Zips Solutions...look no further than the bench

[Guest OLDSCHOOLZIP]

As we head into today's likely thrashing at the hands of UVA, I have a feeling we are going to once again be reminded of the talent gap that really exists between our starters and the majority of teams we are going to play this year's starters. As a loyal Zips fan who just discovered this site recently, and having been to ALL home football games over the past eight years as well as ALL of the off-season scrimmages (yeah, even the ones that were supposed to only be for families ), I feel like I know this Zips team, and feel like the guys we are playing right now are leaving alot to be desired, and our Zips coaching staff is leaving a lot on the sidelines. As a long time football fan and having been involved in the game all of my life, I feel like I know talent, and here are a few guys riding the pines who I feel could help us out....

QB- Obviously Charlie is the franchise and he is the ONLY Qb who could give us a chance to win this year, but as for next year I don't think we should just hand the job over to Getsy. You may think I'm talking about Jabari Arthur, but I'm not. I'm talking about John Ferguson. The kid has an absolute cannon for an arm and from what I've seen has great touch on his long ball. He can get the ball all over the field...Jabari and Getsy cannot.

RB- I think we saw last week what exactly we were leaving on the bench. Biggs is the man, he's shifty, runs hard, has speed, and makes guys miss, something we've lacked in a running back in recent history (or since pre-injury Brandon Payne). Biggs is now the starter, as he should be, but I don't think there's any reason why Jerrell Ringer should even be still backing him up, regardless of his "work ethic" or whatever. He simply has no talent and runs timid. A guy I really liked in the spring was Frank "the Tank" Berchie. He's similar in build to Biggs and runs the ball like every down is his last. Biggs is going to need a blow every now and then, and instead of giving us a guaranteed one to two yard gain (if we don't lose yards) by giving the rock to Jerell, let's see what Berchie can do.

WR- We have a pretty good trio in there right now with Hix, JMont, and Jabari, but I'd like to see Josh Smith get more reps. He's got great size and very dependable hands, and would make a great short yardage possession reciever (unlike Goodwin who let's the ball and the game slip through his fingers). Also true frosh Johnny Long looked like a real player in the preseason scrimmages....I think he could definately help us out this year but maybe it'd be better to give him the redshirt.

TE- The coaches finally looked to the bench and gave the big kid Kasparek the start last week over Basch, and it paid off. 40 yard screen showed Kasparek has speed, and he can block better than Basch. Kudos to the staff on that realization. Keep Basch on the bench.

OL- Unfortunately, the cupboard is pretty bare behind our starting five, which is sad considering they haven't played the best in the first two games. The staff needs to get out and find some JUCO's or it's going to be a long year next year for whoever starts at QB.

DL- two words: Jermaine Reid. There's no reason why this guy shouldn't be starting and he needs to be in there more than any other D-lineman. He's the only D-lineman we have besides Lefall with some size to him and he's got speed and a competitive desire to match it. Put White or Gonzo on the bench and give the reps to Reid. Also, true frosh Doug Williams looked good in the preseason and should be good down the road.

LB- Here's a shocking thought: Chase Blackburn is way overrated. The guy is stiff, misses tackles, and is slow. Get him out of there. His backup Doug Sutton, also a senior, looked like three times the player in the preseason and has done more and made less mistakes in his limited playing time this year. Stick Blackburn on the bench and use him as maybe a spot rusher. He looks great physically, but he's just not a player. Diontre Earl is our only good linebacker, as Cam Yeow has looked absolutely horrible in the first two games as well. Jay Rohr isn't the most gifted physically, but he busts his ass everytime he's in and there's something to be said for that. Also, two guys that caught my eye in the spring and preseason but haven't seent the field for whatever reasons are true frosh Kevin Grant and redshirt frosh Brandon Butler. Grant is an absolute physical speciman, at 6'2 230 I believe he benches close to 350 (yeah as a freshman) and he's quick as lightening. Why isn't he playing. As for Butler, I'd never heard his name before the scrimmages, but when he was in there it seemed like he was in on every tackle, flying to the ball and making big hits. From what I understand he's a walk-on, but I have no problem with getting some defensive help for free, do you?

DB- The staff FINALLY played Chevin Pace last Saturday. I've been screaming from my seat since last year to play this Miami kid, because the guy is an aboslute headhunter who knows how to make plays and gets to the ball. The staff finally gave him his shot last Saturday and he repaid them with a huge game. With that said, Steve Ageyman sucks. Give some of the younger DB's a chance, especially another Miami guy, Yamari Dixon. The guy has made huge plays on special teams and with his speed I know he could do alot for us at corner. Dionte Henry has shown bright spots, but there have been a couple of plays (like that screen to his side last week ) where I have wondered why in the world the guy was starting. Reggie Corner has been the most solid player in the secondary we've had so far this season and he needs more reps. Jason Nedd, after working at RB in the spring, is also back at DB and he I think could help us. Where has he been?

Just my thoughts from taking in alot of Zips games and practices. Take what I say however you want, it's just one man's opinion. The best players aren't getting on the field on Saturdays.

[Guest ***GUEST_racer]

51-0 !!!!!!!!! thank god 1 billion chinese people don't care about the zips score.

ck this is not a personal attack on you ;so don't take it as that.im just here to remind you that all i heard from you was last year was how winters offense could not get yards when you need them, or points when you need them. well now not only we can't get yards, or points when we need them/ we can't get them at all. that's not to say i was a fan of owens, but the offense was never /ever this bad under winters.i don't want to hear who we were playing because they played alllot of top 25 teams when winters was there ,and we had no problem scoring points.the d was always bad, and nothing has changed there.hopefully having a game soon on thursady will be a good thing; when you get your butt kicked this bad. i hope things can turn around at Can't if not it will be a long season because marshall,n.ill look like huge uphill battles.

[Zipsrifle]

Oh man, that was ugly.

I guess I'll with the good things that happened today.

1) I was able to get some cool new clothes at the store.

2) I washed and waxed my car while listening to the game.

3) It was sunny and 75F in Michigan.

4) Al Groh was generous enough to tell his guys the let up after the first half and to start putting in his backups early.

Now, on to my other thoughts.

1) Frye was way off today 10-23. I don't know if it was from the D pressure (4 Sacks), receivers dropping the ball or just sloppy play on his part, but from what was pointed out prior to the game, he probably should have had much better numbers. I hope he isn't giving up already. With that said, thank God he is still here 'cause Jabari didn't impress.

2) I am so frustrated with the O-line. Frye was either running for his life or Biggs/Ringer were getting it in the backfield. I believe we had -tive run yardage into the 4th Quarter and ended up with 6 total rushing yards for the game. Seemed that when we did run it, we got 0 or -ve on the play. I've got to give Hendry more credit for the past few years 'cause he got all those yards with these guys in front of him. From the sounds of it Biggs was doing a pretty good job of breaking tackles and gave some good second efforts but there were too many defenders to shake and he eventually was overwhelmed.

3) WAY to many mistakes. I think at one point, we got the ball around our own 30 and ended up punting from the endzone because of penalites and -ve yardage plays. What was the deal with clobbering Pearman twice on the punts when he called a fair catch? I wanted better punt coverage, but that was taken a little too far. We really needed to have our heads screwed on straight to compete in this one but that was definately not the case.

4) I don't know who said that Virginia was a 3 yards and a cloud of dust, but they were running all over us today. I think Lundy had the two longest runs of his career today. At times it sounded like we could hold them, but once every 4 downs things would break down and would get what they needed. In addition, when we had them at their own 4, they just busted out for a 13 yard gain....WTF! I think it only took them 3 plays to get across midfield. Sounded like the secondary made a lot of tackles on the running plays too but I guess I wasn't too suprised by this. For having the "Core" of the defense back, this was not impressive.

5) We were way out of our league today. I'm pretty sure the UVA's 2nd team would have easily beaten our first team today. I'm having a hard time believing that our guys are that bad. I know that we lost our offensive threats and took a hit in the D secondary, but how could we hang with Wisconsin last year and get blown away so bad this year? Seems like we've taken a step backwards with the O-line and D-line and linebackers from last year.

6) To finish on a positive note, sounded like Agyeman had a pretty good game today. I heard his name called a lot. Biggs got a lot of good comments from the anouncers too about how he was shaking a lot of tackles but there were too many Cavaliers around. Sullivan got a lot of practice today and Virginia didn't get to return many. I think that after the half, this was voluntary on UVA's part. I'm glad that the OOC games are over with and we can get on to MAC play.

[Guest Mastodon]

I'm glad that the OOC games are over with and we can get on to MAC play.

Amen! Us Marshall fans are glad too.

[Zipsrifle]

Well, outside of the Troy game, you guys are putting on a pretty good show. IMHO, going to runover everyone in the MAC this year except for the stumble on Nov. 3rd.

[Guest Guest]

Well, outside of the Troy game, you guys are putting on a pretty good show. IMHO, going to runover everyone in the MAC this year except for the stumble on Nov. 3rd. 

Sounds good to me. If we have to stumble during MAC play I'd rather it be during practice.

P.S. Marshall plays Akron on the 5th

[Zipsrifle]

DAMN! That's the second time my Zips wallpaper background has screwed me on that date.

[Guest OLDSCHOOLZIP]

As we head into today's likely thrashing at the hands of UVA, I have a feeling we are going to once again be reminded of the talent gap that really exists between our starters and the majority of teams we are going to play this year's starters. As a loyal Zips fan who just discovered this site recently, and having been to ALL home football games over the past eight years as well as ALL of the off-season scrimmages (yeah, even the ones that were supposed to only be for families ), I feel like I know this Zips team, and feel like the guys we are playing right now are leaving alot to be desired, and our Zips coaching staff is leaving a lot on the sidelines. As a long time football fan and having been involved in the game all of my life, I feel like I know talent, and here are a few guys riding the pines who I feel could help us out....

QB- Obviously Charlie is the franchise and he is the ONLY Qb who could give us a chance to win this year, but as for next year I don't think we should just hand the job over to Getsy. You may think I'm talking about Jabari Arthur, but I'm not. I'm talking about John Ferguson. The kid has an absolute cannon for an arm and from what I've seen has great touch on his long ball. He can get the ball all over the field...Jabari and Getsy cannot.

RB- I think we saw last week what exactly we were leaving on the bench. Biggs is the man, he's shifty, runs hard, has speed, and makes guys miss, something we've lacked in a running back in recent history (or since pre-injury Brandon Payne). Biggs is now the starter, as he should be, but I don't think there's any reason why Jerrell Ringer should even be still backing him up, regardless of his "work ethic" or whatever. He simply has no talent and runs timid. A guy I really liked in the spring was Frank "the Tank" Berchie. He's similar in build to Biggs and runs the ball like every down is his last. Biggs is going to need a blow every now and then, and instead of giving us a guaranteed one to two yard gain (if we don't lose yards) by giving the rock to Jerell, let's see what Berchie can do.

WR- We have a pretty good trio in there right now with Hix, JMont, and Jabari, but I'd like to see Josh Smith get more reps. He's got great size and very dependable hands, and would make a great short yardage possession reciever (unlike Goodwin who let's the ball and the game slip through his fingers). Also true frosh Johnny Long looked like a real player in the preseason scrimmages....I think he could definately help us out this year but maybe it'd be better to give him the redshirt.

TE- The coaches finally looked to the bench and gave the big kid Kasparek the start last week over Basch, and it paid off. 40 yard screen showed Kasparek has speed, and he can block better than Basch. Kudos to the staff on that realization. Keep Basch on the bench.

OL- Unfortunately, the cupboard is pretty bare behind our starting five, which is sad considering they haven't played the best in the first two games. The staff needs to get out and find some JUCO's or it's going to be a long year next year for whoever starts at QB.

DL- two words: Jermaine Reid. There's no reason why this guy shouldn't be starting and he needs to be in there more than any other D-lineman. He's the only D-lineman we have besides Lefall with some size to him and he's got speed and a competitive desire to match it. Put White or Gonzo on the bench and give the reps to Reid. Also, true frosh Doug Williams looked good in the preseason and should be good down the road.

LB- Here's a shocking thought: Chase Blackburn is way overrated. The guy is stiff, misses tackles, and is slow. Get him out of there. His backup Doug Sutton, also a senior, looked like three times the player in the preseason and has done more and made less mistakes in his limited playing time this year. Stick Blackburn on the bench and use him as maybe a spot rusher. He looks great physically, but he's just not a player. Diontre Earl is our only good linebacker, as Cam Yeow has looked absolutely horrible in the first two games as well. Jay Rohr isn't the most gifted physically, but he busts his ass everytime he's in and there's something to be said for that. Also, two guys that caught my eye in the spring and preseason but haven't seent the field for whatever reasons are true frosh Kevin Grant and redshirt frosh Brandon Butler. Grant is an absolute physical speciman, at 6'2 230 I believe he benches close to 350 (yeah as a freshman) and he's quick as lightening. Why isn't he playing. As for Butler, I'd never heard his name before the scrimmages, but when he was in there it seemed like he was in on every tackle, flying to the ball and making big hits. From what I understand he's a walk-on, but I have no problem with getting some defensive help for free, do you?

DB- The staff FINALLY played Chevin Pace last Saturday. I've been screaming from my seat since last year to play this Miami kid, because the guy is an aboslute headhunter who knows how to make plays and gets to the ball. The staff finally gave him his shot last Saturday and he repaid them with a huge game. With that said, Steve Ageyman sucks. Give some of the younger DB's a chance, especially another Miami guy, Yamari Dixon. The guy has made huge plays on special teams and with his speed I know he could do alot for us at corner. Dionte Henry has shown bright spots, but there have been a couple of plays (like that screen to his side last week ) where I have wondered why in the world the guy was starting. Reggie Corner has been the most solid player in the secondary we've had so far this season and he needs more reps. Jason Nedd, after working at RB in the spring, is also back at DB and he I think could help us. Where has he been?

Just my thoughts from taking in alot of Zips games and practices. Take what I say however you want, it's just one man's opinion. The best players aren't getting on the field on Saturdays.

All of these guys are the reason I think we could've been 8-3 last year, and are heading for Detroit next season....

I'm interested on what some other Zips fan think about my comments made way back in September. Did you guys see the same things I did in the scrimmages and from guys coming off the bench, and does that make you excited for next season?

[Guest ***GUEST_RACER]

from first game of the season till the last. the defense did improve, and played well

against the lower mac school ucf, buffalo,ohio ect. to compete for a mac title the denfese still has a long way to go. against the top teams of the mac the marshalls, n.ill, and miami the defense could not really stop any of the them. the wr/ te i think is our best postion depth wise for nest year.i think long could be a real good wr if he gets some more pt. biggs is a stud and we have ringer as a decent backup. i have no idea what to expect about the oline. while the qb from pitt is no c.frye he is probably better than anyone we have right now. the big thing i see for next year w/l wise really depends on our mac schedule. i like our chances in any of the occ games. with the mac schedule up in the air it could mean a swing of two, to three wins, or losses. do we get any of ball state,wmu,cmu,eastern in our divison, or bg, toledo, n.ill? plus the three cross over games. if we have toledo, n ill, or bg is a big difference between any of the michigan schools, or ball state. unfortunately i think alott of of our sucess depends on what the mac decides.