Doc's Game Time Notes

[Dr Z]

Alex Allen played awesome yesterday, making players miss, breaking tackles, running downhill. The overall package. I'm thrilled he has come back 100 percent from his injury (gawd I hope I didn't jinx him) Did anybody notice the blitz pickup on the first TD? I bet the offensive coaches do.CJ needs to keep the ball on running plays 2 or three more times a game.Receiving corp played great yesterday, I don't remember a dropped ball. Bowser was everything that we were told he was, maybe more.The dude knows how to get open and he has great hands. He is powerful after the run, and I saw him blocking well on a couple of our wide receiver screens. Maybe I'm not used to this much talent on a team for this to be possible, but is JD the king of moving players positions?I loved Andre Jones game yesterday. Dashan Miller also had a nice game. Bruce is going to get tagged Wes Welker on this board enoughin the next two years, so I won't do it anymore, kids tough.I have never been so confident that we are going to get good field position on kickoffs.Do you ever remember the draw play working so well for the Zips?? That seems to be DK's specialty. Do you realize we were 8/9 at one time on third down conversions? Do you EVER remember a Zips offense being that productive? That's a sign of the QB playing well.I think for the first time yesterday, the offensive game calling actually surprised the defense (even though they were pathetic).CJ's audible on the 3 and 3 to the fly pattern on the iso WR was awesome, too bad he over threw him. I saw the O look toward the sidelines a few times yesterday, it actually worked once, still don't like it. Kudos to the offensive coaching staff, well done.The announcers were excellent yesterday. I only mention this because the Wisc announcers were HORRIBLE. Cuse announcerswere well prepared for the opponent. They knew names and told you who did what from our team. Very professional job.I wouldn't mind hearing them announce bigger games that I watch.Syracuse is not known for their hot cheerleaders!?!I'm saving my Jacquemain comments for later this week. I'll just say WOW. He played a B+ or A- game yesterday.I'd say we are seeing the result of some hard work this summer. I say, thank you CJ.Did anybody catch the interview JD game in between halves? I have two questions. One, who was the "kid with no helmet on that was noton the field for the td" and two, what defensive half time adjustments is he talking about?Did anybody kidnap Arthur Jones from Syracuse so we can put him on our d line?Looking over a lot of my notes yesterday I have a lot of bad things written down about the defense (duh), but I don't feel like ranting on the defense this morning. I'm going to enjoy this victory all week long. I'll keep it general and short on the D....PLEASE ditch the 3-3-5.I don't think we have the players to run this crummy scheme. I'll be shocked if getting two DL healthy "fixes" everything.We need safety help. We need three guys like 34 Paul Chiara, the safety for the Cuse, that dude knows how to come to the LOSand tackle people. We don't have that, so missing size KILLS us on the run. I'm hoping that this is not as evident when we get intoMAC play, but I fear it is.That missed FG yesterday could have been the turning point in the game. Nice job not letting it be.I think for the first time, I root for a football team that I want to receive the kickoff. It is to our advantage to get the ball first.Going down and scoring that TD on the opening drive was HUGE. The team looked VERY sharp on that drive. I don't want to put our defense out on the field first this year.Kudos to JD. Is beating a BCS team (even a terrible one) a big deal anymore? I can remember reading some post that read we should just consider the first two weeks like practice and not get hurt? I think more people from the Badgers & Cuse wereinjured than Akron players. Seems like our team is in shape.The tape from yesterday should be shown in defensive classrooms as an example of how not to tackle.I think Syracuse, was worse than the Zips (exclude #97 & #34 from cuse).It's hard to evaluate an offensive line from watching a game on tv. I'll just say that CJ had time to throw the ball most of the timeand the RB's were making big runs. The line MUST be playing well.I'm pumped up to go to the Rubber Bowl Saturday (did I just type that) !!!

[Captain Kangaroo]

EXCELLENT rundown, Dr. Z! Tough to add anything?A few additional thoughts:It was interesting to see Andre Jones go from "looking like a converted DB @ WR" to a legit D1 WR in the span of 1 week. He had a GREAT game.The OL played great, but the RB's were bruising too! Alex Allen was a man amongst boys.Jack was stellar. Converted on 10-14 3rd down opportunities? That's unreal vs. a BCS school. The Zips WR's could not be stopped. If they were open, and they were all day long, Jack hit them between the numbers. The corner route to Jones was a BEAUTIFUL toss.Dr Z is correct -- Jack needs to keep the ball every so often on those tug-of-war handoffs. The deception only works if the QB keeps it every so often.With the Zips offense clicking the way it was, and the defense getting pushed around the way it was...it was tempting to make the comparison to the Lee Owens era. And if you did, you'd be 90% correct. The 10% difference between Owens and Brookhart is: Owens offense had numerous opportunities to win tight games like this. And inevitably the offense couldn't get the first down necessary to ice the game. Then the defense collapsed, and we walked home losers. JD's Zips built a 42-28 lead after being tied 28-28. Late in the game the offense rolled. The defense bent, but didn't break. We walked off the field with the win. When Wayne Cobham watches tape of this game he should wear a bag over his head. If he continues to tackle like that he should change his jersey name to Gramatica because he tackles like a kicker. In the 3-3-5 you need safetys who can tackle...not completely whiff.I have to believe Bowser has only scratched the surface of his ability. He's going to go off for 200 receiving yards one day.We gave the ball to Syracuse on the 30+ yard line after just about every kick. I wish Igor could get some more distance on those kick offs. Speaking of Igor...I could have sworn his FG was good? They never showed the replay so I guess I'll never know..The roll out where Jack crossed the line of scrimmage in the 1st quarter and hit Bowser...that was a GREAT play. I'd like to see it again some time soon...only with the QB not crossing the line. If the DB bites on the run it's a 30+ yard play every time.How will JD shore-up our defense to combat Davis and Ball State? This has the makings of a 56-48 shootout. If the Rubber Bowl is packed, and it should be, I like our chances. 24,000 screaming Zips fans will work miracles for our D. And if we can get Lively and Bain back (and Stewart?) that wouldn't hurt either. An exciting week of Zips Football is upcoming!!!!!

[Zipsrifle]

I always appreciate the post game summaries from those who attended. Nice job. I was relegated to listening to the game on the Internet from a Syracuse Radio Station. Here's what gets me. We beat a BCS team and it's like we played EMU yesterday. WTF!! Didn't anyone in the area send a reporter to the game yesterday? I'm very, very concerned about our Defense from what I saw yesterday and knowing the offensive powerhouses that are in the MAC this year, we're going to have issues.

[RootforRoo44]

the big question: CAN WE STOP THE RUN?!I know week 1 was against a very good running team but Syracuse, are they that good running the ball?

[ZachTheZip]

the big question: CAN WE STOP THE RUN?!I know week 1 was against a very good running team but Syracuse, are they that good running the ball?

It's just about the only thing they actually are good at. This defense is very young: the DL was made up of freshmen and Mondo the past two weeks, the entire secondary is new from last year, and the linebackers are having trouble picking up the slack. Every game they should improve somewhat. I'm hoping that having the secondary play two games without getting really tested will allow them to work out the bugs before we face Nate Davis and his impossibly good passing game.

[skip-zip]

Much like the captain on this thread, I commented about the poor play from our Rover position, but on another thread. Let me continue that discussion here...I think that one of the keys to running a successful 3-3-5 is to have a Rover who has the ability to play like a linebacker....in addition to having a linebacker who can play like a defensive end.You probably all recall that last year we lost two excellent players to graduation who filled these two roles....Mackey and Stokes.But back to the Rover specifically....I caught 3 situations where Wayne totally whiffed on tackles. I mean...didn't even look like he even got a hand on the guy coming at him. He got totally juked. So what happens if you've only got 6 guys on the interior who really can tackle a RB? Well...just what happened in the first two weeks.The 3-3-5 has the flexibility to look like a 3-4-4 or a 4-3-4 on any given play. So, what they call it really doesn't make much difference to me. But what does concern me is if we don't have a Rover who can step up near the line of scrimmage and play like a linebacker when needed. Wayne isn't looking like that guy. Let's hope and pray that the return of our DL starters will improve the situation by getting more of an initial push up front at the snap of the ball. If not, we are going to need to score a lot of points this year to win games.

[RACER]

not to go over this again, but does anyone have infro on lively,and bain.can either of these guys play this week?i have to agree with c k about the rover postion.we need to make a change there.the questions is do we have anybodythat can play that position.i really underestimated the loss of a healthy mackey,and stokes.you can say what you want about nate robinson,but teams did not run like this on us last year.maybe bain can do the job,but so far our dl is getting blown off the ball.

[GP1]

I can remember reading some post that read we should just consider the first two weeks like practice and not get hurt? I think more people from the Badgers & Cuse wereinjured than Akron players. Seems like our team is in shape.

Are you sure it was the first two weeks or just the Wisconsin game? I mean, I would understand if you got it wrong. After all, you are still the guy who still thinks billboards are an effective advertising medium evidenced by the fact that Can't uses it. Does it matter though?Moving on..... While driving through Atlanta, I was listening to the game on Sirius. I was encouraged by the Zips . Too bad it was the Syracuse feed. I'm just glad the marketing department doesn't have to waste valuable selling time focusing on a bunch of gambling degenerates in other parts of the world.I have picked on CJ a lot in the past. He seems to have found something the past couple weeks. I hope the kids don't get big headed. I remember a couple of years ago now when a defending MAC Champion went to NC State and won. After the game, we were all chirping about the next bowl game. Then the wheels fell off the bus after playing a very good MAC team the following week. I hope that doesn't happen again. We are sort of in a similar situation right now. NC State was really bad and a very good CMU beat us the following week.Final thought..... We need six wins to make a bowl game. The clock is ticking. Let's get those six asap so we can look forward to maybe an even higher total. Ball State first though.

[GP1]

Rumor has it that Bain is still in a boot. Any truth? If so, it is hard to go from a boot to playing in one week. Maybe there is more to this than meets the eye.

[johnnyzip84]

not to go over this again, but does anyone have infro on lively,and bain.can either of these guys play this week?i have to agree with c k about the rover postion.we need to make a change there.the questions is do we have anybodythat can play that position.i really underestimated the loss of a healthy mackey,and stokes.you can say what you want about nate robinson,but teams did not run like this on us last year.maybe bain can do the job,but so far our dl is getting blown off the ball.

I think Fleming would look pretty good in the rover position.....a natural. How is his health? Anyone?

[gozips19]

great posts guys! a few thoughts.....the ride was a little long but it was worth it!!!!!!the tailgate lots were a little spread out but the sky top lot was very similar to the rubber bowl. had the pleasure of cooking for rowdy zip! the people at the university were one of two people....1. w. ny people mostly from rodchester or buffalo. very nice and great to talk to. didn't take themselves too seriously and knew their sports. 2. the meat head "you got a problem guy" ny'er would talk smack to anyone that walked by and knew nothing about sports. a very interesting mix.thanks to tex mark as the bbq spot, it was amazing! they said they are putting one in manhattan asap and i can see or taste why!on to the gamethe o line played its best game since jd took over. the guard's anderson and ward were fantastic on their zone read plays and gave jac all day long to throwspeaking of jac....i, like many on this board thought he was a a back up but watching him go through his progressions and make the right read and throw have made me a convert. also this should mean stability at the qb spot for years to come as rodgers is right behind him.the running backs all played great. averaged over 5 yrds a carry. the depth of the running game will wear down most mac schools this year and i'm looking forward to seeing it!the wr's were great too! most talked about jones and bowser so i'll talk about bruce. his play in the slot opens up the outside for the other two and they will only get better.the dthe line played with heart but with mostly frosh and soph's playing that is about what i'd expect against 2 bcs teams. when (hopefully soon) bain and lively come back the line will be good not average.glad to see grant step up but he can take it to another level...still want to see more a willagree with previous comments about the rover spot....davis is #2 now and i'm thinking fleming being hurt stunted his growth this year.the secondary will be very opportunistic this year. they are green but very athletic. the best of the lot is b will! the man played at a very high level and should be playing on sundays next year. to watch him line up on the slot one play and then make a big hit on 4th and one. wow! that's all i have to say.....side note his parents are a blast as i sat by them for the game.coachinggreat game plan.....adapted fairly well but i love the fact that they went for the win and to put the game out of reach. capt mentioned this before and i agree. the 3rd and a long one were the zips could have gone run but went play action and hit merc for the touchdown and final blow was ballsy! cuse was thinking run all the way and everyone in the dome was thinking the same thing. great great call.finally to see the a hole fans (who the cops had to tell to calm down after getting after our cheerleaders for 3 quarters) chant g rob must go then all the dome walk out at the same time was priceless! i hope we don't take a step back this week and continue on this upswing!see you at the bowl!

[Lee Adams]

Alex Allen played awesome yesterday, making players miss, breaking tackles, running downhill. The overall package. I'm thrilled he has come back 100 percent from his injury (gawd I hope I didn't jinx him) Did anybody notice the blitz pickup on the first TD? I bet the offensive coaches do.CJ needs to keep the ball on running plays 2 or three more times a game.Receiving corp played great yesterday, I don't remember a dropped ball. Bowser was everything that we were told he was, maybe more.The dude knows how to get open and he has great hands. He is powerful after the run, and I saw him blocking well on a couple of our wide receiver screens. Maybe I'm not used to this much talent on a team for this to be possible, but is JD the king of moving players positions?I loved Andre Jones game yesterday. Dashan Miller also had a nice game. Bruce is going to get tagged Wes Welker on this board enoughin the next two years, so I won't do it anymore, kids tough.I have never been so confident that we are going to get good field position on kickoffs.Do you ever remember the draw play working so well for the Zips?? That seems to be DK's specialty. Do you realize we were 8/9 at one time on third down conversions? Do you EVER remember a Zips offense being that productive? That's a sign of the QB playing well.I think for the first time yesterday, the offensive game calling actually surprised the defense (even though they were pathetic).CJ's audible on the 3 and 3 to the fly pattern on the iso WR was awesome, too bad he over threw him. I saw the O look toward the sidelines a few times yesterday, it actually worked once, still don't like it. Kudos to the offensive coaching staff, well done.The announcers were excellent yesterday. I only mention this because the Wisc announcers were HORRIBLE. Cuse announcerswere well prepared for the opponent. They knew names and told you who did what from our team. Very professional job.I wouldn't mind hearing them announce bigger games that I watch.Syracuse is not known for their hot cheerleaders!?!I'm saving my Jacquemain comments for later this week. I'll just say WOW. He played a B+ or A- game yesterday.I'd say we are seeing the result of some hard work this summer. I say, thank you CJ.Did anybody catch the interview JD game in between halves? I have two questions. One, who was the "kid with no helmet on that was noton the field for the td" and two, what defensive half time adjustments is he talking about?Did anybody kidnap Arthur Jones from Syracuse so we can put him on our d line?Looking over a lot of my notes yesterday I have a lot of bad things written down about the defense (duh), but I don't feel like ranting on the defense this morning. I'm going to enjoy this victory all week long. I'll keep it general and short on the D....PLEASE ditch the 3-3-5.I don't think we have the players to run this crummy scheme. I'll be shocked if getting two DL healthy "fixes" everything.We need safety help. We need three guys like 34 Paul Chiara, the safety for the Cuse, that dude knows how to come to the LOSand tackle people. We don't have that, so missing size KILLS us on the run. I'm hoping that this is not as evident when we get intoMAC play, but I fear it is.That missed FG yesterday could have been the turning point in the game. Nice job not letting it be.I think for the first time, I root for a football team that I want to receive the kickoff. It is to our advantage to get the ball first.Going down and scoring that TD on the opening drive was HUGE. The team looked VERY sharp on that drive. I don't want to put our defense out on the field first this year.Kudos to JD. Is beating a BCS team (even a terrible one) a big deal anymore? I can remember reading some post that read we should just consider the first two weeks like practice and not get hurt? I think more people from the Badgers & Cuse wereinjured than Akron players. Seems like our team is in shape.The tape from yesterday should be shown in defensive classrooms as an example of how not to tackle.I think Syracuse, was worse than the Zips (exclude #97 & #34 from cuse).It's hard to evaluate an offensive line from watching a game on tv. I'll just say that CJ had time to throw the ball most of the timeand the RB's were making big runs. The line MUST be playing well.I'm pumped up to go to the Rubber Bowl Saturday (did I just type that) !!!

GO AA...