If You're JD, What's Your Game Plan?

[Captain Kangaroo]

Purdue's returning 20 starters. All 11 on defense. You have a roster full of youngsters due to Lee Owens' inept recruiting over the last two+ years of his tenure.

Do you run the ball and keep the clock rolling? Yeah, that works...if you want your defense on the field all day. I can only imagine the struggle our young OL is going to have against Purdue's 11 returning starters. If run, run, run is the way we're going to spend the day... Billy Sullivan better begin looking into treatment for carpal tunnel syndrome.

Do you go "balls to the wall" and try and win the thing? Try gimmick plays...bombs...gamble a bit on D?

Do you rotate Getsy and Ferguson a la Washington and Gromek in the Penn State game circa 1999? *shudder*

I hope we mix it up and try to win the thing. If we just try to run out the clock and keep from getting injured, it sets a bad tone. Is there any difference in losing 48-14 (ball control) or 65-14 (try to air it out a few times at the risk of stopping the clock)? No. However, the style of play we'd need to play to win the game is much more conducive to a 65-14 loss than a 48-14 loss.

If the guys are in shape, there won't be any major injury issues (*knock* on wood). We've played big games like this every year for the past decade and never been too beat up. I say "F it...try to win the thing" and see what happens.

F Purdue.

[Zipsrifle]

I don't think you can try to run all day. In the end, I don't think we'll burn a lot of clock if we go 3 and punt vs. getting a first down here and there. Though Biggs and Kennedy are great, will they have holes? We're pretty strong on the receiving corps, will Getsy have time to throw? It all starts with the O-Line. Mix it up, focus on first downs. Try to get the ball in Biggs and Hixon's hands in the open field and lets ride those guys!

I would run any trick plays right at the beginning of the game. Throw the first punch and then get beat up.

[GP1]

The Zips just need to run their offense. If it leads to a 50-0 loss, then it does. If they win, then even better. There are 11 games to be played and the reality of college football is that for most teams, the first couple of games are warm up games for conference play. Only about 6 or 7 teams really have a shot at a national championship and after that people are playing for conference championships.

We need to make sure our offense is ready for that first game against NIU in a couple of weeks and then CMU after that. Losing to Purdue, Army or MTSU does not hurt your chances of playing in Detroit in December.

[Buckzip]

Just make it a good workout game.

[UA Fan]

If I'm JD, my game plan is to enjoy the college gameday experience and get the guys to apply the skills they're practicing in camp in a game situation, in front of a good crowd. It would be nice to not have an opening-game disaster a la Penn St. in 04, Can't in 03, Iowa in 02, etc. but I don't see it happening, realistically. Getsy won't have time to throw so we won't learn much about him except scrambling ability and I don't see the RB's having holes to run through either. Let's hope Hixon can get some good kick return yardage and at least get us in position for a field goal or two. And hopefully nobody gets hurt.

That being said, the MTSU game should be a lot of fun.

[RACER]

the only thing i think we can do is try to get the ball to our wr ,and biggs in the short passing game. i don't think we will have alott of time to throw deep, or run. we do have some great skill people if they can get in the open feild. i have no idea what to expect from our defense. i don't think purdue can run it down our throat like wisky did to bg.

at least i hope not.

[zipboy]

They will open it up as much as they trust Getsy to run things. If the lines play well, we are going to make it a lot closer than people think.

[Captain Kangaroo]

They will open it up as much as they trust Getsy to run things. If the lines play well, we are going to make it a lot closer than people think.

I remember a nondescript Zips squad with a Fr. QB in his first start vs. OSU lost 28-14. Fuller's tip to Gamble on the sure INT and Brandon Paynes muff on the 1 yard line...take away those two plays and...damn.

Anything can happen.

F Purdue

[Z-P]

I'm with CK..............why are you guys throwing in the towel before the opening whistle?

GP1's right too...........all the way.

Play to win, ALWAYS. Our conference competiton does!

Geez...........

[Wally B]

I'm with CK..............why are you guys throwing in the towel before the opening whistle?

GP1's right too...........all the way.

Play to win, ALWAYS.  Our conference competiton does!

Geez...........

"You play to win the Game!"

Tony Dungy

[Zipsrifle]

I hope the Zips play to win the game, but I'm also trying to be realistic. I'm all for fighting to the end, but the odds are heavily against us in this one.

[UA Fan]

Pretty much according to plan, I think. We went to Indiana, mixed it up with the Big10 in exchange for a decent paycheck, played hard the whole game in front of a sellout crowd, got the new guys some good gameday experience, and avoided any serious injuries, AFAIK. Oh, and we made losers of the bettors that took Purdue -35 points.

Getsy seemed to do alright with it being his first full game, against a top 15 team but missed a few receivers. It will take a few more games to get a good read on him, I think. I didn't get to see the game, only listened to the Purdue announcers radio broadcast. They obviously didn't spend even 10 minutes learning how to pronounce the Akron players names which is extremely unprofessional and lazy, IMO. Not that anyone on their side cares but at least have enough respect for the players to make an effort. Steve French is much better than they were.

The OL seemed to pass protect better than I expected but we didn't get much run production behind them. Hopefully that will get better but the coaches seemed to do a good job with play calling and keeping the P.U. defense guessing a bit. Looks like we'll be pretty solid at WR and DB. Lack of depth cost us 21 pts. in the 4th qtr. to make the score look uglier.

Now it's on to MTSU which should be a dogfight and I'm not too scared of NIU coming into the Rubber Bowl now either.

Go Zips.

[Captain Kangaroo]

They obviously didn't spend even 10 minutes learning how to pronounce the Akron players names which is extremely unprofessional and lazy, IMO.

How dare you berate someone who doesn't spend 10 minutes to learn basic information regarding the Zips.

Sincerely,

David Lee Morgan

[Zipsrifle]

I didn't get to see the game, only listened to the Purdue announcers radio broadcast. They obviously didn't spend even 10 minutes learning how to pronounce the Akron players names which is extremely unprofessional and lazy, IMO. Not that anyone on their side cares but at least have enough respect for the players to make an effort.

Those announcers were crap. They were VERY biased one way. I was listening to the game at the stadium and essentially for every Purdue play they added at LEAST 1 yard to the result and for every Akron play they subtracted a yard. If Purdue got a penalty (That was blatanly obvious), the announcers would say "Boy, I don't know, that's kinda questionable". We listened to the pregame show and they were making VERY bold prediction like "49-0 in the first half and then we put in the 2nd team" and "We would have to try to lose this one". I'm sorry for everyone that listened on the radio.