Game #8 Ball State

[ZippyRulz]

Pretty much a must-win if we want to maintain a winning record, since beating BG is going to be a 50-50 proposition at best. And if we lose this one the regrets over the OU game plan are going to be that much worse.

[GP1]

Another bad team we should beat (Good grief, the MAC is bad this year). They have loses to Army and Indiana State. Enough said with Indiana State. I saw Army play in person this year...they are every bit the team that lost to Yale.

My biggest concern is their offense is showing improvement as the season progresses. Always dangerous to play on the road against a team with an offense that is finding itself.

We can and should be able to beat them with either Pohl or Woodson in the line up.

The ZipsWin! jinx should not be on us since the game is not in Athens. At least the football team only has to suffer through that once every two years. KD and his guys have to carry that cross annually.

I look for the Zips to right the ship this week.

[johnnyzip84]

Zips are currently 1 ½ point favorites.

Ball State’s record is a bit deceiving. While they managed to lose in West Point, they have also played Iowa very tough and just defeated CMU in Mount Pleasant. The close loss to WMU also doesn’t look nearly as bad right now, with the young Broncos beginning to get the oars moving in unison and in the same direction (couldn’t resist).

I haven’t seen much discussion on the other MAC games from the weekend, but it’s becoming clear that the MAC is as wide open as it’s been in quite a few years. K.E.N.T. erupts against Army. Western controls BG at the Doyt. MACtion might have a little less quality this year, but I expect the games to be mostly hard fought battles. The Zips need to win the close ones, and there will probably be several, from here on out.

[johnnyzip84]

The extended forecast calls for partly cloudy and 68 degrees.

The line moved down to Akron -1 this morning, but it is back up to Akron -1.5.

Oh and please put your gold chrome helmets back on this week Go Zips!

[Dr Z]

George Thomas ‏@GeorgeThomasABJ 1h1 hour ago

@ZipsFB QB Kyle Pohl is back at practice. He and Thomas Woodson both took snaps with the first team offense.

Not worth it's own thread, EA gives the Zips a grade of C.

[K92]

Not worth it's own thread, EA gives the Zips a grade of C.

When the Zips lose, they seem to do more to beat themselves than the opposition

Yup.

[Balsy]

Zips will beat Ball State and Bowling Green with Pohl at the helm. All doubters (including myself) will be silenced as Pohl's fearless leadership rallies the Zips after the Bobkittens defeat last week.

Akron 27

Ball St 17

[johnnyzip84]

I submit that the only reason the 2014 edition of the Zips appears to do more to defeat itself than the opposition is because for the 1^st time in many years the team actually has enough talent to not allow the opposition to completely dominate them. The Zips have lost 3 games so far this year. The PSU game should have been closer, but that still doesn’t change the likelihood that only one of these losses could have been turned into a victory had the Zips not “shot themselves in the foot”. Losing to OU sucked about as hard as any loss in recent memory, only because we all know how far the program has progressed. But let’s keep it in perspective. If we snag a win in Muncie, all goals remain on the table (even if we don’t , it’s not impossible to imagine closing on a 4 game win streak – the East is terrible).

[Lee Adams]

Was looking at the 2005 roster/record. For those who don't remember thats the last time Zips won anything. If you OBJECTIVELY look at the offensive side of the ball you probably realize that the 2014 version doesn't have the playmakers that the 2005 team had on offense. There is no Hixon,Getsy,Biggs or Arthur on this team. And, the O-line on the '05 team was probably better. On the D side,the 2014 team likely has more 'athletes'. But,the offense in 2005 could score when it needed to. It also had real leaders in Getsy and Biggs and Hixon, the 2014 version doesn't have. And there were some guys on the defensive side who stepped up in crunch time. I thought JD needed to go in 2009,BUT he was able to pull that talent together and probably overachieve with it. We will see in '14 and '15 if this regime can do that.

[johnnyzip84]

Was looking at the 2005 roster/record. For those who don't remember thats the last time Zips won anything. If you OBJECTIVELY look at the offensive side of the ball you probably realize that the 2014 version doesn't have the playmakers that the 2005 team had on offense. There is no Hixon,Getsy,Biggs or Arthur on this team. And, the O-line on the '05 team was probably better. On the D side,the 2014 team likely has more 'athletes'. But,the offense in 2005 could score when it needed to. It also had real leaders in Getsy and Biggs and Hixon, the 2014 version doesn't have. And there were some guys on the defensive side who stepped up in crunch time. I thought JD needed to go in 2009,BUT he was able to pull that talent together and probably overachieve with it. We will see in '14 and '15 if this regime can do that.

That's a pretty fair assessment, Lee. The MAC East of 2005 and 2014 have two things in common:

1. The team to beat is/was BG.
2. The division is/was generally weak from top to bottom.

Like you say, we'll see if TB and Company can take advantage of the opportunity.

In related events, GT reports that despite KP16 taking reps with the 1st team (TW13 is also), TB likely won't name a starter (publicly) until just before the game

[johnnyzip84]

Here is a Muncie Star-Press story on Cardinal RB Edwards.

[Jrship35]

http://www.ohio.com/news/akron-zips-football-kyle-pohl-back-at-practice-but-will-he-start-1.533795

[Jrship35]

http://www.hustlebelt.com/mac-football/2014/10/22/7039341/ball-state-cardinals-vs-akron-zips-football-preview

[Lee Adams]

Haven't seen or heard anything that leads me to believe the Zips should be expected to win this game. Sorry. I am still not confident that TB has a handle on his offense. And,more importantly that Milwee, who is cutting his teeth here is the guy to help pull this offense together with the talent at hand. I think Amato has done a much better job in that regard with the D. Though that would be expected given all his experience. If TB's offense doesn't figure itself out this week, its going to be tough to get to even 6-6 given the schedule. We can all say they 'should' do this and that. But,5-7 last year was a little over the top. 6-6 still seems somewhat realistic. Whether that deserves a bowl game,????????

[ZippyRulz]

AKRON, Ohio – University of Akron football head coach Terry Bowden and swimming and diving head coach Brian Peresie will be the guests on tonight's Zips Live presented by Lee Hyder and Associates, which is broadcast from 7-8 p.m. ET live from Johnny J's Pub and Grille in the Valley (1282 Weathervane Lane).

Maybe something will be said about the QB situation for Saturday. I don't plan to listen but maybe someone would like to report back.

TB is showing me he has no set goals for this year and is in no big hurry to go anywhere. Which is good if he can continue to upgrade the roster each year.

[GP1]

TB is showing me he has no set goals for this year and is in no big hurry to go anywhere. Which is good if he can continue to upgrade the roster each year.

Well, it is a "building process". What we have been building for 20+ years is still unclear, but it surely isn't winning.

[Sergeant Zip]

Maybe something will be said about the QB situation for Saturday. I don't plan to listen but maybe someone would like to report back.

At about the 3:30 mark on the WAKR podcast, Terry talked about playing both.

[Balsy]

Well, it is a "building process". What we have been building for 20+ years is still unclear, but it surely isn't winning.

That's because it is a building process at Akron.

If you don't think we're building something, than I'm not sure what you've been watching under Bowden. Action speaks louder than words, and evidence has shown both in talent that has been brought it and W's that Bowden IS building something. There is light at the end of the "building" tunnel, and his name is Terry Bowden.

I don't how we can be saying Bowden doesn't have any set goals this season: the tagline he's sold his players is TNT (Today Not Tomorrow). Bowden is also realistic. You don't go from 0-8 to 8-0, worst to best in the conference in one year. We can't get ahead of ourselves.

[Dr Z]

At about the 3:30 mark on the WAKR podcast, Terry talked about playing both.

Thanks for posting. Coach Bowden is a media pro, the other guy is not.

[GP1]

If you don't think we're building something, than I'm not sure what you've been watching under Bowden.

He built us right into a loss last weekend and is looking to double down on the very actions that contributed to the loss last weekend.

I've been pretty supportive of Bowden. However, his handling of the QB situation this year and particularly the last two weeks has been poor.

[g-mann17]

It is interesting to me that so many people put the loss on Woodson playing vs Pohl. Pohl had no team activities for half the week. This would have included film sessions and team meetings.

Pohl was unprepared to face Ohio, even if he was cleared midweek. That likely means Wednesday night. So he would have had Thursday and the Friday walk through to get ready. As opposed to Woodson who had the whole week to prepare.

We lost an offensive lineman early in the game, so a sub has to come in.

Pohl is known to be a slow starter. Woodson answered Ohio's opening score easily, then we stalled for the rest of the half. Would an unprepared slow starter have answered Ohio's score to stem the momentum? Unlikely.

The only reason we lost this game is because the line couldn't get a push to create any kind of run game. Then the defense kept poo-ing down their leg every time Akron took the lead. To top it off, on the last Akron drive that mattered, Pratt fumbles the ball in our own territory forcing us to eat all of our time outs and forcing an inexperienced QB into a tough 2 minute situation.

We lost to a very disciplined mid-level MAC school with the most tenured coach in the Conference by a whopping 3 points. And people are acting like A. Woodson has 0 talent and B. Bowden is throwing away the season because we've given Pohl opportunities to quiet doubts but has yet to deliver.

Pohl performs better when he thinks his job is on the line, and we need a win against Ball State. So Bowden is telling him, your job is on the line, and I know we can win with Woodson. So perform or get ready to be the back up.

In my opinion Bowden is doing the right thing. We need to stay above .500 if we want to go bowling this year. 5-3 means we only have to split the pair in the last 4 games. 4-4 means we have to take 3, and it's a tough 3 with BGSU, Buffalo, and UMass is putting up big points every week. 3-1 when it matters is especially tough when this team is not used to playing with something on the line.

[GP1]

And people are acting like A. Woodson has 0 talent and B. Bowden is throwing away the season because we've given Pohl opportunities to quiet doubts but has yet to deliver.

So Bowden is telling him, your job is on the line, and I know we can win with Woodson. So perform or get ready to be the back up.

Good post in general.

Woodson has talent, but the talent isn't developed enough.

Pohl hasn't delivered? He is 8-3 in his last 11 starts. He delivers enough to keep his job. Maybe I'm missing something, but how many MAC QBs out there right now are 8-3 in their last 11 starts with a win against a BCS team on the road?

I'd love to be in the room if Bowden told him he knows he can win with Woodson just to see if Pohl could hold back the laughter.

[Balsy]

He built us right into a loss last weekend and is looking to double down on the very actions that contributed to the loss last weekend.

I've been pretty supportive of Bowden. However, his handling of the QB situation this year and particularly the last two weeks has been poor.

I don't agree. You have zero facts to back up your position. You're basing your assessment of Bowden's handling of the QB situation on the report from someone on this board who said "he was cleared before the game on saturday" despite Bowden saying otherwise.

What lost the game last week was not the QB situation, but the play calling. That game was winnable with Woodson or Pohl. The game this Saturday is winnable with Pohl, Woodson or (dare I say it) Hirschman.

[Balsy]

Pohl performs better when he thinks his job is on the line, and we need a win against Ball State. So Bowden is telling him, your job is on the line, and I know we can win with Woodson. So perform or get ready to be the back up.

In my opinion Bowden is doing the right thing. We need to stay above .500 if we want to go bowling this year. 5-3 means we only have to split the pair in the last 4 games. 4-4 means we have to take 3, and it's a tough 3 with BGSU, Buffalo, and UMass is putting up big points every week. 3-1 when it matters is especially tough when this team is not used to playing with something on the line.

Great post G-mann.

Though I believe after BGSU, this team can beat any of the remaining teams. This game is crucial.

[Dr Z]

Maybe I'm missing something, but how many MAC QBs out there right now are 8-3 in their last 11 starts with a win against a BCS team on the road?

I'll venture to guess the answer is evaluation and progression. I think the staff envisions more out of the position. I see the same when I watched plays at those games. Too many missed plays. You would see them too if you were able to attend those 11 games. Even you thought that he should improve this year. I'm glad the staff holds players to high expectations. It reminds me a little of Pete Carroll's "compete philosophy." PS I am not comparing the two coaches. As far as I know coach Bowden has never helped fake a players jump to the death.

I agree with just about everything g-mann writes above. I hate blaming a game on one play, but I'll say the same thing Bowden said this week, that Pratt fumble was a killer. He holds on to the ball, and we could be having a lot different debates this week.