The odds

[ZachTheZip]

Here's the opening odds on MAC games for week two. As far as I can tell, we're currently the biggest D-1A underdog in the nation.Minnesota by 11.0 over Miami(OH)Temple by 2.0 over BuffaloOSU by 28.5 over AkronCMU by 6.0 over ToledoMichigan State by 15.0 over Bowling GreenBall State by 7.0 over EMUKentuky by 14.0 over Can't StateWMU by 3.0 over IndianaOhio by 4.0 over LA-LafayetteLooks like we're the longshot.

[UAZipster0305]

Just goes to show the kind of respect the MAC currently has. I expect Miami, Akron, Can't, and Ohio all to beat those spreads. WMU versus Indiana should be a great game!Great OOC win by BGSU over Minnesota. I also hate to say it, but Can't's win at Iowa State was also quality. A good weekend for the MAC and very poor for the BIG Ten IMO.Cheers.

[Buckzip]

So, what was the spread for Appy State and UM?

[zip81]

So, what was the spread for Appy State and UM?

I don't think there was a line...for the same reason there wasn't one for OSU/YSU.I guess you can bet on everything in Vegas except for D I-AA football.

[Buckzip]

So, what was the spread for Appy State and UM?

I don't think there was a line...for the same reason there wasn't one for OSU/YSU.I guess you can bet on everything in Vegas except for D I-AA football.

I never knew that DIAA games weren't involved.

[Zips fan]

Minnesota by 11.0 over Miami(OH)Temple by 2.0 over BuffaloOSU by 28.5 over AkronCMU by 6.0 over ToledoMichigan State by 15.0 over Bowling GreenBall State by 7.0 over EMUKentuky by 14.0 over Can't StateWMU by 3.0 over IndianaOhio by 4.0 over LA-Lafayette

I would take:Miami-I think they are equal to BGSU and Minny is down this yearAkron-I expect Akron to play strong Toledo-neither team played well this past weekendBGSU-great running team with strong o-lineEMU-they play everyone close-they just don't winCan't-no respect after their win at Iowa StateIndiana-WMU defense looked real bad against WVU and Indiana looked good week 1Ohio-MAC teams should beat Sun Belt teams but who knows.

[Zipgrad1990]

OSU by 28.5 over Akron

It looks like this point spread was based on what YSU did against OSU and the feeling that Akron is only slightly better then YSU.I would put the point spread at 21 if I was putting a line on this game, so if I was in Vegas and betting on this game I'd take Akron.

[RowdyZip]

Latest line i've seen has pushed to Akron +30. :blink:

[Cicero]

I would take those odds. OSU is not a team that will run the score up on their opponents. If the game gets lopsided we will see the second and third string players come in.

[Class of 82]

Keep in mind the purpose of odds in the first place. They are less a prediction of the ultimate score than a mechanism for making sure wagers aren't concentrated solely on one team and thereby exposing bookies to too much risk of a huge loss. (Yes, they also might have a huge windfall, but that would be gambling and bookies are NOT gamblers, but rather businessmen who make their living draining the juice from people who ARE gamblers.) Personally, I could care less how many points it takes to get some cigar-slobbering yahoo in Las Vegas to lay a few bones on Akron. I'm more interested in seeing the Zips shock the world. Brutus

[skip-zip]

First of all, I believe that the no-point-spread on the YSU/OSU and Michigan/App. State games has nothing to do with them being 1-AA vs. 1-A teams. When a game looks very lopsided, they just don't put a spread on it.With that said, I wished that I took Arkansas State gettting 39 against Texas. They only lost by 8 points. So, the Sun Belt is asking for more respect this week too. Does anyone get the feeling that the gap between the BCS schools and the "lesser" conferences is closing even further?

[skip-zip]

My OSU vs. Akron analysis:I know some people that were at the YSU game, and here's what I'm thinking.Tressel kept insisting on running the ball, even though they were having difficulty. YSU came prepared to stop the run. And according to some friends, OSUs new offensive line was having difficulty pushing YSUs defensive front. But eventually, OSU started throwing more, and had some success. That won't happen against us. If they have to throw, our DBs are the most talented part of our team. They won't have as much success airing it out as they did against the Penguins.

[Big Zip]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this vaunted Akron defense that everyone speaks so highly of gave up 14 points to what some considered the worst football team in the country. The offense with its hurry up and line up then look to the sidelines with 18 seconds on the play clock only scored 16. If it wasn't for the int for a touchdown this game is a nail biter. If I were a betting man I'd take OSU and lay the 30. The only thing that will stop the diff from being that large will be OSU not running it up. Now before you go all "OSU lover" on me -- understand you can talk to anyone who knows me and I am the first one to bash OSU every chance I get. The problem is this Zips team looked far worse to me than anyone else on this board Saturday night. I hope I'm wrong and will say so if I am, but a month of looking at CK's prediction on the front page of this -- I was expecting a lot more. CK I was wondering how you were feeling about your prediction based on what you saw the first game. I'm guessing you can't be too terribly happy. Am I the only realist on this board or was I watching a different game. I can usually rely on GP1 to see the real side of these games, but his review was even up beat. I'm looking forward to seeing what JD does with the team this week and the supposed largest improve teams are supposed to see throughout the year -- week 1 to week 2. All I know is I think the 3-3-5 is a weak system at best and drives me crazy watching it in the stands. Akron's third down conversion rating was 2 of 12 while Army's was 7 of 18 that is just freaking ridiculous. When you are allowing that many third conversions I find it quite difficult to praise the defense the way most at the game have.

[skip-zip]

Big Zip. I'm not going to bash you for being an OSU lover. I know that's not the case. But, what game were you watching Saturday night at Browns Stadium?Army's offense only scored 7 points, and that was early in the game. The other 7 points came on a blocked punt with only a few seconds left in the game. And I wasn't one of the people making these grand predictions. I was only stating that if OSU can't run the football, and must throw, they are going against the biggest strength of our team...our defensive secondary.Sure, I have many question marks about this team, such as our inability to convert 3rd downs, and our lack of a pass rush. But overall, with all of the new players we have, I am at least confident that we can have a .500 team, as I predicted during the summer.

[zip81]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this vaunted Akron defense that everyone speaks so highly of gave up 14 points to what some considered the worst football team in the country. The offense with its hurry up and line up then look to the sidelines with 18 seconds on the play clock only scored 16. If it wasn't for the int for a touchdown this game is a nail biter. If I were a betting man I'd take OSU and lay the 30. The only thing that will stop the diff from being that large will be OSU not running it up. Now before you go all "OSU lover" on me -- understand you can talk to anyone who knows me and I am the first one to bash OSU every chance I get. The problem is this Zips team looked far worse to me than anyone else on this board Saturday night. I hope I'm wrong and will say so if I am, but a month of looking at CK's prediction on the front page of this -- I was expecting a lot more. CK I was wondering how you were feeling about your prediction based on what you saw the first game. I'm guessing you can't be too terribly happy. Am I the only realist on this board or was I watching a different game. I can usually rely on GP1 to see the real side of these games, but his review was even up beat. I'm looking forward to seeing what JD does with the team this week and the supposed largest improve teams are supposed to see throughout the year -- week 1 to week 2. All I know is I think the 3-3-5 is a weak system at best and drives me crazy watching it in the stands. Akron's third down conversion rating was 2 of 12 while Army's was 7 of 18 that is just freaking ridiculous. When you are allowing that many third conversions I find it quite difficult to praise the defense the way most at the game have.

Actually Big Zip, I think the special teams gave up that last TD with the blocked punt.Can't pin that one on the D.

[Big Zip]

Correction -- 7 points -- wow the barley and hops must have really been clouding my thoughts two days later. Still not very impressed with the defenses inability to stop Army on third down. If Army is the worst team in the country -- it doesn't bode well for next week.

[GP1]

I can usually rely on GP1 to see the real side of these games, but his review was even up beat.

Thanks....I guess. I don't know if it was up beat as much as just a good feeling that we took care of business. 1-0 is a Hell of a lot better than our usual 0-1. I thought I handed out some good criticism and things that need to change. I guess people read into things what they want. The final score Saturday should have been 27-7.OSU didn't run up the score on YSU because the D-Coodinator for OSU is the brother of the YSU head coach and sweater vest Jim was the coach at YSU. JT also does not typically run the score up on other teams. Had they wanted to, they could have easily put up 50 on YSU. My brother told me OSU had their second team players playing in the second series.Let's assume that Akron puts up 14 this weekend. OSU has to score 45 to cover 30. That's really close. I don't see OSU scoring more than 45 on Akron as they probably don't want to show what they really have. The only question I have is how much can Akron score. If OSU wanted to, they could open up their play book and keep Akron from scoring more than seven points, but they won't do that either. Tressel doesn't need to run the score up on non-BCS teams to get high rankings. OSU gets handed out high rankings by the media like priests hand out communion wafers.....one at a time, but by the dozens. It's more important to them to hide what they can do and get back up players some playing time than killing us. Can we make one FG to get 17 is the real question. Keep in mind that trends matter more than anything and we only put up 14 in 2001 against what was a bad OSU team. I'd wait to see if all the OSU honks can drive the line up to 30.5 or 31 prior to betting this game. If Akron gets 31, take the Zips. That's my head saying that. My heart says C. Jackson scampers for a late score and the Zips win 21-20.

[skip-zip]

Listen. I'm a huge Zips fan, and I am not going to predict a great upset, but I will just say this....Much like 2001, this is a good time to play the Suckeyes. Although, I wish maybe we were playing them with a more experienced offense.Anyway, I like the idea of playing against a rookie QB, and an OL that many said last week was not gettting a good push against a 1-AA team's defensive front. These are good signs. Because, let's face it, our only chance to win is to keep the score as low as possible.

[ziptrumpet87]

Much like 2001, this is a good time to play the Suckeyes. Although, I wish maybe we were playing them with a more experienced offense.Anyway, I like the idea of playing against a rookie QB, and an OL that many said last week was not gettting a good push against a 1-AA team's defensive front.

and they did have an unfortunate injury to a DE who is from Akron (don't recall the name)

[zipsbandman]

Based on how we did against army offensively, we are going to get our ears kicked in. That along with our field goal kicking, I will be shocked if we score at all. Unfortunately, we are going up against Jim Tressel and not Lloyd Carr.

[zipboy]

Usually I am all gung ho about an upset when we play these top 10 teams. And I have always been wrong. What I do feel though would be a huge disappointment if this game is not competitive. Generally when a top 15-20 team plays a good MAC team, the difference is around 2 TDs. If this game ends up a 30 point rout, either osu is top 5 material and/or we are going 4-8. I like our chances to be good this year. If we don't turn the ball over and play well on special teams, I don't know why we should not be in this game in the 4th quarter. This is the week to think big, our chance to earn respect. I am cautiously optimistic for this game. Mentally, our guys won't melt. If they play mediocre and we play well, not perfect, but well, this should be a game. Come on Zips!

[zip81]

A good MAC team plays an upper tier Big Ten team better than a Big Ten bottom dweller.

[CaddyDaddy]

I agree, that the spread is to high in this game. Akron when into the Shoe' in 2001 and only loss by 14 points.

[Still-a-zip]

Here is my analysis of the Army game and upcoming OSU game.I don't believe the Zips played great, but pretty well on Saturday. There were are a lot of things though that can definitely be built upon from Saturday. They just have to sure up a few things and they have a lot of potential for this year. A couple things I noticed: One the defense flies around and attacks. Sometimes though that can hurt by players getting out of position trying to be a hero. That is understandable for the first game with everyone just wanting to hit another color jersey. They need to play through their responsibility. But the pursuit was unbelievable. The speed defensively will also cover some mistakes. DB are very solid. LB looked good and DL looked pretty decent. Biggest thing is they need to create some depth. There were a couple guys who did at DL and LB.One big point I wanted to make about Army's lone offensive TD. The defense was on the field for almost 11 or 12 minutes, basically. After Akron's first drive Army gets the ball then punts. Then the Zips go three and out. Army then drives the field before the 70 yd INT return. That will gas players itself. They then have to go right back out on the field and Army eventually scores. That first quarter of the first game is hard to prepare for both physically and mentally for players. One you can practice and condition hard all spring and summer but that first drive/ quarter emotionally and physically is just different and it drains you. However, they then settled down played hard and got some help from the offense to give them a rest. Defense is definitely is the strong point.Offensively is where they need some help. The Off. Coord. did a nice job getting Jacquemain in flow and feeling comfortable. They need to find some playmakers at WR. More talented teams will be able to sit on Jabari and take him out of the game. They need to stretch the defense to allow Kennedy, Allen, and Williams to be successful.I agree with everyone saying they need to have Williams on the field (as well as C. Jackson). They need to use Williams like they used B. Payne at the slot when B. Hendry took his job. And used N. Sparks when C. Frye took his spot. They are too good of athletes to have on the sidelines. Some young guys need to step up. The OL did a very nice job.I am not even going to touch on the kicking game. Jesus, they just need a lot of help, period.Now everyone knows it is possible Akron can knock off OSU. Here are the 10 biggest keys:1. Do the players expect to win or do they think they can possibly win. They need to expect to win not think.2. Are they mature and experienced enough to ignore the crowd behind them. It can be intimidating, but ultimately it doesn't matter who or how many are in those stands. Each one needs to take a moment before the game grasp the crowd, appreciate it and put it behind them. It is an ol' cliche, but true. The field is still only 120 yards long and 52 yards wide. Don't be in aw of the stadium or any of the players. (The coaches should have them all watch the Mich/App St game).If they can't do those 2 things it is already over.3. Limit the mistakes. They are going to make mistakes, but need to minimize them.4. Take care of the football. Do not turn it over. I think Jacquemain will do a nice job of this.5. OSU is going to have some big plays. Turn the page and move on. You aren't going to shut them down. Their going to have their share of big plays.6. Control the line of scrimmage both offensively and defensively. Defensively we need to play in their backfield. It will shut down their run game. Db wise I'll take my chances with their inexperience at WR.7. Again play through your responsibilities. Don't try to be a hero. 8. Defensively fly around. It is contageous. Have a party at the ball every play. Mix it up before the snap with the inexperienced QB to confuse him.9. The weather. I know it sounds crazy. The cooler it is, the better for the Zips. They need to stay fresh and rotate bodies. The hotter it is the faster the guys will get gassed. The difference between the Buckeyes number ones and the Zips no. 1's is not much. Even though most of you won't agree. The difference is the depth that they will shuffle in.10. Keep it close into the fouth quarter. Then anything can happen.If the Zips can do these things expect a win! If they can't expect a loss.Finally, sorry for such a long post. It was my first post and I still have bitter taste in my mouth after the first Ohio State game. Good to be a part of this great site and lets let the people of Ohio know there is another team in Ohio!As the players of App. St. know there is no greater sound than 100,000 people SILENT!Go Zips!