GP1

Of course Cowher is a pipe dream. From what I read, he will be the head coach of 10 different teams next year.

zippyrifle32,Thank you for the reminder as to why I moved from Ohio. It's only Thanksgiving and the weather is like this already. That just blows.

My first soccer post ever. Since I don't know anything about soccer, I'll just comment on the topic.Who is to blame? God gave us snow so I guess he is to blame. If anyone wants to take it up with him, do it today or tomorrow as Sunday is his day off. I believe the outdoor football practice field is lined for soccer. Where in the heck would they put the people coming to watch the game?There is no way in heck that they should line InfoCision Stadium with soccer lines. It is a D-1A football stadium and needs to look like one and not a high school field.I can see that everyone is in a tizzy about this. It does suck, but to sit around trying to blame someone for a once in a lifetime event is silly. Overreacting and trying to come up with solutions to a once in a lifetime event is not productive. SH!+ happens. If the Zips take care of business Sunday, the ten day forecast looks OK for this time of year in Akron. The snow should be gone and the field playable.

You're partially right and partially wrong.It is true that the 3-3-5 accounts for all gaps. The problem is not every player is suited to fill every gap. Our players are too small when we use this defense and they get overpowered by larger players.

I've often thought the same thing in terms of the mess he left the program in. I think we have recovered, but it was a disaster at the end.Here is why I think people forgive Faust. Everything Faust did at the end of his time at Akron was done out of a certain sense of decency. He was and was becoming more of a deeply religious man at the end of his time here. Recent history shows that religion and successful college programs do not mix well. It sort of reminds me of a story a professor of mine told me. When he was in graduate school at Harvard Divinity, he took a class taught by future Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (the only Sec. of State to have two Presidents serve under him). One day he asked him about an ethical question in international politics and Kissinger responded, "What do ethics have to do with international politics?" In the end, the players he brought here were awful, but he always gave someone a chance or a second chance or a third chance too many. Even if a kid stunk, he was looking for something he could bring out in him to make him better. People can forgive a guy like that.Both Faust and JD were stung by bad character guys. Faust didn't know how to recover from that because he had never in his life been faced with a lot of bad character guys. I'm sure Notre Dame didn't lend itself to bad character guys. JD is just now recovering from his early recruiting mistakes. I'm sure he saw his share of bad character guys at Pitt. If Akron had the same academic support system that BCS schools have for their at risk student athletes, I think a lot of the discussions on this board would be different about JD's future.

Coach Faust is a great guy. I almost feel bad typing this. When I read this, I could hear the motivational talk..... "We beat the Swenson's Lions....and the Swenson's Lions beat the Strickland's Giants.....and the Strickland's Giants beat the JCC Seahawks......and the JCC Seahawks beat the Downtown YMCA Eagles....and the Downtown YMCA Eagles beat the Ido Cafe Chargers....and the Ido Cafe Chargers beat the West Point Market Packers.....That means we can beat the West Point Market Packers."

Thank you for your comments. I can see the playoffs while you are seeing another high first round bust of a draft pick. Enjoy the misery.Back to the Zips. The 3-4 is the way to go. It gives a team more flexibility against the various offenses college teams run week to week.

Are you a steelers fan? I take offense to everything you have said in regards to browns fans. Youve got balls say that crap about Browns fansYes I am.You should be more offended by the Browns.You can't argue with the logic.....Let's stick with the Zips.

Good post CK.I have always found the simple solution to be the best solution. The 3-3-5 has to go. If JD is not willing to let the 3-3-5 go, then he has to go. If he agrees to bag it, then he stays. Hopefully his new defense would not be as stupid as the 3-3-5. Actually, the only thing more stupid than our defense would be a 2-1-8 defense.Fleming can install another type of defense or he can go. I don't care which. This isn't the guys first coaching job and he has coached other types of defenses. You Browns fans need to get used to the fact that JD is going to be back next year and it will probably be a good thing. How do I know that? Follow the logic:1. Browns fans are idiots.2. Everything Browns fans want blows up in their faces.3. A ton of Browns fans post on this board and are Zips fans. This means there are a lot of idiots posting on this board.4. A ton of Browns/Zips fans want the coach fired.5. Firing JD will blow up in our faces. Don't take the rest of us down with you Browns fans.Like I said, the simple solution is usually the best. JD stays unless he agrees to get rid of this silly defense he runs.

Could be or should be? Any team in the country could be 9-2 right now. Any team in the country could be just about any record depending on the number of games they play. The fact is we are right now a five win team. After all the injuries they have had, I am surprised they have five wins right now.

It is true that everyone is sick of it. It is also true that this has been going on long before JD got here. It is in fact the story of UofA football since 1987.

Ashland LosesSince we always have to read about when things go well for Owens on this board, I thought I might post this article. It sort of reminds me of an old saying, "Always a bridesmaid and never a bride." I really don't wish the guy ill, he is where he belongs.

Good mock conversation. I look forward to the final chapter.In my opinion, a lot rides on next week for JD. As I have been posting for three years now, the 3-3-5 defense is junk and the injuries to the DL this year are really starting to become magnified. The defense falls apart every year towards the end of the season because the small players used to play it are too small and beaten up to stop anyone. Throw in the fact that a bunch of young players are playing and the disaster that happened yesterday should be no surprise. I didn't see the game yesterday as I was busy watching Wake Forest continue their late season slide, but my guess is the game went something like this....Step 1: OU calls a play for their option offense.Step 2: Jim Flemming signals in his best guess for the 3-3-5 defense. After all, the 3-3-5 is a guessing game.Step 3: The ball gets snapped and the OU qb gets to see UofA's guess.Step 4: The OU qb adjusts based upon our guess.Step 5: Referee signals first and ten.I want JD to stick around next season under one condition. The 3-3-5 defense has to go. I predicted Akron would go 5-7 this season. If they give up 49 again next week, my prediction will unfortunately be correct. I want badly to be wrong. If they lose again next week, the conversation should sound like this:Mack: "JD, three loses in a row. I need you to make a decision right here and now. Will you get rid of the 3-3-5 defense?"If anything other than "yes" comes out of JD's mouth, he gets the boot. If not, he stays for another year.

There is an old saying, "You make hay when the sun is up."The sun is up for Coach Kelly and he should mow it down now. He has no ties to Cincinnati and Tennessee could easily buy out a million dollar contract. Take the money and run Coack Kelly. Cincinnati is as good now as it is ever going to be and one bad year and people will be calling for your head. There is too much upside for Tennessee at this point to pass up the job. God knows Tennessee couldn't get any worse. Tennessee vs. Cincinnati.....SEC vs Big East.......Southern weather vs. northern weather.......Smokey Mountains vs Ohio River..... SEC Bowls are better than the Big East Bowls..... I could go on but willl not. There really is no contest here. Go to Tennessee Coach Kelly. If you don't, you are not as smart as I think you are and I think you are a pretty smart guy.

It's OK to admit that you were wrong..... Really, it is OK.Kest is exactly what this program needed. Out with the losers and in with those who want to win. Great job lady Zips!

What do you call the MAC Championship against the best team in the league that year. He also beat the same team earlier in the season. How soon you guys forget when it doesn't meet your argument. I guess that's why the saying, "Don't let the facts get in the way of a good argument" exists.

It's great you guys are going to this game. I saw Pitt vs. UCONN a couple of years ago there and it is a great place to watch a BB game. The arena is the perfect size to make every seat a good seat.

I would like to say that I feel bad this is the last game at the RB, but I really can not. The place has been an anchor around the neck of this program for years and it saw beter days long before I was born in 1969. Saying goodbye to the RB is like saying goodbye to a car with 200,000 miles on it the day you bought your new car. There is only excitment about the future. Goodbye to the RB and good riddance. I am much more worried about winning tonight. Regardless of the last game or not, the Zips need to focus on winning. I am at the airport now on my way to a hunting trip in Colorado where I will have not TV or phone service until Sunday. I am looking forward to seeing the results when I get back to Denver on Sunday. Good luck Zips and you guys have fun at the game tonight. See everyone next week.

There is only one place to go for pre-game fun.....Peter's Pub.

Thanks to the ABJ for their bottomless supply of laughter filled reporting. See paragraph #2. If you are not already on your way to the RB, you had better get moving. You don't want to miss a play of tonights game. :blink:

Virgil Starks was a GA on the football team when I played. Along with a guy named Chris Ball, now secondary coach at Washington State, made a great pair. There was another guy named Rusty Bourne who never got into coaching after Akron and has sort of vanished. Virgil and Rusty went to college together at Rhodes College in Tennessee.Virgil spent many years at UofA in departments other than Athletics. Some of you may remember him as the graduatioin marshal who used to yell at everyone on graduation day for not being able to line up correctly in Memorial Hall.The last time I saw Virgil was with his wife (an Akron native) at Annabells (sp?) at Highland Square a couple of days before their move to Alabama. He was in great spirits.This is sad news.

The MAC is having one of the best years in history. Enjoy it while it lasts. The Big Ten is just a pathetic conference at this point and I don't really see it getting better in the foreseeable future. The Big Ten games ESPN shows at noon on Saturdays are almost unwatchable."The joke of college football is the Big Ten, and Ohio State is the punchline" - Kirk Herbstreit after the OSU vs USC game.

Stop making sense. A team like Walsh should never outANYTHING a D-1A school as it relates to basketball. I have no problem if they can outSAT Score us, but anything involving athletics should be a hands down win for UofA.I don't want to hear the excuse that this was an early season game either. It's early season for Walsh also. UofA gave up 81 points to an NAIA team. That's terrible.I will be going to two early season games and I hope to God I don't have to watch the Zips get beat badly. We are going into the 2008-2009 season, not waiting around for the 2009-2010 season. There are tickets sold and games to be played. Get freaking winning. Good day!

Stop making sense ZT11! In most years, the MAC is Dollar General. This year, it is a little better than that, but not much...I'd call it "Army/Navy Store".

Allow me to take a more realistic look at this schedule.BG - LossBuffalo - WinIowa - LossSyracuse -WinUSF - LossNavy - LossRutgers - LossNortre Dame - LossLouisville - WinCincinnati - LossWVU - LossConnecticut - LossEnjoy that 3-9 season. We could throw in a loss against Pitt if we want to as well in the annual Toilet Bowl. That's OK though, we could spend the next 20 years "building" the program up to a consistent 5-6 wins per season. In 20 years, we could get the BB program back to an NIT participant as well. Man, that's exciting to think of. Just think of how crowded InfoCision Stadium would be. When do we get started?