GP1

.......and I thought I was the biggest blow hard on the board. I think the facts I posted speak for themselves based upon your criteria and I stand by my analysis.It's only a web board and not the old Roman Senate. Don't take yourself so seriously. It makes it a lot more fun to post.

Stick with me here ZA, I'm here to help.If this is necessary for the full story, JD's career has already been a success. Year one, thanks to Brett Biggs, we competed for the MAC East until the final game when we lost to Miami the last game of the season and came in second. Year two we won the MAC East. In year three, we are not out of the race yet. We are competing for the MAC East as is.Pssst, Psssst, Psssst, we won the MACC and went to a bowl game last year. We could have seven wins this year and go to another bowl game.JD has already met or is meeting all of your criteria for success.If you really want to set a high standard for success in the MAC, the standard should be first or second in the division and minimum 8 wins annually. I think that is a fair standard.Johnnyzip84 is absolutely correct, the program is heading in the right direction and JD is a good coach. Some of you should be careful of what you wish for.......you might just get it.

For away games, I try to recommend places to go for fans before the game if they are not interested in tailgating. Here are a couple of things to do food and drink related.If you want to go to one of the best steak houses in the midwest, there is a place off of I-75 and Phillips Avenue (make left off is exit and drive until you reach it on the left) called Mancy's. There is also one down by Maumee off of the I475 turnpike exit, but the original is really neat on Phillips.If you just want some finger food and some beers, there is a place called Jeds also off of the I-475 exit. Great sports bar and they have the Jeds girls serving food and drinks. I recommend an appetizer called Fireballs. They are little chunks of white meat chicken breaded and deep fried with your choice of BBQ sauce. One of the best appetizers I have ever eaten. The other advantage is the smoking section is completely enclosed so the stench stays where it belongs. Maybe someone from Toledo could help me out with the street name as I know where it is but don't know the street.Can't go wrong with a trip to Tony Pako's hot dog shop. There are plenty around Toledo and the hot dogs are great. The original klinger used to talk about on MASH is off of I-280.That's really about it. Most of you will probably drive to I-475 so there are plenty of chains around there if you are hungry.Vote No on Issue 4 and vote yes on Issue 5.

I would NOT be surprised if JD went to another job after this season. I would be surprised if he stayed past next season. Working in a high turnover profession, I have a sixth sense for when someone is about to change jobs and I'm starting to get a strange feeling about this happening sooner than later.I think the days of coaches leaving MAC schools to go to really big time programs are over (the next best shot is the guy at CMU going to Michigan State after this season if MSU fires Smith). I don't see CSU as a "really" big time program so it would not be a stretch for JD to go there, but didn't CSU just recently hire a new coach? JD should take a lesson from the UofA softball coach who left last season to be an assistant at Wisconsin and try to get with a Big Ten, SEC, PAC 10 type school as an offensive coordinator and then move up from there. It would be better exposure and better money.As far as Akron getting a coach with prior head coaching experience, that would be nice, but probably will not happen. The pay is too low. If memory serves me correctly, someone told me that half the people applying for the job previously were high school coaches who were misguided enough to believe they could do the job. The other half were mostly D-1A assistants like JD looking to take their shot. The next coach we get will be JD II.I just don't understand why some are so eager to give up on JD. He will have seven wins at the end of this season which will give him a career winning record at Akron. Seven wins might even give us a bowl game. In the D-1A era, Faust and Owens didn't come close to a .500 winning percentage.

NFL games are won on big plays. Examples are an INT for a TD, a long kick return for a TD or even a long pass for a TD. A team only gets about four per game. All the other plays are just time consumers until the big play happens or a set up for the big play.The problem Frye is developing is that he does not throw the ball down field consistently well enough to be considered a threat by the other team. I'd love to see a competitors scounting report of him. My guess is it would say the same thing. Not that the Browns have a good offensive line, but please save me the crap about them because when he has had a chance to throw down field, most have been poorly thrown.The best thing Frye has going for him is his ability to throw short passes and run for his life. He is very good at both. No other QB on that team can come close to doing these things. However, these things don't win games and time and injury will reduce his ability to run. Time ticks very fast for guys like Frye. God bless him though, he will make a nice living while he can.On a MAC note, I see that Yunzer Gradkowski is on the list. Knowing Yunzers the way I do, he was probably happy to sign a contract that pays each day a plate of kielbasa, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and a salad of iceburg with French dressing. As a winning bonus, he probably gets pirogues in lieu of mashed potatoes. 2-0 is a good start.

All excellent points. I'm a huge JD fan, but putting in CJ at that point was just the wrong thing to do. A good team would have burried us with a TD and then squashed our offense after that. CJ had two weeks to prepare both physically and mentally for the game. To say that he $#!+ his pants would be an understatement. Not only did he fumble, but he seemed to have trouble with that whole running thing we expect football players to be able to do. When I was in school, Hal Hunter (now OL coach with San Diego Chargers) used to say, "You're only as good as your last performance". CJ's performance was a disaster and can wait until next year when he is not only physically ready to play, but also EMOTIONALLY ready. He is going to be good some day, now is not his time and I don't want to watch the junior varsity play. I'm not willing to risk losing while he finds his sea legs.As far as your post about Pace, do you have the web page set up to automatically print that upon entering a key word? If you don't, you should. It will save wear and tear on your fingers.

Would anyone like to reconsider their vote?One day, CJ is going to be a good player for us, but now is not the time.

Good old Zipdad. I'll be back to post on this one later in the weekend. Off to the RB.

Miami is playing on a short week and the second home game in a row and against a team with a week off. If this was the NFL, it would be an almost guarantee win for the the Zips. Zips win big today. 31-10.

Losing to Can't in the Devine Intervention game of 2003 did not lose Owens his job. 40 wins in 9 years lost him his job.

I bet there are a lot of MAC forums saying the same thing this year and more will follow by the end of the year. Can't is a good team this year and deserves credit for being so. They will suck again next year.As far as guys leaving the team and coming back, Faust used to do this a lot because he was too nice to be the type of prick needed to give a guy the boot. Eventually, allowing guys to come back creates a negative culture on the team. Once a guy leaves, they should be gone for good.

Bad handoffs? That's a stretch for criticism.Back to the MACC catch. Had Hixon missed that pass, it would have been the biggest choke job in the history of UofA football. The perfectly thrown ball fell right into his hands.

Good points. I agree 100%. Here is the problem. The scenarior assumes 9-10 wins AND a 2-0 start the following year against big conference teams. I can't think of that ever happening in the MAC. A 9-10 win season would probably have a team with a ton of seniors on it which assumes a young team incapable of winning the first 2 or 3 early games the following year. Teams struggle every year for attendance in the MAC and this is exactly the reason why. It just is not a problem here in Ohio, it happens in every state that has a MAC school.Oh well, off to Las Vegas. See everyone at the game on Saturday.

Keep Luke on the field and try to win as many games as possible. I don't buy tickets to go watch the junior varsity play.All of this playing back-up players to get them ready for next season is what high school coaches do when they have a disaster on their hands. CJ can get ready for next season in the spring and fall next year.

For the first time in Zips history, we have a player-coach. Lindsey West must have learned a lot in high school. I'd like to welcome her to Akron along with the new head coach, Ms. Kest.

Let's just say that over the past few months, strange things have been going on on this board. Out of respect to the moderators, I will leave it at that. I think they know what I mean.Beware of the wolf in sheeps clothing.

I have to respectfully disagree with you. When UAM didn't get the job at Akron, he should have made a name for himself at another school without Mike Thomas. As it stands now, he looks like a guy who follows one guy around his entire career. I wouldn't be impressed by that if I sat on an interviewing committee.On the other hand, there was a young kid working in the Athletic Department who decided to go to another school other than Cincy, I think his name was Newhouse (sp?)....maybe. That shows balls and an ability for someone move outside of his comfort zone. Kevin Olivette (sp?), another good employee, did the same thing. Following Mike Thomas around was the easy thing to do. I'm not impressed.

Huh! In the Aikman discussion, you give him (the QB) much (if not most) of the credit for the teams success...Now after watching a superb performance by Edelman and I want to give him (the QB) the credit, you disagree.The reason Can't goes from 1 win to already three is primarily because he ie quarterbacking and Machen (sp?) is watching...On Saturday, his pinpoint "jumpball" passing, elusiveness on all types of runs--options, called qb runs as well as scrambles enabled Can't to spread the field and open-up their offense...something Machen or anyone else on their roster couldn't do. He is the difference and we couldn't stop him. This is just simply untrue. I never told you that Aikman didn't have a great cast around him. I told you that Aikman was one of the best QBs in history (not exactly sticking my neck out), even better than most in the Hall of Fame (sticking my neck out).Back to the Zips.You are giving all of the credit to Edelman. It doesn't take a great QB to throw a jumpball pass to a guy.....it takes a great athlete to catch the ball. I reject out of hand that Edelman alone was the difference. He is a glorified running back in an option type offense. Looking at the statistics in the link I post above, too many guys contributed to the offense for Can't on Saturday for me to sit here and say that one single guy won the game for them.I stand by my premise that Can't had more athletic players than we did Saturday. 22 points is way too much for just one player to create that big of a spread. I'm not willing to dance around the calf on this one.

He did on Saturday! You're as wrong about this as you are about the Troy Aikman discussion.

I always like to see a Dwight Smith reference. I sometimes forget what a great player he was. I doubt the school has had a better "football player". He played corner, safety, running back, wide receiver, ran back kicks and blocked kicks. The guy could do it all.

Are you sure that all of you aren't just dancing around the calf?

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/spor...es/15653655.htmGood post Zips Win!. It was cogent, well thought out, clearly communicated, contained all the points you wanted to make and just plain wrong.I have posted the link to the statistics for the game. Everyone can have a look at them and decide.The bottom line is and the evidence shows that many on Can't's team participated in their win, not just Edelman. Their scoring was balanced between running and passing. Their offense was a good balance between all players. When we were trying to get first downs on third and long, they were frequently operating from third and short, or even better, second and short.If you want to say the players were out of position, what position were they supposed to be in? Do you have some sort of insight into the game plan none of us know about? Were you privy to sideline conversations? How do you know that they didn't practice all week against the exact plays that beat us Saturday? Is the Can't State offense the same mystery offense that a lot of teams are running now and everyone has had a chance to play against?All any of us really know when we go to a game is what we see. At the end of the day, what I saw was a Can't team that was big, fast and quick......or at least one that was bigger, faster and quicker than ours (this year). Believe me, I don't like typing it any more than you like reading it, but to describe it any other way is just being intellectually dishonest. Edelman alone does not make that team 22 points better than us. Much more than one player goes into that level of ass kicking. Even a perfectly thrown pass must be caught. Open field tackles must be made. Receivers must be covered. We didn't do much of that Saturday. There are only 11 players on the field, not 100. I at least expect the players to keep track of the guy with the ball and the five other guys who could potentially get the ball. Christ, we play with five freaking DBs (which I hate, but that is another post)......only five guys are eligible to get the ball other than the QB. It really isn't splitting the atom. If the Zips are as equally as talented as Can't, they didn't show it Saturday. The games are the time to go out and show your talent, not on recruiting reports or any other type of paper. Saturday is deal closing day and we didn't close.There are no secrets during the week. Both teams basically know what the other team is trying to do on offense and defense. It is a matter of players executing the game plan. Hell, if you had good enough players, you could run the QB sneak every play and win.

Excellent posts! I'm just writing this to move this back to the top.I love it when Z-P posts like he was there when the concrete was drying on the Rubber Bowl.

What you are going to find in your analysis is the following.One, flat footed players on defense who were not quick enough to make open field tackles.Two, quick players on Can't's defense who made open field tackles, one after another, against DK and anyone else who came into contact with them.Three, LBs too slow to cover more athletic players.Four, Can't has guys who can catch passes.......almost all of the time. We have guys who catch some of the time. Pass catching is an athletic skill.Five, you are going to see a very big and athletic Can't O-Line create lanes for runners against a smaller D-Line and smaller defense.Six, tall receivers who out athleted our smaller DBs. The same thing happened in the Motor City Bowl last year.Seven, missed tackles because we were too slow to be in position to make the tackles. When we were in position, they were quicker than us and got around the tackle.Eight, does anyone think our offensive line was more athletic than Can't's defensive line?There is more, but I think I have made my point.Look, there is no question we were completely out everythinged on Saturday. If you want to blame coaching, that's fine too......God knows we were out everythinged and coaches are an easy target when you don't know what else to say. Talent was our biggest problem against Can't........this year. If you want throw in everything except the comparative performance of the two bands, that's fine too. Beatings like the one we took Saturday don't just happen, a lot goes into them.One thing about playing the games is you get a chance to find out who is good and who is not good. Basically, you get to find out who the contenders and who the pretenders are. Can't may be good this year......Hell, they are in perfect positioin to win the MAC East and go to a bowl as they are undefeated in the MAC East with wins against us, BGSU and Miami. Put yourself in their position. Isn't this exactly where you would want to be? I don't think the trend will continue past this year, but this year they have all they players to be a good team and contend for the championship this season.Over the next couple of years, I'll take our young talent and JD over Can't any day of the week. Satuday was not our day though.As far as the sky falling, it is falling, but it hasn't fallen. Akron can not afford to lose another MAC game and we need a lot of help. We lost three MAC games last year and made the MACC. With the wins Can't has, Akron can not afford to lose another MAC game. That means winning on the road against Toledo and OU........two difficult places to win. It also means beating Western the last game of the year when both teams may be playing for something. Can it be done? Of course.The other side is, who is going to beat Can't three times this year to open the door for us if we win out. They have OU at home, Ball State, Buffalo, Eastern Michigan, Temple and someone else I can't think of right now. We may be able to get a group of 22 guys from ZipsNation to beat Ball State, Temple and Eastern. History tells us that Can't is more than capable of losing six in a row. Logic tells us that was a pretty good team that beat us Saturday and it is unlikely to lose many more.Someone else also brought up making a bowl. That is also a possibility. To do so, this week against Cincinnati is a must win. Seven wins gets us a chance of making a bowl. Eight wins could put us in a position to be an at large bid over other MAC schools. I'm sure the Motor City Bowl wouldn't mind having us back.

That just isn't right. You could say that about both of them actually.