skip-zip Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Miami post-game thoughts 5. I’m now getting VERY concerned about the need for a win (soon) to boost this year’s recruiting class. I really thought the Zips could take Miami, so this makes the BG game fairly high stakes from UA’s perspective. I think this is something that hasn't really been discussed. Forget about how many games this staff has to win this year to restore confidence among the regular fans. I'm with you in being even more concerned about how many wins it's going to take to make a good recruit feel as if Akron has changed enough to make Akron their top choice. If Miami seemed like a must-win to change the attitudes of some potential recruits, BG now looms even bigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 @skip-zip Is it a problem or a "step back"? I see it as a problem that will continue through the year. You are right about our problem to tackle and cover. The question is, why? The answer is simple...talent...and you sort of mention it in your post above. I've been saying it for months. Talent is still a huge problem with this team. I heard a former NFL player say again yesterday, "Coaches don't win games, players win games." An inability to tackle is one of the major ways a lack of talent reveals itself in a football team. It takes a lot more than just being close to a ball carrier to bring the guy down. The defender has to be fast enough to get his head in the proper position, get his arms around the ball carrier strongly enough to control the other person, use his hips to explode through the ball carrier and move his feet to drive the ball carrier back. It sounds like a lot and it is. In D-1A football, it isn't enough to get close and grab at the guy. They are grown men out there. I just don't buy into the notion the Zips took a "step back" on Saturday. 49 points against a fellow MAC team is a huge step forward. Being in a position to win against a MAC team with a pulse is a huge step forward. Coaches who are able to take a group of players who are lacking in talent compared to the other team and compete well is a huge step forward. The Zips have nothing to hang their heads about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Coach Bowden should be beating the bushes for some JC D-lineman as his #1 priority this off season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Coach Bowden should be beating the bushes for some JC D-lineman as his #1 priority this off season. I sort of agree and I sort of don't. The Zips only gave up roughly 75 yards rushing to the running backs on Saturday in a game that had 705 totals yards for Miami (11% of total). Miami's total rushing was 185, which is only 26% of the total. While 185 yards seems shocking at first blush, it is nothing in relation to the overall yards. I don't think we have a rushing defense problem so I don't know how much better we could do in that manner. QBs on good teams get rid of the ball so quickly these days it is hard to get a sack unless the coverage is outstanding. I guess if I had to decide on an either/or decision, I'd take good run stopping DLineman athletic enough to jump up and block passes, or at least congest the passing lanes some. These spread offenses are about rhythm as much as anything. Disrupt the rhythm...disrupt the offense and try to take advantage of mistakes. It appears to me all roads lead to improvements in the secondary as the #1 priority. In 2012, it seems as if you have to concede giving up a lot of yards will happen against good teams. The question then is ability of the guys in the secondary to limit damage after a reception by reducing the yards after catch. I'd like to see some solid tackling coverage guys myself. After rereading my post above, I would like to channel my inner Dave in Green here, so I'll say the following. Things never appear as they seem. Sometimes they are as bad as they seem. Sometimes they are not as bad as they seem. There are no right answers. There are no wrong answers. Sometimes puppies have accidents on the living room floor. Go Zips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 @skip-zip Is it a problem or a "step back"? I see it as a problem that will continue through the year. You are right about our problem to tackle and cover. The question is, why? The answer is simple...talent...and you sort of mention it in your post above. I've been saying it for months. Talent is still a huge problem with this team. I heard a former NFL player say again yesterday, "Coaches don't win games, players win games." An inability to tackle is one of the major ways a lack of talent reveals itself in a football team. It takes a lot more than just being close to a ball carrier to bring the guy down. The defender has to be fast enough to get his head in the proper position, get his arms around the ball carrier strongly enough to control the other person, use his hips to explode through the ball carrier and move his feet to drive the ball carrier back. It sounds like a lot and it is. In D-1A football, it isn't enough to get close and grab at the guy. They are grown men out there. I just don't buy into the notion the Zips took a "step back" on Saturday. 49 points against a fellow MAC team is a huge step forward. Being in a position to win against a MAC team with a pulse is a huge step forward. Coaches who are able to take a group of players who are lacking in talent compared to the other team and compete well is a huge step forward. The Zips have nothing to hang their heads about. Good post. I agree with you on most of this. I don't recall ever saying that we took a step backwards on Saturday. I was just pointing out that we have a big and consistent problem that's probably not going to get better anytime soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Dysert had all day to stand in the pocket and pick out a receiver. Our D-line did a good job on the running plays, but put almost zero pressure on the QB. Even a crappy QB can pick apart a defense if he has all day to make the throw. If you're going to play against the spread you have to put pressure on the QB. It's only 5 against 4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Dysert had all day to stand in the pocket and pick out a receiver. Our D-line did a good job on the running plays, but put almost zero pressure on the QB. Even a crappy QB can pick apart a defense if he has all day to make the throw. If you're going to play against the spread you have to put pressure on the QB. It's only 5 against 4. I guess the question then becomes, How? The spread presents a lot of 5 WR sets. Defenses now use a combination of two man zone and man-to-man to defend. A team could blitz, but a QB like Miami's would easily pick apart a blitz after seeing it once or twice. Zone blitz? Everyone does it now so QBs aren't shocked when they see it. It's hard to find DLinemen who are both good at run stopping and pass rushing. When one materializes, he is playing at the BCS level. The old saying has always been, "Stop a good pass rusher by running at him." Most college players are only really good at one thing (look at how many offensive linemen are almost completely unable to run block). The guys who get good at multiple skills play on Sundays. I really like the idea of having a good run stopping DLine (I posted when JD was coach about the future advantage of a 4-2-5 defense given the changes in football). It helps make the offense one dimensional. Once you get them to one dimensional, then you can maximize what remains. Would I like to have both? Of course, but I don't see how that works. The game has become about QBs, coaches and WRs. Teams can try to disrupt the QB, but the coaches will find a way to take advantage of the disruption. If teams take away the WRs, the way to counter that is running the ball. Have a good run stopping line to clean up after taking the WRs out of the game. Everything comes full circle. Force teams to pass too much. Take away the pass and big plays with a good secondary. Force them into something you do well. The Zips made Miami be a one dimensional team by holding their offense to 11% of their total being production from running backs and only 26% of their offense coming from running in general. Against most MAC teams, this will work. Against a team with an NFL prospect at QB, it doesn't. It sort of reminds me of the movie Moneyball. At one point, Brad Pitt makes some trades and says to the team something like, "You may not look like a winner right now, but you are." I think that's were the Zips are. The philosophy is there to win. I'm all in with this team right now. I believe the philosophy is there and that's where it starts. Now it is a matter of getting players who can execute on the philosophy. Without the players, the philosophy does't work. TB needs to get himself some players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Coach Bowden should be beating the bushes for some JC D-lineman as his #1 priority this off season.I think the concern this year is the depth. I thought our starting defense line played decent given the task (due to scheme and amount of snaps) they were given. Zac impressed me with his movement to avoid some pressure in the pocket. I think Miami did some good film study on our blitzing tendencies when we tried to help the d-line get pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB1719 Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 I sort of agree and I sort of don't. The Zips only gave up roughly 75 yards rushing to the running backs on Saturday in a game that had 705 totals yards for Miami (11% of total). Miami's total rushing was 185, which is only 26% of the total. While 185 yards seems shocking at first blush, it is nothing in relation to the overall yards. I don't think we have a rushing defense problem so I don't know how much better we could do in that manner. QBs on good teams get rid of the ball so quickly these days it is hard to get a sack unless the coverage is outstanding. I guess if I had to decide on an either/or decision, I'd take good run stopping DLineman athletic enough to jump up and block passes, or at least congest the passing lanes some. These spread offenses are about rhythm as much as anything. Disrupt the rhythm...disrupt the offense and try to take advantage of mistakes. It appears to me all roads lead to improvements in the secondary as the #1 priority. In 2012, it seems as if you have to concede giving up a lot of yards will happen against good teams. The question then is ability of the guys in the secondary to limit damage after a reception by reducing the yards after catch. I'd like to see some solid tackling coverage guys myself. After rereading my post above, I would like to channel my inner Dave in Green here, so I'll say the following. Things never appear as they seem. Sometimes they are as bad as they seem. Sometimes they are not as bad as they seem. There are no right answers. There are no wrong answers. Sometimes puppies have accidents on the living room floor. Go Zips! I for the most part agree with what you're saying. We stopped the running backs pretty well, and pass defense is our number one concern. However, when we had the receivers locked up downfield, a 30yd QB scramble instead a coverage sack is demoralizing. When we did spy, our LB 's got beat a few times I think because he was a little out of position, it wasn't by much. When Dysert cut through the gaping bole in the line, the LB should have been there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K92 Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Some of you are going to rip my ass for this, but... The offense needs to improve. The defense has given up countless yards and scores of 56, 41, 47 & 56. I love their enthusiasm, toughness and attitude, but depth and talent are problems that are not going away. I hope they continue to improve as a unit but the are not going to morph into the '85 Bears. The best thing that could happen to the defense is for the offense to get even better. Some of the stats that stick out to me from the game Saturday, were 4 punts, 69 offensive plays, 22:48 time of possession. Small improvements in these numbers is a great opportunity to help the defense out. I know it may seem silly to expect the best unit to do even more, but I think that is our best chance. This offense has the potential to score on every possession and some of the teams running this scheme come close to doing just that on a regular basis. There are times, in the game of football, where those who can, pick up their teammates and carry them. I think there is a chance the offense can do that. This is what I am hoping for. At any rate, I also believe the Zips would have won the game if the coaching staff had not squandered 2 time outs in the second half. This is the first time (and hopefully the last) I have been critical of the staff, but you just can't waste timeouts like that. There are far too precious. Go Zips! Beat Falcons! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mivid12 Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Some of you are going to rip my ass for this, but... The offense needs to improve. I'll pretend i didn't hear that.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZipsFan Posted October 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Obviously - they used the time outs because they felt they needed to. I'll take a time out when needed - over a defense not set or sure of what coverage they're supposed to be in - any day. I'm not going to criticize anything from Saturday - except possibly my own unrealistic expectations. We cannot forget where this same team has been over the past few years - -- then taking FIU to overtime, tied with Tennessee at the half - and actually having the possibility of winning the game into the 4th quarter -- these are monumental steps forward. I guarantee that no one has scrutinized every single play of Saturday's game more than our coaches. I cannot even begin to imagine how they felt yesterday watching the film. But I would also bet that they have put it behind them -- are getting the team refocused and ready for a win on Saturday against BG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyzip84 Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Obviously - they used the time outs because they felt they needed to. I'll take a time out when needed - over a defense not set or sure of what coverage they're supposed to be in - any day. I'm not going to criticize anything from Saturday - except possibly my own unrealistic expectations. We cannot forget where this same team has been over the past few years - -- then taking FIU to overtime, tied with Tennessee at the half - and actually having the possibility of winning the game into the 4th quarter -- these are monumental steps forward. I guarantee that no one has scrutinized every single play of Saturday's game more than our coaches. I cannot even begin to imagine how they felt yesterday watching the film. But I would also bet that they have put it behind them -- are getting the team refocused and ready for a win on Saturday against BG. I understand what you're saying and I remain as bullish on Bowden (I should think about getting the rights to that) as anyone, but if you can't suggest a few things that you may have done differently on a football message board, where can you? I don't see anyone (except akzipper) entering panic mode just yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDZip Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 I had a ball at the game on Saturday. The tailgating group is larger, the crowd was into it, there was hope and optimisim. Yes, the outcome was disappointing, but you have to believe the team is getting there. Our defense was even worse last year with effectively the same personnel (and we lost our leading tackler with a year of eligibility left. Man, I wish Brian Wagner was still here, not even so much to help shore up the defense - which I think he would have - but just to give the kid one solid year of fun playing - oh well, water under the bridge). The Zips will pull off at least a couple of conference wins this year. Altogether a fun Akron football experience and the only other time I can say that was the day the stadium opened in 2009. Funniest comment from the Miami board: "Charlie Coles is reading this score and is wondering how Miami could score so many points on the road at Akron. How did Dambrot let that happen?" And as an aside the soccer game was a great ending to the evening, I've never seen a game that one-sided. 4-0 and the Zips had 12 shots on goal and 12 corner kicks. The Bulls had none of each. At one point, after Scott Caldwell (I believe) dribbled through three Bulls, one poor Bulls player not involved in the play screamed at them "For God's sake, suck it up, there are three of you!" ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Coach Bowden on the MAC's monday morning coaches conference call. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZipsFan Posted October 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Coach Bowden on the MAC's monday morning coaches conference call. Can you summarize? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Can you summarize? I haven't listened to much of it. I can tell you that coach Bowden sounds really bummed out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K92 Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 I haven't listened to much of it. I can tell you that coach Bowden sounds really bummed out. Yeah. You could tell he was super bummed in the post-game interview too. One thing he said on Saturday was that when you take over a progrum that had fallen as low as ours you can expect to lose big, lose close, win close then win big. The Zips are losing close. We are already ahead of schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zips Win! Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Obviously - they used the time outs because they felt they needed to. I'll take a time out when needed - over a defense not set or sure of what coverage they're supposed to be in - any day. Maybe, but not on Saturday when defense didn't matter. Jump offsides and take a 5 yard penalty...Save the TO's baby.. Heck, NFL teams have a hard time saving TO's, so I won't complain too much, but would do everything I could to keep my second half TO's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hilltopper Posted October 1, 2012 Report Share Posted October 1, 2012 Yeah. You could tell he was super bummed in the post-game interview too. One thing he said on Saturday was that when you take over a progrum that had fallen as low as ours you can expect to lose big, lose close, win close then win big. The Zips are losing close. We are already ahead of schedule. I thought I heard him say it was a process! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB1719 Posted October 2, 2012 Report Share Posted October 2, 2012 Some of you are going to rip my ass for this, but... The offense needs to improve. Good point, we'll just have to score 10 points per possession Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted October 2, 2012 Report Share Posted October 2, 2012 I'm excited for akron football. Haven't said it in a while. Judging by the traffic here, I'm not the only one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K92 Posted October 2, 2012 Report Share Posted October 2, 2012 Good point, we'll just have to score 10 points per possession That would be a great response... if we scored on every possession. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 That would be a great response... if we scored on every possession. I mean..we basically do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spin Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 I'm excited for akron football. Haven't said it in a while. Judging by the traffic here, I'm not the only one. Agreed. I haven't been so emotionally charged for a sporting event since my son played football. That's been a couple of years ago. I felt like a sports fan again. Alive. A nice change from the quote "football" fed to us by UA and the Browns. All Cleveland sports, actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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