Better......

[GP1]

Same themes as my brilliant post from last week, but less harsh.

Dear Mr #82, If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you please catch the ball when you are wide open 40 yards down field. We are trying to win this thing called a "game" and when you miss passes mid fourth quarter that would have put us down only by 8, it hurts our feelings. You are getting this thing called a "scholarship" and some of us would really like you to earn that money. All other receivers played well. If #82 cant catch, he needs to be replaced.

Dear PN7, Better than last week, but not good enough. You are the most important person on the field and we expect you to complete passes. Yes, there were some drops, but your accuracy is still lacking....especially in critical moments. Improvement is needed.

Defense...not as good as last week, but much better in the second half. #34 needs to make plays closer to the LOS and not five yards down field. We need to be more physical.

Kicker...great job tonight.

Kick offs....I said last week we needed less of the pop up kick. I wasn't typing that for fun. We covered kicks well tonight. Have faith ICoach.

Coaching....Good aggression on offense this week and good creativity early. Defense was not prepared but responded well.

The MAC....It sucks....Let's go out and win the MAC East. It's there for the taking and we played good enough tonight to win it.

[Zip Watcher]

+1

For the second week in a row, I find myself in complete agreement w/ the Great GP1. Not sure what that means, or if I want to know what that means, so while I ponder that ...

Let's go drink a Tullamore!

Go Zips!

[ZippyforPresident]

I agree as well. Good Post GP. I pretty much stated the exact same stuff in another thread. As long as this squad keeps showing improvement it's a good sign, especially with conference play on the horizon. i.e. we may not be able to beat a crappy big ten team now, but come bowl time we might be able to lay the wood to some big ten impostor if we keep improving each week. Here's to a good showing during MAC play!

[skip-zip]

Same themes as my brilliant post from last week, but less harsh.

Dear Mr #82, If it wouldn't be too much trouble, could you please catch the ball when you are wide open 40 yards down field. We are trying to win this thing called a "game" and when you miss passes mid fourth quarter that would have put us down only by 8, it hurts our feelings. You are getting this thing called a "scholarship" and some of us would really like you to earn that money. All other receivers played well. If #82 cant catch, he needs to be replaced.

Dear PN7, Better than last week, but not good enough. You are the most important person on the field and we expect you to complete passes. Yes, there were some drops, but your accuracy is still lacking....especially in critical moments. Improvement is needed.

Defense...not as good as last week, but much better in the second half. #34 needs to make plays closer to the LOS and not five yards down field. We need to be more physical.

Kicker...great job tonight.

Kick offs....I said last week we needed less of the pop up kick. I wasn't typing that for fun. We covered kicks well tonight. Have faith ICoach.

Coaching....Good aggression on offense this week and good creativity early. Defense was not prepared but responded well.

The MAC....It sucks....Let's go out and win the MAC East. It's there for the taking and we played good enough tonight to win it.

I agreed with everything too, until I got to the last couple of words.

How many MAC games can we possibly win giving up 425 yards and 35 points?

[Dr Z]

Our secondary must improve if we are planning on winning games. I would never run the ball against the Zips. It is now the biggest concern as a unit, I had three last week, but it's down to one this week. As a whole, other than two dropped passes for TD's, the receiving corp did a better job. The offensive line still needs much improvement, but I think they took a baby step yesterday. Cograts to the offensive coaching staff, nice play calls, you actually kept Indiana guessing at times. PN7 looked good yesterday, he should have finished the day with 4 TD passes, two that were dropped hit his intended receivers right in both hands. He needs to continue to improve his accuracy on long down field passes and he needs to gain more pocket awareness (I'm not sure how you do that, more snaps I suppose). I was wrong before the season started that QB pressure would help this secondary. Only QB sacks help this secondary. No unit should be worked harder this week than the secondary. That 3 receiver bunch they used was good for at least 12 yards anytime they needed it. I would run that play exclusively on 3rd down against Akron.

Nice post GP1...oh, did you notice how our opponent used the TE?

[xu9697]

Any team can do this...but catch both TDs and we are at 31 points. Don't let Indiana get 23 yards on 2nd and 30..and they don't score that TD. Boom..31-28 Zips.

Yeah, it is not that simple..but in some ways it is.

Props to skip-zip (I think) in recognizing that Gary Pride could be a playmaker if given the opportunity. I think the coaches FINALLY worked to Nicely's strengths in this game. His downfield accuracy lacks at times, no doubt. But he fired those out passes with zip and accuracy tonight. Plus, rolling him out/moving the pocket a bit was well done once or twice.

Wagner= nice player. Very nice. But I don't think he is ever going to be the type of LB that "blows things up". Just not sure if he has the size (or the body frame) to get that big. Yes, small LBs have wreaked havoc in the history of football. He obviously is not the problem.

Indiana's QB and receiving corps are no joke. I watch them enough to know. They will move the ball and put up points on good teams. Their downfall will be getting the tough yards and stopping the run. That is why they probably are looking at 2-3 wins in the Big Ten.

This game, at the very least, should give us some hope. There were a lot of good things.

Facing Northern Illinois= well, they pretty much are the equivalent of what Indiana is= a bottom tier Big Ten team (win Minnesota, Illinois and Purdue).

[GP1]

Nice post GP1...oh, did you notice how our opponent used the TE?

Against our pass defense, a team could find a way to get their center open.....

[GP1]

How many MAC games can we possibly win giving up 425 yards and 35 points?

Ignore the GW game, when we get to the MAC we will not be as outmatched talentwise as we have been against the three BCS schools we played.

We can win mac games....if they players just play better throughout the game.

[GP1]

Any team can do this...but catch both TDs and we are at 31 points. Don't let Indiana get 23 yards on 2nd and 30..and they don't score that TD. Boom..31-28 Zips.

Yeah, it is not that simple..but in some ways it is.

I agree. It is as simple as you describe. Close games are decided by 1-3 plays...it happens in the NFL every week. The team that makes them wins and the team that doesn't make them comes up short.

[skip-zip]

Any team can do this...but catch both TDs and we are at 31 points. Don't let Indiana get 23 yards on 2nd and 30..and they don't score that TD. Boom..31-28 Zips.

Yeah, it is not that simple..but in some ways it is.

I agree. It is as simple as you describe. Close games are decided by 1-3 plays...it happens in the NFL every week. The team that makes them wins and the team that doesn't make them comes up short.

You could probably look at most football games and say, "If only a couple of plays went the other way". We're just not making enough good plays on offense to win games. And we're giving up enough good plays on defense to lose games.

The thing that's bothering me the most today is that we were given opportunities two years in a row to knock off a bottom Big 10 team, and failed. The scores were nearly identical. And in looking back, so were a lot of the stats. Last year, we played this game only a couple of days after the shock of losing our starting QB. You would obviously expect that to be a low point for a team. So, I'm upset that we don't appear to have improved in these last 12 months. Didn't we return 17 starters? So many key players on our team have tons more experience than they had in that game last year. It's frustrating.

[GP1]

BTW, did anyone notice how IU's "building process" has turned out. They don't sell out their home games, but the expand their stadium and the new seats sit empty. Smart use of taxpayers money there. Those empty seats sit as a monument to the stupidity of athletic directors around the country.

There should be a law...."Any school that cannot fill their existing stadium shall not be allowed to add to it."

Actually, if you look at college football stadiums on TV these days, there are lots of empty seats even at known programs. FSU was on TV at my house yesterday and about 25% of their stadium sits empty. The USC game I went to this year against So. Miss had easily 50% of the upper deck empty. Goes to show how the current state of our economy has impacted college football. There was a construction bubble in college football as well it appears.

[Lee Adams]

funny thing...i thought i read in the paper that Ianello said maybe the coaches were expecting the players to absorb too much too quickly and that the game plan was going to get a little more basic or something of that nature...said he wanted the players to be able to 'play' instead of having to have to 'think' about assignments...maybe the coaches finally figured out something...we will see saturday...first 'real' game of the season against a mac contender should show whether this team can compete this year...

[Captain Kangaroo]

Adding to the "little victories" topic --

We have lost 1 fumble and thrown 1 INT through 4 games. That's pretty good. Penalties are also minimal.

I watched the NIU/Minnesota game last night. NIU is really good. They manhandled Wistersill's former employer. Oct 2nd could be our toughest game to-date. LaFrance will need to catch the ball, or it could get out of hand quickly.

[akzipper]

I think we could have beat Indiana. But Coach I made a bad play call on the 4th and 1. You don't risk it with a pass. If we had actual receivers on the team I would for sure. Nicely had a perfect pass, but it was right through the guys hands. I understand we ran 2nd and 1 and 3rd and one, but you just can't rely on these guys. All you can do is learn from your mistakes Coach.

[bigzipguy]

Good post GP1. But I do not agree on your last statement. The MAC East is not there for the taking, for the Zips. You stated over 1 year ago that Temple was building a quality squad. They did. They will win the MAC East. I am not making this statement based on the fact that they played Penn State tough,but they are clearly are the best in the East, and probably the best in the MAC.

[UAZipster0305]

I think we could have beat Indiana. But Coach I made a bad play call on the 4th and 1. You don't risk it with a pass. If we had actual receivers on the team I would for sure. Nicely had a perfect pass, but it was right through the guys hands. I understand we ran 2nd and 1 and 3rd and one, but you just can't rely on these guys. All you can do is learn from your mistakes Coach.

I totally disagree. Keeping IU on their toes is what allows the game to open up. Making such a call is fun for the players, and they'll play best when having fun. I know, he dropped it. Big deal! If he had made the catch, you'd be saying what a great call it was!

The play call also demonstrates to everyone that you're playing to win, and I personally love that. No picking up the check and walking away with your tail between your legs.

While I was critical of the coaching staff after the loss to GW, the past two weeks have shown steady improvement. Keep it up! I don't expect to win the MAC East because Temple is too good. NIU is also a likely loss, but 6-6 isn't out of the question. 4-8 is more likely though.

[you am i]

A championship-caliber MAC football team should be able to be competitive with, and sometimes beat, mid-level Big Ten teams.

Indiana is not a mid-level Big Ten team and Akron was barely competitive.

Akron is not a MAC championship-caliber team.

[UA Fan]

LaFrance will need to catch the ball, or it could get out of hand quickly.

Uh huh...thought you'd just drop a little pun in there unnoticed, didn't you Cap'n?

[Buckzip]

I think we could have beat Indiana. But Coach I made a bad play call on the 4th and 1. You don't risk it with a pass. If we had actual receivers on the team I would for sure. Nicely had a perfect pass, but it was right through the guys hands. I understand we ran 2nd and 1 and 3rd and one, but you just can't rely on these guys. All you can do is learn from your mistakes Coach.

I thought that was a great playcall by Ianello. Everything was working with the exception of our WR dropping the pass.

That type of call is one of those calls that if it works everyone says great call. If it doesn't eveyone says bad call.

In this case it didn't work but it was a great call.

[Dr Z]

I think we could have beat Indiana. But Coach I made a bad play call on the 4th and 1. You don't risk it with a pass. If we had actual receivers on the team I would for sure. Nicely had a perfect pass, but it was right through the guys hands. I understand we ran 2nd and 1 and 3rd and one, but you just can't rely on these guys. All you can do is learn from your mistakes Coach.

I thought that was a great playcall by Ianello. Everything was working with the exception of our WR dropping the pass. That type of call is one of those calls that if it works everyone says great call. If it doesn't eveyone says bad call. In this case it didn't work but it was a great call.

I loved the call even though it didn't work. That play is on film now and opponents will think about it next time we have a short yardage situation. That was one of those "splash" plays I said we needed in order to win. Shows guts to me. Great throw PN7. I wonder given the chance, out of ten times how many times 82 catches that ball?!?

[Lee Adams]

A championship-caliber MAC football team should be able to be competitive with, and sometimes beat, mid-level Big Ten teams.

Indiana is not a mid-level Big Ten team and Akron was barely competitive.

Akron is not a MAC championship-caliber team.

very true

[Dr Z]

Akron is not a MAC championship-caliber team.

....at this time of the year....

Football teams, get better throughout the season, get worse, or stay the same. We do have a chance to get better don't we?

[Captain Kangaroo]

Akron is not a MAC championship-caliber team.

....at this time of the year....

Football teams, get better throughout the season, get worse, or stay the same. We do have a chance to get better don't we?

I remember former ZN regular ZipDude had the tag line: "In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king."

The Zips only need one eye to win the MAC.

[johnnyzip84]

Went to Bloomington with my wife this weekend and figured my observations might fit best here.

1. Georgio Bowers is a FOOTBALL PLAYER. He is consistently near the ball on special teams and he’s a good tackler. He also displays a lot of emotion and carries it with him to the bench. We need more young guys like him.

2. The biggest improvement in PN7’s game I noticed was the use of his checkdowns. He didn’t miss too many opportunities (making something out of nothing) in that regard.

3. I LOVED the way the staff had PN7 come out and immediately work with quick, possession passes. He actually got into a rhythm this game, and I think that was a big factor.

4. I don’t think Mondo has been healthy all year long. I give the guy credit for sticking it out, but you can see every time he comes in or out of the game that his mobility is very limited. I recall him coming out very early in the ‘Cuse game seemingly in a lot of pain. Maybe that’s when it all started.

5. Jalil Carter WILL return a kickoff for a TD this year.

6. IU’s offense will score points in the Big 10. It would be near the top of the MAC, IMHO. The size they have at receiver made for a particularly difficult matchup for our secondary.

7. IU’s defense is not very good (poor tacklers). They’d be middle of the pack in the MAC. I think the Zips offense will likely face better defenses in the next two games.

8. IU fans are a nice bunch. One who had made the trip to Akron last year went out of his way to compliment our new stadium. Most were quite civil. Several I talked to after the game focused on the two dropped TD passes and agreed the game should have been closer. They LOVE Bill Mallory. Maybe that’s why they’ve taken a “wait and see” attitude with Lynch’s squads.

9. IU has this mini-gridiron in the open end of “The Quarry”, where kids pack the field and play ALL GAME LONG. I don’t think the Info is set up too well for a similar feature, but it proved a nice distraction between plays (like watching an ant farm).

10. One-time Zip LB recruit Chase Hoobler (Orrville) was the IU defensive scout team “player of the week”.

11. Zipswin! is my early nominee for Zip fan of the year (if not the decade).

[Captain Kangaroo]

11. Zipswin! is my early nominee for Zip fan of the year (if not the decade).

Wow... and the decade is not even 9 months old?!