Game #3 Marshall Thundering Herd

[ohiofan1954]

It isn't just Marshall receivers Ohio can't cover. Bass was beaten at least 3 times deep last night by Idaho He was beaten a couple other times the pass was either overthrown or dropped. Trust me you start 21 points up on Ohio. Oh Ohio lost their starting qb last night also. It will be a easy win for you.

[GP1]

It isn't just Marshall receivers Ohio can't cover. Bass was beaten at least 3 times deep last night by Idaho He was beaten a couple other times the pass was either overthrown or dropped. Trust me you start 21 points up on Ohio. Oh Ohio lost their starting qb last night also. It will be a easy win for you.

Thanks for stopping by, but if it's all the same to you we won't count our chickens before they hatch. The Zips have never had much luck at OU regardless of the team you guys field. It will be a tough game to win for the Zips.

EDIT: If you really want to guarantee a win, you will give an all expense paid trip to Athens for ZipsWin! for the weekend.

[Buckzip]

Any word on how serious these injuries are?

Are these day to day or are guys out for a while?

[zipsoutsider]

Here are some random thoughts after giving myself the "sleep on it before posting" rule:

1. The analogy to last year's OU game seems accurate to me. Let's just hope this is the bottom for 2014.
2. That's the last time I put any credence into these NCAA football injury report web sites. Not only were Chisholm, Brumbaugh, Hundley, and March out, but so were Goodman (out since Howard) and Bullard (and perhaps 1 or 2 more).
3. The most disheartening part of the game for me was the complete inability to stop the run. The Herd had 284 yards rushing on 38 attempts for a 7.5 YPC average AFTER your DC says his focus will be to stop the run. I was worried about being able to stop Pitt's power running game, based on the Zips smaller DL, but I did not expect this against MU. I think part of it, per my eyes, is the Herd is a much better ALL-AROUND football team than I thought going into yesterday. MU > PSU if you ask me. Cato is pretty good, but I think the rest of the team is as well. I don't think they'll be much worse next year (post-Cato), unless Doc Holliday takes his practice to Morgantown,
4. Zip WRs had a tough time getting much separation against PSU - many catches were the result of a ball thrown into a tight space. Zip WRs had an even MORE difficult time getting separation against MU. Pitt and most of the MAC do not appear to have strong secondaries at this point. Hopefully that will make all the difference - otherwise every game could be a struggle.
5. We still seem to be a little conservative in game planning, particularly against a "solid favorite". I'd like to see a few more blitzes early in the game, because we have had success hurrying poor throws in the 2nd half of the last two games.
6. I was glad to see Woodson get some time, because we've been in situations in year's past where we didn't have an adequately experienced backup QB. I thought he looked decent against the MU 2nd team.
7. My understanding is a couple of the injured, March being one of them, might have been able to play if the game had been critical (say, for MAC East crown).
8. EMU still looks like a win to me, but all other games are in play from my perspective after the 1st three games.

I 100% agree. Great summary.

RE: Lawrence - I hope we do see more of him, but not because Chisolm is out. Chisolm has huge arms and able to hold on to the ball against strong defenses. It appeared to me that the boys from Marshall were a lot stronger, physically than PSU. Lawrence will be OK in MAC and probably even against Pitt. Lawrence is the second fastest guy on the team, will keep getting stronger, and will play better.

I don't think the Zips played horribly (except dropped catches) as much as it was Marshall is the real deal and a much better team. The loss at Ohio last year was the Zips self-destructing.

It did appear to me though, that the boys looked like they didn't believe they could compete when the score went to 17-0.

[K92]

All of a sudden everyone is back to reality after just a week ago bitching about coverage in local newspapers butchering the guys who write but aren't given the ability to cover Akron like they are OSU. Now you all understand why they don't get the coverage but a week ago you didn't. Anyone see the PD this week? Guess what kind of coverage we got after this stinker? John Carroll above the fold in Sports with a OSU article on the side. Winning is how you get coverage not the other way around....oh yeah and no where in that plan did it say year 3 get your head kicked in by a decent team. My glasses aren't as rosé colored as everyone else's after yesterday.

Big Zip, my rose colored glasses have been thrown in the trash. What everyone saw in the spring game and in preseason practice was no mirage. The offense has some huge problems. I don't pretend to know the answers but there need to he some big changes. How have we gone from a year one prolific passing attack with a run game that needed to take the next step to a year three sputtering passing game with a non-existent running threat?

It is clear to see why Chisholm keeps his starting job. He is the best option. There is not one back on the roster that appears to be able to give him any competition whatsoever. Hundley is a nice back to have, but is is not a feature back. He is a change-up guy, a guy who can come in and get tough yards and make the tackler pay. He gets you the tough short yardage.

Looking ahead, what are the prospects for the run game next year? We have got a terrible unproductive mess with NOBODY in the pipeline to replace your senior running back. How confident are you that there will be a newcomer ready to fill that spot?

As far as the newspaper coverage you are absolutely correct. Winning is what is most important. That's why our scheduling needs to change. We need to have non-conference foes that we can beat. Winning is most important. The ATM games are fools gold. If these games are the only way we can fund the program, we need to stop playing football. Winning is most important. Marshall has a great shot to go undefeated this year. Because they play no one. Their soft schedule won't put a damper on their fan base's enjoyment. Theg are going to have a helluva time beating their chest about this perfect season. They will get lots of press from their smalltime rag of a newspaper. They will be having this thing called fun. We got a few hundred thousand bucks to be miserable fans of a 1-3 team looking at the schedule to find the MAC teams that are bad enough for us to beat. I'm tired of it. Winning is most important.

If you want the ultimate example of how winning is most important you only need to look to Columbus. Ohio State has enjoyed a fantastic record over the past 2 coaching staffs. Of course they have played nobody and padded their record playing 8 home games against the MAC, 1-AA's & an awful Big 10. The weak schedule hasn't diminished their fan base 1 iota. No, they are more popular than ever. That's because winning is most important. People love a winner. People can even delude themselves that the team they root for is a lot better than it really is if they win all the time. That 66-0 smashing of Can't was a soothing balm for the case of the chapped ass.

I am a little pissed off today.

Today not tomorrow.

[K92]

[K92]

Hell, if you want proof of how winning is most important look no further than Akron. We were feeling pretty damn good about beating the worst Miami team in their school's history, beating a terrible UMass team by a whisker, disposing of a moribund Can't squad and surviving against an unmotivated Toledo. Truth?

Rant over.

Go Zips! Prove my negative ass wrong!

[Zip_ME87]

Now I don't feel so bad. I'm worried about these guys getting better, if this is how bad we play. But without Chisholm or Hundley, we become MORE one-dimensional than we were before.

March is the General of our defense. I don't think if we have all of these guys the result would change, however I do believe it would not be as much of a beat down as it was.

Don't dillude yourself too much. Even with Chisholm and Hundley the running game vs 1-AA Howard wasn't very good. I'm in agreement with Keener'92's rant. I'm tired of excuses and looking at gimmicks and whatever else to draw attendance. Schedule games that we can win and start winning. People love a winner. If we can't do that, then we should give up football.

[Buckzip]

I agree with most of your second rant. The thing you are missing though is that 2 years ago we would have lost all 3 of those games you mentioned.

IMHO, that is progress, not enough and certainly not fast enough, but it is progress. I look for next year to be more of a breakout year for Akron. Yea, I know, wait til next year.

My biggest concern is that Bowden isn't recruiting at the level I thought he would. He is a known commodity and has the family name. With the facilities we have, Bowden should have Akron in the top 2-3 MAC classes every year.

[Zip_ME87]

A little off topic, but am I the only one who was a little uncomfortable with UA playing that video that includes "We are Akron" "We are Akron" ... at a game versus Marshall. I can't imagine losing an enitre football team in a tragedy like they went through in the early 1970's. I personally don't like using the "We are..." as I think it should be utilized only by those who have suffered a real tragedy. When Virginia Tech used it after the shootings on their campus, it gave me the immediate understanding that they were saying they would perservere the same way Marshall did. It was a rallying cry to bring everyone together in the face of tragedy. Call me too sentimental, but it just gave me an uneasy feeling to play that in front of fans from a school that has faced such a tragedy.

I did like that UA invited Jack Lengyel, who was a UA graduate, and the coach that brought Marshall Football back from that tragedy to do the coin toss. What a good linkage to share between our schools even if we dislike them on the football field.

[K92]

I am with you. I didn't really think about the Marshall viewpoint until you just now brought it up, but I did not like it when I first saw it at the Howard game because it is so unoriginal. Good point, ME87.

[Hilltopper]

Hell, if you want proof of how winning is most important look no further than Akron. We were feeling pretty damn good about beating the worst Miami team in their school's history, beating a terrible UMass team by a whisker, disposing of a moribund Can't squad and surviving against an unmotivated Toledo. Truth?

Rant over.

Go Zips! Prove my negative ass wrong!

Big Zip, my rose colored glasses have been thrown in the trash. What everyone saw in the sping game and in preseason practice was no mirage. The offense has some huge problems. I don't pretend to know the answers but there needs to he some big changes. How have we gone from a year one prolific passing attack with a run game that needed to take the next step to a year three sputtering passing game with a non-existent running threat?

It is clear to see why Chisholm keeps his starting job. He is the best option. There is not one back on the roster that appears to be able to give him any competition whatsoever. Hundley is a nice back to have, but is is not a feature back. He is a change-up guy, a guy who can come in and get tough yards and make the tackler pay. He gets you the tough short yardage.

Looking ahead, what are the prospects for the run game next year? We have got a terrible unproductive mess with NOBODY in the pipeline to replace your senior running back. How confident are you that there will be a newcomer ready to fill that spot?

As far as the newspaper coverage you are absolutely correct. Winning is what is most important. That's why our scheduling needs to change. We need to have non-conference foes that we can beat. Winning is most important. The ATM games are fools gold. If these games are the only way we can fund the program, we need to stop playing football. Winning is most important. Marshall has a great shot to go undefeated this year. Because they play no one. Their soft schedule won't put a damper on their fan base's enjoyment. Theg are going to have a helluva time beating their chest about this perfect season. They will get lots of press from their smalltime rag of a newspaper. They will be having this thing called fun. We got a few hundred thousand bucks to be miserable fans of a 1-3 team looking at the schedule to find the MAC teams that are bad enough for us to beat. I'm tired of it. Winning is most important.

If you want the ultimate example of how winning is most important you only need to look to Columbus. Ohio State has enjoyed a fantastic record over the past 2 coaching staffs. Of course they have played nobody and padded their record playing 8 home games against the MAC, 1-AA's & an awful Big 10. The weak schedule hasn't diminished their fan base 1 iota. No, they are more popular than ever. That's because winning is most important. People love a winner. People can even delude themselves that the team they root for is a lot better than it really is if they win all the time. That 66-0 smashing of Can't was a soothing balm for the case of the chapped ass.

I am a little pissed off today.

Today not tomorrow.

People on this board bitch about this strategy when the basketball program does the exact thing you just described. I personally agree with it. I am a realist. Akron is never going to win a national championship in either sport. I would prefer that we schedule teams we have a chance to beat. It's more fun to win no matter who the opponent. Just MHO YMMV.

[skip-zip]

I have news for both of you. Beating teams of little or no significance will not increase our fan base.

[K92]

I have news for both of you. Beating teams of little or no significance will not increase our fan base.

I have news for you. Beating teams of little or no significance does more for your fan base than losing.

[johnnyzip84]

Although I know there are plenty of significant games left in 2014 with the Zips getting numerous chances to get back on a roll in MAC play, #27 Donnell Alexander, the transfer from CSU, will certainly have a shot at starting RB in 2015. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. 7-5 is still within reach. Go Zips!

[ZippyRulz]

Some PD coverage & photos

http://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/index.ssf/2014/09/akron_zips_find_more_issues_th.html#incart_related_stories

[Dr Z]

Some PD coverage & photos

Nice photos, I'll have some to share soon...I'm waiting for the sting to go away before viewing.

[Captain Kangaroo]

The brutal truth

Marshall scored five touchdowns on the ground, and all came on runs covering 11 yards or more with a whopping 284 rushing yards including having two players (Devon Johnson and Remi Watson) each over 100 yards rushing on the day. Indeed, Akron's defense gave up 15 plays in the game covering 10 or more yards including 10 in the first quarter alone, and 526 yards of offense for the game.

That's an ass-whuppin'.

[Big Zip]

With Wisconsin being so close to Chicago it seems they took offense to N. Illinois ad and laid claim to at least Northern Illinois' team being Wisconsin.

The Akron loss to Marshall was no surprise. People wonder why nobody comes to the games. Read that line again. Nobody even gave Akron a chance to beat Marshall. If you had no affiliation with the school why would you waste a perfectly good Saturday to watch a team that nobody expects to win. Don't give me the college football slant either. As far as the average fan is concerned the only difference between us and YSU is they win games.

Quick question though....say this team loses to Pitt then runs the table until the UMass game. The team is sitting at 7-3 on a Tuesday night in November. I don't think the team sees 10K people at that game. BTW that game is listed as ESPNU or ESPN3. So we may actually be playing on a Tuesday night and not even getting any national exposure because we'll be on ESPN3....how does that happen.

[Zip_ME87]

The brutal truth

That's an ass-whuppin'.

Yeah. Can't sugar-coat that.

[Zip_ME87]

With Wisconsin being so close to Chicago it seems they took offense to N. Illinois ad and laid claim to at least Northern Illinois' team being Wisconsin.

The Akron loss to Marshall was no surprise. People wonder why nobody comes to the games. Read that line again. Nobody even gave Akron a chance to beat Marshall. If you had no affiliation with the school why would you waste a perfectly good Saturday to watch a team that nobody expects to win. Don't give me the college football slant either. As far as the average fan is concerned the only difference between us and YSU is they win games.

Quick question though....say this team loses to Pitt then runs the table until the UMass game. The team is sitting at 7-3 on a Tuesday night in November. I don't think the team sees 10K people at that game. BTW that game is listed as ESPNU or ESPN3. So we may actually be playing on a Tuesday night and not even getting any national exposure because we'll be on ESPN3....how does that happen.

And when you bring new people trying to sell them on UA football, and they see games like that, you immediately lose credibility with trying to get them to return.

[GP1]

BTW that game is listed as ESPNU or ESPN3. So we may actually be playing on a Tuesday night and not even getting any national exposure because we'll be on ESPN3....how does that happen.

I think it depends on where you live. Around Pittsburgh and NE Ohio, you will probably get ESPNU. Someone where I live may have to watch it on ESPN3.

[UA1987]

My two cents: I'm a little surprised we didn't play Casimos at LG for Brumbaugh instead of shuffling the offensive line. The position changes up front probably made the offense less effective (assignments change) but did not cause the loss. Still I say experiment in scrimmages not in games that count. We need some continuity on the line.

Marshall committed an almost record amount of penalties, but most were for aggressive play, which Akron seemed to lack. That hit on Pohl by their DE was a cheap shot, however. We need to remember to protect the QB at all costs in every situation.

Not sure what to say about our defense. We missed March, yes, but I saw poor tackling and execution from our front 7. We were off balance because of the superior Marshall attack, but we should have played better.

[zippy5]

The brutal truth

That's an ass-whuppin'.

I'm terrified of what James Connor is going to do to us this week.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Looking back on Saturday, I'll say the following -

• As good as I thought our defense was/is, looking at Marshall's 11 defenders, we aren't in their league. Size, speed, athleticism, scheme...they looked like a BCS defense to me.
• In defense of the Zips defense...man, it gets old running back on to the field time-after-time-after-time as the offense goes 3-and-out
• I think I'm the only one that was PO'd when the waved the white flag and punted on 4th and 12 at the Marshall 40? There's 1:05 on the clock, and you're down 28 points. Can you at least try to score...show me you're trying to get back in the game? Punting the ball into the endzone when you are in that situation makes absolutely no sense to me.
• Where will the offense come from in 2014? Pohl is a decent QB. D'Orazio is a solid WR. After that, where does it come from? It's disappointing that, in Year #3 of TB's tenure, we have no offensive threats whatsoever.
• Watching the replays of the old Marshall games, which of our 2014 WR's would see time over Sparks, Irvin, Cherry or Montgomery? Probably only D'Orazio. Maybe LT Smith gets a few snaps.
• After watching #47 churn out the yards for the Herd Saturday, I'm starting to like the idea of Newman Williams in the backfield next year. If he plays LB, great...we sill need a running back that is capable of moving forward and getting 3-4 yards when we need it. And one that's a legit threat to take it to the house every so often. Brandon Payne, Jimmy Gray, Brett Biggs, Dennis Kennedy, Bobby Hendry, Culler, McCray these were all guys you could bank on to move the chains. They were "money" inside the 10. Why can't we find guys like that?
• We need Brumbaugh back. Of all our recent injury losses, his is causing the biggest concern. March is a close second.
• I would like to see the Marshall bandwagon if the Herd had 5 winning football records over the past 27 seasons. A big "F U" to any Marshall fan talking attendance smack.
• People who want to dumb-down the schedule to get some cheap cupcake wins need to take a step back to 5-10 years ago. This Marshall team we saw today...10 years ago we could have played with them. Now we get waxed. But we are capable of being as good as Marshall.
• If the Zips played to their capabilities Saturday, they'd have lost 48-24.
• In defense of Hakeem Lawrence - the guy hasn't carried a football in a real game in almost 3 years. He barely played in year #1, and redshirted last year. Give him some ball-security, rip drills and get him back on the field. We need his speed. If it turns-out he's just another track star who can't take the football contact, then bench him. But I would give him another shot sooner than later. He was in a tough position Saturday.
• We punt the ball into the endzone to much.
• Good to see Rossi in the backfield to start the game, if for no other reason than he's a fun guy to support. If you've ever coached a sport, event at the lowest level, you always love a kid that just wants to get on the field and will do anything you need.
• Our pass offense seems to be "toss it up and hope." Which I hate. When Brumbaugh returns, does Pohl have some time to get through his progressions? I hope so. Lobbing it up to your #1 option and hoping for a catch or flag ain't where it's at.
• Two weeks to prepare for Marshall, and we bungled and fumbled our way through the game. Marshall had 200 yards in penalties, and still clowned us at home.
• Part of me worries about how we're going to stop Pitt on Saturday. But overall, I still like our D. More of me worries if we are capable of putting the ball in the endszone against anyone this season. TONS of work to do on the offensive side of the ball.