Zips Review

[ZippyTuba11]

I wanted to talk some about the team's performance.My heart really sunk after the first missed field goal and then the big play MSU had on their opening drives. Thank God they missed theirs. After that the defense was pretty lights out.The offense still continues to blow my mind. I don't know how many times I yelled STOP RUNNING THAT PLAY, but it was a lot.Why does it seem like they are afraid to use a power running game? The one time I really thought they committed to it (I think it was the third TD, where Rogers was called short of the line) they busted through MSU for a TD. Yet in similar redzone situations, they continued to go to an Ace formation and try to run Allen, et al as a lone back. It just never really seemed to work. I would love to see a power I, and have Allen run right behind Tuzze more. I think that combo could really beat up a lot of the teams in the MAC.Why isn't Rodgers the starter? He looked great, and his run threat was incredible. When Jacq went back in, the team acted like it really lost something.There were a lot of mistakes here that will be taken fully advantage of by a team like Indiana. While 41-0 seems like a big score, with the missed field goals it should have been at least 50-3. I thought the offense looked sloppy, but MSU was a lot sloppier. Tackling got a lot better for Akron as the game went on. I was glad to see the defense really stopping MSU on the FIRST tackle. Hope this continues into the Indiana game.These are just a few thoughts I had on the top of my mind. What did you think of the team's performance?

[ZachTheZip]

The team played a better game on offense than they did last week, but the playcalling was still pretty bad at times. Like obviously bad. Like every single person in the stadium knew that play wasn't going to work bad. QUIT RUNNING THE DRAW PLAY UP THE MIDDLE! Defense is a pleasant surprise.I think this game was good and could produce some shuffling on the depth chart.Brian Wagner continues to impress.

[Zipsrifle]

Yea, something has got to be done about our ground game....it isn't working. We need to move the ball through the middle and we are going to have quite a few times when it's 3rd and 1 this season. This is probably the most concerning thing for me right now. As far as CJ vs. Rogers, I have to say I'm split. Personally, I saw the same thing last week as I saw today. CJ will stay in the pocket forever and PLEASE don't ask him to run....it's just painful to watch. I would say that CJ does look around more, but on long balls, he pretty much scopes out his first receiver right away and never looks back. As for Rogers, it's nice to have a mobile QB, and that showed today! His passing is up to CJ's...I think he isn't as accurate and sometimes his decisions are questionable and would get us into trouble against Indiana. With that said, I wish he would have seen more of the field today...the kid needs experience and today was the perfect game! Defense, well, it was a shutout and they weren't that good. We don't seem to have much of a pass rush unless we blitz. We should have been crushing those guys today but they seemed to hold us off more than I would have expected. Oh, did Bain see the field today? D seems to be OK, next week will be a big test.Special teams. All I have to say is that the kicking is terrible and I fear it will cost us at least one game this year. Punts, Fieldgoals, all below par. Maybe Zach just spoiled me. Bruce is probably my favorite player because he really, really didn't want to take a fair catch today. I know he did at least one time, but that kid will go in there and get that ball!I'm going to savor the evening and then next week we have the real litmus test as to where this team stands.

[Lee Adams]

Week 1- Week-2 the season starts for REAL 9-19-09...gotta say though the INFO is fantastic...

[Lee Adams]

Yea, something has got to be done about our ground game....it isn't working. We need to move the ball through the middle and we are going to have quite a few times when it's 3rd and 1 this season. This is probably the most concerning thing for me right now. As far as CJ vs. Rogers, I have to say I'm split. Personally, I saw the same thing last week as I saw today. CJ will stay in the pocket forever and PLEASE don't ask him to run....it's just painful to watch. I would say that CJ does look around more, but on long balls, he pretty much scopes out his first receiver right away and never looks back. As for Rogers, it's nice to have a mobile QB, and that showed today! His passing is up to CJ's...I think he isn't as accurate and sometimes his decisions are questionable and would get us into trouble against Indiana. With that said, I wish he would have seen more of the field today...the kid needs experience and today was the perfect game! Defense, well, it was a shutout and they weren't that good. We don't seem to have much of a pass rush unless we blitz. We should have been crushing those guys today but they seemed to hold us off more than I would have expected. Oh, did Bain see the field today? D seems to be OK, next week will be a big test.Special teams. All I have to say is that the kicking is terrible and I fear it will cost us at least one game this year. Punts, Fieldgoals, all below par. Maybe Zach just spoiled me. Bruce is probably my favorite player because he really, really didn't want to take a fair catch today. I know he did at least one time, but that kid will go in there and get that ball!I'm going to savor the evening and then next week we have the real litmus test as to where this team stands.

yep Bain was out there...looked like he was sore though...enjoy this... Indiana awaits...WMU almost got 'em today in Bloomington...

[tim123]

The defense looks good there flying to the ball..as for the QB play let's face it we are limited with CJ & Rodgers, they can't make the throws that need to be made to have an effective passing game so we'll run the ball and let them run when they know they can't make the throw. From what I've seen of Wackerly he's best at giving signals on the sidelines which leaves us with Nicely who can make the throws and has the athletisim and brains but may be to young, but I'm sitting here watching Barkley and watched Michigans QB beat Notre Dame being young. The kicking game had better pick it up or we will suffer.

[Quickzips]

Really hard to say much of anything about the Zips after 2 weeks. Week 1 vs. PSU we were totally overmatched and we seemed to know it. Week 2 vs. Morgan St. we totally overmatched them and they knew it. Just a few quick thoughts.Zips kicking game continues to have certain side effects. Namely nausea, heartburn, indigestion, diarehha, anal seapage, headaches, heart palpatations, cardiac arrest, death and erectile dysfunction. Can anyone remember the last time this wasn't so???Defense really clamped down after the first drive. Not sure how much of that was our doing and how much was the total ineptitude of Morgan State. Honestly, as much crap as Jacq gets around here, I think we ended up keeping the better of the CJ's.Loved what I saw from Dale Martin today. He was by far our most effective RB. Hope his injury wasn't too severe. Didn't look too bad when he came off the field, but tough to tell.I'll echo what others said about our running game. Please, ohh please, stop trying to run the pistol formation draw play. Line up in the I. Put any one of our RB's behind Tuzze and pound the ball at them. Deryn Bowser found some reliable hands in the offseason. He caught darn near everything thrown his way. If he can keep this up for the rest of the season we might be looking at a legitimate NFL prospect.For the love of god, someone please teach Jeremy Bruce that he IS in fact allowed to call for a fair catch.I personally watched John Stec booming 50 and 60 yard punts in warmups an hour and a half before the game. The one time he has to punt in the game. A 25 yard shank off the side of his foot. Remember that part about side effects from earlier?Thats about all I can come up with right now.

[Hilltopper]

It looked like Bruce left the game with a shoulder or collarbone injury after his last punt return. He is one brave guy. It was nice to see Devon Torrence get some carries, but it appears he was injured also. He was on the sidelines on crutches and had an ice bag taped to his right hip. Hip pointer?

[Dr Z]

Hard to judge with Morgan State. They stink. I think the Offensive line needs to start to focus. They are underachieving IMO. Our most effective runs come from Martin because he was able to make the first defensive guy that got penetration miss. Should Morgan State get as much penetration as they did?!?!I like having the option of putting in a running QB. Rodgers needs to work on his passing though if he wants to see the field more, but I like putting him in for a change of pace. Gives the opposing defense something to think about. I would spy him until he proves he can throw down field. He needs to work on his progressions.I'm going to keep my eyes on Wagner next week. 9 tackles and a pick 6, nice start. Bowser is playing like a leader.Odd to me that we got more injuries against Morgan State than Penn State.

[fear the brown roo]

Hard to judge with Morgan State. They stink. I think the Offensive line needs to start to focus. They are underachieving IMO. Our most effective runs come from Martin because he was able to make the first defensive guy that got penetration miss. Should Morgan State get as much penetration as they did?!?!i couldn't agree more. once again we have a veteran offensive line that underachieves. i know it was against second and third teamers, but our second team o-line blew open the holes for martin. i say give them a series or two when it counts and see what happens when they put rodgers in for a series. maybe it will light a fire under the arses of the first teamers? i think our guards have too much talent not to be able to blast up the middle.

[ctmjbowes@sbcglobal.net]

1) Great win overall. 2) This is subjective, but I just like the way the offense looks when Rogers is playing. He's more athletic, quicker, to my eye that transfers to the entire offense when the ball is snapped. I would like to see more of him in there.3) I think Bain was in there in the 2nd half (#92) but man he looked like he was in agony. It sure looked like he was having a hard time even standing up straight without pain. Anyone who has ever had back pain knows how excruciating it must be for a huge lineman to block in that condition. I found myself wincing...4) Who knows whether he would have been as effective in the first half, but when Dale Martin ran the ball it was a breath of fresh air.5) I agree with all who are disappointed in the O-line and the kicking game. That's it. I am very excited and worried about next week. It's hard to be down on the Zips after a 41 point shut out, and I loved the D yesterday, but a better opponent will capitalize on some of our weaknesses. JD has to improve the team in those areas. Indiana is some sort of crazy must-win for the Zips, IMO.STZ

[skip-zip]

It looked like Bruce left the game with a shoulder or collarbone injury after his last punt return. He is one brave guy. It was nice to see Devon Torrence get some carries, but it appears he was injured also. He was on the sidelines on crutches and had an ice bag taped to his right hip. Hip pointer?

I'll be interested to see the official word on Bruce.From my vantage point, he was pointing at his collar bone coming off the field. Then he slammed his helmet and knocked a few things around down there. I hate to say it, but that's normally a sign that someone knows that something is really wrong. He sat down for a few minutes, and then was escorted to the locker room. I hope we didn't just lose him, but it didn't look good.

[PSU_Lions_84]

Congrats on a strong win in the inaugural game at your new stadium!! Laying a 41 - 0 score on anybody is an accomplishment -- outstanding football.Good luck in the reason of the year; I look forward to seeing you guys in, and winning, the MAC championship.

[uafan]

Good start! But one punt for 24 yards? From a 4 year starter? And a season average of 37.1? This is not even a good high school showing! The punting job has been handed to him for 4 years now, but this year there is no one to push him. Terrible punting! Where is Billy Sullivan? We haven't seen a good punter since he graduated!

[GP1]

Where is Billy Sullivan? We haven't seen a good punter since he graduated!

I guess you answered your own question.

[Dave in Green]

I'll be interested to see the official word on Bruce.From my vantage point, he was pointing at his collar bone coming off the field. Then he slammed his helmet and knocked a few things around down there. I hate to say it, but that's normally a sign that someone knows that something is really wrong. He sat down for a few minutes, and then was escorted to the locker room. I hope we didn't just lose him, but it didn't look good.

Exactly what I saw and thought.

[ZIPFB#1]

What did I say about Brian Wagner?? Excellent RB..1st defensive TD in new stadium!! Excellent football player!!

[ZippyTuba11]

I love how deep our RB situation is. I was sitting with some friends not familiar with the team and they thought we had put in our bench towards the end of the second quarter because they kept seeing different RBs. I told them no, we just have a lot of good running backs.I notice a few times the fake bootleg, RB up the gut play did work when Rodgers was in. Maybe because he is an actual threat, unlike Jacq. The blind homeless guy outside the stadium knows Jacq doesn't have the ball.Maybe they are trying to set up Indiana for this play? They've used it so often now, Indiana has to expect the fake, and gun for the RB. Maybe they'll let Rodgers run it more instead?Stec is allowed to have 1 bad punt per year. He has used his lifeline now. It's time for good punts.The kicking game is still horrible. What is it going to take to get a good, consistent kicking game here?I could have sworn that we played the 3-4 quite a few times during the game. Did anyone else notice this?

[tim123]

Bain needs to step aside and let someone else develop, he's never been healthy and if he can't play he can't play!!!

[Dr Z]

Bain needs to step aside and let someone else develop, he's never been healthy and if he can't play he can't play!!!

I disagree, I thought he was somewhat effective in the limited action he saw. Don't judge him on stats alone. I saw him double teamed twice where the linebackers were able to come up and make the tackle. It's not like he is taking time away from a stud DL. He rotated in on a handful of plays, if he can do that and be effective, I am all for it. Better test against IU this week though.

[GP1]

The kicking game is still horrible. What is it going to take to get a good, consistent kicking game here?

Answer: A good consistent kicker.Kickers are extremely hard to come by. Watch the vast majority of high school football games and one has to wonder how colleges ever make a fieldgoal. It is also hard to judge one because in HS the goal posts are more narrow in college and HS kickers get to kick off of a tee.

[tbozeglav]

The kicking game is still horrible. What is it going to take to get a good, consistent kicking game here?

Answer: A good consistent kicker.Kickers are extremely hard to come by. Watch the vast majority of high school football games and one has to wonder how colleges ever make a fieldgoal. It is also hard to judge one because in HS the goal posts are more narrow in college and HS kickers get to kick off of a tee.

surely you meant that college field goals are narrower than HS field goals.... right?

[Dr Z]

Kickers are extremely hard to come by.

Just in my time at the University we have had two kickers sign contracts with NFL teams. It isn't THAT hard!?!?

[Zip Watcher]

The kicking game will be fine. I'm chalking it up to first game jitters .. and a little bit to the fact that the scoreboard incorrectly indicated 3rd down just prior to the first attempt. The special teams did not have their usual time to get set .. the first kick was rushed. The 46 yarder? ... no comment. Kickoffs were improved over last season.

[GP1]

The kicking game is still horrible. What is it going to take to get a good, consistent kicking game here?

Answer: A good consistent kicker.Kickers are extremely hard to come by. Watch the vast majority of high school football games and one has to wonder how colleges ever make a fieldgoal. It is also hard to judge one because in HS the goal posts are more narrow in college and HS kickers get to kick off of a tee.

surely you meant that college field goals are narrower than HS field goals.... right?

Yes. Thanks!