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Game 2—Pittsburgh Panthers


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One thing is for certain. If the Zips play well enough to hold a lead later into the 4th quarter, they won't have the luxury of facing perhaps the WORST 2-minute drill I have ever witnessed firsthand. From the mountain of ineptitude displayed by Chryst and his staff that Saturday, that had to be the pinnacle.

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Ok, I love relishing in our victory in Pittsburgh last year. That capped off a great weekend road trip for me. Maybe the most fun I have ever had on a Zips road trip (the win helped).

But please, lets return to a little bit of reality. Making any kind of conclusion because Hundley rushed for more yard than Conner in last year's game is just ridiculous.

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Did you watch Pitt at all in 2014? Not good. Zips win was not a surprise given how good our D was and how poorly, in general they played in 2014. There isn't much to indicate a drastic improvement for 2015, so I expect a competitive game. Narduzzi may improve things, but that takes time. Yea, TB out coached Christ, but coaching can only do so much.

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They had James Connor last year, too. Not impressed.

Connor wasn't even the best running back on the field that day. He was handcuffed by predictable play calling (run, run, pass), and an awful display at the quarterback position. If we were a better team last year, we could have killed them. I expect two totally different game plans this year. Very intriguing matchup. Will be fun to see if the new AD will reach out to the local community to garner support.

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They are having fireworks after the Pitt game. I applaud the effort in doing something different with the marketing to get more butts in seats. Now they need to spread the word so more people know about it.

They've been advertising this game like crazy on ESPN Cleveland, WKNR. UA is sponsoring the "Countdown to Kickoff" for the Cleveland Browns' home opener which is the day after our home opener. I listen to WKNR on the way home and I've heard about 3-4 live reads, and I've also a commercial advertising it through other programs as well. Aaron Goldhammer has been hamming it up.

I imagine this type of advertising is expensive, but it's much better than what they've been doing the last couple of years. I wonder if it'll have any impact. Props to this kind of exposure.

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You won't have to worry about anyone running crazy on is this year.our defense is power 5 worthy

Even a power 5 worthy defense can give up big yards on the ground if it's on the field all day, especially to a quality opponent. Pitt, with Conner, Boyd and what I believe is a much better coaching staff, surely seems to fall into this category.

As good as I believe the 2015 Zip Zefense will be, the onus is on the offense to minimize turnovers and move the ball more consistently than in 2014.

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Just a note about the advertising.

Most everyone knows that Akron has a University, and a stadium, and a football team. Announcing that there is a college football game between Akron and an opponent in September is not creating any new awareness, no matter how many times you beat it into the brains of NE Ohioans. And we had fireworks at the Rubber Bowl too.

The only question is.....will the PITTSBURGH PANTHERS as the opponent draw in any additional NE Ohio college football fans?

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Is this the first time we've had fireworks following a game at the new stadium? The RubberDucks have a nice fireworks show every Friday night & they nearly sell Canal Park out. Most people aren't there because they're passionate about minor league baseball. They just want a nice night out with the family. Fireworks help a lot.

The Zips need to learn a lot from the RubberDucks.

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The problem with fireworks is that they don't look that cool at 3 in the afternoon after a 3 hour game...

And my point about advertising is that if it's apparently inexpensive to do it in a big way, where tens-of-thousands of people are getting exposed to it on a daily basis, why haven't we been doing it. There are people both on this board and at the U that have made the contention that college athletics is about exposure for the university. Advertising for weeks in advance on the No. 1 leader in sports' local branch seems like a pretty good way to get that exposure.

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+1 for fireworks. It brought fans to the games when the Pirates stunk.

I think it's a hard comparison between Akron football fans vs Pittsburgh baseball fans. It amazes me how effective any giveaway at a Pirates game is...like you wrote, even when they stunk.

...if it's apparently inexpensive to do...

Demographics. AM radio is inexpensive for a reason.

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The problem with fireworks is that they don't look that cool at 3 in the afternoon after a 3 hour game...

And my point about advertising is that if it's apparently inexpensive to do it in a big way, where tens-of-thousands of people are getting exposed to it on a daily basis, why haven't we been doing it. There are people both on this board and at the U that have made the contention that college athletics is about exposure for the university. Advertising for weeks in advance on the No. 1 leader in sports' local branch seems like a pretty good way to get that exposure.

I bet all of this advertising has to do with the adidtion of Lawrence Burns. He's the new VP of advancement and helped Toledo get into Progressive Field and the Cleveland Cavaliers. He also does the radio show to promote the University. He's definitely a marketing wiz.

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I bet all of this advertising has to do with the adidtion of Lawrence Burns. He's the new VP of advancement and helped Toledo get into Progressive Field and the Cleveland Cavaliers. He also does the radio show to promote the University. He's definitely a marketing wiz.

How long has this guy been at the helm ? Quite a resume

https://www.uakron.edu/alumni-friends/vp-bio.dot

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