Game 4—Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns

[RowdyZip]

Fantastic win. My optimism just went through the roof. Now that OU elephant...

[zippy_ua_00]

ULL had never scored less than 19 points at home......until tonight. GO ZIPS

[Dave in Green]

Just got home from an important date with the wife. Sorry to miss seeing a quality win like this one. It's exactly what the Zips needed going into MAC play. Looking forward to reading post-game analysis from those who got to watch the whole game. But my initial impression is that the Zips now have a realistic shot at a winning season and bowl bid as long as they keep improving and avoid major injuries at key positions.

[ZippyRulz]

331 yards for Woodson, 238 passing + 93 rushing. The 1 INT is on the receiver, not TW. He deserves a good look at starting next week!

Loved the quick/long isolation passes. Was this the first time for Milwee on the sideline? They may be on to something.

[ctmjbowes@sbcglobal.net]

Two great weeks in a row! Watched every minute online and really pleased with the team this week. Go Zips!

[UAZippers]

331 yards for Woodson, 238 passing + 93 rushing. The 1 INT is on the receiver, not TW. He deserves a good look at starting next week!

If Woodson doesn't start next week, Bowden has completely lost his mind.

[Dr Z]

If Woodson doesn't start next week, Bowden has completely lost his mind.

Woodson will start. He played well...and still has room for improvement. He can still play better.

Great victory, congratulations to the players and coaches. We expect great things from our D, but have only anticipated good things from our offense. Happy to see solid play from a vertical passing game in all parts of the field. Tonight, the passing game was a legitimate threat. Now we need to continue, and flourish. Nice job coach Milwee, good to have you down on the field.

[ZippyforPresident]

Just finished watching my alma mater play a complete football game in all three phases of the game against a perennial bowl team on the road whilst enjoying a Three Floyds Gumballhead and Jackie O's Pawpaw wheat. Today is a good day

[MDZip]

Woodson looked terrific against a quality team. Defense still looks championship quality and if the offense can keep this up who knows? Terrific win team came over to celebrate in the stands. Cody Grice literally came up into the stands. :-)

[skip-zip]

I'm elated tonight, and then have to read that this is a better win than the Pitt last year from a couple of posters?

Lets put this into perspective. It's a win against a parallel league, in some people's eyes, and we want to prove otherwise. We did our part. We got a good, quality win against a quality team from a weak conference.

However, this is not a win against an ACC team that was playing in front of 40k in an NFL stadium, and was a 21 point favorite.

[Dr Z]

Terrific win team came over to celebrate in the stands. Cody Grice literally came up into the stands. :-)

There are some photos at gozips.com of the team celebrating with the fans, and coach Milwee on the field!

http://www.gozips.com/sports/fball/2015-16/photos/0011/index

[Balsy]

I'm elated tonight, and then have to read that this is a better win than the Pitt last year from a couple of posters?

Lets put this into perspective. It's a win against a parallel league, in some people's eyes, and we want to prove otherwise. We did our part. We got a good, quality win against a quality team from a weak conference.

However, this is not a win against an ACC team that was playing in front of 40k in an NLF stadium, and was a 21 point favorite.

No it wasn't as note worthy as a victory against an ACC team, but there's a very good reason why I said this win may be more important than the win against Pitt Last season.

1) We didn't have a QB that has proven himself; I think we found one. Hopefully the two-year battle is finished.

2) The offensive play calling was TERRIBLE this season, the coaches seemed like they had no idea what they were doing; tonight it changed

3) WRs have looked clueless for a good portion of the past three games, tonight (though a little off) it looked like legitimate WRs were playing for the Zips.

4) We had a complete game going into conference play, which starts at home against the Bobkittens.

Last year the passing game against Pitt was almost non-existant. Kyle Pohl got pulled after lackluster QB play and poor decisions. TW13 didn't play much better. The Zips had defense, and a Pitt team that hadn't prepared adequately to stop Hundley. Yes the Pitt win was good, but I do think this is a more important win for the Zips. Last night was the first time they looked like the team that everyone predicted to finish second in the MAC East, and we won it without conservative play calling.

Time will tell of course, but hopefully this game sets the tone for the season.

[Dr Z]

The offensive play calling was terrible this season....tonight it changed

What changed? Be specific.

I said it last year, I'll say it again, we should have beat Pitt by 30 last year. That Pitt team was awful. Last nights Zips team would have done just that. Word is still out on the quality of this Cajun team to judge the level of upset this really was. Right now, I don't care, the Zips are on a two game win streak and playing some real football. Enjoy the ride.

WRs have looked clueless for a good portion of the past three games, tonight (though a little off) it looked like legitimate WRs were playing for the Zips.

Unfair asesment IMO. To group all the receivers together in evaluation is short sighted. I think we have a few receivers that don't fight for the ball enough, but I think we have enough receivers on this team to take advantage of their targets when the ball is delivered accurately, and on time. That was the difference.

[Blue & Gold]

Hey! Great press coverage... from the Lafayette paper, of course.

http://www.theadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/ul/2015/09/27/akron-qb-woodson-baffles-cajuns/72918406/

http://www.theadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/ul/2015/09/26/cajuns-fall-akron-35-14/72910300/

http://www.theadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/ul/tim-buckley/2015/09/26/buckley-breaks-down-uls-loss-akron/72882514/

[Balsy]

What changed? Be specific.

I said it last year, I'll say it again, we should have beat Pitt by 30 last year. That Pitt team was awful. Last nights Zips team would have done just that. Word is still out on the quality of this Cajun team to judge the level of upset this really was. Right now, I don't care, the Zips are on a two game win streak and playing some real football. Enjoy the ride.

The read-one and run. The bunched formations with a QB read-option, that was almost always a QB run. It looke like we went back to more of the spread lastnight, with 4 WR, 5 WR, putting the HB into a recieving position and draws. The play calling was considerably more aggressive than in both the Pitt and Oklahoma games. I thought we utilized the middle of the field more than throwing to the sidelines. One criticism that has been levied against Bowden and co. since the 2012 season, is the overly conservative play-calling when we have the lead. I like how we took shots down the field even with a lead. Now the caveat I'd have to my amateur observations, is that Lousiana seemed to give us those deep balls by bringing the safeties up?

[K92]

The read-one and run. The bunched formations with a QB read-option, that was almost always a QB run. It looke like we went back to more of the spread lastnight, with 4 WR, 5 WR, putting the HB into a recieving position and draws. The play calling was considerably more aggressive than in both the Pitt and Oklahoma games. I thought we utilized the middle of the field more than throwing to the sidelines. One criticism that has been levied against Bowden and co. since the 2012 season, is the overly conservative play-calling when we have the lead. I like how we took shots down the field even with a lead. Now the caveat I'd have to my amateur observations, is that Lousiana seemed to give us those deep balls by bringing the safeties up?

A fake hand off quarterback run is not read option.

[Balsy]

I know, but weren't we told in the preseason that we were going to try to run a read option?

[ZippyRulz]

Hey! Great press coverage... from the Lafayette paper, of course.

http://www.theadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/ul/2015/09/27/akron-qb-woodson-baffles-cajuns/72918406/

http://www.theadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/ul/2015/09/26/cajuns-fall-akron-35-14/72910300/

http://www.theadvertiser.com/story/sports/college/ul/tim-buckley/2015/09/26/buckley-breaks-down-uls-loss-akron/72882514/

Oh well, at least ohio.com has a link to the Marshall game story on the front page...

[K92]

I know, but weren't we told in the preseason that we were going to try to run a read option?

What the Zips were trying to do on offense in the first two games is a mystery to me. "Read One & Run" is not a real offense that anyone runs. I would like any of the esteemed posters on this forum explain to me the offense that we were running with Chapman and perhaps refer me to another college team that runs the same scheme so I can see what it is supposed to look like.

What I saw last night was mostly back to the no tempo spread. Most of Woodson's runs were not out of a formation with 11 personnel.

Disclaimer: My analysis is conducted in conjunction with the consumption of adult beverages.

[Dr Z]

explain to me the offense that we were running with Chapman and perhaps refer me to another college team that runs the same scheme so I can see what it is supposed to look like.

Look up your favorite team that runs any sort of veer. The playbook is not built around it. There was a plan to play without it too...see last night. I tried to start a thread about it here, but failed.

[K92]

Look up your favorite team that runs any sort of veer. The playbook is not built around it. There was a plan to play without it too...see last night.

But the veer is option football and I have not seen the Zips run option this year. Yes, I am bitter because the coaching staff threw the Pitt game away.

[Dr Z]

Yes, I am bitter because the coaching staff threw the Pitt game away.

If you truly believe that, does upsetting UL on the road make up for it? I would hope. If not, feel free to elaborate in the Pitt thread, or the Questioning Bowden thread. This thread should be for fans trying to enjoy last nights victory, our members deserve it. If they weren't running inside veers, then I don't think I'm educated on the subject enough to give you answer that will make you less bitter, but I tried.

[skip-zip]

Could it be that they were just running plays that they thought would work against ULL, and we shouldn't be overanalyzing it anymore than that right now?

[Dave in Green]

... Now the caveat I'd have to my amateur observations, is that Lousiana seemed to give us those deep balls by bringing the safeties up?

The outstanding game coverage in the Lafayette newspaper verifies what you saw. Coach Bowden looked at UL game film and saw that their secondary stacked up close to the line and dared you to beat them deep. The Zips had to go deep even though they hadn't previously shown much success at that. Chapman was quoted about the difficulty of getting his timing down with the first team after starting the season practicing with the third team. Last night it finally all clicked.

Having lived in Louisiana, I can tell you that LSU sucks the air out of sports coverage the same way tOSU does in Ohio. After living with that for awhile, I'm really impressed with the outstanding coverage in The Advertiser in the shadow of Baton Rouge and LSU. I hope everyone here reads all three stories Blue & Gold linked to above.

[K92]

If you truly believe that, does upsetting UL on the road make up for it? I would hope. If not, feel free to elaborate in the Pitt thread, or the Questioning Bowden thread. This thread should be for fans trying to enjoy last nights victory, our members deserve it. I don't think I'm educated on the subject enough to give you answer that will make you less bitter, but I tried.

I've got to get over it. No one likes a bitter bastard. (little Sam Kinison reference)

Last night was a joy. We were laughing, high fiving and having fun. It was totally unexpected, though. None of the people had much confidence in the Zips before the game started. We were all hopeful, of course, but expectations were tamped down.

Woodson looked good. Hopefully he continues to perform and improve. By all accounts I have heard, he is a good kid. I love seeing good kids have success. Kids like Hundley. What a workhorse. The determination that he displays on the field energizes the entire offense. Offensive linemen like blocking for a guy like him and his toughness rubs off on others.

I have been very critical of the coaching staff but last night they did a good job of putting our offensive personnel in the position to succeed. I have to wonder about moving Milwee downstairs. What was the rationale behind the move? I would love to know the details.

Defensively, I thought the secondary looked the best they have all year. By far. Helluva a game by Guiser. Add to that another typical JB1 performance. His chasedown of the Cajun QB on the far sideline was impressive. He is a heat seeking missile. Is he the best Zips LB of all time?

Defensive line is tough. I was expecting more pressure off the edge this year, but maybe it will come in league play. We need to stop the dumb penalties on defense. These are needlessly extending drives when the d could be getting off the field.

The next game is huge. Solich has owned Akron, winning the last 7 and 8-2 overall. Other than Can't, is there anyone you would rather beat than Ohio? A homecoming victory would be one to grow on, taking the team to 3-2 with Eastern on deck. The Eagles won't be a pushover like years past, but if the Zips can get a couple wins here it sets up quite a showdown in Wood County.

I apologize to Dr. Z and the rest of ZN.o for being Debbie Downer in my posts lately. I just want to win.