I saw what I expected

[Dave in Green]

The Zips band was great. I mean that sincerely. They have improved a bunch over last year, and they were better last year than the year before. I enjoyed their performance enough not to consider the trip to the game a total loss.

As far as football goes, I liked the approach and attitude of the defense better than last year's. They didn't look great against Syracuse, but they were more aggressive than last year, and looked good enough to keep the Zips in contention in MAC games.

Problem is, the defense can only keep the Zips in contention. It's up to the offense to put points on the board. From what I saw tonight, that's going to be a problem. The offense looked lost -- more so in the pro set. This didn't bother me at first because I thought they'd settle down after the first quarter and start executing the new system. But they never recovered from their rocky start.

There were just no bright spots that I saw on offense. The offensive line was porous, none of the running backs could consistently gain yardage, none of the receivers could consistently get open, and the QB appeared to be flustered at having so many things go wrong around him. Nicely was close on many of his passes -- the ones that he didn't have to throw away due to inadequate pass protection and no open receivers. But he also tried to force it in to well-covered receivers a few times when others were more open. He was not sharp, but he was far from alone. This was a team effort. The players didn't appear to be prepared, so the coaching staff has to share the blame.

I never give up on a team after one bad game. Next week the Zips have a chance to regroup and begin finding their way against a weaker team than Syracuse (which, of course, is not exactly a powerhouse). But based on what I saw tonight, it's going to take major improvements in the execution of all aspects of the offense for the Zips to do much better this season than they did last.

[Zipsrifle]

I was pretty pissed about the $10 to park in the tailgate lot. We don't have a strong tailgating culture here and you are only going to drive people away if they are going to take advantage of us. Remember, WE are the ones who are supposed to be dragging people to the games to fill the stadium and now you make it more inconvienent for me to do this as these people I am to be dragging to the games will choose to park somewhere else and walk across campus to find me....GENIUS!

As for the product on the field, I was as frustrated as anyone. I was so disguested I actually left after SU scored their last TD.....I almost NEVER leave early. Anyway, after the hour drive home and putting some thought into it, I'm not ready to say the sky is falling. We're running new schemes on both sides of the ball so I expect things to be a bit rough. The D was better than I expected, frankly. Our pass coverage needs a lot of work, but that was one of those things we kind of expected. The offense was NOT comfortable tonight. There for a time, I think Nicely was just overwhelmed and was just tossing it away and nobody was making plays. I think the more time these guys get with the system the better we will get. I think next week will do a LOT to improve the confidence of this team/ I hope, that once we hit the MAC schedule, the D has improved to the point where the O won't need to score a lot of points. Lets just pray that by that time, the O can actually move the ball and score from time to time.

[skip-zip]

Hard to find any positives in such an embarrassing performance, but I was somewhat encouraged with our improved tackling. It seemed like we didn't allow as many of those 3-5 yard carries to turn into 8-10 yard carries, like we had done the last several years. Yes, I know a lot of that has to do with having a dominating, get-to-the-ball tackler in the middle of the field like Wagner, who just seems to continue to get better and better. But, it was some kind of indication that we could see some improvement in this phase of our game this year.

Other than that, everything was pretty much what I expected. And unfortunately, in some cases, far worse than I even expected, including the way I felt our coach managed the game, and the attendance.

[Zipsrifle]

Oh, and the penalties were outrageous. That is not acceptable. We shot ourselves in the foot so many times tonight. I thought we were going to play fundamental football? That means not getting stupid penalties that put you at 1st and 15.

[bandzip]

I thought the defense played really well. Anyone who was worried about Wagner taking a step back can forget about that. He had a huge gain on an interception and quite a few very nice tackles. Penalties on offense were atrocious. If I remember correctly there were 3 just in the first series. When they did get to start the play the offensive line did a great job for protecting Nicely on passes, though they couldn't open a hole for the running game if their lives depended on it. Nicely looked good when he had someone open, and WAY too many passes were dropped. He showed that he can do a good job of avoiding pressure and at least making his way back to the line of scrimmage. We really need someone to step up at receiver besides LaFrance. I felt bad for Nicely because he almost never had anyone open to throw to. One series at the end of the second quarter I believe he had three perfect passes, all of which were dropped.

What is wrong with special teams? Are we going to have to suffer through another year of blocked/botched field goals? That really took us out of the game in the 3rd quarter. On the opposite side the punting squad looked great. Campbell was really booting them and with the exception of that bogus kick catch interference call they did a great job with coverage. I've still got some hope for this squad still. I think there's a good chance that by the time the MAC season starts we'll have things figured. Tonight was definately not a reason to fire the coach, the marketing department on the other hand...

[uhgrad2002]

I'll give UA credit for consistency. The concession crew was just as ready to play as the offense. When the gates opened, there was ONE concession stand open on the west side. With less than half an hour to go before kickoff most of the stands on the west side still had not made coffee. By half time the pretzel displays in the stand I went to were empty. At least the workers were friendly.

The band was fine.

The team shop was ok. I didn't buy anything because I have so much stuff already and there wasn't anything really exciting, but I saw a couple of things I might go back for. There was a good variety of the basics. The not-even-replica jerseys are poor but authentics and good replicas don't seem to be as readily available in general as they once were. The plain concrete floor is not pretty but it goes with the finish on the rest of the stadium.

And then there was football. I was pretty pleased with the defense. The penalties (4 illegal formations!) were so pathetic that I can hardly look past them to recall quarterbacks, running backs and footballs going every which way (except for towards the end zone). Nate Burney excepted -- he was fun to watch. Really, all I can do is shake my head.

The stadium looked fine. Except for 16K in the stands. We may need to schedule all BCS schools just to get enough travelling fans to bump us up to the 17K needed to remain FBS.

I'll be back there next week, and the rest. But boy, this one was not inspiring.

[zippypitt]

Other than that, everything was pretty much what I expected. And unfortunately, in some cases, far worse than I even expected, including the way I felt our coach managed the game, and the attendance.

I think this is the biggest issue moving forward. I am shocked at the lack of a "buzz" (including marketing!) throughout the week for a game against a Big East team. This game would have EASILY been higher at the Rubber Bowl. The only conclusion that I can draw is the price of admission is too high for the product that is being placed on the field. I am not ready to jump off the Y Bridge after one game, but the lack of fans at the game is troublesome. I didn't renew after last season, and looking at the attendance numbers, I wasn't alone.

[jshonda23]

Looks like Tom's and Rob's egos got out ahead of their results, time for an ego reset guys?? Take down the billboards, get Rob's picture off everything and deliver some positive results.

[zippy5]

Other than that, everything was pretty much what I expected. And unfortunately, in some cases, far worse than I even expected, including the way I felt our coach managed the game, and the attendance.

I think this is the biggest issue moving forward. I am shocked at the lack of a "buzz" (including marketing!) throughout the week for a game against a Big East team. This game would have EASILY been higher at the Rubber Bowl. The only conclusion that I can draw is the price of admission is too high for the product that is being placed on the field. I am not ready to jump off the Y Bridge after one game, but the lack of fans at the game is troublesome. I didn't renew after last season, and looking at the attendance numbers, I wasn't alone.

Too many people worry about the crowd. With as bad as this team has been, how can you expect fans to show? Win some games, and they'll be there. Obama couldn't convince 25k to come watch this mess.

[Buckzip]

Other than that, everything was pretty much what I expected. And unfortunately, in some cases, far worse than I even expected, including the way I felt our coach managed the game, and the attendance.

I think this is the biggest issue moving forward. I am shocked at the lack of a "buzz" (including marketing!) throughout the week for a game against a Big East team. This game would have EASILY been higher at the Rubber Bowl. The only conclusion that I can draw is the price of admission is too high for the product that is being placed on the field. I am not ready to jump off the Y Bridge after one game, but the lack of fans at the game is troublesome. I didn't renew after last season, and looking at the attendance numbers, I wasn't alone.

Too many people worry about the crowd. With as bad as this team has been, how can you expect fans to show? Win some games, and they'll be there. Obama couldn't convince 25k to come watch this mess.

Yes he could.He convinced a lot of people to buy into hype.

[akzipper]

give the guy a chance!

[UAZip0510]

Other than that, everything was pretty much what I expected. And unfortunately, in some cases, far worse than I even expected, including the way I felt our coach managed the game, and the attendance.

I think this is the biggest issue moving forward. I am shocked at the lack of a "buzz" (including marketing!) throughout the week for a game against a Big East team. This game would have EASILY been higher at the Rubber Bowl. The only conclusion that I can draw is the price of admission is too high for the product that is being placed on the field. I am not ready to jump off the Y Bridge after one game, but the lack of fans at the game is troublesome. I didn't renew after last season, and looking at the attendance numbers, I wasn't alone.

Too many people worry about the crowd. With as bad as this team has been, how can you expect fans to show? Win some games, and they'll be there. Obama couldn't convince 25k to come watch this mess.

Yes he could.He convinced a lot of people to buy into hype.

Blah, blah, blah...please, let's not turn this into a political debate.

[UAZip0510]

Here are the Zips' main issues:

1) They have been a bad team for four years now

2) They will have a bad team this year

3) They are charging far too much for a general admission ticket.

[UAZip0510]

By the way, Ianello sealed his team's fate by not going for it on 4th and 2 when the Zips were still in the game...didn't understand it then, still don't understand it now.

[ZachTheZip]

By the way, Ianello sealed his team's fate by not going for it on 4th and 2 when the Zips were still in the game...didn't understand it then, still don't understand it now.

He's ultra-conservative when it comes to playcalling. It's a sign that he doesn't trust his players to go out and do anything beyond the simplest plays. It's also why we didn't see anything resembling a trick play, not even a simple reverse.

[72 Roo]

My two cents:

- This team was not prepared. There is no excuse for 10 penalties, 4 of which were for illegal formation. Inexcusable.

- The defense is improved. Our LB's are too small except for Wagner. They could not plug holes or drive ballcarriers back.

- Our safeties are not up to D1 standards. Province was repeatedly beaten and Richmond had cover issues too.

- Our offensive play calling made Cuse look good. Latina and Powlus need to be removed if that is the best they have. There was no imagination, deception or attacking SU where they didn't expect. With the D-line rush coming so hard was there ever a screen, draw or counter? How about an end around? These guys are showing signs of not being able to take what the D gives you and keep them guessing. They let this team down.

- For as good as this coaching staff was supposed to be, I saw no element of the team "coached up". No one seemed better because of the staff. If there was improvement I didn't see it over JD's staff. These guys were supposed to make a difference.

- Our O line sucks. Don't give me that crap they are veteran because they are still poor. They can't drive block, they aren't mobile, they can't hold their blocks and they can't open holes.

- Attendance next week will be little more than 10,000.

- The team shop was nice and full when I was there, but the merchandising is weak. There were no imaginative golf shirts, jackets, T's or sweatshirts. The same old stuff. No reason to spend your money, which I wanted to do.

- We are 7-10 years away from building a program that will dominate the MAC. Until then the crowds will be like they were today because Joe Public knows good football and we don't play it or have any winning tradition.

- I don't want Ianello's head, but I do want him to fix the problem. Right now we are headed to a 4-8 or 5-7 season with Can't being the better program. That should make anyone sick.

[yazan07]

Everyone is talking about how bad marketing is. Well I have a good marketing strategy to bring people out to the games, our soccer team has been using this strategy for a while now, and they manage to bring a pretty good turnout:

win games

[cornbread]

relax people

Games are won and lost in the trenches, right?

We lost this game over the right side of the offensive line. They were consistently beat. Hampered our ability to run the ball in the beginning. And ruined our chances to get back in the game in the 2nd half when Nicely came out throwing.

Defense looked better. A team with plenty of talent on the oline and @ rb had a tough time moving the football against us. That counts for something.

[zippy5]

relax people

Games are won and lost in the trenches, right?

We lost this game over the right side of the offensive line. They were consistently beat. Hampered our ability to run the ball in the beginning. And ruined our chances to get back in the game in the 2nd half when Nicely came out throwing.

Defense looked better. A team with plenty of talent on the oline and @ rb had a tough time moving the football against us. That counts for something.

they had 200 yards rushing.

[bobbyake]

I actually saw a lot of people tailgating that weren't going to the game because they didn't want to pay $20 per person. I found out my student ID still works for the games, very tempted to never buy a ticket again and just start using that. $10 for parking + $40 for me and my son to get into the game, I miss the good ol' Rubber Bowl days. $50 for just 2 people, I expect more than what I saw today!!

I understand the new stadium needs to be paid for, but it wont be paid for with empty seats.

It costs more than double to go to a Zips football game than it does to go to an Aeros game, it's $18(10+8) for me and my son and parking after 6pm is free downtown.

[KentZip]

My two cents:

- This team was not prepared. There is no excuse for 10 penalties, 4 of which were for illegal formation. Inexcusable.

- The defense is improved. Our LB's are too small except for Wagner. They could not plug holes or drive ballcarriers back.

- Our safeties are not up to D1 standards. Province was repeatedly beaten and Richmond had cover issues too.

- Our offensive play calling made Cuse look good. Latina and Powlus need to be removed if that is the best they have. There was no imagination, deception or attacking SU where they didn't expect. With the D-line rush coming so hard was there ever a screen, draw or counter? How about an end around? These guys are showing signs of not being able to take what the D gives you and keep them guessing. They let this team down.

- For as good as this coaching staff was supposed to be, I saw no element of the team "coached up". No one seemed better because of the staff. If there was improvement I didn't see it over JD's staff. These guys were supposed to make a difference.

- Our O line sucks. Don't give me that crap they are veteran because they are still poor. They can't drive block, they aren't mobile, they can't hold their blocks and they can't open holes.

- Attendance next week will be little more than 10,000.

- The team shop was nice and full when I was there, but the merchandising is weak. There were no imaginative golf shirts, jackets, T's or sweatshirts. The same old stuff. No reason to spend your money, which I wanted to do.

- We are 7-10 years away from building a program that will dominate the MAC. Until then the crowds will be like they were today because Joe Public knows good football and we don't play it or have any winning tradition.

- I don't want Ianello's head, but I do want him to fix the problem. Right now we are headed to a 4-8 or 5-7 season with Can't being the better program. That should make anyone sick.

This post sums up my assessment exactly. Two biggest weaknesses - receiving corps and defensive secondary.

[Zip Watcher]

Seems to me to be a team that's in the process of remaking itself. It's not going to be fixed in one week or one season.

I thought the defense was solid, but they were left on the field too long. I'd guess they gave up far more yards in the 2nd half than the first.

Two plays stick out at me that really changed the margin of the game:

- The pop up kick near the end of the half. We gave them a short field to work with on their last drive & they punched it. I assume they must have been kicking away from some returner, but having them start near midfield killed the D. We had a real chance to go in to the half down 7 .. and the field position really hurt.

- The blocked FG for 6 the other way. Ended the game.

Absent these two plays, the defense played well enough to keep the Zips in the game. They didn't get much help from the Offense or the Special Teams. No points on the board, and left out on the field way too long.

In general, the offense was overcome by its own mental mistakes. Lining up 7 guys on the line is a rule in PeeWee .. if it happens once, ok .. but 4 or 5 times in a game indicates some mental breakdowns. This stuff is fixable.

These are some of the risks of opening with a BCS and not FCS opponent.

Go Zips!

[GoZips]

By the way, Ianello sealed his team's fate by not going for it on 4th and 2 when the Zips were still in the game...didn't understand it then, still don't understand it now.

He's ultra-conservative when it comes to playcalling. It's a sign that he doesn't trust his players to go out and do anything beyond the simplest plays. It's also why we didn't see anything resembling a trick play, not even a simple reverse.

To say nothing about counters and draw plays. Which are effective "conservative" play calls.

I think I saw one screen pass which came in the third quarter shortly before I left the stadium with

that same nauseated feeling JD's teams gave me.

[GoZips]

My two cents:

- This team was not prepared. There is no excuse for 10 penalties, 4 of which were for illegal formation. Inexcusable.

- The defense is improved. Our LB's are too small except for Wagner. They could not plug holes or drive ballcarriers back.

- Our safeties are not up to D1 standards. Province was repeatedly beaten and Richmond had cover issues too.

- Our offensive play calling made Cuse look good. Latina and Powlus need to be removed if that is the best they have. There was no imagination, deception or attacking SU where they didn't expect. With the D-line rush coming so hard was there ever a screen, draw or counter? How about an end around? These guys are showing signs of not being able to take what the D gives you and keep them guessing. They let this team down.

- For as good as this coaching staff was supposed to be, I saw no element of the team "coached up". No one seemed better because of the staff. If there was improvement I didn't see it over JD's staff. These guys were supposed to make a difference.

- Our O line sucks. Don't give me that crap they are veteran because they are still poor. They can't drive block, they aren't mobile, they can't hold their blocks and they can't open holes.

- Attendance next week will be little more than 10,000.

- The team shop was nice and full when I was there, but the merchandising is weak. There were no imaginative golf shirts, jackets, T's or sweatshirts. The same old stuff. No reason to spend your money, which I wanted to do.

- We are 7-10 years away from building a program that will dominate the MAC. Until then the crowds will be like they were today because Joe Public knows good football and we don't play it or have any winning tradition.

- I don't want Ianello's head, but I do want him to fix the problem. Right now we are headed to a 4-8 or 5-7 season with Can't being the better program. That should make anyone sick.

72 Roo, kudos, well said.

You, sir, are an optimist. At this point, 4-8 season is far beyond this putrid coaching staff's capabilities.

There is something I need to get off my chest. Early in the game. Right after Syracuse scored

their first touchdown, Alex Allen was doing his job as a senior leader "getting in the grills" of the

already dejected defenders when a coach (don't know him by name), roughly threw Allen aside

and addressed the players. The players and Allen were stunned by the coach's behavior, Alex

walked away dejected and perplexed as were we who witnessed the abuse.

For me, that capped my already prejudiced view that this coaching staff sucks.

[skip-zip]

Everyone is talking about how bad marketing is. Well I have a good marketing strategy to bring people out to the games, our soccer team has been using this strategy for a while now, and they manage to bring a pretty good turnout:

win games

First of all, what do you mean by "awhile now"? Our soccer program has been winning for DECADES, and only recently have they been drawing crowds of over a couple thousand people. This increase in soccer attendance only started happening when we became the top team in the nation, and unfortunately, our football program isn't in a position to do that.

And in case you haven't noticed, even our bad football team still easily quadruples the attendance of our tops-in-the-nation soccer team.