GP1

Guilty.Does anyone watch Mad Men? There was a scene last season when the young red haired girl, Peggy, was trying to explain to Don an Aqua Net commercial she designed. She kept saying, "Then this happens...then this happens.....then this happens." Don looks at her and say, "Everytime you say 'then this happens' you lose me."Maybe the Zips problem is this simple, and I have been saying it for years. They play a defensive game. When you play an offensive game it is very simple. You focus on putting the little orange ball through the little orange ring. Outscore the other team and you win. When you play a defensive game, it sounds like Peggy..."You focus on double teams in the post, then the ball is thrown in, then you double team, then you hope the guy takes a bad shot, then you rebound, then you get the ball down court, then..." This logic assumes all of that is going to happen and then the guy with the ball on the offensive end is actually able to make a shot. In reality, they guy was brought here to focus on defense and not shooting.Defense can win a lot of regular season games when the competition ranges from very good to very bad. With defense, we should be able 100% of the games against the average to bad teams. Beat 50% of the good teams and the next thing you know you have 20 wins. We need teams that can outscore the good teams in critical situations. "But GP1, are you saying defense isn't important?" No, I'm just saying offense is critical in high profile games when things are close. In a close game, points become more important than defense. Points force the other team to match you shot for shot and it puts pressure on them.

Can CMU end the MAC dryspell? I'm feeling it with this game. I'm feeling it could be the one. I'm feeling it will be worth investing three hours of my time in. I'm feeling the MAC's two year destruction in bowl games will end tonight........Who am I kidding? The only thing I'm feeling right now is my sore ass from sitting at my desk all morning working.Troy 34CMU 24Closer than the score looks.

All interesting posts. In any sport, there tends to be a noticeable difference in the speed of play at the end of the game. We see it all the time in the fourt quarter of an NBA and NFL game and in the third period of an NHL game. Here is what I think the most important question is after a loss to a team with more talent. Did the Zips give 100% the entire game? If so, then they did all they could to win. If they gave 100%, then talent may be the problem. I saw it two years ago. Winthrop was just a little more talented than the Zips and pulled away at the end. Gonzage was more talented than the Zips and pulled away at the end. I'm sure there are other examples. If giving 100% is the problem, then there is a problem that needs fixing. This is more easily fixed than talent.No worries here.

Am I the only one that hears Beavis and Butthead laughing?NO. There are plenty of other metaphors that could have been used here other than salads."Pushed around like a nerd in a school yard" comes to mind.But I would also say that Zeke "getting pushed around" is part of his development. Someone is able to out muscle you, then you out speed them. If they got you on both, then you out think them. If they have you on all three? Out "effort" them.I think you missed the point. Juggle some words around and there is some humor there.

Here is UNC's schedule. This is a team that schedules to win in the post season. Five games against teams from four major conferences in various venues. I'm not saying we need a suicide schedule like this one, but an improvement on our current schedule would help.CofC is a good program with a good coach. Bobby Cremins was a very good coach at GA Tech and spent many successful seasons coaching in the ACC. UNC is in a down season. Nobody should be surprised this happed at CofC. Dodging the gun fire alone in North Charleston would tucker out any visiting team.

The Zips lost to a very good team -- which they outplayed for about 35 minutes. AGAIN!!! When will this stop? I think for once, that the cheerleaders should take a hard look at this team's warts, and that Keith Dambrot and the guys in blue and gold need to have some pressure applied. Tear apart the MAC schedule -- and get your 13 or 14 seed in the Spokane Regional. I'm starting to get fed up. I'm starting to be guided by the standards of Caleb Porter's team. Time to step it up!Good post.If a team is slightly better than you, it doesn't always show up early in a game. The pressure builds until they win at the end. I saw the same thing happen at Winthrop two years ago.With that said, there needs to be immediate and long term pressure applied to the program. Both of these pressures are not unrealistic expectations based upon the current talent level of the team and quality of the program.The immediate pressure needs to be to go undefeated in the MAC regular season. Whatever happens in the tournament happens, but immediate improvement to me over last year would be undefeated in the MAC regular season.Long term, the difference between starting the season 10-4 or 8-6 does not make a difference if you win the MAC. They need to play better competition (ATM games on the road) for both the competitive aspect of the program and the financial aspect of the Athletic Department. Starting out every season 10-4 against our ooc schedule really doesn't impress anyone locally or nationally.Other than that, I like our chances in the MAC.

Am I the only one that hears Beavis and Butthead laughing?

Florida vs Oklahoma, January 2009Tim Tebow...18 completions on 30 attempts.....231 yards......7.7 average.......2 TD (14 points, they only scored 24).Tebow did have 109 yards rushing and no rushing TDs.

Greatness is not required in the MAC. It may take us some time to improve our program to being great, but winning the MAC East should not be out of the question next year. The talent is there....the league is horrible.How long did it take Turner Gill to "build" Buffalo?Exactly!The league is there for the taking. Watching the MAC in bowl games has moved me from being disgusted with the Zips last season to just being ashamed we couldn't win 7 games. I hope the players feel some level of shame as well and then use that shame as motivation for next season. They have the talent, they just need to get everything moving in the proper direction.

Dick Lebeau come up with one of the greatest defensive schemes against Peyton Manning in that game. Dick Lebeau won that game. Ben had 14 whole completions in that game!?!? They ran the ball 42 times!Lebeau's defense went into one of their now patented late game collapses. They had a 21-3 lead and almost blew it with Cowher Ball. God help the NFL team that hires Cowher to coach their team to a Super Bowl. I watched that guy blow AFC Championship Games one after another. What other team would put up with him for 14 years before finally winning something....maybe Tennessee. Lebeau's defense was so bad this year that in the fourth quarter when the Steelers defense was on the field, they should have played Tapps in lieu or Renegade on the jumbo screen. Next year will be a different story when they have their starters back, but this year they were terrible. If you remember, they had a defensive disaster and gave up a lead in the SB last year.....I really don't want to hear about their #1 ranking because when it mattered, it fell apart and the offense had to save their asses. The Harrison TD run was him breaking from the coaches instruction to blitz and drop back in coverage. The Steelers need to score more points to keep their defense OFF the field.As far as the game noted above, I know how much you like statistics, so here they go. Ben won that game in the first quarter. On the first drive he completed seven straight passes for 76 yards on an 84 yard TD drive. On the second drive he had a 45 yard pass and then another TD pass. After that, Cowher did his usual run the ball into the line and they almost blew it if Ben doesn't tackle the Colts defender after Bettis fumbled going into the endzone.For those of you who aren't Steelers fans, you have to understand the cycle. The cycle isn't perfect, but it usually involves two straight years in the playoffs and then one out. The year out usually involves injuries or young players still developing. This year was the third year. I just so happens that the last time it happened to them was after a SB victory in Detroit. Three of the six times the Steelers have won the SB they have not made the playoffs the following season.Sorry to talk about the Steelers so much on a Zips board, but fiction created by statistics needed to be corrected by historical reality. Again, my apologies.

Parker is a tough runner and Mendenhall is not. Mendenhall carries the ball too loose. He misses a lot of holes because he is too busy spinning around to see what is in front of him. The guy is soft. How would you know if Mendenhall has good hands...they rarely throw to the RB. Why throw to the RB if you have Wallace, Ward and Holmes?I read all sorts of statistics on this board and most can be made to say anything you want them to say. Here is a CBS thread on the fiction of my Steelers final rankings. The first says it all. The defense has a good ranking, but couldn't stop anybody when it counted.They need to badly keep Parker around if they can. If not, they need another RB. I don't have much confidence in Mendenhall....I don't care what the stats say.

Couldn't we question Frye's loyalty to UofA? I mean, the school made a decision and he went against the decision.

I can admit it, and also realize I will not be watching them play next week because of it. There is a difference between not being able to run and deciding not to run. The Steelers couldn't run so they didn't. Step one to recharging the Pitt running game is to resign Parker. Step two is to start Parker and not Spindenhall.The Steelers will be fine. Losing two key starters on defense killed them. "But GP1, you said defense wasn't important." No I didn't....it just can't be horrible. With an average defense, they make the playoffs.

I'm only guessing, but see post #11 in this thread.Keep in mind when reading this, this is written from a story somebody told ITZ written years latter. If everything in the post was true, keep in mind CF was what 19 at the time??? This post didn't change my mind one way or another about Charlie, he can play on my football team.ITZ is a good source of information about the Owens years.Spare me. He was going to be a fifth year senior tinkering with thoughts of leaving for the NFL early. He would have been at least 21 and not some poor small town kid duped by his elders. He showed extremely poor leadership.You can have him on your team as long as that team is not the Steelers. I don't want him on mine.

Dick Lebeau come up with one of the greatest defensive schemes against Peyton Manning in that game. Dick Lebeau won that game. Ben had 14 whole completions in that game!?!? They ran the ball 42 times!And a great tackle.It's OK to admit that the Steelers are a passing team now.

Greatness is not required in the MAC. It may take us some time to improve our program to being great, but winning the MAC East should not be out of the question next year. The talent is there....the league is horrible.

The Wildcat is a gimmick. There isn't a team out there that could win with it running it every play.It wasn't that long ago that the NFL was using a FB frequently. I'm 40 and the dimensions of the field have been the same my entire life, or at least as much of it as I can remember. College has modified their hashmarks once in my life....along with goal post width. Creative play call going as far back as Paul Brown has changed football much more than the shape of the field.All of the guys you site are running backs except Dallas Clark who is a TE. Leonard....where did this guy win anything? Dayne....maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think he was on the Giants when the won the SB. Jacobs has the only SB ring. Toby Gerhart....I saw, in person, Stanford take something like a 24-3 lead into halftime at Wake Forest and not score a point the second half running this guy into the line. 10-15 years ago that game would have been over at half, but Wake was able to put enough passing game talent on the field to come back and win. Wake finished the year at 5-7 in a terrible conference. We'll see how this cartoon character does in the NFL next year. I'm not buying his greatness against PAC 10 schools designed to stop the pass.Right now, the NFL is defined by QBs, WRs and coaches. Yards are so hard to get that you have to get them in big chunks in order to be successful. In a few years that may change, but today that's how the game works. Sorry if some of you are offended by this idea. Other positions will continue to be used, but the key to victory will fall on the shoulders of the QBs, WRs and coaches for now.Maybe someone could do us a favor. What percent of Super Bowl winning teams had either their QB or a WR win MVP and of that group, how many are in the Hall of Fame that are eligible?One excellent point you made is about the rules. The rules in the NFL/NCAA make it advantageous to pass. 5 yards/automatic first down for illegal contact. Interference downfield is awarded at the spot of the foul (NFL). Offensive interference is almost never called. There are no additional yards to intentional grounding if called. In fact, throwing the ball away is encouraged by the rules. If you touch the QBs head even slightly it is 15 yards/automatic first down. In my life there was a time when linemen couldn't use their hands....today you can in order to protect the QB. Not passing in the NFL is like using a restrictor plate in NASCAR in a race where they aren't required....it makes not sense. Use the rules to your advantage. Get players that allow your team to take advantage of the rules.It's 2010 guys. Don't be scared of what football has become. It is better today then it ever has been. Embrace it, don't shy away.

So you're saying the O-Line coach at San Diego, who has the benefit of having LT behind his line .. would agree that running the football with a RB isn't a relevant part of football anymore?Where do I say the RB is not relevant? You guys overreact to everything I write. It's amazing.....Over the past couple of years, LT has become less productive and the team has gotten better. If Turner doesn't go Bill Cowher (years 1-14), San Diego has their best shot yet at winning the SB this season. Rivers is ready to be turned loose in the playoffs. Does anyone out there really think LT is the answer to beating Indy in the playoffs? SD will need to score points in bunches in order to beat them. Ben Roethlisberger was the key to beating Indy three years ago, not Bettis and Parker.

Watch or record the game tonight (8 pm) on NFL replay. Come back tomorrow and post your thoughts. This is not just for zen, for everybody....GP1 included. If anybody has not got a chance to watch NFL replay, if you record it, you can watch the whole game in about an hour by ffwd through the commercials. They do a great job of editing the game, by taking out some of the boring 3 and outs.I saw the game Sunday from my hotel room. I've seen enough Charlie Frye over many years now to know I'm not interested. One good half isn't going to change my mind.It is the same old Charlie. High percentage of completions without the wins to back up the greatness. Maybe it is not the completion percentage that is important, but the inability to take risks down the field or at least come close on long throws that lands him on the bench.If Charlie is so good, how come there aren't teams banging down his door to have him as their starter?I understand a lot of you are fans. Personally, I've never been a fan of his football playing ability even when he was at UofA. I never thought the guy was a winner and he isn't. After what ITZ posted a couple of months ago, I have no personal respect for him at all. The only good thing I can say about him is that in a league full of horrible QBs, he fits right in with the pack.

It's already a QB/WR game. Have you been watching bowl games?A lot of teams are using their QB as a runner and they get positive yards doing so. These teams usually have one back and a good running QB. That's two RBs.When I dismissed you guys for New Years holiday, I asked all of you to come back with a different paradigm about football. Football has changed. 20 years ago it was hard to find a good passing HS QB....today, high schools QBs are much better at passing and more sophisticated in their understanding of defenses out of more complicated offenses. The days of I-Formation are over for almost every team (except on short yardage). A spread formation with one RB and a QB that can both run and pass is deadly. It gives a good QB many options to throw to. It can eliminate a certain number of players "in the box" which helps the O-Line better evaluate who they are going to block. Fewer defenders in the box also helps the single RB better gain yardage because there are fewer defenders at the line. It neutralizes blitzing because the QB can get the ball out faster to a hot receiver from the shotgun quickly. It can create huge mismatches (ie: LB covering fast RB in a pass pattern) for the QB to exploit. If everyone is covered, the QB can run from the pocket and gain yardage more easily because the defense is spread all over the field.A fullback offers almost zero threat to a defense. It has become such an insignificant position that NFL teams usually only dress one. If that guy gets hurt, they just pick up some other schlub off of the free agent list or the practice team to plough into the line.Going into bowl season, I didn't think Texas had a chance against Alabama after the Big 12 Championship. Nebraska turned out to have a really good team after all. Texas can move the ball and score points. They have a good shot of winning.Tonight, if Iowa can stop the GA Tech option early, they will blow them out with a good passing game. If you can't stop the option early, it only gets worse as the game progresses. Talk about spread offenses, everyone thinks the GA Tech offense is the old style option. It's a spread offense that runs a lot and can exploit a defense when they put too many guys in the box with some passes.Welcome to the 21st Century.You need to read a book or two about football.No thanks. I received my PHD in football from my position coach in college who is now an assistant in the NFL. He will be coaching with San Diego this post season.Football has changed guys. It isn't the 1950s any longer. Heck, it isn't the 1990s either.

It's already a QB/WR game. Have you been watching bowl games?A lot of teams are using their QB as a runner and they get positive yards doing so. These teams usually have one back and a good running QB. That's two RBs.When I dismissed you guys for New Years holiday, I asked all of you to come back with a different paradigm about football. Football has changed. 20 years ago it was hard to find a good passing HS QB....today, high schools QBs are much better at passing and more sophisticated in their understanding of defenses out of more complicated offenses. The days of I-Formation are over for almost every team (except on short yardage). A spread formation with one RB and a QB that can both run and pass is deadly. It gives a good QB many options to throw to. It can eliminate a certain number of players "in the box" which helps the O-Line better evaluate who they are going to block. Fewer defenders in the box also helps the single RB better gain yardage because there are fewer defenders at the line. It neutralizes blitzing because the QB can get the ball out faster to a hot receiver from the shotgun quickly. It can create huge mismatches (ie: LB covering fast RB in a pass pattern) for the QB to exploit. If everyone is covered, the QB can run from the pocket and gain yardage more easily because the defense is spread all over the field.A fullback offers almost zero threat to a defense. It has become such an insignificant position that NFL teams usually only dress one. If that guy gets hurt, they just pick up some other schlub off of the free agent list or the practice team to plough into the line.Going into bowl season, I didn't think Texas had a chance against Alabama after the Big 12 Championship. Nebraska turned out to have a really good team after all. Texas can move the ball and score points. They have a good shot of winning.Tonight, if Iowa can stop the GA Tech option early, they will blow them out with a good passing game. If you can't stop the option early, it only gets worse as the game progresses. Talk about spread offenses, everyone thinks the GA Tech offense is the old style option. It's a spread offense that runs a lot and can exploit a defense when they put too many guys in the box with some passes.Welcome to the 21st Century.

Thank you for your kind remarks.Charlie couldn't win a MAC Championship ring. How do you expect him to win the Super Bowl? He had better hurry up because he only has four years as a back-up to earn that ring as a starter. The Browns have the next 200 years to make a Super Bowl. I'll take the Browns in that bet.

The answer is football. People flock to the football forum of this board even when the team is bad. It's the most important program at the school because of the money the school has spent on the program. Ohio is a football first state.

I would like to throw my name into the NO category. I told you guys before bowl season Cincy was in for a rude awakening and I was right again. Let's all be honest here....Cincy had no business being on the same field as Florida...they got blown out last year in the Orange Bowl by VA Tech and they thought they were going to beat UF? There is not one kid on Cincy's team who could beat out a starter at UF for their starting position. If Kelly brings the same type of athlete to ND as he did Cincy, ND will never get back to where they want to be. The end of a coaches greatness comes at some point. Kelly's will end with a $15 million buy out five years from now. Congratulations on winning the lottery Coach Kelly.Boise State would not finish in the top five of the SEC or Big 12.Just because all of those teams are in the D-I category does not mean they are all the same.

It's because everytime he steps on the field his team loses again. He is a big part of the losing. I don't think his "bashers" need to rehash the obvious. He almost threw a spiral yesterday...I guess that's a continuation of his "building" his career. Charlie will be on a team next year as a back-up.