GP1

I was just reading the ABJ article about the Zips by Terry Pluto. Is Pluto cheating on his wife with Lee Owens? I can't believe he gives that stiff any credit for what is going on this year. I thought he would have given up his LO obsession by now, but I guess he may still be stalking him. Does anyone really think this team would not have given up on LO after a 1-4 start? They would have finished the season 4-7. Thanks to the new coaching staff an a change of culture in the team, we are looking at a possible MAC East championship. He writes the article as if the player he mentioned were highly recruited by Division I teams. They probably went to Akron because nobody else wanted them. The new coaching staff has turned them into football players. Thanks to the new staff. I can only imagine the eye rolling in the football office when they read LO's name in the paper.

A dead in the water team leaving a dead in the water conference for another dead in the water conference. Don't let the door hit you where the good Lord split you. By the way, I don't think Marshall would be where it is today if the MAC didn't give up the farm to get it in the league. It was certainly a two way street. One last question. Was your coach a frozen caveman one of your anthropology professors found frozen in Iceland and you guys made him coach? He sure looks like one.

Dear Marshall Fans, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HHa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Haa Ha HaHa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HHa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HaHa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HaHa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HaHa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Haa Ha HHa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HaHa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HHa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HaHa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HHa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha HaaHa Haa HaHaaHa Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Get out of our league you freaking losers. Go play in Conference USA with the rest of the misfits. You losers can't win this league any more because you can't pay players to go to school at that dump of a city, you can't get the league to fix games like they did against Miami a couple of years ago and you can't hold a lead against a team with nickname like Zips. Good luck going 6-5 for the rest of your lives in CUSA loooooooooooosers. See everyone in Detroit, I hope. Yours truely, GP1 PS.

I'm too fat and old to tear down the goal post now. Even if I could, I'd probably have a heart attack hauling that thing the 7 miles back to campus.

Excellent post Milkman. Keep them coming.

Here is a reason to have faith in the team and the direction of the program. An earlier post said that Owens did not leave the program baren. He did. One person, a JD recruit, has made the difference in this team. He wears number 34. We have the same starting offensive line as the start of the year, the same QB, the same tight ends and receivers. The only difference in the starting line up is replacing 40 with 34. 34 is a true Division I player not just a player playing Division I. I'll also go as far as to say that 34 is the Most Valuable Player of the team. The team is 4-2 with him in the starting line up. His ability to run the ball has opened up the passing game much better. One last thing. I posted a couple of weeks ago that the kicking game is doing well. I'd like to restate that point. Field position is everything in college football and these guys are doing a good job. Keep up the good work.

I stand corrected.

Attendance at games has always been a source of irritation for me. For the life of me, I can't understand why the people of Akron do not go to the games. Where else can you go to a Division I football game, buy a ticket for around $10 and sit on the almost the fifty yard line if you want (guarantee if you sit on the visitors side). Let's face it though, the blame lies directly on the shoulders of U of A alumni. All they would need to average 15,000 people a game is to have each graduate of the school attend one game a year. Along with the general public, they would easily get over 15,000 per game. Instead, U of A graduates are sitting around their homes watching OSU plow the ball into the line 40 times a game while claiming they are life long OSU fans. I like OSU well enough, but I'm not going to miss a Zips game to watch that bore fest. I'll go one step further. If the suburban "men" who graduated from U of A could muster the gonads to tell their bit@#y housewives to stay at home and watch the kids for one Saturday a year, they could average over 15,000 also. Instead, they load up the mini van with the two kids and allow themselves to be taken to the in-laws for a fun game of cards and a Bet Midler movie. After all that, they get to go home with their wives and hear about how tired she is to do anything (if you know what I mean). Doesn't a football game sound more fun than this? Ask yourselves this, what would Al Bundy do? Finally, we all need to do more, me included. All of us work somewhere, I'm assuming. Do the best you can to ask people to go to the games. Organize a tailgate party for work where you get 10 people to go to one game a year. Buying hot dogs for ten people isn't asking that much. U of A has corporate sponsorship programs where you could get group discounts on tickets. I'm sure the ticket office would be glad to help. Here is another idea. Get a bunch of guys from your neighborhood to go to the game. The wives can stay at home and complain about you guys. That's their favorite sport anyhow. Tell them you are going to tailgate before and after the game. Make hot dogs at the tailgate before the game and you guys can all go to the Platinum Horse after the game for another type of tail-gate. Use your freaking heads for crying out loud. Just get more people to the games. Look, I kid about a lot of this stuff, but I think there are two things that will cure the problem. One is winning. With Marshall out of the MAC next year, we are that much closer to winning the MAC east. Secondly, that new stadium on campus MUST happen. The thought of the Rubber Bowl is more depressing than uplifting. See everyone at the game tonight. Go Zips!

If the proposal went through today, it would take over two years to complete the stadium. Working drawings from an architect would have to be designed, the stadium package bid and then the stadium built. If it is going to be a metal stadium similar to Crew Stadium in Columbus, the time to build it will take much less time. If it is concrete like Can't State, it will take more time. How about if we get the drawings from Crew Stadium (27,000 seats) and build it without the upper deck on one side. That would give us approximately 20,000 seats with room for expansion on one side? The article makes a really good point. The cost to fix up the Rubber Bowl would be extreme. A man who works for me sells concrete restoration (the Rubber Bowl would be a concrete restoration project) and we discussed this very issue one day. Typically, the cost of a concrete restoration project comes in twice the estimate depending on the age of the building. The RB is extremely old and has had little done to it over the years. It would need earth work under the stadium, new seats, new locker rooms, new score board, new press box, new bathrooms for crying out loud, painted, etc. Concrete damage is a mystery until the work starts, so the cost remains unknown in addition to the above items. A new stadium is the way to go and in the grand scheme of things, $60 million is not that much money. I don't think U of A getting moved down to 1-AA is an option for the school. This new stadium is a must. Let's face it, the RB is a dump and has been for as long as I have lived in Akron (18 years). Lock the doors and abandon it, it will not be long till it falls down on it's own.

I think we are in an excellent position right now. UCF will be down after losing a close game at NIU. While they are busy wondering if they will ever win a game, we will sneak by them (I say that with my fingers crossed.....very difficult to type). All of our games are winable. Marshall looked bad Saturday and if Miami can lose one more between now and when we play them, they may lay down at the Bowl the last game of the year. There is no reason we can't win at least three more games. 5-6 would be a great finish to a VERY poor start. I hate to jinx us, but our special teams are plaing well this year. Swiger is kicking them high and deep and also into the corner where they want it. 14 is also kicking well. Keep up the good work guys, God knows that is all you have to do. Our punt returner is gauges where the ball is going to come down good and is sure handed. We had a kick returned for a TD Saturday and we never looked back after that.

Man do I miss getting drunk on May Day.

Just to answer a couple of questions, I'm a Zip fan. In fact, I go to every game so I would have not said what I did without seeing 5 play. I see a great MAC player, but I'm not sure I see an NFL player. Second answer. I'm not an NFL scout, but I am staying in a Holiday Inn Express tonight. I think Captain Kangaroo made a good point when he said that if the right team gets him, he will do well. I agree. The problem is getting with the right team. Sometimes NFL teams take a fourth QB into camp just to put pressure on the third team QB without intentions of cutting him. This situation would make it very difficult for 5 to make the team that selected him. What if that team's offense doesn't allow 5's talents to shine? What are the odds of the MAC producing four star NFL QBs in six years? Certainly at first blush, it would not be something one would bet a lot of money on. We talk about players making the NFL like it is a piece of cake when in fact it is an EXTREMELY difficult thing to do.

Zack Derr was in training camp for one year with the Cowboys and was cut prior to playing in any regular season games. Kicker is probably the most difficult position to make it because if you don't get with the right team, you're finished. I see him at games some times, so he must still be living in NE Ohio.

BZ, Thanks for your comments. Don't belittle the completion percentage though. I don't care what level of football someone is playing, he had a 63.8% completion percentage coming into the year and that is outstanding. I agree with your other points though. Arm strength is a major key in the NFL. Keep your fingers crossed for 5's sake though. Is there anyone else out there with the balls to raise questions? Remember, there are no stupid questions, only stupid people.

Let me clarify. I'm not bitter on Charlie. In fact, I think the kid is the greatest QB, if not the best player in U of A history. Jason Taylor and Mike Clark might have something to say about that though. Also, he is one of the great players in the history of the MAC. Most importantly though, he is a good person and someone U of A alumni can be proud of. Secondly, I'm certainly not crying. All I did was supply evidence supporting my case. In fact, I'm trying to convince myself that I am wrong but I keep running into walls. Believe me, my skin is plenty thick. Let me get back to my main point. As great as he is, it may not be good enough to make it in the NFL. The wasteland of the NFL is full of great college football players who could not make it in the league or had extremely short careers. The average NFL career is very short. Hell, there have been Heisman players fall flat on their faces, which came to mind last weekend when I saw Andre Ware on ESPN2. Even if 5 doesn't make the NFL, he was still a great player. I just wish that by the end of this year, he could take one game and single handedly win that game. Marshall would be a good place to start for U of A and his own career. Lastly, what a buzz I started. This is fun.

Let me answer you questions since you raise them. 1. "No big games? Were you at the last Marshall game in the bowl?" Answer: Yes I was, and anyone with half of a brain would know that Marshall would have rolled all over Akron U. if Leftwich had not gotten hurt. 2. "This guy has put the entire team on his back for 3 years, and personally willed the Zips into a positions they could win from, only to have the defense let him down time after time after time. Came way back in Madison, only to have the D get burned, came way back in Hartford (injured) only to have missed field goals and no D let him down, stepped into his first game vs OU way back when and lead the team to a victory when we were down..........those are just the quick ones I can call to mind." Answer: The kid doesn't win in big games. I'm looking at t press guide right now, and in the past three years they have gone 4-7, 4-8 and 7-5. Three of those 15 wins were against 1-AA teams so he has 12 Division I-A wins in three years. In the past two years, he has lost to the likes of Central Michigan, Eastern Michigan, OU and Can't State. All games we should have won. An NFL QB wins those games by himself. 3. Your Post: "Is 5 really as good as we think he is? I'm guilty of thinking the kid was a first or second round draft pick. After watching him in a pro style offense, he looks confused and uncertain." What team and game are you watching? This is the same crappy offense we ran unsuccessfully last year. Answer: The offense is much different and all of they players willingly say so. Even 5 says there are multiple reads in this offense when in the past there was only one. News flush, a multiple read offense is an NFL offense. There are also less counters and misdirections. 4. Your Post: " I just don't see the spark or professional ability of the kid." Trust me, this young man has the whole package...........he's a pro in the wings. No Lefty, Big Ben or Pennington??????????? Right he's not. He's probably better than any of them.............look at the programs and teams those guys played on. Now think about what 5's had to work with. End of discussion..........oh yea, and in case you haven't heard, he's got a shot at the MAC all time passing record. Additionally, look at this when you get a chance..........some of his best games have been against the biggest competition like Wisconsin and Virginia (past years). Answer: So much BS, so little time, but here it goes. Trust you, why....what the Hell do you know. The fact that you know nothing is indicated by the fact you think he is better than Big Ben or Leftwich. 5. No long ball? Really? How long is long enough? Tell him..............and go ask him to casually toss it that far for you. Our problem is that since the days of Schifino and Bailey we haven't had a deep threat to throw to. We can't get behind anyone, and haven't been able to for 4 years. Worse yet, his YAC probably sucks cause our guys always get caught from behind...........only Sparks doesn't apply to the above comments, but he was a bit timid as a receiver IMHO. Answer: 40 -50 yards accurately, which we when we have seen it this year has been well off the mark. I was at all three of the first three games. YAC has little to do with the ability to throw a pass over 40 yards, which I don't question his ability to do. However, if you still need me to ask him, here it goes. Dear Charle, Could you please take a camera to practice and casually toss a ball 40 yards and leave a video of it in the library as evidence of your abilities? I know this evidence does not display any ability to throw the ball accurately, only your ability to throw the ball that far, but there is an idiot who writes on a web site who is wants me to demand evidence, so if you could do me this one favor, I would be eternally grateful. Sincerely, GP1

Thanks for your note Captain. I think you may be overstating that 5 has a long NFL career ahead of him. If he does make an NFL team, which I think has become a 50/50 proposition, I certainly don't think a long career is ahead of him. I think again he is more like a Brian St. Pierre who will be cut by the Steelers at the end of a two year career. Maybe he will get a third year with another team, but probably not. Thanks again for your response.

I'm wearing my suit of armor, so if you want to tee off on me, feel free. I have something to say that really needs to be said or at least asked. I hope I am wrong. Is 5 really as good as we think he is? I'm guilty of thinking the kid was a first or second round draft pick. After watching him in a pro style offense, he looks confused and uncertain. Him being drafted in the fourth or fifth round, or even not at all, doesn't seem all that unlikely. This is not the coaches fault either, so save the typing. I understand there are problems such as the offensive line, a hurt hand and lost playmakers, but even when he does have a little time, I just don't see the spark or professional ability of the kid. In the NFL, you either can, or you can't. I know that to his credit, 5 passed for a lot of yards in the previous offense, but at the same time, it was not a pro offense. They ran a lot of play action passes with little 5 yard dink passes to the tight end. When they did have to drop back and throw the ball, he never looked really good. The NFL is a drop back, down field passing league. Is 5 a down field passer? I'm not seeing it. Last year at Pitt (I was at three of their games), Rutherford ran the same offense much better than 5 does. Other than Fitzgerald, they didn't have much talent on that team compared to their opposition. I know they went to a bowl game, which they lost, but it is easier to tell me who Pitt lost to last year than who they beat. Can anyone tell me what Rutherford is doing right now? Back to Akron....... When we watch 5 play, are we seeing a Leftwich or Rothlisberger, or are we just watching a very good MAC QB who really has no meaningful future in the NFL? Personally, and it kills me to say this, I don't see Leftwich or Rothlisberger. In fact, I saw Boston College play Toledo a couple of years ago in the Motor City Bowl, I don't even think 5 is a Brian St. Pierre, who is barely holding on with the Steelers. He was going to be on the practice squad until the Steelers starting QB got hurt. Just so everyone knows, practice players do not make the league minimum. They make about $30,000 per year. 5 would be better off selling copiers. Remember, there are only 32 teams in the NFL. That is roughtly 96 QBs if each team carries 3 QBs. Not every team is going to turn over one QB so lets say there is competition for 10-15 NFL QB positions each year. Not all of those are going to be filled by rookies. Some will be filled by NFL Europe players, CFL players and free agents. So the field is narrowed down to 5-7 NFL positions. Can 5 fill one of those positions? Will he have the talent to fit into the offense of the team that selects him? It is at least statistically unlikely. Again, I hope I am wrong. It makes me proud to see Zips in the NFL, but I am really uncertain about this particular Zip. He is going to have a huge uphill battle come training camp and I really do hope he makes it. In the mean time, we were lucky to have a good QB who gave us those great wins against great teams such as....... well.......... ummmm..........let's see......... that was.........what was that team again............ Howard.......no that wasn't the game..............Liberty........... no, that wasn't the game................Wofford ............no, that wasn't the game.............OU......... no, that wasn't the game.............Buffalo...........no, that wasn't the game.......... Beating those rough tough Can't teams will have to work , because I could go on all day. Go Zips and see everyone Saturday.

I guess if I was the AD, the first thing I wouldn't do is panic like a hysterical school girl and want the coach fired after five games.

Man, that Lee Corso really knows his stuff. Saved me a lot of typing. Be patient my fellow Zip fans. See you all Saturday.

It would be even better if the quality of the broadcast was better than the Buchtel games we watch on WAPS. It was a high school audio visual display.

Good posts on this tread. Continue to support the team everyone. Thursday nights at the Winking Lizard in Fairlawn. 7:00. Zips Live radio show. Be there!

Would all of you Lee Owens jock sniffers please stop posting on this sight. Last night's game was EXACTLY the type of game that Owens would have lost you freaking idiots. For Christ's sake, he only won 40 games in nine years (some of those wins were against 1-AA teams). Oh, I'm sorry, he would have at least scored against Virginia and we could have lost 51-7........I feel much better. If Owens had ANY coaching ability, he would be somewhere other than Ashland. My God, you people are dumb!!! For all the sane people out there, Akron won a hard fought game last night against a good team. Road games are not easy to win, especially against a rival. Any time a team scores 24 points in a game, they should win the game........and they did. For all the Owens jock sniffers, I'm sorry the Zips ran the ball so much last night. It only helped them control the clock and wear down a Can't defense that allowed a long touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. In fact, I don't know what game you guys were watching, but the running game was excellent in the second half. Owens could have never made the adjustments with that hight school offense that he runs that the current coaching staff did. I'm sorry that that strategy is beyond the mental capacity of some of you on this site. Coaching won that game!!!! Great job JD. You deserve better than the first two posts. To all the jock sniffers, I'm also sorry the defense played so poorly. Holding a team to 19 points while blocking an extra point and forcing long field goals that were missed. Holding them on the two yard line was also a disaster. Should we have let them score so we could really have something to bitch about? It forced us to use that horrible running game of ours to run the clock down late in the game giving Can't no chance to win and we could kneel the clock out to win. Attention Owens jock sniffers, when a defense holds a team to less points than their own team scores, they win the game!!! One last time, if you are going to write this site with stupid comments about how Owens would have done this or that, please don't. You are all making asses out of yourselves. We now have a big time coach who wants to take the progam to the next level. Winning close games is a sign of a good coach. In the recent past, close games became disasters, Middle Tennessee included. The coaches got the team over the hump last night. I think it is a sign of good things to come.

See everyone on the beer patio.

The Captain is right on the money. It is obvious it is going to be a looooooong season for the Zips, but what can we do. Please don't take the following statement as being purposely malicious because they aren't intended to be so. My only disagreement is that Owens should have been fired one year before he did and certainly before he started to hire every high school coach in Ohio to work under him. My guess is that in the end Owens surrounded himself with high school coaches because every other college coach saw the writing on the wall and they were the only coaches he could get. High school coaches rarely are able to understand what a Division I player will look like two or three years down the road. Have you ever talked to a high school coach about football, they speak in cliches. Good Division I players do not always play for good teams or even have good statistics because they may be on a bad team. A Division I coach must be able to spot a good player's talent and I don't think that was getting done. For example, do all three Basch brother deserve Division I scholarships????? Are 5' 11" 215 pound linebackers really Division I players? The Zips are way too small and way too slow. The athlet director is also partly to blame. He is paid to have foresight about the program and when one high school coach after another is hired to be an assistant, he should have known something was wrong. It is not always about what plays are called. Success is more frequently about creating the right culture. The ADs job is to create the proper culture. JD has been around the block and I believe understands the culture of accountability that needs to be created. Speaking of creating the right culture. I said this a week ago and after seeing the game Saturday it is obvious that more competition needs to be created on the team for starting positions. After all, a rising tide lifts all ships. The starting offensive line has no pressure on them to perform because the back up players are so poor they could not be counted on to perform in a game. The solution to this problem is to bring in older players who can compete.......JUCO players (but not a lot of them and only for one or two years). Just enough to create competition and some depth. Oh by the way, Can't State has a patio where you can drink beer and watch the game. Some day when Akron has a real stadium, maybe we can have a beer patio that allows us to see the game also. See everyone there Thursday. Look at the current staff, they all have college experience, and a lot of it. Given time, they will do a good job. I really do have a lot of confidence in them. I hope everyone else does too. Have a good week everyone!