Akron at CMU

[johnnyzip84]

The Zips are 5.5 to 6 point dogs.

I actually expected it to be closer to 10. There are numerous injury updates that will play heavily into how I feel about our chances.

Go Zips!!!

[MDZip]

After looking at CMU, I don't like our chances here either. CMU's record is deceptive, they have played a very hard schedule this year. Their last six games have been Mich St, Iowa (which they won), Toledo (now #26 in the AP poll after beating Cincinnati), NIU (41st in the AP poll), Navy and Ball State (wins over Indiana and South Florida and are third in the West). The West seems way better than the East this year, which is why I am now much more worried about CMU.

Still think Can't and OU are a little bit of frauds (very weak schedules especially when you compare them to the West, I can't believe OU is showing up in the BCS standings), I still think there is a reasonable chance Bowling Green passes both. The MAC is very odd this year, with two pretty good teams (NIU and Toledo), four OK teams (OU, Can't, Ball State and Bowling Green) and everybody else is pretty bad. Unfortunately for the ZIps, we played most of those good teams and couldn't quite get over the hump with the few bad ones. Terry said one more than last year, right? We're running out of chances, if we can't take out CMU, please don't let UMass get their first one.

[Captain Kangaroo]

The MAC is very odd this year, with two pretty good teams (NIU and Toledo), four OK teams (OU, Can't, Ball State and Bowling Green) and everybody else is pretty bad.

I think the only truly "bad" teams in the MAC this season are Akron, UMass and EMU.

Buffalo and Miami are below average.

CMU is average.

The rest are having pretty awesome seasons.

Lee Owens used to go .500 or slightly below in the MAC because he had guaranteed wins vs Buffalo, K.e.n.t. and EMU (they always ended up on our schedule somehow). There really are no such guaranteed MAC wins this year. The top 7 teams are very strong by MAC standards, and despite that strength, the bottom-feeders are no longer getting waxed 65-0 by those top dogs.

[GP1]

It's funny how everything can come full circle. A few years ago, the Zips went to Raleigh and beat a BCS team in NC State. We had just come off the MAC Championship and the future looked bright. A week after NC State, they went to CMU and a Getsy pick-six right before half resulted in not only a loss, but signaled the beginning of the end for the Zips season that day and the beginning of the end for JD. At the time it just seemed like an unfortunate loss, but the program never recovered. In retrospect, it was a deep cut to the program....One we have yet to recover from.

Here we are a few years later. We get beat by a good team and are going to CMU. Could this be the week we pull one off in the place where it all started to go bad and it signals the beginning of the Zips turnaround? I'd like trips to CMU to be a memory of the beginning of something good instead the beginning of something bad.

[jupitertoo]

After looking at CMU, I don't like our chances here either. CMU's record is deceptive, they have played a very hard schedule this year. Their last six games have been Mich St, Iowa (which they won), Toledo (now #26 in the AP poll after beating Cincinnati), NIU (41st in the AP poll), Navy and Ball State (wins over Indiana and South Florida and are third in the West). The West seems way better than the East this year, which is why I am now much more worried about CMU.

Still think Can't and OU are a little bit of frauds (very weak schedules especially when you compare them to the West, I can't believe OU is showing up in the BCS standings), I still think there is a reasonable chance Bowling Green passes both. The MAC is very odd this year, with two pretty good teams (NIU and Toledo), four OK teams (OU, Can't, Ball State and Bowling Green) and everybody else is pretty bad. Unfortunately for the ZIps, we played most of those good teams and couldn't quite get over the hump with the few bad ones. Terry said one more than last year, right? We're running out of chances, if we can't take out CMU, please don't let UMass get their first one.

Weren't you the one who said Penn State would go winless in 2012? Then said one to two wins max? The OU win in Happy Valley is looking better every week. When the Bobcats get some defensive starters back in the next two weeks, they'll be a lot stronger.

[MDZip]

Weren't you the one who said Penn State would go winless in 2012? Then said one to two wins max? The OU win in Happy Valley is looking better every week. When the Bobcats get some defensive starters back in the next two weeks, they'll be a lot stronger.

I believe you're thinking of someone else. Never made any comments on Penn State's season this year. My only comments have been on OU's weak schedule so I am not convinced they are anywhere near an elite team. Beating weak MAC teams and no one of note out of conference other than Penn State (which I gave them some credit for but noted it was under obviously very unusual circumstances) I'm not buying in yet. Beat BGSU and either NIU/Toledo (whom they can't play until the MACC) and I'll give them their due. I know they can only "play who is on their schedule", but beating 3 of the 4 worst MAC teams (Buffalo, UMass and UA) by an average of about 5 points doesn't inspire a lot of awe. I believe BGSU is a better team and beats them in Athens. Take heart though, they should still beat Can't and Miami.

[johnnyzip84]

It's funny how everything can come full circle. A few years ago, the Zips went to Raleigh and beat a BCS team in NC State. We had just come off the MAC Championship and the future looked bright. A week after NC State, they went to CMU and a Getsy pick-six right before half resulted in not only a loss, but signaled the beginning of the end for the Zips season that day and the beginning of the end for JD. At the time it just seemed like an unfortunate loss, but the program never recovered. In retrospect, it was a deep cut to the program....One we have yet to recover from.

Here we are a few years later. We get beat by a good team and are going to CMU. Could this be the week we pull one off in the place where it all started to go bad and it signals the beginning of the Zips turnaround? I'd like trips to CMU to be a memory of the beginning of something good instead the beginning of something bad.

That definitely was a watershed moment back in 2006, and not just for the Zips but for Brian Kelly as well. If the Zips hold on to beat CMU, who knows if Kelly ever leaves Mt Pleasant?

[g-mann17]

I believe you're thinking of someone else. Never made any comments on Penn State's season this year. My only comments have been on OU's weak schedule so I am not convinced they are anywhere near an elite team. Beating weak MAC teams and no one of note out of conference other than Penn State (which I gave them some credit for but noted it was under obviously very unusual circumstances) I'm not buying in yet. Beat BGSU and either NIU/Toledo (whom they can't play until the MACC) and I'll give them their due. I know they can only "play who is on their schedule", but beating 3 of the 4 worst MAC teams (Buffalo, UMass and UA) by an average of about 5 points doesn't inspire a lot of awe. I believe BGSU is a better team and beats them in Athens. Take heart though, they should still beat Can't and Miami.

Officially I said the OU win over Penn State was meaningless and that Penn State wouldn't win but 1 or 2 games.

I was mistaken, the OU win was meaningless because the Big 10 ended up sucking worse than Penn State, which is astounding in it's own right.

[LZIp]

If TB can motivate this team, which may be really tough to do, I like our chances this week.

[UAZipster0305]

Officially I said the OU win over Penn State was meaningless and that Penn State wouldn't win but 1 or 2 games.

I was mistaken. The OU win was meaningless because the Big 10 ended up sucking worse than Penn State, which is astounding in its own right.

Classic!

[johnnyzip84]

GT article on Zips' continuing search for playmakers

Based on this story, the coach's show, and other sources the injury front for Saturday looks like this right now:

Bice in

Caponi probable

Presley?

Chisholm?

[OZoner]

I think Akron has a solid chance of winning this week. CMU has had tough opponents, but I don't think they're that good.

As far as the discussion of how the conference breaks down goes, all I'll say is this: As a whole, the MAC is as good as it's been since Game Day came to Bowling Green. It's the best non-AQ conference in the country. That's pretty cool.

[skip-zip]

It's funny how everything can come full circle. A few years ago, the Zips went to Raleigh and beat a BCS team in NC State. We had just come off the MAC Championship and the future looked bright. A week after NC State, they went to CMU and a Getsy pick-six right before half resulted in not only a loss, but signaled the beginning of the end for the Zips season that day and the beginning of the end for JD. At the time it just seemed like an unfortunate loss, but the program never recovered. In retrospect, it was a deep cut to the program....One we have yet to recover from.

Here we are a few years later. We get beat by a good team and are going to CMU. Could this be the week we pull one off in the place where it all started to go bad and it signals the beginning of the Zips turnaround? I'd like trips to CMU to be a memory of the beginning of something good instead the beginning of something bad.

Excellent post. THat CMU loss in 2006 clearly changed the team, after they probably felt on top of the world after a MAC title and upset win over NC State. And the sizable loss at Ken+ a couple of weeks later took whatever steam was left out of that team.

We seemed so close to moving up in the college football world, and it all came crashing down. You're right. We've been looking for something to turn us back in the other direction ever since.

[Captain Kangaroo]

A week after NC State, they went to CMU and a Getsy pick-six right before half resulted in not only a loss, but signaled the beginning of the end for the Zips season that day and the beginning of the end for JD.

If JD wins that game he's the hot name for the Cincinnati job, and not Kelly.

[MDZip]

As far as the discussion of how the conference breaks down goes, all I'll say is this: As a whole, the MAC is as good as it's been since Game Day came to Bowling Green. It's the best non-AQ conference in the country. That's pretty cool.

Stewart Mandel apparently agrees with you, but Jeff Sagarin still has it ranked last of all FBS conferences. There has been definite improvement though. The same could be applied to the Zips, they have definitely improved but the results aren't showing up statistically in wins.

[Lee Adams]

That definitely was a watershed moment back in 2006, and not just for the Zips but for Brian Kelly as well. If the Zips hold on to beat CMU, who knows if Kelly ever leaves Mt Pleasant?

Don't know if I agree with that. No question '06 was disappointing. But, the Can't game that year was one that was the killer for that season. After the CMU loss they came back and beat North Texas. I went to the Can't game and figured they would win. They should have. They got blown out. While they lost to Cincy the next week,they came back and beat BGSU and Buffalo. They were still in it. The real killer was OU on a Thusday night in Athens. I went to that game. I watched David Harvey decide not to show up. I watched him quit on a ball Getsy threw to him that would have turned the game around.(Final was 17-7 OU). The CMU wasn't the defining game that year. Shoot,the 35-32 loss to CMU in '07 was possibly more critical. I liked JD. But he 'lost' the program. It was time for him to go.

It was a whole bunch of games. Hell,if they had beaten Buffalo in the last game at the Bowl in'08 they would have had a shot that year. They beat Syracuse. They were in a position to win the MAC East in'08. It was a progression of bad decisions that brought us to where we are today.

[GP1]

Don't know if I agree with that. No question '06 was disappointing. But, the Can't game that year was one that was the killer for that season. After the CMU loss they came back and beat North Texas.

The difference in going 5-7 or 6-6 and a bowl game that year was the pick six at CMU. The Zips lost by less than a TD that day. If they go to a bowl two years in a row, the state of the program in terms of recruiting and momentum would have been much greater. It all started at CMU. Can't, etc. just followed what was a terrible outcome for the Zips that afternoon. The loss at CMU didn't seem like much at the time, but it was the vibration that started the avalanche that concluded the JD years.

[johnnyzip84]

Don't know if I agree with that. No question '06 was disappointing. But, the Can't game that year was one that was the killer for that season. After the CMU loss they came back and beat North Texas. I went to the Can't game and figured they would win. They should have. They got blown out. While they lost to Cincy the next week,they came back and beat BGSU and Buffalo. They were still in it. The real killer was OU on a Thusday night in Athens. I went to that game. I watched David Harvey decide not to show up. I watched him quit on a ball Getsy threw to him that would have turned the game around.(Final was 17-7 OU). The CMU wasn't the defining game that year. Shoot,the 35-32 loss to CMU in '07 was possibly more critical. I liked JD. But he 'lost' the program. It was time for him to go.

It was a whole bunch of games. Hell,if they had beaten Buffalo in the last game at the Bowl in'08 they would have had a shot that year. They beat Syracuse. They were in a position to win the MAC East in'08. It was a progression of bad decisions that brought us to where we are today.

Perhaps I place a little more importance on early season momentum than you do? I believe this is especially important for programs that are not familar with sustained success. We'll never know of course, but I believe if the Zips had defeated CMU that day the momentum of a three game winning streak (North Texas was horrendous that year) could very well have lead to more victories (despite Harvey, who hurt that team far more than he helped it) down the road.

Now onto this week's CMU game:

[Lee Adams]

The difference in going 5-7 or 6-6 and a bowl game that year was the pick six at CMU. The Zips lost by less than a TD that day. If they go to a bowl two years in a row, the state of the program in terms of recruiting and momentum would have been much greater. It all started at CMU. Can't, etc. just followed what was a terrible outcome for the Zips that afternoon. The loss at CMU didn't seem like much at the time, but it was the vibration that started the avalanche that concluded the JD years.

Again,really don't see that.But, like a lot of things we all have opinions. Too many other chances both wins and losses that year and in the next couple of years to say one play or even one game got anybody fired...or not. They lost Biggs and Hixon among others after '05. Shoot,the Jacquemain thing was going on during those years also. There was too much off the field stuff that affected on the field stuff in '06,'07 and '08. But,what is happening now isn't really a function of what happened in '06 anyway. Next year has to be better.

By the way,I think I saw one of the Bowdens at the Natatorium in Cuy. Falls today. Is that possible?

[GP1]

Too many other chances both wins and losses that year and in the next couple of years to say one play or even one game got anybody fired...or not.

I agree, there were plenty of points where things could have been turned around. My point is there was sort of a staring point to the down slide and the pick six was that point. It resulted in a loss that kept the Zips out of a bowl game that season. My main point is it didn't seem like much then, but looking back, it was the beginning of something we still haven't recovered from. More than anything, it took all momentum away from the win the week before.

If the Zips win that day and go to a bowl, does Harvey become a malcontent and leave the team? I don't know, but a lot changed that day...none for the better.

[Spin]

Stewart Mandel apparently agrees with you, but Jeff Sagarin still has it ranked last of all FBS conferences. There has been definite improvement though. The same could be applied to the Zips, they have definitely improved but the results aren't showing up statistically in wins.

The bottom half of the conference is ranked 139th and worse. NIU and Toledo (and Ohio I guess) are having great seasons, but not enough to prop up the bottom feeders...

[johnnyzip84]

USA Today injury update

Akron Zips

Player Injury Status/Updated Notes

Adam Bice OL Ankle Ques Sat - 10/22/12 Bice suffered an ankle injury against Northern Illinois on October 20 and is considered questionable for Saturday's game against Central Michigan.

Jawon Chisholm RB Shoulder Ques Sat - 10/22/12 Chisholm injured his shoulder against Northern Illinois on October 20 and is considered questionable against Central Michigan on Saturday.

Quentin Hines RB Undisclosed Ques Sat - 10/22/12 Hines sustained an undisclosed injury against Northern Illinois on October 20 and is considered questionable for Saturday's game against Central Michigan.

Nico Caponi DL Ankle Ques Sat - 10/22/12 Caponi missed the last two games due to an injured ankle and remains questionable to play Saturday against Central Michigan.

Albert Presley DE Calf Out indefinitely - 10/17/12 Presley is recovering from a stress fracture of his fibula and will miss an indefinite amount of time.

Zach D'Orazio WR Leg out for season - 9/29/12 D'Orazio suffered a broken left fibula last game against Tennessee. He will miss the rest of the season.

Coach Bowden mentioned in his press conference that Broderick Alexander had season ending surgery a little while back. I must have missed this particular injury. We'll miss his blocking. He also said that Chisholm, Caponi and Presley are "day to day" and Bice is pretty much a "go", deviating somewhat from the USA Today report.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Chisholm, Hines and Alexander out? Yeowch....good luck Conner.

[OZoner]

Stewart Mandel apparently agrees with you, but Jeff Sagarin still has it ranked last of all FBS conferences. There has been definite improvement though. The same could be applied to the Zips, they have definitely improved but the results aren't showing up statistically in wins.

I have a lot of respect for Sagarin, but I have to disagree strongly with his ratings. Who thinks Conference USA is better than anyone?

[Dave in Green]

Lack of depth is the thing I feared most going into this season. The Zips have failed to get the extraordinary good fortune they needed to avoid the kind of injuries that would deplete the team and make them less and less competitive against deeper teams as the season went on. At the beginning of the season we had a glimpse of what Coach Bowden could accomplish. But it will take more than a year or two to restock the roster to the point of being competitive throughout the season. It's hard for Zips fans to be patient. But that's really the only option.