Game #2- James Madison Dukes @ Akron Zips

[Spin]

JUst got back from the game. OMG we came out flat, giving up an easy TD, puking the kickoff, and then giving up another easy TD. Then the offense finally made it to the foeld and went three and out. No intensity, they finally lit a fire after being down 13. We had two penalties for illegal substitution that kept JM drives alive. And then we wasted a TO on a $%#@&%$ extra point. JM was down 2, and the Akron coaches looked surprised they were going for two!!! They seemed slow to react when JM ran it up the middle over and over and over again. They still kept the safeties standing in front of the JAR. I'm still not excited about this coaching staff yet.

The offense got it together, somewhat. But the D couldn't stop anybody in the 1st and 3rd quarters. If they play like that against Michigan and Louisiana, it's going to be UGLY.

The D came up big when it needed it most. The Dukes may have had a first down at the end, when the Zips didn't let the runner hit the ground. But from where I was sitting, they got a gimme a couple plays before when the receiver caught the ball out of bounds and they still got the first down.So either way, the game ended fair. They also had a bad habit of wasting time outs, and it bit them in the ass.

Great win tonight at home, against a very good team. A good way to turn on a very nice crowd.

I'm still going with 3 wins.

[Dave in Green]

I loved the view of the field from my new club seat. But I didn't like what I was seeing on the field. I loved that the Zips won. But I didn't like seeing the stats when I got home because they confirmed what I saw on the field -- that this was one of the ugliest wins I've ever witnessed. A win is a win. But this Zips team has an awful lot of work ahead of it in order to produce a solid win that will make Zips fans believe that the team is a winner.

[skip-zip]

The D came up big when it needed it most.

I'm just having so much trouble seeing anything positive when we just surrendered 500 yards of offense to a I-AA team. Ok, so they are a "good" I-AA team. But, can you imagine what we are in store for in terms of points and yards surrendered to some teams over the next 10 games if something doesn't change dramatically, very soon? For God's sake, we have a former big-time D-Coordinator and D-1A head coach running this defense. Could we really be suffering this badly with lack of talent on that side of the ball? Those guys tore us apart, in every way, shape, and form, for nearly the entire 4 quarters.

[akronzips71]

Look at the bright side. We have a win with 10 games to go. A legit chance to double our record of the last three years.

[a-zip]

We came back, we won against a good team........I don't give a shit about what division they are in. We WON......BE HAPPY,

[Spin]

I should add, we need MORE early season night games.

There's nothing like a football game under the lights. Until we start hearing "wind chill factor", that is.

[g-mann17]

I should add, we need MORE early season night games.

There's nothing like a football game under the lights. Until we start hearing "wind chill factor", that is.

Well you get one more, hopefully as exciting and fruitful as this one.

[ZachTheZip]

Last year, we lose this game. Badly. The players would have given up immediately after that turnover on the kickoff in the first quarter. "Here we go again".

Bad teams let mistakes spiral out of control. While nobody out there can say that we're a "good" team, we've taken an important step by winning a close game. We lost all our close games last season, and it was devastating because we were so close to taking that next step four or maybe even five times.

Winning ugly is still winning, and I don't care who it comes against. Now the team knows that they can fight back when things look bad. Look at the Wagon Wheel game last season. They were up 10 at halftime, and then one mistake happened, and the players began to doubt, and then more mistakes happened, and they blew the lead and the game.

[Blue & Gold]

I should add, we need MORE early season night games.

There's nothing like a football game under the lights. Until we start hearing "wind chill factor", that is.

Agreed. Pushing the game back to 6:00 makes for a perfect all-day-event. I met friends in the afternoon, ate at a downtown establishment, got to the stadium for the game. Great evening.

[Balsy]

Alright, sitting in the stands by the band for the first time in my college career and I loved it, also purchased my first Beer of Infocision stadium...and we started coming back after that...so clearly alcohol consumption = Zips success

Any who, I was VERY disappointed in this game, though I'm happy to have the W. KP16 looked terrible in my opinion, missing open receivers, over shooting them...undershooting them...Pohl looked confused half the time, while Hirschman looked poised in the pocket. The last thing I wanted was a QB controversy...but perhaps we can run QB by committee instead of leaving in all in Pohl's hands? Because I don't trust him at this point.

On top of that, I really feel like the coaching staff made some bone headed decisions. CJ Mizell seems to be one of the best LB on the team, and we didn't start using him until about half way through the game...even on situational pass rushes...when he is clearly one of the best pass rushers. I know he didn't show up to practice until later, but he looks better than half the LB's out there.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I still felt like we were running a vanilla offense. We did have a few more shots than normal, but I felt like Milwee and Bowden were still holding back. Perhaps I'm delusional, but I certainly felt that way...

[akzipper]

I definitely feel like the offense could be more aggressive and Hirschman should be starting. On the defensive side we really need to step it up. A FCS team should not be able to run for 5+ yards on every carry.

At the end of the day we're at .500 for the first, and probably last time this season.

[GP1]

Winning = Good

Losing = Bad

Yesterday was a good day.

A team that wins 0-3 games is horrible regardless if they go from winning 1 to 3. A team that wins 4 games breaks out of that horrible category. The win yesterday might be the difference between 3 and 4 wins this year. It was a badly, badly, badly needed win for the program.

[Big Zip]

It was an exciting game. More exciting than I would have liked to see but I'll take the wins.

A few things I think...

Hirschman seems to be more decisive and quick with his decisions than Pohl. Pohl seems a little lost out there and I'm not sure why.

The offense looks different under Milwee than it did under Bowden last year. I wish I knew if this was because Dalton isn't the QB or the O-Coordinator change. I'm leaning toward Dalton being the difference as the offense looks better when captained by Hirschman.

I too don't understand why Mizell starts the game on the sidelines. Mizell does look out of shape (for a linebacker not a 40-something guy in the stands) but when we he is on the field he shows he can play.

Justin March is a beast on defense and I don't even want to know how many yards JMU would have without him.

The defense is terrible. The scheme seems pretty vanilla. We seem like we are just trying to overpower the offensive line and it isn't working. I worry that defense has passed Amato by and the team is not this devoid of talent. Akron ushered Amato out the door at NC State and I am starting to think we may need to usher him out the door to retirement now. His schemes are not coming close to slowing down these teams.

Building on the above point...there are times when the defense looks like they have a lot of talent and then the next play they give up a 50 yard play. I think there is talent on the defensive side of the ball.

Chisholm looked more decisive last night when there were holes to run through. Unfortunately there weren't a lot of holes.

Offense needs to start Dillard, D'Orazio, Pratt and MTB. Dump the TE and find more room for Bickley...man that kid is fun to watch.

I'll be interested to see how we play against another MAC school to get a better feel for where this team is but right now I'm not sure I see a lot of winning on the schedule. The funny thing is I'm still sold on Bowden and think the problem stems from the out years of Brookhart dovetailing into the miserable two years with Ianello.

[johnnyzip84]

JMU is a lot better than some people gave them credit for. The top of FCS and bottom of FBS aren't that far apart. Yeah a little luck but the offense played pretty well and a win is a win and those have been damn hard to come by. JMU is no slouch but it does make me happy to shut up all their fans that claimed they should win "easily" (and that we didn't pay them $300K to come and beat us at our house). JZ84, close prediction.

If you pick enough games, you eventually get close on 1 or 2

Here are some additional thoughts:

1) I sure wish the Zips could have stopped a few 3rd/4th and longs and maybe the end wouldn't have been so nerve wracking.

2) Mizell needs to play, period.

3) GP1 started a separate thread about it, but I'd institute a "no chest/ass bump celebration" policy immediately.

4) While I was certainly hoping for a more convincing victory, I will absolutely take the W at this point. I think it's quite possible that JMU is the best team the Zips have defeated since 2008. That's not saying a whole lot, but you have to walk before you can run.

5) I think it's time to start working in Osborne or another youngster at right tackle.

6) Could the refs have blown the whistle on the last play once forward progress was stopped? Perhaps. But, that's the chance you take throwing over the middle in that situation. Plus, the JMU FG team did not look to be prepared to rush onto the field. Whose fault is that?

7) I like having 2 QBs that can play. But I think KP16, once healthy, still provides the better option. I just hope we can keep one or both available for UL-Lafayette.

8) Zach Paul continues to play well.

9) Teams are beginning to take advantage of the aggressive over-pursuit of Capi and James. Capi, especially, needs to stay at home at times.

10) The JC7 catch over the middle was huge. I expect to see that play a few more times this year.

11) Are we officially scrapping the up-tempo offense?

12) It was great to be back at Lot 9 and spend a great day with some of the most die-hard fans I know.

Edit: almost forgot to mention.....did K92 have anything to do with the new "steamboat whistle" after each Zip score??

[Ham]

I expected that we would control the trenches. What happened there? Next week will be hopeless. Mich will name the score unless both sides of the ball step it up. The bright spot is fighting back from adversity, and finally have the final bounce go our way!

[Zipgrad01]

Most of the defensive struggles were with Rizzo in at LB. He was exploited time and time again. Mizzell needs to be in the game instead of him immediately.

[LZIp]

Most of the defensive struggles were with Rizzo in at LB. He was exploited time and time again. Mizzell needs to be in the game instead of him immediately.

Couldnt agree more. This was even apparent last week. Maybe the coaches just wanted to try him out one more time.

[Lee Adams]

I'm just having so much trouble seeing anything positive when we just surrendered 500 yards of offense to a I-AA team. Ok, so they are a "good" I-AA team. But, can you imagine what we are in store for in terms of points and yards surrendered to some teams over the next 10 games if something doesn't change dramatically, very soon? For God's sake, we have a former big-time D-Coordinator and D-1A head coach running this defense. Could we really be suffering this badly with lack of talent on that side of the ball? Those guys tore us apart, in every way, shape, and form, for nearly the entire 4 quarters.

[K92]

Edit: almost forgot to mention.....did K92 have anything to do with the new "steamboat whistle" after each Zip score??

No, but I like it.

[zipproud]

Definitely need to tighten up the secondary, but it is a win and our record can't be worse than last year so we have something to build off of.

Go Zips!!

[K92]

[Blue & Gold]

With that talent on our Defensive front 7, I'm shocked that I am worried about them. But I am worried about them. How could a 1-AA control the LOS? We didn't have many TFL all game. I can't imagine what Michigan is going to do to us next week.

However, our team has come a looooong way up from the 7th ring of hell to which Ianello plunged the program.

JMU is a good team. JMU would have destroyed Gardner Webb &/or either of Ianello's Zips teams.

So, even though it wasn't pretty, I'll count beating one of the top D1-AA schools in the country as a good win for the current state of our program. Coach Bowden has us on the right track.

I just wish our schedule wasn't so tough this year. Giving us the top 3 teams in the MAC West was putting us behind the 8Ball before the season even started. No EMU or CMU. Come on, MAC.

I see 3 wins, with none coming over the next 5 weeks. I hope Bowden can keep the guys heads up.

UCF - L

JMU - W

UM - L

UL - L

BG - L

OU - L

NI - L

Mia - W

BSU - L

Can't State - L

UMass - W

UT - L

Crossing my fingers for an upset of OU and/or Can't.

[MDZip]

With that talent on our Defensive front 7, I'm shocked that I am worried about them. But I am worried about them. How could a 1-AA control the LOS? We didn't have many TFL all game. I can't imagine what Michigan is going to do to us next week.

Actually, according to the GoZips game statistics, the Zips had nine tackles for losses totaling 42 yards (including 3 sacks) so I'd call that a pretty good performance but it certainly did appear that JMU controlled the LOS. It was giving up all the big plays that really hurt (of course JMU could probably say the same thing).

And a little shout out to Jawon Chisholm for passing the 2,000 yard career rushing mark in the game. If he continues to run north and south he has a shot at a 4,000 yard career (with the added bonus of some nice receiving yards - that's one reason I think he stays in games too, he is a good receiver - huge catch in the JMU game).

[GP1]

I see 3 wins, with none coming over the next 5 weeks. I hope Bowden can keep the guys heads up.

UCF - L

JMU - W

UM - L

UL - L

BG - L

OU - L

NI - L

Mia - W

BSU - L

Can't State - L

UMass - W

UT - L

Crossing my fingers for an upset of OU and/or Can't.

Akron should be a four win team. Lafayette is now 0-2 with blowout loses against a couple of average to below average BCS schools in Arkansas and Kansas State. We are bad, but we aren't that bad and we should beat them at home. No excuses to lose this one.

[mes102]

James Madison would of defeated Liberty by at least 20, who only loss to K.e.n.t. by 7. We will beat K.e.n.t. this year. I don't understand why everyone on here still thinks we're going to lose to them this season. We should of defeated them last year.