thoughts on NIU and season

[zipboy]

Some lively posts this week. The best thing about the NIU game was the half time interview with Rich Reliford. Nice job Joe Dunn. Glad to see Rich is coming back for the Marshall game. If there ever was an overachiever, it was him.

Deep down, I was hoping JD would have pulled off a miracle and led the Zips to a championship. Reality has now set in after the 1st month of the season. Our talent level across the board is jus not where it needs to be. To JD's credit, I have never heard him bad mouth the players for talent level. I remember when John Cooper started at columbus state, he bemoaned what he inherited. It showed his character right away. JD always talks about fundamentals and learning the system as what Akron needs to work on. Who knows what he really thinks. That said, the team is still underperforming from where they should be. I am sure a brand new system has something to do with that. Bad habits are also hard to break. Missed tackles, blown coverages, missed blocks have been all too commonplace. The league is still pretty piss poor this year. Another 3 or 4 wins are entirely possible and should be expected. I will still have fun going to the Bowl watching Frye and hopefully seeing some players develop.

With respect to Frye, it is hard to judge this year. He is big enough, has the desire, had a good arm, and is smart. If he plays well at the combine, he will do fine in the draft. Last year I heard everywhere from 3rd to 5th round. Given that MAC players always slip, he probably would have been a late 4th or early 5th round pick. If he stays injury free, he does not hurt his chances.

Last question, is the O Line or the receivers or both who are helping Frye get beat up. Sometimes on the 3 step drop, people just bust right through. Other times, it seems that Charlie holds the ball for a long time. Given what I have seen him do in the past, I have to believe that the WRs can't get open. Another question, Johnny Long loses his redshirt against VA. Is he playing?

Should be a good game against Buffalo. Zips need some wins. It seemed like forever to go from 2-9 to 5-6 every year. Winning is contagious. We need some Ws over the next 3 weeks.

[Captain Kangaroo]

Last question, is the O Line or the receivers or both who are helping Frye get beat up. Sometimes on the 3 step drop, people just bust right through. Other times, it seems that Charlie holds the ball for a long time. Given what I have seen him do in the past, I have to believe that the WRs can't get open.

Another question, Johnny Long loses his redshirt against VA. Is he playing?

In JD's press conference note...a very informative feature on GoZips.com...JD stated that NIU's corners jammed our WR's at the line of scrimmage. The WR's had a tough time running their routes. I thought that was pretty insightful.

I'm no redshirt expert, but I believe a Fr. can play in the first 3 weeks but still be redshirted. I'm banking on Long being a Fr. next season...and a very good one at that. The film they showed of him at signing day was the most impressive of all the 2003 recruits.

[Guest Guest_Zip]

So get off the OLine's backs