GP1

I can't find the link where we discussed it specifically, but a friend of mine filled me in a little more about the people behind this billboard. It brought it all together for me. At the time, I said the billboard was more about the people who placed it than LeBron and man was I right. I had no idea who they were at the time, I just kind of said it. The people behind the billboard is a company called The Omada Group. This company has ties to InfoCision....yes, that InfoCision that bought our football stadium with money collected from little old ladies $25 at a time and the one who pushed the LBJ Appreciation Day and now has egg on their faces from it. The people who own The Omada Group are ex-InfoCision employees who still do business with InfoCision. InfoCision is a fundraising firm for Republican causes/candidates and The Omada Group does the same thing. Both companies are everything you would expect from telemarketing people...sleazy. I got to know a lot of these people while living around Akron and believe me, that group at InfoCision is about as sleazy of a bunch as you can get. They are as morally bankrupt and intellectually dishonest as you can get. I don't care how many jobs they create around Akron or how many departments they create at UofA, it is dirty money. Their piety is about as phony as the day is long. I can't believe our football stadium has the name of such a sleazy company on it. Lastly, I've written negative things about InfoCision on this board before and it gets deleted. Do not touch this post.

Bingo. niu does not have a crappy qb, but he is also not impressive. Completed less than 50% against a terrible isu team for 93 yards. Only 146 yards against ND. They did have a huge running game that day. 19 of 25 against IL and not a single TD throw. 11-17 against MN for 81 yawning yards. The QB for niu protects the ball and has not shown an ability to do anything spectacular. We need to stop this rb from killing us and see if their qb can win a game. I think when you put a mac qb under pressure to win a game, there is a greater chance of him falling apart than winning the game. Just keep the niu rb between 150 and 170 yards and the Zips win. Big plays downfield win football games and niu does not do that. We could if our WRs would catch passes.

I say bring him on. The Zips get their first win this week and iCoach breaks his cherry in his fifth game just like JD broke his in his fifth game. niu is 2-2 and I'm not impressed by their accomplishment. They lost at ISU 27-10. There is little difference betweenn isu and indiana or syracuse. They are a bottom level Big 12 team and niu got smashed by them. They beat North Dakota 23-17. A play or two goes differently and maybe the lose to a I-AA school like we did to GW. They lost at Illinois. Illinois is 2-1 beating a MAC school and a I-AA school. They lost to a mid level Big 12 school the first game of the year. They are a bottom level Big 10 school the same as Indiana. Once you get past tOSU, the Big Ten is garbage. They beat Minnesota. It's a good thing MN put all of that money into "building" their program with a new stadium. New stadium, same crappy program. Should have stayed in the Homer Dome.....at least the fans would be dry and warm in October. MN lost to one of the Dakotas also. It is a laughable program. MN wouldn't win their division in the mac. This win says more about MN than niu. We did the same thing to NC State the year we beat them then their coach got fired. We finished that year 5-7 I believe. I'd love to see how often in the year a bcs school loses to a mac school that the coach of the bcs school is fired by or at the end of the season. How many times do those schools have winning records? What all of this shows me is niu can be as inconsistent as any other team in the mac. They can play well in wins against MN, but let teams like ND hang around and allow themselves to get blown out by a bad isu program and lose to Illiinois. Do not be overly impressed by them. The key to winning in the mac is forcing a passing game. Stop this RB for niu and they will fall apart. Akron needs a better defensive game plan coming into the game though than they did last week. Akron has the players to compete and win against niu. They need to go out and do so this week. Stat of the week: NIU will be playing their third road game in a row. Anyone who has ever gambled on a football game knows this spells disaster for the visiting team in most cases. It's hard enough to win the second road game in a row let alone the third. Look for an niu let down and a Zips step up. Close game all the way, but niu is tired at the end from the travel. Zips 27 NIU 20

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.