The reason we lost to BG

[Dr Z]

As always please explain why you voted the way you did.

[GP1]

Offense came up short. They went from scoring touchdowns to fieldgoals. Trick plays on the goal line......

[Class of 82]

I chose the combination category. Poor play calling (totally baffling trick play near the goal line!) was critical. Jacquemain is what he is... an okay quarterback and not a superstar. Defensively, we have struggled at times in nearly every game.

[Big Zip]

C'mon GP1 -- I've heard talk before about how many points it takes to win a game -- if it that number isn't at least 33 then maybe I'm watching the wrong sport. Maybe if we had a defense and coaching staff that could coach there way out of a paper bag we'd have won.

[Quickzips]

I was too pissed to even come on and post last night. I've settled down a bit today, but here are my thoughts.This games is ALL on the coaching staff. From an offensive prospective, we were gaining 6, 7, 8 yards plus running the ball right up the middle of the BG defense. They were doing absolutely nothing to stop it. So what do we do in the third quarter when BG is starting to gain some momentum, we're down deep in our own territory and we really need a long drive to swing the momentum back to us? We put the ball in the air on the shoulder of Jacq's erratic, choke artist arm. Now you can blame Jacq all you want to. God knows he's not the kind of QB who is ever going to have any kind of consistency for us. The problem is that everyone in the damn stadium last night knows that. The coaching staff knows it, our fans know it, BG's coaching staff knows it, the players know it, hell Jacq himself probably even knows it. When your running game is shredding BG's defense, and you have a QB who you know is a liability, you don't start throwing the ball in crucial situations. The other problem I had was with the 3rd and goal call from our own two. Again, we've been VERY successful running right up the middle of BG's defense. So what's the call? Fake the end around to the right and Jacq hands the ball off behind his back to Tuzze going left. Result, High snap, timing is off, Jacq is nowhere near Tuzze when he tries to make the behind the back handoff and fumbles the ball. We settle for a FG where we really needed six. We got far to cute for our own good when some good old, smashmouth, pound the ball up inside football probably gets us 4 more points. Ohh, and don't get me started on our ridiculous defensive scheme. Hats off to BG for exploiting it's biggest weakness. Turner lined up for quite a few direct snaps and made us look like a fool on more than one occassion. Sure, we stopped him once or twice, but they were patient and kept going back to it and it paid off quite a few times. Other thoughts beyond the coaching staff:Kickoff coverage unit was pathetic. BG started way too many drives from the 35 or 40.Jeremy Bruce officially has the worst hands of any D-I WR I've ever seen. Our defense often forgets the number one rule in tackling. Run THROUGH the ballcarrier, not too the ballcarrier. Too many poor tackles last night. And bad angles as well. BG's first touchdown was a direct result of a DB (I was at the other end of the field and couldn't see who) overrunning the play.Dennis Kennedy looked more like Dennis Kennedy circa early-2006 than Dennis Kennedy, well any time since then.

[ZippyforPresident]

I have to agree with the great GP1 that the offense came up short. They had to punch it in, plain and simple. But I don't think you can completely let the defense off the hook here. BG put up 23 points on us in the fourth quarter, while we were able to put up a mere 12 the entire second half. BG's offense had their way with us in the fourth quarter. I know its a cliche but, you win as a team just as you lose as a team. This loss isn't attributable to one side of the ball or a single player as some posters are already calling for Jacq's head. That's just rubbish, if anything I think that kid is on the verge of being a pretty solid player and you can't go throwing in an unproven player like Rodgers when you've got a guy with game experience who is capable of making the plays. Yeah, he might have a couple of things to work on, but so does the entire team. I really am starting to think some Zips fans do have this cleveland browns complex, "Oh my God we lost, let's clean house, starting with the quarterback. Brady! Brady!" God I hate Browns fans. Even though sadly I am one.

[ZachTheZip]

The coaching staff has to take most of the blame for this one.We still had a timeout at the end of the game. We desperately needed to use it on that last drive, but for some absurd reason, they let the clock keep running. The offensive playcalling started off great, but as the game wore on it became too conservative and gimmicky. If our ultra-conservative stuff didn't work we resorted to trick plays. The defense never changed schemes to compensate for BG's attack. We went into a sort of prevent D late in the game, while BG does best throwing short passes. They ate us alive on those plays and we never brought the defenders forward.

[johnnyzip84]

I voted for a combination, and that would have to be centered on coaching and the defense. The state of liberty play was a bad gamble as mentioned by several before. BTW, I thought it that was Bruce who muffed the exchange from Jacq, not Tuzze, but I could be wrong. I could have sworn I saw Bruce pounding his helmet in anguish on the sidelines after the play. I thing many of us supected at the time that the play could come back to haunt us. Regarding the defense, I am really puzzled why we aren't subbing more along the d-line lately. Lively, Sewell, and Lemon are playing too many downs and it showed towards the end of the Can't game and last night. Marcoux played some as did Odofin, but where is Hazime, Pendleton (swallow your pride a little, Fleming) and Harvey?Having said this I'm not ready to give up on JD and the staff. Obviously the EMU game is huge, as will just about every game be from here on out. I said it earlier in the season, but I'll repeat. This home schedule is as fine a slate as has ever been seen at the Rubber Bowl. Sure it sucks to have lost all three games here (I'm fortunate enough to have seen them win 2 road games), but it's not like the level of competition has been second rate. If the teams goes into a tailspin from this point, then JD's future at UA needs to come into question. I'll wait to see how the rest of the season plays out before drawing any conclusions, but I do think that 5-7 or 6-6 is still achievable (and perhaps necessary for JD to stay).

[zipsbandman]

It's a combination of all of the above. The defense choked when it mattered. The offense choked when it mattered. Our playcallers choked when it mattered. Why oh why can the BG defense make plays in the fourth quarter when they've been on the field 2/3's of the time and we give up the big play? Why can't CJ get through a game without making pivotal mistakes that cost us in the end? If CJ is the best Qb on our roster than wow. He's terrible. We're obviously not doing our homework on the recruiting trail. And why do we not pound the ball down their throats in the second half? This is getting really old.

[GP1]

C'mon GP1 -- I've heard talk before about how many points it takes to win a game -- if it that number isn't at least 33 then maybe I'm watching the wrong sport. Maybe if we had a defense and coaching staff that could coach there way out of a paper bag we'd have won.

A team needs to score a minimun 24 points per week to win. The reason I pick the offense (coaches and players) is they did not put the ball in the endzone enough in the second half. Teams need to score TDs in the second half and not kick fieldgoals and cross their fingers. A reverse on the goal line? That's terrible. Reverses need to be run between the 40s and not at the goal line. Shame on the coaches for calling that.I've been saying for years on this board that the responsibiltiy for winning is in the hands of the offense. If the other team scores 50, the offense needs to score more. If the other team scores 24, the offense needs to score more. People who play defense do not have enough talent and brains to win games on their own. If they had hand/eye coordination, they would be on offense...If they had brains, they wouldn't be on defense.

[GP1]

I have to agree with the great GP1 that the offense came up short.

If I had not voted already, you would be getting my vote......

[Captain Kangaroo]

From sunny Tuscon...and yes I was at the game yesterday...If you truly win as a team and lose as a team, the BG game was a textbook example. A total team loss.Jacq's well known two left feet killed us. He's less of a threat to run than Wally Pendleton. Took ill-advised sacks...tossed a crippling late-game INT...he was at his worst when we needed a poised QB the most.WR's dropped a ridiculous amount of passes.And no, that doesn't excuse Jacq for the above-mentioned blunders.Defense both bent, and broke.Kick coverage was terrible!Bates' snaps continue to rival the t-shirt cannon in their elevation.2nd half playcalling was terrible. Again. We can't bank on a choking kicker to win it for us every week! Kennedy has 186 yards...but there's no confidence that he can get 2 yards on 3rd-and-goal from the 2??? BG bails us out by throwing a late pass that allows us to keep a time out...and we take that time out into the locker room after the game!!??This is the second home game in a row that the offensive playcalling went "Boise State." Which is fine if you're playing Oklahoma and it is your only chance to win. But we're playing mediocre mid-majors whom we are imminently capable of beating "straight up." Bad offensive playcalling has let our opponents off the hook so many times recently it boarders on absurd.They say it is good for an army to see a dead general every once in a while. I think Moorhead should run some stadium gassers on Monday. He was as much at fault as Jacq, the D, the WR's and the special teams.I think that's what is so frustrating about this team...we play terribly...and we're barely losing. If we could just execute a solid gameplan, we obviously have the talent to beat anyone in the MAC.But we don't execute...and we're losing.And a final note to the BG douches complaining about the Rubber Bowl. If you're a BG fan and you didn't think yesterday was as good as it gets for tailgating and college football...you should admit you know nothing about college football and kill yourself.

[uafan]

I voted for more than one. Our offense was clicking early, but BG made the adjustments and slowed us down the second half. (Coaches bad!)During a critical drive towards the end of the game, our receivers dropped 3 passes. (Receivers bad!)Kickoff coverage didn't have a chance. The kicks were line drives that got to the return man very quickly. He ran almost 20 yards before our players got close, and he had plenty of time to see how the blocking set up. (Kicker's bad!)These are in addition to what has already been said.There were some plusses. Our O-line had one of their better games. Igor is back. Anthony Turner is a senior!And speaking of Turner, how did he ever lose a game in high school? He was the quarterback, and his tailback was Javon Ringer!

[Z.I.P.]

How difficult is it to simply say that Bowling Green is a better team than Akron. Akron didn't underperform. Akron didn't overperform. Akron played to their potential. The team is getting better, but lacks enough all-MAC variety players to be among the top ranks of the league. Nonetheless, they have an excellent shot at a .500 season (must win in Zipsilanti next Sat.), and the team is slowly improving, which frankly is about all we can hope for. Or you can fire the coach, and see a 3 or 4 win opening season at the new stadium. As it is, the team will be among the several contenders in the East next year, but still a very mediocre football team. We are the MAC! And that is that.

[Quickzips]

How difficult is it to simply say that Bowling Green is a better team than Akron. Akron didn't underperform. Akron didn't overperform. Akron played to their potential. The team is getting better, but lacks enough all-MAC variety players to be among the top ranks of the league. Nonetheless, they have an excellent shot at a .500 season (must win in Zipsilanti next Sat.), and the team is slowly improving, which frankly is about all we can hope for. Or you can fire the coach, and see a 3 or 4 win opening season at the new stadium. As it is, the team will be among the several contenders in the East next year, but still a very mediocre football team. We are the MAC! And that is that.

Nothing like that good old, Akron, defeatist, settle for mediocrity, hopefully we can compete in the East attitude.

[Zip_ME87]

I think that's what is so frustrating about this team...we play terribly...and we're barely losing. If we could just execute a solid gameplan, we obviously have the talent to beat anyone in the MAC. But we don't execute...and we're losing.

EXACTLY!

[HELLOZIPS]

I voted for a combination, and that would have to be centered on coaching and the defense. The state of liberty play was a bad gamble as mentioned by several before. BTW, I thought it that was Bruce who muffed the exchange from Jacq, not Tuzze, but I could be wrong. I could have sworn I saw Bruce pounding his helmet in anguish on the sidelines after the play. I thing many of us supected at the time that the play could come back to haunt us. Regarding the defense, I am really puzzled why we aren't subbing more along the d-line lately. Lively, Sewell, and Lemon are playing too many downs and it showed towards the end of the Can't game and last night. Marcoux played some as did Odofin, but where is Hazime, Pendleton (swallow your pride a little, Fleming) and Harvey?Having said this I'm not ready to give up on JD and the staff. Obviously the EMU game is huge, as will just about every game be from here on out. I said it earlier in the season, but I'll repeat. This home schedule is as fine a slate as has ever been seen at the Rubber Bowl. Sure it sucks to have lost all three games here (I'm fortunate enough to have seen them win 2 road games), but it's not like the level of competition has been second rate. If the teams goes into a tailspin from this point, then JD's future at UA needs to come into question. I'll wait to see how the rest of the season plays out before drawing any conclusions, but I do think that 5-7 or 6-6 is still achievable (and perhaps necessary for JD to stay).

Lively, Sewell, and Lemon are playing too many downs and it showed towards the end of the Can't game and last night. Marcoux played some as did Odofin, but where is Hazime, Pendleton (swallow your pride a little, Fleming) and Harvey?Rumor has it that Fleming hates Pendleton and noone knows why. Not only is it Fleming, rumor has it it's Chambers, too. But, Fleming is suppose to be the real culprit behind him not playing.

[HELLOZIPS]

From sunny Tuscon...and yes I was at the game yesterday...If you truly win as a team and lose as a team, the BG game was a textbook example. A total team loss.Jacq's well known two left feet killed us. He's less of a threat to run than Wally Pendleton. Took ill-advised sacks...tossed a crippling late-game INT...he was at his worst when we needed a poised QB the most.WR's dropped a ridiculous amount of passes.And no, that doesn't excuse Jacq for the above-mentioned blunders.Defense both bent, and broke.Kick coverage was terrible!Bates' snaps continue to rival the t-shirt cannon in their elevation.2nd half playcalling was terrible. Again. We can't bank on a choking kicker to win it for us every week! Kennedy has 186 yards...but there's no confidence that he can get 2 yards on 3rd-and-goal from the 2??? BG bails us out by throwing a late pass that allows us to keep a time out...and we take that time out into the locker room after the game!!??This is the second home game in a row that the offensive playcalling went "Boise State." Which is fine if you're playing Oklahoma and it is your only chance to win. But we're playing mediocre mid-majors whom we are imminently capable of beating "straight up." Bad offensive playcalling has let our opponents off the hook so many times recently it boarders on absurd.They say it is good for an army to see a dead general every once in a while. I think Moorhead should run some stadium gassers on Monday. He was as much at fault as Jacq, the D, the WR's and the special teams.I think that's what is so frustrating about this team...we play terribly...and we're barely losing. If we could just execute a solid gameplan, we obviously have the talent to beat anyone in the MAC.But we don't execute...and we're losing.And a final note to the BG douches complaining about the Rubber Bowl. If you're a BG fan and you didn't think yesterday was as good as it gets for tailgating and college football...you should admit you know nothing about college football and kill yourself.

This kid does well when he does get a chance to play. He plugs up the whole and prevents the run, which I think would have helped yesterday. Remember BG scored 37 pts.

[UADavid]

I voted for a combination, and that would have to be centered on coaching and the defense. The state of liberty play was a bad gamble as mentioned by several before. BTW, I thought it that was Bruce who muffed the exchange from Jacq, not Tuzze, but I could be wrong. I could have sworn I saw Bruce pounding his helmet in anguish on the sidelines after the play. I thing many of us supected at the time that the play could come back to haunt us. Regarding the defense, I am really puzzled why we aren't subbing more along the d-line lately. Lively, Sewell, and Lemon are playing too many downs and it showed towards the end of the Can't game and last night. Marcoux played some as did Odofin, but where is Hazime, Pendleton (swallow your pride a little, Fleming) and Harvey?Having said this I'm not ready to give up on JD and the staff. Obviously the EMU game is huge, as will just about every game be from here on out. I said it earlier in the season, but I'll repeat. This home schedule is as fine a slate as has ever been seen at the Rubber Bowl. Sure it sucks to have lost all three games here (I'm fortunate enough to have seen them win 2 road games), but it's not like the level of competition has been second rate. If the teams goes into a tailspin from this point, then JD's future at UA needs to come into question. I'll wait to see how the rest of the season plays out before drawing any conclusions, but I do think that 5-7 or 6-6 is still achievable (and perhaps necessary for JD to stay).

He did and broke something on it. They were working on his (tiny, carney hands bruces') helmet after he slammed it down. Special teams coach needs to join OC running gassers. Line drive kickoffs??? Other than the opening kickoff and one later in the game, the rest of them were line drives and that really gave BG great field position. O-line coach can run gassers untill he gets Bates to properly snap from shotgun formations. 70% of the snaps from shotgun and 98% of those are high snaps? Any actual stats for these categories???

[ctmjbowes@sbcglobal.net]

I voted combination, although I was away this weekend and missed the game. I just happened to log into ESPN game tracker and saw Jacq's INT in the 4th deep in UA territory, and wondered whether he had just thrown the game away. Ouch.Based on what I'm reading the thing that bums me out as much as the loss is the tailgating and general atmosphere at the bowl Saturday.How many others are thinking of making the drive to see the EMU game? I may have to get up there to see the Zippers notch it at .500.SeeTeeZip

[skip-zip]

I voted Multiple Reasons....1) It's not hard to see that BG is just in a little better place than us this year. We'll likely see that really come to fruition as the season progresses.2) We can't let teams rush for 6.5 yards a carry against us......yes.....6.5!!!

[scottditzen]

Combination loss. Offense and Defense play almost well enough to win and once again they fall just short. Ultimately this is on the coaches, but we are so close to pulling it all together. Soon these close losses will turn into wins. p.s. snaps as high as the t-shirt cannon....hillarious!!!

[bigzipguy]

I voted for a combination. But hey, sometimes a game can come down to one play despite that. A reverse at the four yard line when you needed two yards for FIRST DOWN!!!!!!!!. Especially when you consider the fact that DK was over 100 yards rushing at that point and was on his way to a carrer game. I stated to several people that this was THE GAME OF THE YEAR. MAC East title is a long shot now.

[GP1]

How difficult is it to simply say that Bowling Green is a better team than Akron. Akron didn't underperform. Akron didn't overperform. Akron played to their potential. The team is getting better, but lacks enough all-MAC variety players to be among the top ranks of the league. Nonetheless, they have an excellent shot at a .500 season (must win in Zipsilanti next Sat.), and the team is slowly improving, which frankly is about all we can hope for. Or you can fire the coach, and see a 3 or 4 win opening season at the new stadium. As it is, the team will be among the several contenders in the East next year, but still a very mediocre football team. We are the MAC! And that is that.

Nothing like that good old, Akron, defeatist, settle for mediocrity, hopefully we can compete in the East attitude.

Actually, I think Z.I.P. has the right attitude and I don't find it defeatist or negative. Based upon the MAC standings UofA is not doing that bad compared to the remainder of the league. There is nothing wrong with being one of the best teams in a bad conference. 10 of 13 teams have only .500 records or worse. 7 of 13 have sub .500 records. UofA will be 4-4 at the end of this weekend and still in the hunt for the MAC East title. There are too many games to throw in the towel yet. Miami went to the MACC last season with a 6-6 record. There is no reason that could not happen to the Zips this year. There is still a lot of football to be played. The MAC is the hand we have been dealt. Nothing is going to change that. There will be no move to the Big East or Conference USA and the league is not ever going to be much better than what it is right now. Hell, it has been around since 1946 and this is it. Welcome to reality. Instead of everyone complaining about everything, embrace who we are. While there are some shortcomings, there is talent on this team, the conference is bad, we are getting a new stadium, we are in the running for the MAC East. I prefer to see the glass as half full. You guys should actually be excited about the remainder of the games. The problem with MAC fans is they are the parents of a baby called the MAC. As we all know, you can't tell someone their baby is ugly, but I have news for everyone, the MAC is an ugly baby. It's OK to still love an ugly baby even when you know it is ugly.

[gozips19]

i picked a combination and i'll add a few thoughts. while it's you never pin point a loss on just a couple of things the two things that really stood out to me was a lack of pass rush and the poor play of jac in the 4th. while some on this board get on the line for not making a few sacks it's the linebackers that need to step up their play. having a will out really hurt as he is the best blitzing linebacker on the team. lets hope he's back for the emu game. side note; pendelton didn't see the field (not sure if it was injury or other). as for jac the interception was the play that changed the game. even further, lets take a look at the 4th q numbers BG: 8-9-0-88 3 td's UA: 6-14-1-50 1 td. jac to me reminds me of florida state's former qb chris rix. both have good arms and are tall qb's that look like at franchise qb. if it were only that simple. both lacked touch and both get frazzeled when pressured and in pressure situations. i asked the people around me in the 4th if jac had a comeback in him and no one said yes. i am not bashing the guy, he's come a long way and will put up some good numbers but i'm not sure he'll ever become the elite qb the fan base is yearning for. that being said akron should be 4-4 by saturday with a real chance to win the east. akron will have 4 road wins with a chance at 5-6 road wins. for those looking for progress under j.d. there it is.