24 Thoughts on a 24-point Loss

[Captain Kangaroo]

In no particular order --1.) I think the most disappointing aspect of the game was the total domination of Penn State's front 7. The Zips offensive line...to me probably the team's biggest strength going into the season...was absolutely manhandled. I've seen the Zips play upwards of 20 games against upper-BCS competition and that was the o-line's worst performance ever.2.) To the o-line's defense...Penn State's defensive line was un-freaking-real. Size...speed...I'm guessing there are at least 3 Top 15 NFL draft picks in their starting front 7. Maybe more. As the season goes on, you will hear a lot about this Penn State defense. It isn't quite the same as the one that lost to Toledo 8 years ago.3.) Clark is a great QB. And he was throwing to a bunch of gazelles. The Penn State WR's looked to average 6' 4", and our DB's might stretch out to a 5' 9" average. That's a tough, tough match up.4.) Despite being out-sized, the Zips defense played an excellent game. It is a shame that the last couple miuntes of the 2nd quarter got away from them. A converted fake punt and some amazing leaping grabs were too much to overcome. 5.) I give Miguel Graham my defensive POTG. 6.) Bowser gets the offensive POTG. With Bruce a close second.7.) Once the ball was in his hands, Alex Allen had just enough time to wince before he got crushed. 8.) The hold-the-ball-in-Allen's-breadbasket-then-run-it-up-the-middle play has got to go. If Jacquemain had the ability to run, or even if he did't have the ability, but just ran every so often...maybe the play could succeed on occassion. But he can't run...he doesn't run...and the play never works.9.) Jacquemain is what he is. Strong arm. Decent accuracy. Slow feet. Mechanical. Takes a sack rather than throw the ball away. He played his typical game yesterday. 10.) It was good to see Rodgers get some meaningful snaps. Unfortunately, he didn't do much with them. He threw a nice pass and showed some elusiveness. But he also seems to pull the ball down and run too quickly...something we all saw in the spring games in year's past. It will be interesting to see if the game slows down for him as his opportunities increase.11.) Norm Shuford got a lot more carries that I would have ever expected. And DaVoe Torrence got a lot less. I look forward to seeing Torrence's carries increase in the near future. That said, when given a chance to move, Shuford showed some excellent shiftyness and acceleration.12.) I like Brian Wagner a lot. He takes good angles and makes solid hits. He's going to be a good one.13.) Was it Hassan Hazime that clocked Clark in the 3rd quarter and dislodged the giy's helmet? Whoever it was...God bless them. Great hit.14.) Surprised to see that there were empty seats (probably 7,000). Penn State people were very nice. Classy group. After 4 trips to Happy Valley in the past 12 years...I've had enough of the place...but I've enjoyed every trip.15.) The Zips offensive game plan was too close-to-the-vest. As it was at Ohio State last season. I don't get what we didn't pass more, try a reverse, a dump pass over the middle, the list goes on. Maybe it is the smart move to get out with our $800,000 check and our health? Move on to the next 11 games, which are much more meaningul for Championships and Bowl appearances. But as a fan I'd like to see us be more offensively aggressive.16.) Seeing the talent Penn State has first hand, the Zips had no chance in that game. The Nittany Lions are better than us at every position except maybe kicker. I'll be shocked if they lose more than one game in 2009.17.) Hey -- we beat the spread.18.) We shut Penn State out in the second half, and they kept their starters in the game until maybe 5 minutes remained. The Zips didn't quit. We actually played a decent second half.19.) Stec didn't have an "Ohio State Game," but he was pretty solid.20.) Many times these MAC vs. Big 11 games are called "Body Bag Games." The Zips were far from physically beaten up after the game. Conditioning seemed very good.21.) Western Michigam was down 31-0 at the half to Michigan...and lost 31-7. Go figure?22.) K.e.n.t. beat Costal Carolina 18-0. They were 1-13 on 3rd down conversions. I'll take our 0-1 against Penn State over their 1-0 vs. a 1-AA bottom-feeder. I think we learned a lot more about our team the K.e.n.t. learned about theirs. K.e.n.t.'s win is fool's gold. Our loss is a reality check.23.) No Drano-chugging for me yet. Time to forget about this game and move on. We have a damn good chance to win each of our next 11 games. There are no more behemoths on our horizon. It would have been a lot more fun to have caught Penn State in a down year like Toledo did in 2001, but the planets just didn't align for us. In the end, this game means nothing. 24.) My son, whom I took to the game, is playing Penn State/Akron on his X-box 360 this morning. Penn State is getting pounded. Take THAT, JoePa. See you in Lot #9 if you won the beer. If you didn't win the beer...I'll still see you in Lot #9. And maybe I'll still offer a beer?

[GP1]

1.) I think the most disappointing aspect of the game was the total domination of Penn State's front 7. The Zips offensive line...to me probably the team's biggest strength going into the season...was absolutely manhandled. I've seen the Zips play upwards of 20 games against upper-BCS competition and that was the o-line's worst performance ever.8.) The hold-the-ball-in-Allen's-breadbasket-then-run-it-up-the-middle play has got to go. If Jacquemain had the ability to run, or even if he did't have the ability, but just ran every so often...maybe the play could succeed on occassion. But he can't run...he doesn't run...and the play never works.16.) Seeing the talent Penn State has first hand, the Zips had no chance in that game. The Nittany Lions are better than us at every position except maybe kicker. I'll be shocked if they lose more than one game in 2009.17.) Hey -- we beat the spread.18.) We shut Penn State out in the second half, and they kept their starters in the game until maybe 5 minutes remained. The Zips didn't quit. We actually played a decent second half.23.) Time to forget about this game and move on. We have a damn good chance to win each of our next 11 games. There are no more behemoths on our horizon. It would have been a lot more fun to have caught Penn State in a down year like Toledo did in 2001, but the planets just didn't align for us. In the end, this game means nothing.

Well done CK. Just a couple of comments/agreements.1. Getting dominated. There is a reason players end up at PSU and there is a reason players end up at UofA. UofA is where you go when a PSU doesn't have a need for you. Fans of the MAC live in a Silo that tells them just because they are D-IA, they are just as good as the BCS schools. That's just not reality. We are what we are and they are what they are. PSU is a football factory built by their coach over the past 44 years. Joe Paterno has done more in the past 44 years than all of the MAC schools combined.8. I've been saying this for years. In order for a fake to work, there has to be a realistic chance that what is being faked could actually become reality. Nobody believes CJ is going to hold on to the ball because they have run that play a million times over the past three seasons and he always gives it way unless it is a play action pass.16. See note one. There is a reason why players go to PSU.17. It's not whether you win or lose, it's whether or not you beat the spread.18. I really don't think yesterday was a disaster. Losing this week would be a disaster.23. The only game I don't feel good about is CMU. We just have trouble there. It's the players program. They need to produce.

[psu1]

Thats pretty good analysis there. Although that hit on Clark wasn't that big of a hit. Clark said after the game that he wasn't hit hard at all and that his chinstrap was loose. And he looked at the Akron player going nuts and said "are you serious". But I really think Akron will compete for the MAC championship. They have a solid front 7 and a lot of offensive talent. Honestly I think that your best offensive player is that guy Alex Allen. When he took it outside he was doing some damage. I will continue to root for you guys down the road.

[w00t]

This is WAY better than the comments being made in the "in-game" thread. Playing a top ten team like PSU to start the season will make the remaining 11 games seem easy by comparison. Hopefully we build off of the solid effort put forth by the defense... especially if we make a couple of late additions to the D-line.

[psc2009]

No. 24 is the best. In all seriousness, Akron had no chance to win this game. Penn State is just an amazing team. They'd have done the same thing to half of the Big Ten, maybe the entire Big 12 North, the Big East, etc.We'll take the money, look to next week and be happy that this doesn't hurt our MAC record.

[RACER]

after the penn state game the team can do one of two things.jd can win 7 of the next 11,and keep his job.after the win next week the team could lose a few in a row ,and jd is gone after this season.i don't want a 6-6 season either.winning season he stays/losing season he's gone.there is no reason this team can't go 7-5 becasue the rest of the mac looks awful right now.bg's win over troy was probably the best win this week.miami of ohio got shut out.i watched the wmu/michigan game,and wmu did not look very good.temple got beat by a 1-aa team in nova.nova is a good 1-aa team,but now way should a d-1 school lose to a 1-aa.the only problem is indi,and cuse will be hard games.i watched cuse play min, and they are alott better than last year.

[johnnyzip84]

I agree with much of what Cap'n wrote, in particular his #1. That was demoralizing to me, but hopefully not to the O-Line (at least not for more than 24 hrs). Here are a few additional comments.1) I really liked seeing Andre Jones back in the secondary. LaFrance looked very steady at WR, and how many WR's do we really need. This move should pay bigger dividends down the road.2) Vince Okruch had the LB's playing VERY well. The 3-3-5 was actually pretty decent against the run and I suspect his coaching is largely responsible.3) While Clark had a nice percentage and way too much time on occasion, we DID manage to get more pressure on him than I am used to in these games, PLUS the PSU receivers were often pretty well covered but the throw was right there.4) I agree that this team need to win 7 of the next 11 to achieve any notion of success (and save JD's job this year). I think this team remains capable, BUT three road game are looking much more difficult after the first week of results have come in. These are Buffalo, Syracuse, and BGSU. Therefore, any let-downs at home could spell disaster. Let's hope the Info has a little early magic in her. I know I plan to do whatever I can to boost the home field advantage.

[zippy_ua_00]

they way i look at this game is, I knew we were going to lose. at no point did i say we would win. i even posted on the cbs board that we were gonna lose by 3 tds. anyway, that being said, lets look at the bright side. we beat them in the second half in points and in yardage. thats good. #2 we only lost to a national championship contender by 24 and it could have only been a 17 point loss. Past zips teams havent done that and there are MANY other teams that would have lost to PSU by a greater margin. And #3 we have some good PSU friends now that pos on here.

[PSU_Lions_84]

they way i look at this game is, I knew we were going to lose. at no point did i say we would win. i even posted on the cbs board that we were gonna lose by 3 tds. anyway, that being said, lets look at the bright side. we beat them in the second half in points and in yardage. thats good. #2 we only lost to a national championship contender by 24 and it could have only been a 17 point loss. Past zips teams havent done that and there are MANY other teams that would have lost to PSU by a greater margin. And #3 we have some good PSU friends now that pos on here.

I don't know how to say this without sounding arrogant. It is not my intention to convey that, so please accept apologies if my comments offend: It is hard to explain to other teams' fans what "Penn State defense" means -- i obviously failed to help you guys understand that in the weeks leading up to the game. Penn State coaches look for defensive players who motor until the whistle is blown, who want to dominate their opponent, and who want a shut-out every game. The D is what the rest of the team is built around.And what is great for Akron is that YOUR defense manifested many of those attributes in the second half. I expect your D will win a few games for you, and could lead to the conference championship. As Joe says, "Offense wins games -- defense wins championships." Will be cheering you on going forward.Best!

[Z.I.P.]

Two thoughts on this game, from the same part of the football game. Akron's LB's played their hearts out -- and the safeties did a great job of helping out to shut down much of Penn State's rushing game. That's about the only positive that stood out for the Zips. On the other hand, our running game did not help provide space to throw the ball. I'm not convinced that Allen is going to have the kind of season we need to get from a lead RB. If DeVoe Torrence doesn't get 15+ touches on the ball vs MSU, can anyone blame him if he leaves this program? He's on paper the best player on the team. How can his talent not be put to use, or at least given a chance?

[GP1]

If DeVoe Torrence doesn't get 15+ touches on the ball vs MSU, can anyone blame him if he leaves this program? He's on paper the best player on the team. How can his talent not be put to use, or at least given a chance?

Guys who transfer rarely amount to anything after they transfer. If he is such a self centered guy he would leave, then too bad.It doesn't matter what you do on paper, it matters what you do on the field. Maybe his performance is falling short.

[infofan]

Two thoughts on this game, from the same part of the football game. Akron's LB's played their hearts out -- and the safeties did a great job of helping out to shut down much of Penn State's rushing game. That's about the only positive that stood out for the Zips. On the other hand, our running game did not help provide space to throw the ball. I'm not convinced that Allen is going to have the kind of season we need to get from a lead RB. If DeVoe Torrence doesn't get 15+ touches on the ball vs MSU, can anyone blame him if he leaves this program? He's on paper the best player on the team. How can his talent not be put to use, or at least given a chance?

Aside from the obvious disappointment in our O-line , I have to ask why so conservative on the play calling?? Yes in 1st half field position played a factor but the predictable run on first down was destined to fail and was a waste of a down. Also- not sure if you guys Knew it but Joe Dunn said Devoe Torrence was NOT dressed- coaches decision. Anyone know what thats about and will he be back next week? Im afraid we know the answer to when Bain will return. To steal a phrase from Mike Waddell- lets move Onward and Upward from here!

[tim123]

Could we sugarcoat it anymore,we where supposed get beat, the defense played well, Jacq,s strong arm-what!! Come on guys we did not get a first down until the second half against the second team. If the tree falls in the woods does it make a sound?

[Lee Adams]

i'll be brief....my comments unlike previous years will be few....each week we will see- for a win and- for a loss...at the end of the year if there are more than we will all be happy...especially JD... didn't see much yesterday that looked a lot different from last year...finally if the Zips go 1-3 in september which is possible, the 'Info effect' will wear off very quickly...hope to see you at the Info on Saturdayweek 1-

[Zipsrifle]

A few things stood out to me. One, I don't ever think I've seen a game where the other teams defensive talent was just so far above what our offense could handle! Maybe I just never saw it before, but their guys were just so strong and quick...our guys were just overmatched. Hell, the D-line would make one move and be around our guys...no wonder were were getting stuffed in the backfield! I don't know if this resulted in my second point or if we went into the game this way, but our guys seemed, well, intimidated....to the point of just wanting this thing to get over! I don't know how many times I saw the RB totally give up on a block allowing CJ to get crushed! They were in position but just let the guy run by! Also, early on, none of our guys were going forward, they all seemed to be going backwards. During tackles, they didn't drive into the guy, the grabbed onto them while getting plowed over. As the game went on we had a few good pops, but early on, we looked very intimidated. I couldn't make any assessment of the running game because we got stuffed so much. As for the passing game, the WR were good, they had to go up and get quite a few balls and came down with them! I hope the dropped balls of last year stay in last year! CJ11 seems to be making slightly better decisions, but still threw into heavy coverage quite a few times. I didn't think Rogers pulled the ball down to early, but he wasn't as accurate as CJ11, IMO. The D did hold PSU Scoreless last week and there were at least 2 picks we almost had. I think the secondary could be a pleasant suprise. I would love to see an amazing Defence evolve this year! I really think the MAC overall has shoddy defenses.I fully expect a different team this week against Morgan State. We better be out there ready to rip somebody's head off! If not, it's going to be a LONG year. I also hope that PSU rolls through the Big 10 for our sake. Did anyone think UofM would crush WMU like that? I sure didn't. Already turing out to be an interesting season. Can't wait for next weekend!

[Hilltopper]

Joe-Pa took his foot off the gas in the second half. All the rest, same old/same old. If we don't walk all over MS, I'll be worried.