Game #11 UMass

[ZachTheZip]

Bottom line from this game: This season is now at the very least as good as last season, with one final chance to make it even better.

[GP1]

One more win and we can go to a bowl.

[Jrship35]

Grown worthy?

Yup !!! ...,,, a little easier to tolerate with the win.

[GP1]

Yup !!! ...,,, a little easier to tolerate with the win.

That's what people in the 80s used to say after watching off tackle all afternoon.

[Jrship35]

I willl take off tackle all day long ...... Smash mouth !!!

[GP1]

I willl take off tackle all day long ...... Smash mouth !!!

I like it too when it works. I hate it when it doesn't work. Same reaction to bubble screen and triple option. Big fan of plays that work. Hater of plays that don't work. ThatThat's how I roll.

[skip-zip]

What was worse than the fumble was rushing that play when the previous one was a TD. Staff just had to give refs time to look at it. One of the biggest boneheaded offensive calls I have seen.

I totally agree. Just plain stupid to be brazen enough to think that running another play to score was no big deal, instead of waiting for what would be an obvious review and overturn. Cost us 6 points. No explanation for this at all.

[skip-zip]

One more win and we can go to a bowl.

It would be interesting. We'd be eligible, but what are the chances we get chosen, and who are the other programs that are eligible for however many available spots are there.

On a side note: I said earlier that the people sitting in seats would not exceed the number of people in the band. At one point in the 3rd quarter, I counted 54 people actually sitting on aluminum seats. I think there were more earlier in the game, but that's what I counted at that point.

[Dave in Green]

Hate to miss a Zips home win, but I'm en route to Charleston. At least my ticket got used by one of those rare souls actually seen at the stadium tonight. Good to see the Zips are back on track going into the big rivalry game. Numbers to remember: UMass 40, Can't 17.

[Dr Z]

That's what people in the 80s used to say after watching off tackle all afternoon.

Must have been painful to watch your favorite NFL team on MNF effectively run it over and over milking the clock and sealing up a victory late in the game. Nothing better when everyone in the stadium knows it's coming, you run it and gain eight yards. Next play, same result. Nothing puts the defense in a defeated state of mind like that play when they know it's coming, and they can do nothing to stop it. The Zips offensive line is light years (well maybe two) away from being able to take charge of a game like that.

Random thoughts on the game:

• Difference in our offensive game...Zach D'Orazio. Not that he did much different, just the fact that KP16 actually threw him the ball. I have been saying this all year. GET HIM THE BALL. He needs to see 10+ targets a game. He is always open.

• UMass is awful. QB was zero threat down field. When that is the case, The Chest ain't getting beat often...see Pitt game.

• I could live 100 more years and Whipple could never convince me choosing the wind in the third quarter was a smart choice. Stupid. I feel in someway vindicated for having to watch Akron kick off twice in a game.

• I watch NFL holders mishandle snaps on field goals every Sunday. Has Zach ever done that? Kudos to him. If they sold a ZD11 shirt, I would buy it.

• I am shocked, and not shocked, our offensive game plan didn't change one bit because of the weather. If you told me before the game this was the case, I would have picked against us. To my credit, I didn't realize how bad UMass is.

• I listened to Frenchy while watching the game. I did enjoy Dunn's reports from the sideline, but Frenchy still can't see. A blind French is much more tolerable than Mr Cliche that was on ESPN3.

• It's unbelievable to me that this team can become bowl eligible. I hope we do, because it's an accomplishment, and coach seems to value steps in the progrum.

• Every time you interview coach Bowden he talks about getting turnovers. He is right, and I love that he emphasizes it.

• A few of us have been calling for the Cody Grice up the middle fake, nice to see it attempted. Sad to see a TE try to catch the ball in his chest instead of his hands. Nice execution, and pass by KP16.

• I can't believe we didn't give the officials time to call this touchdown a touchdown. Didn't cost us...this time. But in a different situation, this play (and the rushing of the next play call) could be talked about for days. Learn from it, and FIX it!

[GP1]

Must have been painful to watch your favorite NFL team on MNF effectively run it over and over milking the clock and sealing up a victory late in the game. Nothing better when everyone in the stadium knows it's coming, you run it and gain eight yards. Next play, same result. Nothing puts the defense in a defeated state of mind like that play when they know it's coming, and they can do nothing to stop it. The Zips offensive line is light years (well maybe two) away from being able to take charge of a game like that.

I actually loved it (see earlier posts). I love a boring off tackle play when it works because it is as you describe above. I hate a boring play when it doesn't work because they frequently are the base of an offense and if you can't run the base of your offense regularly, you can't win.

EDIT: One thing about boring plays, they seem to work better against bad teams. The now 2-8 Tennessee Titans are a bad team. UMASS is a bad team. The Steelers and Zips offenses got a lot of help from bad teams this week. Formations and play calling both take a back seat to execution. These two teams were "magically" able to execute against bad teams with bad players. The trick is to be able to execute every week. The Zips have one more week to prove whether or not they can execute against a bad team. Can't is horrible and we should win. We need to start executing better against better teams or we will be 6-6 forever and I'm not interested in following a 6-6 team forever. I've done it for almost 30 years now and I've had just about all I can take.

[Jrship35]

UA was a plus 2 in the turnover column ....................... To Coach Bowden's point

Win the turnover stat ............ Win most games

Also ......... Pohl had a respectable game. Good management and took care of the ball ......................

Classic Pohl (from my minimal time seeing him) .............. If UA is up and in control, he does fine. When we get in a tight game or behind, he freezes and forces everything

Still SO much work to do on the O-Line

[johnnyzip84]

Now that my toes are finally back to normal temperature, I’ll give a few of my thoughts.

1. Thanks for making my prediction wrong for the 5^th consecutive game, Zips!
2. Since he is the nation’s 6^th leading passer (yards), it’s not too surprising that UMass would be a much weaker foe without Frohnapfel. But I didn’t expect them to turn into “Mr. Whipple’s Squeezably Soft” football team. It seemed like they wanted no part of it after the 1^st couple of series.
3. The crowd couldn’t have been larger than 500. I sat in my usual seat for the 1^st half, and then joined the rest of the Lot 9’ers standing in the mezzanine at about the 50 yard line to watch the remainder. The stairs to several sections were roped off, so most of us figured the usual rules and regulations regarding seating/standing would be relaxed a bit given the conditions. That was wrong of course. There was a power hungry usher who kept harassing the group about not going over the “blue line” – it was reminiscent of getting scolded by the ride operators at an amusement park. On a positive note, the free hot chocolate and coffee provided by the vending services was a very good idea and much appreciated.
4. I think we all figured that the staff simply HAD to emphasize the run given the conditions. We were wrong, of course, and I can’t really say I can argue with the game plan. KP16 must not mind the cold, because he was as accurate as he’s been all year. That was really quite a performance, regardless of the opposition.
5. Kudos to the staff for getting the seniors, many of whom do not have a long standing association with the program, ready to play last night. The defensive intensity, in particular, was significantly better than last week. It was also nice to see so many seniors making special plays in their last game at the Info.
6. I was glad the staff didn’t let the team talk them into going for it on 4^th down after the end zone drop off of the fake to CG36. Stein has been money, and the points were important.
7. I’m not sure why we were repeatedly snapping the ball with 15 seconds left on the play clock with 8 minutes and change left in the game.
8. Finally, I believe K92 and ZipsWin! both deserve recognition for being the only known tailgaters brave enough to setup in Lot 9 before ultimately retreating to Score (formerly Pints) across the street. And the U didn’t even bother to have a “tailgater of the game” last night. Pfffffffft!

[skip-zip]

I want to follow up on something I started a little more than a week ago.

Since the conference title was pretty much out of reach after BG, we still had 3 games left that could define the progress of the program.

Game 1 - Blowout Loss to Buffalo

Game 2 - Blowout win against UMass.

So, where does everyone think we stand now? Are we moving forward? Still waiting on the last game to decide?

Again, I don't know how we can possibly make any kind of judgment about this team from week to week. And losing a rivalry game on the road next week would seem to not be a catastrophe in most cases. It's a rivalry game. And it's not at home. But I still think we NEED that win to continue to move this program forward. Two wins to close the season....steadily improving record.

[Aaron]

Bowden is guaranteed at least as good a record as they had last season. I feel like this SHOULD make me happy, but it doesn't. At this point in his tenure, I want to see that we're still improving, and moving up to 6-6 (or even getting a bowl game to add to that) would satisfy me. Winning a bowl game would make me very happy.

[johnnyzip84]

In my opinion, if the Zips can retain the wagon wheel next week I will consider 2014 "reasonably" successful. The thing that keeps me from calling it an out-and-out success is the weakness of our MAC schedule. It was tailor made for a run at a championship. But, things happen and many of them are out of our control.

I would view 6-6 this year as being roughly equivalent to 5-7 last year, taking into account the schedules. It would not really be a step forward in my opinion, but it's also not a step backwards either. Treading water can be enough to keep a program resurgance from running out of gas, but eventually you must win the important ones. It's very likely that, after the 2014 season is over, last year's Toledo game will remain the only victory for a TB-coached Zips squad over a team with a winning record. This needs to change in 2015, and a 2 game winning streak to close out 2014 is essential to making this happen, both from a momentum and a recruiting standpoint.

[you am i]

When I saw that Blake Frohnapfel was not going to play, I figured UMass was in trouble. He's the guy who makes their offense go. He has a strong and accurate arm and they are clearly not the same team without him. Akron caught them at the perfect time to blow them out of the stadium.

[skip-zip]

In my opinion, if the Zips can retain the wagon wheel next week I will consider 2014 "reasonably" successful. The thing that keeps me from calling it an out-and-out success is the weakness of our MAC schedule. It was tailor made for a run at a championship. But, things happen and many of them are out of our control.

I would view 6-6 this year as being roughly equivalent to 5-7 last year, taking into account the schedules. It would not really be a step forward in my opinion, but it's also not a step backwards either. Treading water can be enough to keep a program resurgance from running out of gas, but eventually you must win the important ones. It's very likely that, after the 2014 season is over, last year's Toledo game will remain the only victory for a TB-coached Zips squad over a team with a winning record. This needs to change in 2015, and a 2 game winning streak to close out 2014 is essential to making this happen, both from a momentum and a recruiting standpoint.

Speaking of the Toledo game, do we possibly see a trend here? Based on yesterday and the Toledo game last November, we should schedule all of our home games for the month of November when it's frigidly cold and snowing. And play all of our road games in September, on days when it's incredibly hot and humid, like Pitt.

[InTheZone]

In my opinion, if the Zips can retain the wagon wheel next week I will consider 2014 "reasonably" successful. The thing that keeps me from calling it an out-and-out success is the weakness of our MAC schedule. It was tailor made for a run at a championship. But, things happen and many of them are out of our control.

I would view 6-6 this year as being roughly equivalent to 5-7 last year, taking into account the schedules. It would not really be a step forward in my opinion, but it's also not a step backwards either. Treading water can be enough to keep a program resurgance from running out of gas, but eventually you must win the important ones. It's very likely that, after the 2014 season is over, last year's Toledo game will remain the only victory for a TB-coached Zips squad over a team with a winning record. This needs to change in 2015, and a 2 game winning streak to close out 2014 is essential to making this happen, both from a momentum and a recruiting standpoint.

If we go 6-6 we have a reasonably good chance at a bowl game. A victory in that game would put us at 7-6, the most wins for the Zips in almost ten years. It would also be our first bowl victory ever. This can still be a year in which a large step forward is taken by the program.

[K92]

I'm still cold.

[Lee Adams]

Was at the game with maybe a couple hundred others. Hard to figure what to take away from this game. UMass had no QB. They didn't really seem interested. Apparently they were like most Akron 'fans' who didn't bother to show up.

Akron beat a bad team. They should. Bowden finally got the ball to Dorazio, far and away the best receiver on the team. Could have been by design,could have just been bad D by UMass. The TD to Hundley was beautiful. The wheel counter to the flow. Nobody within 20 yards.

We will get a much better read against Can't. They are bad,but its at their place and they could spoil a possible extra game for Akron.

A win over Can't and 6-6 is respectable for this point with this program. A bowl this year for this 6-6 team seems a bit of a stretch.

Next season is the key for Bowden.

[johnnyzip84]

If we go 6-6 we have a reasonably good chance at a bowl game. A victory in that game would put us at 7-6, the most wins for the Zips in almost ten years. It would also be our first bowl victory ever. This can still be a year in which a large step forward is taken by the program.

The chances of going 6-6 are pretty good, so being bowl eligible is certainly a good possibility. If the Zips somehow get selected AND win the game I would be in complete agreement regarding the large step forward.

I realize there is a line of thinking that says a team coached by Terry Bowden presents a good option for one of the Alabama bowls. Now we all know bowls have never selected teams based on merit. It's always been about which teams would a) bring the most fans and achieve the highest TV ratings. So my question is as follows. Where does selecting Akron over other 6-6 options fit into this selection criteria? Looking at the stands the other night (and for the last few years), it certainly isn't the great throng of Zip fans expected to make the trip south. So that leaves TV ratings. Is Terry Bowden, by himself, enough of a national personality to give a network what it wants? This is an honest question on my part. Thoughts?

[GP1]

So that leaves TV ratings. Is Terry Bowden, by himself, enough of a national personality to give a network what it wants? This is an honest question on my part. Thoughts?

I think you are asking the wrong question as it relates to networks. The TV ratings are going to be what they are and there is some risk to televising bowl games as it relates to unknown match-ups. Early bowl games are for gambling degenerates, filler for the down the trough ESPN networks and people who absolutely love football. I'm sure the advertising slots for games have already been sold. The sponsor of the bowl itself gets three hours, but they get their name on the bowl all year long so there are additional advertising benefits to sponsoring the game.

The bowl committee gets to decide who plays in the game. Bowden might even know some people personally who sit on the two bowl committees in Alabama. The politics are very important at this point.

I think the question is, who would draw more locals to the game?

[skip-zip]

Is Terry Bowden, by himself, enough of a national personality to give a network what it wants? This is an honest question on my part. Thoughts?

I'm sure when we hired him, the fact that his last name was Bowden was figured to come with it's benefits. Just the name alone. But he's carved out his own success and legacy to some extend at well, including being a very entertaining TV personality.

But I think it could be even more than that. He's also taking a "down" Akron football program back to a bowl game. Both the highly-recognizable coach, and the Akron program would represent the underdog story that Americans seem to love.

[johnnyzip84]

I think you are asking the wrong question as it relates to networks. The TV ratings are going to be what they are and there is some risk to televising bowl games as it relates to unknown match-ups. Early bowl games are for gambling degenerates, filler for the down the trough ESPN networks and people who absolutely love football. I'm sure the advertising slots for games have already been sold. The sponsor of the bowl itself gets three hours, but they get their name on the bowl all year long so there are additional advertising benefits to sponsoring the game.

The bowl committee gets to decide who plays in the game. Bowden might even know some people personally who sit on the two bowl committees in Alabama. The politics are very important at this point.

I think the question is, who would draw more locals to the game?

That’s pretty good insight, GP1. I hadn’t considered that there are probably different selection criteria between the upper-tier and lower-tier bowls. In recent years, often the lower-tier bowls have been forced to take teams from the MAC/Sunbelt/C-USA, many of which do not travel particularly well. So getting the locals to buy tickets is probably a bigger factor in these bowls. Now I see why TB would be popular in this scenario.