In game

[UA Fan]

I'm glad I'm an optimist, otherwise being a Zips fan would be too depressing. The coaches know a lot more than I do about the game and players so I won't comment on the game plan. I'm waiting to see what the Info will do. I think when potential recruits come to watch our games on campus and see an energized atmosphere, our talent and depth should increase considerably. Besides competing year in year out for the MACC, my goal would be to go into any game against a top-10 team and be competitive early on and not be manhandled. The Info should give us enough leverage to not have to play the top-10 money game as the first game of the season...that's just a bad situation to be in so let the 1-AA's do it. The MAC may be weak overall but the MAC all-star team would be a damb good team that could compete with anyone and if we can recruit the best players away from the other MAC teams, that's what we'll have. We need the Info to get attendance up to 20K+ average. The increase in campus student housing could be the best thing to happen for the football program...more student attendance at the games and more students enrolling at UA main campus which could lead to higher academic standards which could be an attraction for more/better recruits. There is still a lot of unrealized upside.

[ZippyTuba11]

You guys need to quit thinking like a typical Browns fan. GP1 is right. Does a new stadium change the fact that we are a mid-level school with mid-level talent? No. And that mid-level talent is going to become very apparent when you play a true top-10 team. I think everybody was expecting Penn St to go out there and suck like tOSU typically does. But Penn St is the real deal. All things considered, the team had some very good moments. The defense performed very well. The offense has some major weaknesses, but they will never play a defense that can expose those weaknesses again this season, like PSU did.Where's all this fear coming from that we can't fill the seats? The stadium is almost sold out for an UNKNOWN lower division opponent. Sure it's the opening game, but people still want to see Akron play. It's football after all. The quality of the PSU loss doesn't change the outlook on the season.Again, we've only seen this team and staff together for one game against a far superior opponent. Now we get to see how they adjust to their performance. I fully expect them to turn around and roll Morgan St. Look for the offense to make big plays, and the defense to be just as strong as it was in the second half against PSU. If not, then you can start to call for the heads of the staff.

[RACER]

there's a reason no mac school will ever become a regular top 25 team.the big reason is the mac conference.you may a get a ball state once every few years,but tha'ts about it.the reason is simply $$.why do you think the mac always goes on the road to play top 25 teams,and get hammered.it's purley $$$$$.major money comes from tv deals not fans in the seats.ving a new stadium will be nice,but it cannot bring in money like tv does.if you look at budgets for mac football schools we are not even in the same galaxy.the mac cannot make enough money every year to sustain a top 25 team.that does not mean akron cannot be the best team in a bad conference.as long as akron is in the mac they will never be a top 25 team for more than one season.okey state alum gave the football team 100 million dollars.there is just now way a mac school can compete with that.

[ctmjbowes@sbcglobal.net]

I sense a complete disconnect between the obvious investment that the university just made and what some of us here assume to be our fate, our future. UA could easily have built a modified/glorified high school stadium (see Dix Stadium/Can't State) for much less than what the Info cost. The amount of brick work, the size of the battleship style super structure, the corporate loges and club boxes, the wrought iron and associated facilities, all of these are well beyond what would be expected for a middling MAC football program. It simply does not make sense to think that was done, in a shitty economy, to host the Morgan States and EMUs of the world every year. They also just hired a guy to be AD whose main accomplishment was marketing and selling out the new Minnesota facility. Something here does not add up. Anyone who knows the local area is aware that Akron football has been viewed, well forever, as rag tag, small time. If Akron continues to sorta hang out in the middle of the MAC pack, the Info will ultimately fail. Proenza will look like an idiot. Can you really believe that UA is willing to go down that road? How can you possibly believe that UA isn't paving a new road for the program? I strongly believe that the Pres will be hammering the AD to ramp up this program and to plant asses in those seats. They want those loges packed, they want concessions, they want parking money, they have bills to pay! The AD will be breathing down JD's neck to produce on the field. And if/when the Zips become something that really attracts fans, there will be a push to get into another conference. And for GP1, if you think these men are above playing around with NCAA rules to get it done, you're not an astute observer of human behavior. And if you also think that Marshall's struggles in CUSA are necessarily instructive, or will keep Proenza and Co. from pursuing better than the MAC, even if only to ensure they can pay for their new digs, you are mistaken, IMO.Frankly, after yesterday, within the context of having season tix to the Info and having seen our new home, damn it I want better than we've got with this team. I want the AD to be pissing on JD, and Proenza to be pissing on Wistrcill. I want pressure. I want better football at the Info. There is NO reason to accept the old Rubber Bowl woe-is-us mentality anymore. Put up or get the fu_k out, and that goes for the players and coaches, the AD and this shitty conference.

[Z.I.P.]

You want my thoughts? Maybe after you read this, you'll wish you had said "NO"! College football...ah college football. With the rise of a titanic soccer program at UA, I personally have found my interest in this sport -- which once took ten-times the interest I had in soccer, to be dwindling day-by-day. I wonder if any others are feeling that too. It might be politically incorrect to say it, but JD is also competing against the other sports on campus to maintain his lofty spot as the top roo in town. I was going to write "don't take this as a criticism of the football program" -- but maybe on second thought... if you lose interest to new soccer fans, that can't be helping the football. I want to see a consistent bowl-playing football team, and I think we're not very far from accomplishing that in the MAC. Going beyond that requires a commitment beyond that I feel the University of Akron is capable of making. Let's become the Kings of the MAC, and in 20-some-odd-years, maybe the resources will exist that don't today.Now to some thoughts on yesterday's football game in Happy Valley. This was the first exhibition game of the season. Next week comes the second and final one. Clearly, the caliber of opposition on the field yesterday was unbalanced. PSU dominated the line of scrimmage and even though their first-year QB was inconsistent, his statistics were stratospheric.Next week will be the final tune-up before the real season begins. I expect that Akron will dominate Morgan State at least as much as they were dominated by Penn State. Supposedly there's some other occasion going on at the game, and there is talk of the game attracting a large crowd. Large crowd? Morgan State? This Zip will believe it when he sees the attendance figure. Good luck team, I hope you prove me wrong.

[MDZip]

You want my thoughts? Maybe after you read this, you'll wish you had said "NO"! I want to see a consistent bowl-playing football team, and I think we're not very far from accomplishing that in the MAC. Going beyond that requires a commitment beyond that I feel the University of Akron is capable of making. Let's become the Kings of the MAC, and in 20-some-odd-years, maybe the resources will exist that don't today.Now to some thoughts on yesterday's football game in Happy Valley. This was the first exhibition game of the season. Next week comes the second and final one. Clearly, the caliber of opposition on the field yesterday was unbalanced. PSU dominated the line of scrimmage and even though their first-year QB was inconsistent, his statistics were stratospheric.

Hey Z.I.P., I support both programs (financially and by attendance when possible). I agree with one statement above, we clearly don't and can't compete on the level of Penn State (I can name about 20 programs that truly can), however that doesn't mean I do not have hope for the future. When I started school (which was 29 years ago) we were a D-II program. We moved up to D-1AA while I was there and then D-1A in the early nineties. Quite frankly, we made a hell of a lot of progress in the last 30 years. It might take 30 more or it might never happen to get to something like that level but I think its smart of the University to at least position itself that way. I'd take being truly competitive in the MAC every year right now, but that doesn't mean I don't want to look ahead. If Proenza had taken that stance we'd still be Hilltop High. I have been to many, many college campuses and Akron stacks up with a lot of them. We had some pretty good football teams n the 70's but I can't imagine anyone thinking we should go play Penn State at the time. Not the case now - now we're upset because we didn't give a good enough showing (against the freaking #8 team in the country - and they deserve it). In 30 years since being a D-II program, that's actually not bad progress. So give me "Dollar General" football for now but that doesn't means I don't want to plan for moving up sometime. I voted with my wallet. Facilities do make a difference too, we hung around in the middle of the pack with the worst facilities in the league, the new ones will pay off soon.And yeah, you may be paying too much attention to soccer. Penn State's QB was All Big-Ten last year and he played a terrific game. Far from a first year QB.

[GP1]

Facilities do make a difference too, we hung around in the middle of the pack with the worst facilities in the league, the new ones will pay off soon.

I am going to have a post about this in the near future. I think they make a difference as well, but there are more important factors that make a winning program. Our facilities upgrades are not happening in a vacuum. We need to look at the bigger picture.

[tim123]

Hello red truck, we played against the second string in the second half...duhhh..

[zippy5]

Hello red truck, we played against the second string in the second half...duhhh..

That's funny, Darryl Clark and Evan Royster must be the only QB and RB on the team then...-I was very impressed with the run defense. I fully expected Royster to go off for 200+ and a few td's, with Stepgon Green(e?) adding about 100 more yards.

[ZippyTuba11]

Hello red truck, we played against the second string in the second half...duhhh..

I'm not sure what game you were watching, but the second string didn't go in until about 5 min left in the game. Even French was talking about how surprised he was to see the 1st team in so long.

[GJGood]

Can we play Penn State in basketball now? LOL..That would be competitive.