Spring Game Thoughts?

[cornbread]

What happened? Anyone from the game back yet?

[skip-zip]

What happened? Anyone from the game back yet?

I don't recall the exact final "score", but the defense won by quite a bit. It left me wondering: Is our defense that much improved? Or, is our offense that bad? I saw a few good throws and catches, and an outstanding long run by Alex Allen in which he made a few cuts, and broke free down the sideline. Other than that, I thought I saw way too much ineffective run blocking and way too many dropped passes and throws that could not have been caught if our receivers were 12' tall.

We have a lot of work to do.

[RootforRoo44]

What happened? Anyone from the game back yet?

I don't recall the exact final "score", but the defense won by quite a bit. It left me wondering: Is our defense that much improved? Or, is our offense that bad? I saw a few good throws and catches, and an outstanding long run by Alex Allen in which he made a few cuts, and broke free down the sideline. Other than that, I thought I saw way too much ineffective run blocking and way too many dropped passes and throws that could not have been caught if our receivers were 12' tall.

We have a lot of work to do.

I agree, also Nicely did not look very good in my eyes or to anyone around me. I still have my confidence in him though.

Too bad it was so cold, barely had any turnout.

[Zipmeister]

What happened? Anyone from the game back yet?

I don't recall the exact final "score", but the defense won by quite a bit. It left me wondering: Is our defense that much improved? Or, is our offense that bad? I saw a few good throws and catches, and an outstanding long run by Alex Allen in which he made a few cuts, and broke free down the sideline. Other than that, I thought I saw way too much ineffective run blocking and way too many dropped passes and throws that could not have been caught if our receivers were 12' tall.

We have a lot of work to do.

I knew we should be recruiting taller players.

Speaking of quarterbacks. Any update on the rumored Jacquemain petition for an extra year of eligibility? Now that would be a steal.

[cornbread]

GoZips has an update

[Sergeant Zip]

1800 people showed up despite the weather. Only 880 showed up to the Zips postseason game, which was indoors.

[Zipmeister]

Anybody with monster hands play in the scrimmage?

[vmd9]

1800 people showed up despite the weather. Only 880 showed up to the Zips postseason game, which was indoors.

To be fair I think the spring game was more meaningful than a joke postseason tournament haha

[johnnyzip84]

Here are a dozen thoughts.

1) I liked that there wasn't a single false start or offsides penalty. The only flag I can recall is the end zone pass interference on Waller near the final whistle. Of course, the refs were probably letting some things go as well. Still, no obvious "poor focus" penalties is a good sign.

2) Nicely definitely was up and down and not very consistent. At least he didn't throw any picks, although there were a few close calls. He still looks far more comfortable in the 'gun.

3) Nicely needs a possession receiver to emerge. Carter showed some signs in the second half of having this ability. Dillard looked decent in this role as well, despite a drop or two.

4) AA looks very nearly like the pre-injury AA and I didn't see any reason to believe he won't be fully there come the regular season. He does need to work on his concentration on the dump off passes however.

5) Campbell's punting was only fair, if unspectacular. He was getting pretty good height on most of his kicks though.

6) We didn't see much in terms of placekicking, but I didn't see anything from Bronco to allay my concerns here. I didn't even see Igor on the sidelines. I know he's listed on the roster, but is he still with the team? It's been all downhill for Igor since the infamous post-Can't radio interview with Joe Dunn in 2008. Maybe TJ Marchese will compete?

7) Besides Igor, I failed to locate Tonga or Shead on the sidelines either.

8) Shawn Lemon didn't do anything to change my earlier prediction of him having a HUGE 2010 coming off the edge in the 4-3. The entire D-Line looked pretty good, even without some key pieces like Harvey sitting out. I really liked seeing coach Jackson constantly preaching technique to these guys every chance he would get. Mondo is still Mondo and should be an even bigger handful with fewer double teams.

9) It was awesome seeing LeVon Morefield playing FB. His indefatigable heart will suit him well in this role.

10) Weaver was burned deep twice by LaFrance. Maybe Byrd should see some more PT?

11) Among the lesser known players who showed me some potential are Troy Gilmer (started at LB with Fleming and Fobbs sitting out), Ben Bertsh (a sack and several near misses on Nicely) and Marquinn Davis (playing DE might suit him much better than playing in the interior).

12) There were no injuries from this scrimmage of which I am aware. That's the best news of all perhaps.

[ZachTheZip]

My thought is that we'll see lots of true freshmen playing next season.

[zff]

Tonga was on the sidelines but not in uniform.

[tpsjugglerdude]

Lots of fumbles, 5 that I can remember.

Several recruits were there as well.

[GP1]

It left me wondering: Is our defense that much improved? Or, is our offense that bad?

Under a new coach, a defense will be more mature early than an offense.

My biggest question mark has to do with whether or not PN's accuracy has improved. Is it any better? Some guys with great arms never develop accuracy like a pitcher who can throw 100 mph but not over the plate.

[akron football]

I was at the game and there is alot of work to do. Defensively it looked pretty good, there's so many players hurt that it really doesn,t give a good gauge on where or what we need to address. Offensively we need to identify another go to guy other than LaFrance, at the RB situation I think they went away from running the rock with Allen because there's no sense in getting him hurt since Broderick is injured. I heard that Nicely has a bad sinus infection and was sick as hell. All in all the team seemed to have energy and are for the most part grasping the new coaching staff's philosophy. Change is good.That's what I'm talking about!

[skip-zip]

It left me wondering: Is our defense that much improved? Or, is our offense that bad?

Under a new coach, a defense will be more mature early than an offense.

My biggest question mark has to do with whether or not PN's accuracy has improved. Is it any better? Some guys with great arms never develop accuracy like a pitcher who can throw 100 mph but not over the plate.

Good analogy. Like I've said before, it reminds me of watching Derek Anderson.

[Zippyfornia]

Vote for Pedro... I didnt feel he did that bad.... he kinda got screwing because he went with third string o line and wasnt gettin good snaps but he did well for the hands he was delt... wish i could seen rodgers thou.

[johnnyzip84]

Tonga was on the sidelines but not in uniform.

I must have missed him for some reason. Thanks for the correction.

[ZachTheZip]

And another thought. WHY THE HELL IS THE STADIUM CRUMBLING ALREADY???

They roped off the entire east side and most of the front rows on the west side because the concrete was missing in huge chunks along the lower railing. The stadium isn't even 12 months old and it's falling apart. UA should sue the contractor or subcontractor who did such horrible work. Two-feet chunks of concrete missing at 10 yard intervals along a wall is completely unacceptable.

[tpsjugglerdude]

And another thought. WHY THE HELL IS THE STADIUM CRUMBLING ALREADY???

They roped off the entire east side and most of the front rows on the west side because the concrete was missing in huge chunks along the lower railing. The stadium isn't even 12 months old and it's falling apart. UA should sue the contractor or subcontractor who did such horrible work. Two-feet chunks of concrete missing at 10 yard intervals along a wall is completely unacceptable.

It looked even worse from the field.

[InTheZone]

And another thought. WHY THE HELL IS THE STADIUM CRUMBLING ALREADY???

They roped off the entire east side and most of the front rows on the west side because the concrete was missing in huge chunks along the lower railing. The stadium isn't even 12 months old and it's falling apart. UA should sue the contractor or subcontractor who did such horrible work. Two-feet chunks of concrete missing at 10 yard intervals along a wall is completely unacceptable.

I was embarrassed to see that. Knowing that was an issue, and with the weather, they should've just moved the game into the fieldhouse.

[GP1]

And another thought. WHY THE HELL IS THE STADIUM CRUMBLING ALREADY???

They roped off the entire east side and most of the front rows on the west side because the concrete was missing in huge chunks along the lower railing. The stadium isn't even 12 months old and it's falling apart. UA should sue the contractor or subcontractor who did such horrible work. Two-feet chunks of concrete missing at 10 yard intervals along a wall is completely unacceptable.

If you go back and read some of my posts from when the stadium was built, I predicted this would happen rapidly. The problem is they installed the concrete during the winter, which is the worst time possible to pour concrete. If I remember right, it was extemely cold when they poured it a couple of winters ago. Some cracking should be expected during the first year as the structure settles, but large scale replacement should not be required.

I'm sure the subcontractor who installed the concrete has a trail of letters they wrote about pouring concrete in the winter protecting them from lawsuits. The pressure to get this job done on time was pretty big. Contractors know risk and when a problem will happen so they protect themselves. Contracting is actually a form of legalized gambling. You gamble on material costs, labor, weather, etc.

There are three ways to get a construction project: good, fast and cheap. What most people don't understand is you can only get two of them. The stadium was finished fast and cheap ($64 million really isn't that much). Because of that, some problems should have been expected. There are probably more problems out there waiting to happen, but drywall covers up a lot of potential problems until they show themselves and it is too late. In gerneral, the stadium is probably an extremely safe place, there were just some things that had to be rushed and now they have to fix those things. It should have been expected.

[K92]

1. C-c-c-cold.

2. Nice scamper down the sideline by Allen. That was about 1/6 the distance of being the 2009 leading rusher. Amazing but true.

3. PN7 looked anything but sharp. Hopefully was because he was sick.

4. Disappointed we didn't get to see Matt Rodgers play.

5. Ditto for Broderick Alexander.

6. Almondo is a stud.

7. Thought Bryan Wagner would be in on more tackles, but kudos to the offense line. They BLOCKED him very effectively.

8. There were signs of a pass rush!

9. C-c-c-cold.

10. The siren before Coach I came on the big screen should be played after touchdowns.

11. Nice poster!

12. Interesting comment by my wife. . . "The team shop STILL not being open is an embarrassment to the University.

13. Lots of work to be done before Syracuse. I know, "No duh!"

14. One thing remains the same as ever.

[Zipmeister]

And another thought. WHY THE HELL IS THE STADIUM CRUMBLING ALREADY???

They roped off the entire east side and most of the front rows on the west side because the concrete was missing in huge chunks along the lower railing. The stadium isn't even 12 months old and it's falling apart. UA should sue the contractor or subcontractor who did such horrible work. Two-feet chunks of concrete missing at 10 yard intervals along a wall is completely unacceptable.

If you go back and read some of my posts from when the stadium was built, I predicted this would happen rapidly. The problem is they installed the concrete during the winter, which is the worst time possible to pour concrete. If I remember right, it was extemely cold when they poured it a couple of winters ago. Some cracking should be expected during the first year as the structure settles, but large scale replacement should not be required.

I'm sure the subcontractor who installed the concrete has a trail of letters they wrote about pouring concrete in the winter protecting them from lawsuits. The pressure to get this job done on time was pretty big. Contractors know risk and when a problem will happen so they protect themselves. Contracting is actually a form of legalized gambling. You gamble on material costs, labor, weather, etc.

There are three ways to get a construction project: good, fast and cheap. What most people don't understand is you can only get two of them. The stadium was finished fast and cheap ($64 million really isn't that much). Because of that, some problems should have been expected. There are probably more problems out there waiting to happen, but drywall covers up a lot of potential problems until they show themselves and it is too late. In gerneral, the stadium is probably an extremely safe place, there were just some things that had to be rushed and now they have to fix those things. It should have been expected.

It is disheartening to know that the project has started to disintegrate before completion. Looking at the bright side, maybe tickets in the effected areas can be sold at a premium with the claim that the ticket holder will be seated in the Rubber Bowl Commemorative area.

[cornbread]

And another thought. WHY THE HELL IS THE STADIUM CRUMBLING ALREADY???

They roped off the entire east side and most of the front rows on the west side because the concrete was missing in huge chunks along the lower railing. The stadium isn't even 12 months old and it's falling apart. UA should sue the contractor or subcontractor who did such horrible work. Two-feet chunks of concrete missing at 10 yard intervals along a wall is completely unacceptable.

If you go back and read some of my posts from when the stadium was built, I predicted this would happen rapidly. The problem is they installed the concrete during the winter, which is the worst time possible to pour concrete. If I remember right, it was extemely cold when they poured it a couple of winters ago. Some cracking should be expected during the first year as the structure settles, but large scale replacement should not be required.

I'm sure the subcontractor who installed the concrete has a trail of letters they wrote about pouring concrete in the winter protecting them from lawsuits. The pressure to get this job done on time was pretty big. Contractors know risk and when a problem will happen so they protect themselves. Contracting is actually a form of legalized gambling. You gamble on material costs, labor, weather, etc.

There are three ways to get a construction project: good, fast and cheap. What most people don't understand is you can only get two of them. The stadium was finished fast and cheap ($64 million really isn't that much). Because of that, some problems should have been expected. There are probably more problems out there waiting to happen, but drywall covers up a lot of potential problems until they show themselves and it is too late. In gerneral, the stadium is probably an extremely safe place, there were just some things that had to be rushed and now they have to fix those things. It should have been expected.

It is disheartening to know that the project has started to disintegrate before completion. Looking at the bright side, maybe tickets in the effected areas can be sold at a premium with the claim that the ticket holder will be seated in the Rubber Bowl Commemorative area.

Things happen at big construction projects all the time. The Bengals stadium was plagued with cracking concrete immediately after it was built. They fix things and maintenance is budgeted for annually. This is a non-issue.

[Spin]

4. Disappointed we didn't get to see Matt Rodgers play.

That's what I thought. As bad as PN looked at times, and there still was no time for MR to get in???

12. Interesting comment by my wife. . . "The team shop STILL not being open is an embarrassment to the University.

This is incomprehensible. They have the store on the SW corner, and a stand in the west wing, and they're selling crap OUT OF A TRAILER??? They have garbage bags over the windows of the store??? And they only had a handful of items in the trailer. I know they have a VERY limited number of items to sell anyway, but for crying out loud I've seen Division 3 schools that had a bigger inventory and a decent place to buy it.

They leave so much money on the table it's incomprehensible. It was 40' yesterday, think of the merchandise they could have sold, if they had it. What a joke.

My wife went to Akron 4 years, I've gone three, my oldest son is finishing up his first year. We've been to football games, soccer games, basketball games, baseball games. And still my 16 year old athlete son couldn't believe it yesterday when I said Akron was Division I. Other than being Big 10 fodder every year in football, how would he know?

Someone needs to wake up. Sorry, just felt like giving the dead horse a couple more licks yesterday.