MTSU Recap

[Captain Kangaroo]

Here's my fast and random overview of this weekends excursion to Murfreesboro:

* Flew in at 10am Friday. Turns out we stayed at the same hotel at the team! Was pretty cool.

* Saw JD before the game and asked him for his prediction. He said "If we play like 18 year olds, we'll struggle. If we play like we did last week (Purdue) we'll be alright." Turns out he was right. The Zip freshmen played a little bit beyond their years and the Zips were "alright."

* We began tailgating at 12pm. The lot was about 1/10th full of MTSU fans. At 1pm the Hixson's drove by and we flagged them down. Turned out about 13 Hixson's made the trip! Then came the Willis's (OL), Sullivan's, Rohr's, a few random Akron ex-patriots from the Murfreesboro area and pretty soon we had a pretty nice U of A tailgate going on. All great people. It was fun. The MTSU folks were great too. Very hospitable. They seem to be in a southern, parallel universe to Akron. Their "fight" is against UT and Vanderbilt for fan support, much like we battle the machine that is OSU.

* Lots of beer in the parking lots, despite "faith and family" weekend!

* The Zips were never not in control of the game. Getsey made a couple bad decisions in the red zone that cost us, but each time the defense picked us up. When's the last time you heard that?

* The TD MTSU scored was a joke. The WR's foot was at LEAST 2 full feet out of bounds when he made his pivot. The ref dropped his hat where it happened, then, after the play went for a TD, he quickly ran over, snatched up his hat and blew the whistle to kick the extra point. If Frenchie and Joe Dunn went nuts over that call, they were 100% justified.

* I saw a Zips coach after the game and said "Nice game." He said "We should have scored 45 points." He was right. We were in MTSU's territory all game, but penalties, bad execution and a bit of questionable play-calling hurt us. To win by 10 while blowing so many scoring opportunities was really impressive and a credit to our defense. MTSU has a nice CB too....I have to give the guy some credit.

* Chevin Pace was everywhere. He had a GREAT game. Ditto Stokes.

* Jermaine Reid played well too.

* The Zips OL gave Getsy plenty of time to throw. Their run blocking began slowly, but in the second half they began to open up some nice holes.

* Hixson was spectacular. He's a lot like Matt Cherry, but with a little something "extra." Every catch he makes he's thinking "endzone." He's elusive and has great vision. For those of you that didn't make it to Purdue or MTSU, you'll be in for a treat watching him this Saturday.

* Biggs ran tough. He had no holes early on, but really began doing some damage in the 2nd half.

* Getsy is a more than adequate replacement for Frye. If he can figure out when to chuck the ball into the stands instead of forcing the play, he'll be awesome.

* A little bird told me that JD JD gave a nice post game talk to the players where he stated he didn't know how good this team was going to be at the beginning of the season. But, after 2 games he now knows they're "a pretty darn good football team." The guys on the team were pretty happy to hear that and are pretty pumped about this weeks home opener!

* MTSU isn't a bad team. To go on the road and rack up 400+ yards offensively...and shut them down defensively...was impressive to behold.

* MTSU hadn't lost back to back home games since 1980.

I hear Garrett Wolfe hurt his shoulder and left NIU's game in the 2nd quarter? Wonder how bad he's hurt? Hopefully only bad enough to miss one week?

[Buckzip]

How did Donaldson look in his first game back?

[Zipsrifle]

Good Stuff Cap'n, as always! Any ideas on Zips injury's?

[Captain Kangaroo]

How did Donaldson look in his first game back?

I was really surprised to see Donaldson on the field! He played fine. In general, the entire offensive line looked fine. It was the most time I've seen an Akron QB have to throw the ball in a couple years. Run-wise, they wore-down MTSU. MTSU's D-line is no slouch, so it doesn't bother me too much that we struggled on the ground in the first half. When we needed to move the ball in the 2nd half on the ground, when it really counted, the OL came through.

Injury-wise: I am unaware of any major injuries. Hixson is fine.

[GP1]

Nice report CK. My wife and I were parked near the Hixson's as well, but we did not stick around for the tailgate. There was a bar near by called The Boro that had all of the day's games on it so we went there.

I think we have the same opinion of the game. It was a nice win, but not that nice. In fact, one could say that the offense played better against Purdue than they did against MTSU. The defense played lights out though. At a minimum, the score should have been 26-7.

My biggest concern of the game was the lack of discipline when the offense moved at least into field goal range. Too many penalties moved them out of FG range and forced punts. Also, the execution of the offense broke down inside the 30 and the team was forced out of FG range.

I also think you are right about Getsy forcing too much of the action. I like a QB to take a risk, but I would rather him not in a close game. Maybe he figured they had a ten point lead, MTSU couldn't move the ball and he figured "why not?" because he did not take the same type of risks against Purdue. There was one play in particular that impressed me the most about Getsy. The Zips had the ball on the right hash mark moving toward the stage set up in the one end zone. Getsy threw a 20 yard out to the opposite side line and the ball was completed on a rope. It was at least as good as the guys on Sunday throw. I don't think Getsy is an NFL player, but on that one play, he sure looked like one.

I say a lot of good things about Biggs, and to say anything else would just repeat what I have said in the past. The guy has been the spark that has supported the teams winning for the past two seasons. Enough said.

The most important thing the Zips did this game was control the ball. Akron had the ball most of the first half and even though the score was close at half, MTSU's defense was tired already. It was only a matter of time until the Zips scored on them again. The running game really took off in the second half because of a tired MTSU defense. JD manages this team similar to how an NFL coach would manage a team. Get a lead, control the ball and run the clock out with a strong running game against a tired defense.

I loved the first TD play call and it certainly fooled me. One of my favorite plays is the QB draw close to the end zone, but I would not run it with Getsy because he is too slow. When he took the snap and faked the QB draw, I could feel my face get red with anger , but when he pulled up and threw the pass to Biggs, it was all good . JD always seems to have a good wrinkle around the goal line early in the game.

As a quick history lesson for the northeast Ohio fans of the Browns, the QB draw was invented by Paul Brown when Otto Graham (sp?) played for him. As you may well know, Brown was one of the great innovators of the game. Otto was considered a great running QB at the time he played. Brown invented the play to be run between the 5-15 yard line to take advantage of a strong rush by the defense. When you watch games and they run the play outside of the zone Brown intended it to be run it almost always fails. That is because most coaches today don't understand the history of the game or how plays were initially conceptualized.

Anyhow, my wife and I made a mini-vacation out of this trip and had a real nice time in Nashville and then at MTSU. Thanks to everyone in Tennessee for being so welcoming.

[Captain Kangaroo]

One additional note I'll add regarding the MTSU game:

Overall, the offensive playcalling was as aggressive as I've seen. Regardless of the 3rd down situation, we always tried to get a first down. Even at 3rd and 27, we're tossing the ball 30 yards down field. No Lee Owens 3rd down, "I give up" draw plays.

If we lose on Saturday, we'll go down guns-a-blazin'. This staff really seems to now our strengths...have researched the opponent's weaknesses...and come into the games ready to win. If we continue to grow and improve, that BG game in late-October could be one a lot of people will be talking about.

First things first...BEAT NIU!

[Z-P]

Just a thanx for the great reports...............nm