Game #8 Ball State

[Dr Z]

Lots of unintelligent posting going on right now. I'll come back tomorrow and see if its worth typing my thoughts.

[Buckzip]

Lots of unintelligent posting going on right now. I'll come back tomorrow and see if its worth typing my thoughts.

LOL

[LZIp]

If Bowden isn't taking this season seriously, then I'm not going to waste my time on it.

[a-zip]

Lots of unintelligent posting going on right now. I'll come back tomorrow and see if its worth typing my thoughts.

+1 !!!!!!!!

[GP1]

I have a theory about winning games. It involves making big plays and winning turnovers. Since I didn't see every play of the game and therefore am not qualified to discuss the game, I have two questions. First, which team had the most plays over 40 yards and how did those plays turn out? Secondly, how was our turnover margin?

PS. Pohl is still 8-3 in his last 11 starts.

[GP1]

Lots of unintelligent posting going on right now. I'll come back tomorrow and see if its worth typing my thoughts.

What makes you think they will be any better?

[GP1]

Why isn't Pohl starting/playing???

Because he isn't Bowden's pet project.

[GP1]

Pohl needs to come in an energize the offense.

Only the energy from the WoodSUN matters now.

[GP1]

Would it be too low to call it a clown show? After all, the leader has orange hair?

[Balsy]

Zips offense looks sharp today!

I love eating my own words.

[Balsy]

I was getting really excited about the BGSU game...now,

But folks, we need to regroup. I found myself driving home from dinner (not knowing the outcome of the game, finding out by listening to the radio) saying we're not going to get into a Bowl and go 6-6. This team still has a 7-5 season in it.

Buffalo, UMass and Can't are all winnable games. So is BGSU.

[Dave in Green]

Here's EA's first take on the KP-TW issue:

Pohl was ready, dressed, cleared to play and several times had his helmet in hand after missing the OU game with a head injury. But the Zips, with a defense initially forcing field goals instead of allowing touchdowns, was still in the lead, 21-19, at the end of the third quarter. Then the barn door flew open and Akron never got it closed.

"A touchdown and a field goal right before the half started it,'' Akron head coach Terry Bowden said. "Then the floodgates opened. We hit the meltdown button in the second half."

Woodson wasn't alone with the miscues as a fumbled punt by Imani Davis and a blocked punt recovered by Ball State all added to Akron's misery. And while it seemed like Pohl should have been a option at some point, Bowden acknowledged that was not the case.

"When it got to that point, there really wasn't a point (to putting him in),'' Bowden said. "It really wasn't fair to him."

My take on the above:

It didn't matter that BSU was only getting field goals and not touchdowns in the 3rd quarter. TW was not moving the team at all and didn't appear capable of putting together a scoring drive. BSU was driving freely and only needed a single field goal in the 4th quarter to win the game if the Zips couldn't start moving the ball. At exactly what point was it not fair to Pohl to give him a chance? If he'd come in on the Zips first possession of the 4th quarter he would have had a 2-point lead. On the Zips second possession he would have only had to deal with a 4-point deficit. On the Zips third possession he would have faced an 11-point deficit. So, yeah, the longer the wait to put Pohl in the more unfair it got to put him in because the BSU lead kept growing and time kept running out.

Bottom line is that Coach Bowden so far hasn't given me any good reason to believe that he had a good reason not to give Pohl a chance to pull the game out before the game got out of hand.

[GP1]

Here's EA's first take on the KP-TW issue:

My take on the above:

It didn't matter that BSU was only getting field goals and not touchdowns in the 3rd quarter. TW was not moving the team at all and didn't appear capable of putting together a scoring drive. BSU was driving freely and only needed a single field goal in the 4th quarter to win the game if the Zips couldn't start moving the ball. At exactly what point was it not fair to Pohl to give him a chance? If he'd come in on the Zips first possession of the 4th quarter he would have had a 2-point lead. On the Zips second possession he would have only had to deal with a 4-point deficit. On the Zips third possession he would have faced an 11-point deficit. So, yeah, the longer the wait to put Pohl in the more unfair it got to put him in because the BSU lead kept growing and time kept running out.

Bottom line is that Coach Bowden so far hasn't given me any good reason to believe that he had a good reason not to give Pohl a chance to pull the game out before the game got out of hand.

For those of you who don't have a lot of time to read, I'll translate Dave's post for you since I agree with it......Bowden is full of shit....

My take, Bowden doesn't want a guy who has won 8 of his last 11 games because Woodson is his pet project. I don't think it is any more complicated than that. Pohl is not getting a fair shot and will always be on a short leash or on the bench. As soon as the year is over, Pohl should immediately transfer out of Akron to another school because it is never going to be a good place for him to be. Go somewhere that will appreciate a guy who survived one of the worst periods in a school's history and got things turned around. Pohl has been through a lot and has earned better. Or, just take your scholarship and graduate. Don't kill yourself Kyle, you'll never get a fair shot. Spend less time studying your playbook and more time screwing girls.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm absolutely furious over the destruction Bowden has heaped on this program in the last two weeks. This is absolutely terrible. If you want me to create an even bleaker picture, Woodson has three more years in front of him to give us more of what we saw today. By the time this season is over, Bowden will have ruined Woodson. Pet projects never go away as long as the guy who brought them to the school are around.

[Balsy]

I'm disappointed yes. But I'm not giving up on Bowden, or this team, or this season. Time to take a step back folks. Did anyone really expect us to be 4-4 at this point of the season?

I hate losing. I'm really not happy that we lost. But reality check ourselves. I followed coach's advice and pulled out my folder of games that I expected to win/lose, and a win total. My sheet has the zips 7-5. The only game I had going our way (that hasn't) was Ohio. I thought at the beginning of the year (before ay of the games were played( that we'd loseto ball state and win against Ohio.

I also had us losing to Buffalo, which looks more winnable today than it did at the beginning of the year.

Everyone here will feel pretty stupid when the Zips beat Bowling Geen next week, controlling their destiny in the MAC. We have 4 games left. Lets not fall apart as a fan base. We're starting to sound like State Ohio fans. We're Zips fans...we're better than this!

[LZIp]

^im also assuming you had us beating Howard, EMU, and Miami as well..which means you had us at 4-4.

[zipsoutsider]

Inclined to agree with Balsy.

1. The Zips have not "Arrived" yet, meaning they are still, as TB says, in the win close/lose close phase. They have not necessarily regressed yet, either. Did you guys expect them to go undefeated? I must have missed the memo.
2. I love how you all are experts on KP16's readiness. Did I miss the invite to the meeting with TB. And KP16 where they briefed Zips Nation on KP's status? I do believe some of you could care less about KP16's welfare.
3. I also love the assumption that Woodson is Bowden's project. Ridiculous. He has been trying to talk up and help a redshirt freshman who has been forced to start before he was ready. I guess if Bowden publicly badmouthed Woodson, then you could verify that he was not his project.
4. I love how there are so many posters with more FB smarts than TB. You are probably better investors than Warren Buffet, too.

Consider getting a grip. The Zips can still want he East and be bowl eligible. Not bad from where we were 3 years ago. Go back to playing Madden on your Xboxes and take a break from shredding an improving football team. Rome wasn't built in a day.

[K92]

There are some tough questions that need to be answered but I don't really see that happening because they would need to be asked.

[Dave in Green]

For those of you who don't have a lot of time to read, I'll translate Dave's post for you since I agree with it....

As much as I respect your knowledge of football and agree with some of your opinions, I'm not willing to take the giant leap you have about Coach Bowden's motives when it comes to QB selection. I believe Coach Bowden's only motive is to turn the Zips into a winning program, and that he's using all of his experience and expertise to accomplish this. While I'm puzzled about the QB situation, I'm not ready to assume either the worst or the best.

I'll just say that this game reinforces my opinion that the Zips are still on the path to getting better, which means that they are better than they were but not as good as they're going to be. They have better players and better coaching than they did a couple of seasons ago. But they're still not a stacked team, even by MAC standards. Some combination of coaching and player abilities led to today's loss, same as they led to the win at Pitt.

The Zips are currently inconsistent, which is miles ahead of being consistently awful as they were just a couple of seasons ago.

[zen]

Went to all the home games last year and saw most of the others that were televised.

Haven't witnessed a single game this year. Impossible to make a specific assessment.
Just wanted to chime in and combo break all the drastic responses from any vane.

Maybe beating Pitt swung all of our hopes out of proportion. Let's just enjoy some football when we can.

[Buckzip]

WTH is Bowden talking about it wouldn't be fair to Pohl?

I guess if you were losing by 40 points he would be right.

But he never thought about the switch after all the INT's?

This sounds like Bowden is full of crap and trying to explain his stupidity and stubbornness

[mes102]

My point is how can you explain that it's fair to put Woodson into the Pitt game when nothing was wrong with Pohl other than throwing an INT in the endzone. Woodson didn't do anything, and Pohl came back in. But putting Pohl in, which by everything I heard all week was healthy and ready to play in today's game. If he wasn't healthy or ready to play, you wouldn't hear me complaining. That's why I didn't understand why Bowden didn't do the same thing he did at Pittsburgh, especially this one that meant more for this season. This defense is MAC championship caliber, and I hate to see it wasted like this. If Pohl came in and didn't produce, I would have applauded Bowden for at least trying to get a spark and go from there. Just don't understand how this was "unfair" to Pohl, but benching him in a Pittsburgh game that he was leading when benched isn't "unfair"? Like GP1 said, Woodson is Bowden's project.

[GP1]

I'll just say that this game reinforces my opinion that the Zips are still on the path to getting better,

I'm going to throw this idea out there for the board. If you really step back and think about it, it isn't outside the world of reality. So, before anyone reacts, just take some time to think about it.

Bowden benched a QB that went 8-3 in his last 11 starts.

Bowden is now playing a QB who could easily go 3-8 in 11 starts. He's already 0-2 with nine remaining. With the way he plays, going 3-6 over the next nine isn't outside of the world of reality. He lost a close divisional game last week against a terrible team while throwing two INTs with one being when the game was on the line. Yesterday he stole a loss from the jaws of victory from a team that could be worse than OU. That about covers the methods whereby a team loses in the MAC. There are only so many Howards and Kents on the schedule that will allow a turnover machine like him to win. Since there are few Howards and Kents, there will be few wins.

It has nothing to do with whether or not Bowden wants to win and everything to do with bad management. In defense of Woodson, the poor management will not be good for him long term either. There is some talent there. Right now, all he is learning how to do is lose and that is a horrible lesson. This is not the kind of experience he needs.

Bowden is in a very tough spot right now. He benched a winner for a guy who doesn't. Moreover, the guy he wants is his pet project. Get ready, because there could easily be three more years of what you saw yesterday.

[Balsy]

I completely disagree GP1, and to be honest I'm disappointed in you that you're sounding like a conspiracy theorist. Facts matter, and so does context.

Facts: It's not like Bowden up and benched Pohl in the middle of a game in lieu of his "Pet" Woodson. Pohl was smacked on the last play of the first half against Miami. He de-dressed from the game...came out of the locker room (somewhat gingerly from what I remember)...rode on the bike for a couple mins, and IMMIDIATELY went back to the locker room. It may not have been a concussion, but something wasn't right.

Nothing official about Pohl's status was made (despite claims of the conspiracy contingent here) until about Thursday of this week. Everything I saw with Pohl is consistant with a head-injury (non concussion) re-introduction. And I'm sorry folks, I don't care how "connected" you are. If it's not coming from the coach's mouth publicly (thus officially) it is to be disregarded as hearsay.

Pohl Facts:

Miami: Left the game, de-dressed. Came back on field, went back to Locker room.

Ohio: Did not dress for the game. Woodson Starts, Hirschman Backup.

Ball St: Pohl cleared to play (according to Bowden on Thursday). Woodson Starts, Pohl backup. For all we know, coach talked to Pohl about playing and Pohl's response was: "coach I don't know if I'm ready today, but I'll be ready for BGSU!" We don't know.

THIS is the proper protocol of reintroducing a player who had head injury. Those claiming Bowden is playing a game with a "pet", you could easily argue that Bowden will follow the proper procedure of reintroducing a player regardless of the outcome of a game. That is what a responsible coach does.

Now I will not object to the criticism IF AND ONLY IF Pohl doesn't start next week (or there is a very good reason why he doesn't) against Bowling Green. I would be shocked (simply based on the progression of injury and reintroduction) if Pohl didn't start next week. In fact, Bowden is in a perfect position. He didn't introduce his starting 8-3 QB too early (and possibly lost the games because he was back to early from a freakin head injury) and he can reintroduce that 8-3 QB into the conference game that matters a lot more, after being fully recovered.

The biggest take away from this is NOT conspiracy BS about our coach. Its that the Zips lack depth to win games if we lose our talented players. Marshall, Ohio and Ball St. can each be chalked up to the loss of our talented players. Hell even Penn St's performance could because Justin March left the game for some time.

We're building something special here in Akron, and we're going to have more growing pains folks. We're not there yet. Bowden IS here for the long haul. He WILL bring the success we all desperately crave.

[Balsy]

I'm angry about losing 2 straight games, but I think I'm more angry at the fans trying to canabalize our coach, who has turned this awful program around. Get real folks.

There were (what I thought) some bad play calls. I hate when we're throwing the ball on first down when we have a lead. I'm assuming our heterogeneously constructed OL didn't help with that.

[Dr Z]

I can't understand how a QB can look so good against man coverage, and so bad against the zone? Those first three touchdown drives were things of beauty. The ball was coming out on time and being delivered with precision. Once the Cardinals switched to the zone, the ball seemed to be thrown directly into the middle of the zone. No work on the sidelines. Hard to see on tv, if the play calling was making that an option. If it was not, that was a major mistake. We should have been picking the zone apart underneath. The play calling didn't seem to change when the defense changed. Again, hard to see if that was was what was going on watching on tv. I think if TW wants to do something to benefit his game in the offseason, it might be to drop a few pounds. His game could benefit by being quicker with this feet. He seems to really struggle creating a spot to throw after the pocket breaks down. I wish we could have connected on one of the over the top plays. If KP was available, which it seemed like he was since I saw him dressed and standing next to coach in sideline huddles, he should have been brought in for a series in the third quarter. The field position the Zips were handing them in the second half was ridiculous.

Edwards is the real deal, most effective I have seen a running back against our defense. The QB could have called off-tackle right at the line, and Edwards was going to get five yards most of the time...except for the hit CJ put on him, that was awesome. I can't explain why our defense can't cover a back catching the ball out of the backfield. Way too many first downs given up on that on play. I think BSU did a good job taking advantage of Cody's aggressive play on run downs. Best I have seen him blocked. He seemed to draw a lot of attention. When the defense got them in third an obvious passing downs, we brought the pressure and disrupted their QB. Difference was he didn't make any big mistakes...well one, but we couldn't seem to take advantage of that either.

Sloppy day, punt fumbles, blocked punts, bad snaps, penalties, turnovers...all adding up to a second half disaster. One of the things I hate about our run and shoot offense is the fact when we take a 21-6 lead, we can't ball control and minimize the other teams offensive chances. We are forced to keep scoring unless our defense plays shut down.

Should be some interesting practices coming up before the BG game. Some major time should be given to getting the snap to the quarterback somewhere around his hands. Terrible snaps yesterday threw off the timing of multiple plays in the second half.

I didn't turn Frenchy on yesterday since the tv announcers were not annoying. I'm kind of curious what his overall opinions were in the second half.

PS It sure would have been an awesome weather day for a home game yesterday.