zipboy Posted September 1, 2008 Report Share Posted September 1, 2008 I am cautiously optimistic after this weekend. The Zips will be much better than last year, but it also looks like this is the strongest the MAC will be top to bottom in the past 5 years.The good1. If Jacq plays this well, we win at least 7 games. I only counted a couple poor decisions, he continually let the game come to him, took advantage of what was given to him, and was consistent the whole game. It is only 1 game, but if he plays as well next week, I think we win.2. Bowser looks like the real deal. Miller and Bruce looked good as well. I am not ready to give up on Andre Jones on offense, but instead of 80/20 offense /defense, I think he ends up playing 80/20 defense / offense.3. 3rd and short early in the game, power I, we get the 1st down. My guess is we were successful running the ball on 3rd and short almost half the time the past 2 years. I also only rememeber one carry for negative yardage. The line always seemed to have a push and move forward.4. No sophmore jinx for Igor.The bad1. We need Bain back and need him to be really good. Getting him and Lively back will help, not playing a power team like Wisconsin will help, but by how much? 2. The 1st time that I can remember all 5 OL getting a false start penalty in the same game. Again, I like the line but that was frustrating more than anything.3. What's up with the high snaps from center? We had that problem last year.The questions.1. Who knows if the secondary will be any good. I worry about the Ball State game. With Williams and Jones back there, I would think that we will at least be ok.2. No Williams on kick off returns?3. The rest of the MAC. A solid 1st week for the league and it looks like the MAC will be better than expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted September 1, 2008 Report Share Posted September 1, 2008 To answer your first two questions:1. I'm not worried about the secondary. Syracuse has a terrible passing game, so that gives them one more game to work out the bugs in coverage schemes before they get tested. Jones might see dedicated time at DB when we play Ball State.2. B. Will was back there to return the kicks, but they kicked away from him. I think we should put Jones, Williams, and Johnson all back there, so they can't kick it away from anyone unless they want to go short. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zips Win! Posted September 1, 2008 Report Share Posted September 1, 2008 Madison was an absolute blast! I hope Mack attempts to get them back on the schedule in a few years as I would like to go back.We arrived in Madsion early in the afternoon on Friday and by my account, 48 hours later we frequented eleven different bars, several of them multiple times. What a great college town! Zips Win!’s Roommate even commented that with all the shops, bars, long walks all over campus, Madison was a combination of Las Vegas and Put in Bay (without the gambling). The Wisconsin fans, young and old -were very nice and complimentary of UA’s effort. They were even buying us cold one’s for making the trip. If I have to answer one more time What’s a Zip?, I think I’m going to print up cards to hand out with the explanation. As for the game, I saw a lot of the same things as Zipboy. Jacq was pretty good all things considered. He missed Bowser on the bomb that would have been 7 and he did miss a few other tosses, but Jones dropped an easy one and he did make several good throws, including the first TD pass. Last year that ball was thrown at the receivers’ feet. Now if he can build upon this game and gain some consistency, he may be OK.All three wideouts-Bowser, Bruce and Miller- all seem to have great upside. The play calling seemed much better. It looks like the Jacq looking over to the sidelines multiple times before he snaps the ball is gone from a year ago. And we made an effort to throw the ball down the field. Hopefully, the sideline throws are a thing of the past.Very disappointing that all five linemen were called for a false start. We could never overcome the extra five yards and this killed us offensively…..not to mention Kennedy’s fumble. I hope Alex Allen get more touches next week.Defensively, what can you say? Playing a bunch of first-year players along the line was problematic. We were getting pushed around pretty good. Tyler Campbell had a ton of tackles. Unfortunately, they were 10+ yards downfield. Looks like the move of B. Will to the secondary is paying off. I’m not surprised A. Jones is back on D after the drop and how the receivers look. Losing is never fun, however being down only 17-10 at half (being a 26 point dog) was somewhat of a moral victory. Camp Randall was not the loud, hostile environment I anticipated. While there was a large student turnout, many arrived late and left early. It’s too bad we started the second half with a penalty and starting field position of our own 8. (Was this a good call?) It would have been nice to go down the field and tie it up and then see how UW responded. Oh well, maybe next week. Speaking of next week, off to the Carrier Dome in 5 days... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zips4ever2008 Posted September 1, 2008 Report Share Posted September 1, 2008 I thought the Zips did well against a very good Wisconsin team. It was not a total blowout like most people thought. Hey, we did better than Can't. I liked some of the plays the offense did. If the offense can continue putting pressure on opposing defenses, we will do well. I think our defense will do pretty well. This was probably the best offense they will face this year. They do need to cut down on the penalties. Overall, I'm proud of the team.I do think the Zips can beat Syracuse now that they've had a game played. We can also beat Army and Cinci. MAC play is very important and I agree that the MAC could be tough this year. The MAC east could be up in the air this year. Central Michigan figures to win the West. This will be a very interesting season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyzip84 Posted September 2, 2008 Report Share Posted September 2, 2008 While I missed the TV feed for the game because I was driving to Chicago, I did happen to get an interesting viewpoint of the game by way of the UW announcers on 760 AM out of Madison. In general, they were pretty complimentary of the Zips play, especially (and obviously) on the offensive side of the ball and in particular Jack, the WR's, and the O-Line. They also mentioned how much the Zip D was unquestionably missing Bain. I agree with all of the points I have seen on this thread up to now. We've got a shot to be pretty decent this year, BUT the MAC East looks to be exceptionally strong. I say "GREAT" to this, and let's let the chips fall where they may. I'd rather see the Zips beat some of these teams while they are in top form. It's the only way the conference AND the Zips will get any respect.Here's another thought along the same lines. I have to believe that this year's home schedule just might feature the best blend of overall talent, top to bottom, that has ever been seen in terms of visiting teams in the history of the Bowl. What an appropriate last year for this quirky, much-maligned facility that has nevertheless played an essential role in the development of the program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gozips19 Posted September 3, 2008 Report Share Posted September 3, 2008 didn't get to see all of the game due to work but the one thing i noticed and will continue to pay attention to is the play of kevin grant. he has to do better than 4 tkls and 1 hurry. he's one of the leaders of this team and needs to perform well for the d to improve. also, would like to see more aaron williams. he just looks like a player. i'd guess the more he gets used to playing at this level the more we'll see him. can't wait for the cuse game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckzip Posted September 3, 2008 Report Share Posted September 3, 2008 didn't get to see all of the game due to work but the one thing i noticed and will continue to pay attention to is the play of kevin grant. he has to do better than 4 tkls and 1 hurry. he's one of the leaders of this team and needs to perform well for the d to improve. also, would like to see more aaron williams. he just looks like a player. i'd guess the more he gets used to playing at this level the more we'll see him. can't wait for the cuse game! Kevin Grant suffers from Dwayne LeFall disease. He is actually getting worse as his career progresses.He looked like a future stud a Freshman and then Sophomore but is getting steadily worse. IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Adams Posted September 3, 2008 Report Share Posted September 3, 2008 I thought the Zips did well against a very good Wisconsin team. It was not a total blowout like most people thought. Hey, we did better than Can't. I liked some of the plays the offense did. If the offense can continue putting pressure on opposing defenses, we will do well. I think our defense will do pretty well. This was probably the best offense they will face this year. They do need to cut down on the penalties. Overall, I'm proud of the team.I do think the Zips can beat Syracuse now that they've had a game played. We can also beat Army and Cinci. MAC play is very important and I agree that the MAC could be tough this year. The MAC east could be up in the air this year. Central Michigan figures to win the West. This will be a very interesting season. :blink: maybe ARMY...not cincy...win in the MAC...too much on D too phyisical for the ZIPS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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