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Can the Zips Beat All Three?


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Northern Illinois Accomplished It in 2003

Amazing that this 10-2 team didn't even get a bowl invite. They'd have beaten any of the 2009 MAC bowl participants by 17+ points.

Ahhhhh 2003... the Year of the MAC.

Miami, Toledo, NIU, Bowling Green, Marshall... all nationally ranked. The Zips weren't too shabby either, in comparison to nowadays, with I believe the #6 offense in the country, holding down the #1 spot for a few weeks that season. That was the year the MAC was dropping BCS teams like flies, and the Zips would've been in on the action had the refs not robbed us at Wisconsin, and if Swiger had been able to kick a ball into the ocean at UConn. Back then it looked like the MAC was on it's way to becoming the nation's premiere non-BCS football conference. My how the times have changed :CK_brew:

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A better question would be "Can the Zips beat any of them?"

I'd like to nominate 'the Kid' for Giving up on the Zips Hall of Fame.

In my humble opinion his performance over the last 6 months has pushed him right to the top.

Who is "the Kid" ?

Zach used to be UAkronkid and had a habit of saying so much stupid stuff people made fun of him a lot. So he reinvented himself as Zach and stopped saying stupid stuff for a while.

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I think they've definitely got a shot at Syracuse, we did beat them two years ago at the Carrier Dome after all. This one's at home and it's the opening game of the season, so I think it's a definite possibility that the Zips pull out the W. As for the other two, I won't be holding my breath, but I remain optimistic.

I'm thinking Syracuse is the highest likelihood for a victory as well. But, even with the large home crowd, and the victory two years ago in mind, we all know that we caught the Cuse at a very low point two years ago. And we have first-hand experience of what it's like to play them with even a little sense of confidence after what they did to us last year. I have a good friend who lves in Syracuse. He thinks that they are definitely on the way "up" again. If that's the case, even winning this one is going to take an outstanding effort. So, as far as these 3 games are concerned, and the current state of our own team, I am going to hope for one win, and dream about 2.

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I think they've definitely got a shot at Syracuse, we did beat them two years ago at the Carrier Dome after all. This one's at home and it's the opening game of the season, so I think it's a definite possibility that the Zips pull out the W. As for the other two, I won't be holding my breath, but I remain optimistic.

I'm thinking Syracuse is the highest likelihood for a victory as well. But, even with the large home crowd, and the victory two years ago in mind, we all know that we caught the Cuse at a very low point two years ago. And we have first-hand experience of what it's like to play them with even a little sense of confidence after what they did to us last year. I have a good friend who lves in Syracuse. He thinks that they are definitely on the way "up" again. If that's the case, even winning this one is going to take an outstanding effort. So, as far as these 3 games are concerned, and the current state of our own team, I am going to hope for one win, and dream about 2.

I think it being the first game of the season might play the biggest factor here. If it were JD's team yet again I might be more inclined to agree with your friend (that Syracuse wins this game). But in this case, no one has game film of the Zips under Ianello. So, I think we might have even more of an advantage at home for this game than we might otherwise (We're the freakin' wildcard here!). That's my best argument after the team we saw last year. My best explanation of last year's squad is that it was just a completely wretched outlier. But as I said before, I still remain optimistic.

Go Zips!

... Let's make some orange juice...

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I think they've definitely got a shot at Syracuse, we did beat them two years ago at the Carrier Dome after all. This one's at home and it's the opening game of the season, so I think it's a definite possibility that the Zips pull out the W. As for the other two, I won't be holding my breath, but I remain optimistic.

I'm thinking Syracuse is the highest likelihood for a victory as well. But, even with the large home crowd, and the victory two years ago in mind, we all know that we caught the Cuse at a very low point two years ago. And we have first-hand experience of what it's like to play them with even a little sense of confidence after what they did to us last year. I have a good friend who lves in Syracuse. He thinks that they are definitely on the way "up" again. If that's the case, even winning this one is going to take an outstanding effort. So, as far as these 3 games are concerned, and the current state of our own team, I am going to hope for one win, and dream about 2.

I think it being the first game of the season might play the biggest factor here. If it were JD's team yet again I might be more inclined to agree with your friend (that Syracuse wins this game). But in this case, no one has game film of the Zips under Ianello. So, I think we might have even more of an advantage at home for this game than we might otherwise (We're the freakin' wildcard here!). That's my best argument after the team we saw last year. My best explanation of last year's squad is that it was just a completely wretched outlier. But as I said before, I still remain optimistic.

Go Zips!

... Let's make some orange juice...

I just want to be clear about what my Syracuse connection is saying here. He hasn't made any game predictions, and he's actually an old Zips fan having lived in this area a long time. He's simply indicating that he believes the Orange should continue on their upswing from where they were two years ago. I think the difference between the 08 and 09 games might indicate that. In 08, I think a poor Akron team beat a really bad Syracuse team. In 09, I think a bad Akron team lost to a just-better-than-bad Syracuse team. The Syracuse situation does indeed appear to be changing, and the question will be: Are we suddenly ready to turn the corner as well?

I do agree with you that the season opener, the large home crowd, and the unknown entity in our new coach will be the biggest factors in our favor.

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A better question would be "Can the Zips beat any of them?"

I'd like to nominate 'the Kid' for Giving up on the Zips Hall of Fame.

In my humble opinion his performance over the last 6 months has pushed him right to the top.

Who is "the Kid" ?

Zach used to be UAkronkid and had a habit of saying so much stupid stuff people made fun of him a lot. So he reinvented himself as Zach and stopped saying stupid stuff for a while.

He did?

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A better question would be "Can the Zips beat any of them?"

I'd like to nominate 'the Kid' for Giving up on the Zips Hall of Fame.

In my humble opinion his performance over the last 6 months has pushed him right to the top.

Who is "the Kid" ?

Zach used to be UAkronkid and had a habit of saying so much stupid stuff people made fun of him a lot. So he reinvented himself as Zach and stopped saying stupid stuff for a while.

He did?

plus_infinity.jpg

:lol:

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A better question would be "Can the Zips beat any of them?"

I'd like to nominate 'the Kid' for Giving up on the Zips Hall of Fame.

In my humble opinion his performance over the last 6 months has pushed him right to the top.

Who is "the Kid" ?

Zach used to be UAkronkid and had a habit of saying so much stupid stuff people made fun of him a lot. So he reinvented himself as Zach and stopped saying stupid stuff for a while.

He did?

I most certainly did not!

And as for beating a OOC team, I predict we beat Gardner Webb. Best chance against a BCS team is against Kentucky.

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Can the Zips beat all three? No.

Can the Zips beat two? No.

Can the Zips beat one? Maybe, but I'll lean to no.

If they lose all three, it is not the end of the season or even something to be concerned about. The Zips have enough talent to compete well in the MAC. I don't know what the final record will be, but I am pretty certain we will not be run off the field against any MAC team.

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Hey guys...bottomline: Syracuse has a competent head coach and a better staff than under GRob in 2008. Football staffs usually make good strides between year one and two. I expect Cuse's coaching to elevate along with overall team play. While Cuse won't know everything Akron will be doing Cuse will have basic scouting info from the 2008 and 09 games of player personnel. Also, they should know what UA's basic football tendacies/packages will be. The coaching fraternity is fairly small and these guys do know each others tendacies.

Expect Cuse to bring the defensive pressure on a first year UA coaching staff/team immediately. How do they react? IMHO, our defense will win this game. It is expected to be one of the better Big East defenses.

I expect a 10-14 point victory but could see an Akron win if we turnover the ball more than once or twice and you score points off a couple of the TOs. Our special teams will be much improved as overall roster depth is improving. More 1st and 2nd teamers on ST kickoff squads than last year when quite a few walkons and True FR played.

Our offense is loaded with question marks but on the positive side: we are having JUCO's and underclassmen beating out several starting players. I expect rather conservative play calling on Offense to cut down on TOs.

Also, I don't think that Copley's Delone Carter will play. Also, our 3rd string TB could be out for the year (academics)..However, our 2nd string back (Bailey) gained 77 yards on 16 carries versus Rutgers late in the season. We will need to establish the pass..if not Akron's chance for winning goes waaaaay up. If we had Delone Carter I would feel better with a weak passing attack as Bailey is not a power runner.

Also, I have 70 tickets sold going to my group's tailgate. I expect 20-40 more to showup who bought their tickets through SU. Hopefully some of you can swing by and say hi pregame.

(BTW, Browning is a excellent coach for your team wish we had him still...Jackson had his detractors while at SU)

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A better question would be "Can the Zips beat any of them?"

I'd like to nominate 'the Kid' for Giving up on the Zips Hall of Fame.

In my humble opinion his performance over the last 6 months has pushed him right to the top.

Who is "the Kid" ?

Zach used to be UAkronkid and had a habit of saying so much stupid stuff people made fun of him a lot. So he reinvented himself as Zach and stopped saying stupid stuff for a while.

He did?

I most certainly did not!

And as for beating a OOC team, I predict we beat Gardner Webb. Best chance against a BCS team is against Kentucky.

Kentucky will be the best team we face this year. Period. If that is our best shot at an OOC victory, we in trouble.

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