GP1

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!

I would like to put the blame for Saturday's game directly where it belongs. ON THE FREAKING PLAYERS THEMSELVES!!!!! Both on offense and defense, the coaches are calling good plays and the players aren't executing the plays. Missed tackles, missed blocks, fumbles and missed easy ten yard catches are always disasters. Anyone in their right mind must understand that the coaches preach fundamentals on a daily basis and when the players do not execute, it is just as troubling for the coaches as the fans. Every play is designed to go for a touchdown, including plays up the middle. If the players would execute, we wouldn't have to complain about the OC (there is nothing to complain about anyhow). The players must be made accountable for their actions and play better......including #5. Are you kidding me with that fumble on the six yard line?????? One aspect of the new coaching staff I really appreciate is the business like direction they have taken the team. The high school coaching staff we had before is gone and we now have professionals that are not going to accept poor effort. My guess is that Ringer will not be starting this week. The same needs to be done with the cup cakes on defense. Either they perform or they should find someone who wants to play. Damn the graduation rate!!!! This winter, the Zips need to find some JUCO players that can immediately step in to make an impact. The JUCO players will force the LO recruits to either become better players, or leave the team. Also, the JUCO players will allow some of the young recruits to mature before they are thrown into the fire. Either way, the fans win.