games were entertaining to watch because both teams were relatively equally matched and the best team that day won. My God, why are we playing three BCS teams in the same year. We are just stupid. We should be playing teams like CSU, Marshall, Tulsa, ECU, New Mexico, etc.

Given time, Getsy had the best accuracy in school history. Given time, PN badly overthrows and underthrows wide open guys. I don't ever see PN getting to Getsy's accuracy level. We'll find out if he is good enough to win in the MAC here in a couple weeks. Time will tell.

Didn't Jacq "burn" his redshirt last season?

I have to say I agree almost entirely with the line of thinking here. Good topic & thoughts from GP1. Go Zips! Go Zips!

Mine isn't hatred. I get a kick out of watching tOSU fans defend a bad conference, worse schedules and horrible performance against other bcs conferences. Why do I get a kick out of it? Well, they are masters at defending it. It's like watching a great trial lawyer agrue a case for a guy who was caught on camera killing somebody. But GP1, MSU beat Notre Dame......I know, ND would have trouble winning C-USA and would finish in the bottom third of the SEC, Big 12 and PAC 10. I hope Kelly is saving the money he is making over the next three years, but then again, he can always upgrade his coaching position after this one. But GP1, they have Penn State......I know, when Joe Pa retires, they can change their name to the University of Illinois for as much of an impact they will have on college football. I could go on....

Two poorly thrown balls on deep passes early in the game didn't help either. We can't blame the WRs for those. That doesn't excuse the drops though. The first drop by 82 could have given the Zips the lead early. I'm not saying we would have won, but some momentum doesn't hurt. I agree. Stick with PN. He needs to play better though. They all need to play better. They all can play better. This is very frustrating.

If the SEC isn't the best conference, which is? I would lean to the Big 12...you probably disagree. The Big 10 lost 2of3 against the PAC10 yesterday and was an extra point miss away from possibly losing 3of3. The Big 10 and the darling of the Big 10 and Kirk Herbstreit, tOSU, will be exposed for being frauds by the end of the season. I wouldn't put them at the top. I'm not a big 10 fan, but I would like to see an SEC school play tOSU in the shoe in the winter time. those guys never have to play in cold snowy weather and because of that have an advantage over schools who have to have game plans that involve cold non speed conducive weather. I would like the medium ten to stop scheduling so many MAC schools and Marshall. A middle of the pack SEC school like Tennessee (similiar budget) would dominate the medium ten. If only the Browns could play Tressel's schedules, they would dominate. Texas, USC, and Miami Fl. agree with you. That is who OSU has had on the schedule the last 5 years and they have won their share of them too. On the other hand Florida playing all of the little sisters of the poor also agrees with you. Some of the ignorance on this board is utterly amazing to me. You guys attack a team you hate, but ignore the fact that other teams you compare them to do the same things and even worse, but you don't mention that. Some of you guys really let your hatred cloud your ability to make a rational post. Yes, many of the B10 teams play MAC teams. That is a regional thing. Just as the SEC, PAC10 and all the rest play out of conference games against weaker opponents. Look for yourself at the SEC teams pre-conference schedules. The B10 has 6 teams in the top 20 right now. I hardly call that Medium10... It is true though that the SEC doesn't come north to play games? Tennessee would domimate the B10..ROFLMAO. More ignorance and not having a clue about college football. Funny how Minny, Wisci, Iowa all went out west this week to face top 20 teams. When was the last time Florida, LSU, Alabama did that? When was the last time any of them came north? I do agree though that if the Browns played a college schedule they would dominate. That takes an intelligent being to state the obvious. I won't even visit this thread anymore as I know the morons will come in full force now. Others start the crap, I respond and then the idiots all attack me. To this day, I have still never, ever started an OSU thread. Yet, I have ignored many. I apologize if some of you are too intolerant to accept someone that has 2-Alma-Mater. I would defend UA on the OSU boards if I had to, but posters there aren't as ignorant as some here. They usually say good things about UA and want other Ohio teams to succeed. Same old, same old. Won their share of them? If you elimnate Miami from this year, a team that is just now getting decent again, I believe your beloved Buckeyes are 1-4 in recent years against those other two teams you mention, Texas and USC. And if you throw in the two blowout losses against SEC teams LSU and Florida, your're at an impressive 1-6 mark. Stop making sense. Tressel has the fans so drunk on Tressel Punch that if they lost every one of those games, they would somehow think it was a victory.

Try to stay positive. The Zips will win this year. When I say I think they will win 4, that isn't asking much and I dont' type it with much joy. I don't know what else the coaches could have done Saturday. They called three plays downfield and the players didn't execute. Do the coaches need to get a lot out of players? Hell yes, but at what point are the players held responsible? I say that if a ball hits a WR right in the hands, he should catch the ball even if Mr. Magoo is coaching him. I say if a WR is 5 yards open on a 40 yard pattern, the QB should be able to throw the ball to him in stride for a TD, or at least get the ball within 5 yards of him if he misses. This is D-1A football, not high school. These players are adults and and need to be held accountable for not just bad play, but horrible performance. They have been playing football since at least JR High and had enough ability in high school to get a scholarship to a D-1A schoo. It isn't like they never tried to catch a ball in their life. These guys were WIDE OPEN and we had three incomplete passes. It doesn't take much skill or coaching to catch or throw wide open passes.

I give Nicely the rest of the year. A player's soph year is the year he shows whether or not he can play. Unfortunately, I don't see much change between this year and last year. He is playing the most important position on the field and he needed to come in this year better than last year. He is a loooong way away from where he should be. Get a JC player and open up the competition if his play doesn't improve between now and the end of the year. His current performance can not be tolerated for two more years if this is the best he can do. I look for him to improve against lesser defenses in the MAC. Throw the GW game out the window. UofA would be a good opportunity for a JC player looking to play in a pro style offense. I don't like the pro style offense for UofA, but if they are going to run it, get guys who can.