post game thoughts

[gozips19]

i normally don't do this but i need to get this off my chest after watching the game. feel free to chime in.1. i officially hate jac. i know the kid is young but he reminds me of a poor mans Getsy. what i mean is that he doesn't do anything bad just not good. the difference between the two is the mental aspect of the game. luke was much better at knowing the situations then jac will ever be. 2. the losses of mackey and big nate were huge todayi wont get into what #19 brings on the field as its already been talked about on previous threads but with out robinson manning the middle akron becomes an average mac front that gets tired quickly. they will do better in conference play but they need him back if they want to make a run at the mac crown. 3. it looked like the defense gave up todayyes i already pointed out that they were missing key players not to mention grant is still playing on one leg but the lack of effort towards the end of the third is inexcusable. i expect them to turn this around next week.4. there is some good to come out of thisthe o line played much better this week. they created holes for the running backs and gave jac plenty of time in the pocket.williams and allen are a great 1-2 punch and will continue to get better as the season goes on. jabri is a stud over all the game was there but it seemed like the life was taken out of this team in a three sires span. 1. the play to end the 1st half (enough said) 2. the 3 and out after creating the fist turn over of the game 3. the fake put called back on a phantom holding calllets just hope cj starts next week and the team comes out fired up for central!

[Sergeant Zip]

i know the kid is young but he reminds me of a poor mans Getsy. what i mean is that he doesn't do anything bad just not good.

He is good at holding onto the football too long.

[ZippyAlum]

It seems to me that whether or not CJ starts is all up to him. If he wants to lead this team he's got to follow team rules. It wasn't his play that kept him off the field. I will never understand how a player can make such bad decisions when he knows the team is counting on him.

[ZachTheZip]

1. i officially hate jac. i know the kid is young but he reminds me of a poor mans Getsy. what i mean is that he doesn't do anything bad just not good. the difference between the two is the mental aspect of the game. luke was much better at knowing the situations then jac will ever be.

Jac is an ideal back up QB. He won't cost us a lead, but he won't win the game either. He's the guy you put in when you have a nice lead and your starter needs some rest. His play style is not suited for a starter. I hate to say it, but he is destined to be a backup for as long as he still plays at Akron. (He may transfer next year with CJ, Rodgers, and Patterson all battling it out.

2. the losses of mackey and big nate were huge todayi wont get into what #19 brings on the field as its already been talked about on previous threads but with out robinson manning the middle akron becomes an average mac front that gets tired quickly. they will do better in conference play but they need him back if they want to make a run at the mac crown.

I agree here. Mackey's talent is replaceable, but his heart and leadership is not. With Nate out, our depth is non-existant. We need Nate back, and I sincereley hope Mackey gets his medical RS.

3. it looked like the defense gave up todayyes i already pointed out that they were missing key players not to mention grant is still playing on one leg but the lack of effort towards the end of the third is inexcusable. i expect them to turn this around next week.

The defense lost their will to play after seeing the offense fail constantly no matter how hard the defense tries to win. That has to suck. They are out there 45 minutes every game because of the offensive ineptitude. They are getting worn down already, and we still have 7 MAC games to play.

4. there is some good to come out of thisthe o line played much better this week. they created holes for the running backs and gave jac plenty of time in the pocket.williams and allen are a great 1-2 punch and will continue to get better as the season goes on. jabri is a stud

I agree that the line has improved drastically since the beginning of the season and will be solid during MAC play. If we can get just one other receiver to step up, we will have a much more potent offense, but as it stands, we have Jabari and Williams, and CJ if he plays, but that's it. It's not hard to figure out that you double or triple team Jabari, and send the rest to stuff the run. That takes away our entire offense. It has a lot to do with the playcalling, they won't throw deep to Fuqua or Williams or Owens, but they need top, because they are still unknown quantities that haven't been tested. Maybe one of them is as good as Harvey was, but we don't throw to them, so we just don't know.Now my own observations:Drive-killing penalties are becoming a common occurence under JD's tenure. I'm only willing to put up with it so much more of this crap before I call for his head.The coaches really need to grow some b@lls on offense. JD is supposed to be an offensive guy, but since the middle of last year we haven't seen a damn thing from them.One more bad QB game from either CJ or Jac and I'm starting Matt Rodgers chants during the home games. This fooling around has to stop, and it has to stop now in order to keep the season from ending like last year.

[uafan]

The defense gets worn out almo0st every game, and today was no exception. Too many 3 and outs followed by a poor punt that gives the opposition good field position. Letting the opponent start from the 40 instead of the 20 makes a huge difference.Add this to the fact that we are constantly outcoached at halftime, makes a bad situation worse! We have now been outscored 51 to 3 in the third quarter. That is not the players.And the special teams took a beating today. I go back to my earlier call for a special teams coach!

[74ZIP]

hang this one on Brookhart and his inability to amke up his mind about Jackson AND the ROTTEN DEFENSE!!!

[johnnyzip84]

I wouldn't be surprised if JD was holding Big Nate back (to get closeer to 100%) for the games that really matter. I was disappointed that the Zips let this one get out of control, but it's not that surprising. I will say this, though. We NEED to play a good game at Western, even if it doesn't count in the MAC standings. The psyche of this team is looking a little fragile right now to me. Let's hope CJ is back and playing like he did against IU.

[Quickzips]

I wouldn't be surprised if JD was holding Big Nate back (to get closeer to 100%) for the games that really matter. I was disappointed that the Zips let this one get out of control, but it's not that surprising. I will say this, though. We NEED to play a good game at Western, even if it doesn't count in the MAC standings. The psyche of this team is looking a little fragile right now to me. Let's hope CJ is back and playing like he did against IU.

THIS GAME mattered. There's a thread a little ways down about USF and how they got to where they are today (which is a team on the doorsteps of the top 10). They got to where they are today by winning games like this one against mediocre (sorry UConn fans, your team really isn't THAT great) BCS competition. This is the kind of game that can do one of two things. Establish that you are just a mid-level mid-major that can compete within the conference but is hopelessly lost against the big boys or it can establish that you are a team on the rise that can compete with the big conferences week in and week out. If you guys are satisfied with being a middle of the road MAC team that maybe will be in contention for the conference championship depending on the year then so be it, but I'm not. There is no reason that Akron shouldn't be able to beat the Indiana's and UConn's of the world.

[RACER]

with nate in the lineup livey can go back to playin de.i like mackey but we have guys who can pplay lb.we dont have a guy 315 6'5 who can plug the middle.i thought our o-line gave our qb time to throw.when the play breaks down jac gets in big trouble,ad does not have the speed to create plays.next week does count towards the tie breaker,and we have seen that come in play alott at the end of year.

[skip-zip]

I don't think anyone meant that this game doesn't matter in the sense in which some of you are taking it. Sure, it matters in our quest in achieve success greater than a MAC level. But, it has no bearing at all on our MAC record, which is really the most important thing in the short term.I have to disagree with those who say that John Mackey's leadership was missing today. I must add....his TACKLING ABILITY was missed BIG TIME.I know quite a few people who got the impression that the defense gave up. The offense still needs a lot of work. But, I'm really starting to get the feeling that the Williams/Allen combination is starting to put some life into the running game. JD let the Big East refs have it on several occassions. But, that call they made that ended the first half needs to be looked at by someone. That really took away our chance to take momentum into the locker room. Even if his forward progress was really stopped in-bounds (and it wasn't), then you have to call a personal foul on the defender who threw him out of bounds and into the photographers. That call was just unbelievable.We're still a .500 team at best this year, just like I originally predicted.

[Z.I.P.]

I wouldn't be surprised if JD was holding Big Nate back (to get closeer to 100%) for the games that really matter.  I was disappointed that the Zips let this one get out of control, but it's not that surprising.  I will say this, though.  We NEED to play a good game at Western, even if it doesn't count in the MAC standings.  The psyche of this team is looking a little fragile right now to me.  Let's hope CJ is back and playing like he did against IU.

THIS GAME mattered. There's a thread a little ways down about USF and how they got to where they are today (which is a team on the doorsteps of the top 10). They got to where they are today by winning games like this one against mediocre (sorry UConn fans, your team really isn't THAT great) BCS competition. This is the kind of game that can do one of two things. Establish that you are just a mid-level mid-major that can compete within the conference but is hopelessly lost against the big boys or it can establish that you are a team on the rise that can compete with the big conferences week in and week out. If you guys are satisfied with being a middle of the road MAC team that maybe will be in contention for the conference championship depending on the year then so be it, but I'm not. There is no reason that Akron shouldn't be able to beat the Indiana's and UConn's of the world.

QZ,If you check it out on Sunday afternoon, you'll find that two of the three teams Akron has lost to this year are ranked in the top-25: Ohio State and Connecticut (both undefeated, you'll notice), and the other, Indiana, has just one loss -- to another top-25 team in Illinois.Akron may or may not be a contender in the MAC East (and I think Can't's performance the past two weeks shows Akron may well be), but you definitely cannot put down Akron for having lost to weak teams. UConn could be this year's Rutgers. Well, maybe not. But they have as may wins as the Knights had at this point a year ago.Relax and have a good weekend Zips' fans. There's a lot of time before basketball season begins.

[Quickzips]

I wouldn't be surprised if JD was holding Big Nate back (to get closeer to 100%) for the games that really matter.  I was disappointed that the Zips let this one get out of control, but it's not that surprising.   I will say this, though.  We NEED to play a good game at Western, even if it doesn't count in the MAC standings.   The psyche of this team is looking a little fragile right now to me.  Let's hope CJ is back and playing like he did against IU.

THIS GAME mattered. There's a thread a little ways down about USF and how they got to where they are today (which is a team on the doorsteps of the top 10). They got to where they are today by winning games like this one against mediocre (sorry UConn fans, your team really isn't THAT great) BCS competition. This is the kind of game that can do one of two things. Establish that you are just a mid-level mid-major that can compete within the conference but is hopelessly lost against the big boys or it can establish that you are a team on the rise that can compete with the big conferences week in and week out. If you guys are satisfied with being a middle of the road MAC team that maybe will be in contention for the conference championship depending on the year then so be it, but I'm not. There is no reason that Akron shouldn't be able to beat the Indiana's and UConn's of the world.

QZ,If you check it out on Sunday afternoon, you'll find that two of the three teams Akron has lost to this year are ranked in the top-25: Ohio State and Connecticut (both undefeated, you'll notice), and the other, Indiana, has just one loss -- to another top-25 team in Illinois.Akron may or may not be a contender in the MAC East (and I think Can't's performance the past two weeks shows Akron may well be), but you definitely cannot put down Akron for having lost to weak teams. UConn could be this year's Rutgers. Well, maybe not. But they have as may wins as the Knights had at this point a year ago.Relax and have a good weekend Zips' fans. There's a lot of time before basketball season begins.

Connecticuts Opponents (Other than us):Duke (going into it had the nations longest losing streak)Temple (now has the nations longest losing streak)Maine (a 1-3 I-AA team)PittOhio States Opponents (Other than us):Youngstown State (Another I-AA team)Washington NorthwesternMinnesotaIndianas Opponents (Other than us):Indiana State (An 0-5 I-AA team)Western MichiganIllinoisIowaOf the teams that our big bad OOC opponents have played only two have a winning record (One being I-AA YSU). Coincidentally, that team that handed our big bad OOC opponents their only loss on the season, was the only I-A team that they've played with a winning record. I'm not impressed. Not at all. These teams pile up nice records by playing crummy opponents and we're supposed to feel good about ourselves if we can just keep the game competitive. I don't buy it.

[uconnbill]

UConn won handly in the second half and out gained Akron by 200+ yards during that time. Not sure how UConn is that bad considering they put a butt kicking on Akron today. What does that make Akron?Do i think UConn is great, no. But they are better then you are giving them credit for. I wish the Zips the best of luck the rest of the season.

[Quickzips]

UConn won handly in the second half and out gained Akron by 200+ yards during that time. Not sure how UConn is that bad considering they put a butt kicking on Akron today. What does that make Akron?Do i think UConn is great, no. But they are better then you are giving them credit for. I wish the Zips the best of luck the rest of the season.

It makes Akron a pretty bad team, which is exactley my point. Now stop trolling and go back to your own board.

[johnnyzip84]

There is no reason that Akron shouldn't be able to beat the Indiana's and UConn's of the world.

You seem to think that, in 2007, Akron competes on a level playing field with Indiana and UConn. While I think the University has taken steps to get there, I do not think we are there yet. A win against them would be great, and I think we should pull one off (even now) every now and then (like NC State last year), but I don't see how we should EXPECT it to happen. The UConn fan is right. Some of us aren't giving them enough credit. There program is farther ahead than ours, plane and simple Any neutral college football observer would agree.

[zipboy]

They are further ahead but should not be 34 points ahead. Even the Big East announcers were shocked. I think that everyone expected a tight game. I am going to chalk it up as a bad 2nd half but upper level MAC teams usually beat or stay close to decent BCS schools, maybe not top 15 schools, but solid BCS programs. We did not yesterday and laid a big egg. At halftime we had 19 minutes of ball possession, they had 11. The defense should have been rested. Maybe UConn is the next Rutgers and wins 10 games this year. If so, I can stomach this a little better. But this is the same team that almost got beat by Temple 2 weeks ago. I just don't understand how we fell apart so badly. I thought that we were past those days. Next week we may come out and play lights out. But good teams are consistently decent each week. I could not have been more disappointed with yesterdays performance.

[Quickzips]

There is no reason that Akron shouldn't be able to beat the Indiana's and UConn's of the world.

You seem to think that, in 2007, Akron competes on a level playing field with Indiana and UConn. While I think the University has taken steps to get there, I do not think we are there yet. A win against them would be great, and I think we should pull one off (even now) every now and then (like NC State last year), but I don't see how we should EXPECT it to happen. The UConn fan is right. Some of us aren't giving them enough credit. There program is farther ahead than ours, plane and simple Any neutral college football observer would agree.

A program that moved up from I-AA less than 10 years ago is ahead of us by 34 points and I don't see why?We are living in a hotbed of football talent.We have, or are going to have the nicest facilities in our conference. Facilities that rival a lot of BCS schools.We have a President, AD and Athletic Department that are fully onboard with making this program better.I just can't see why we shouldn't go into these kinds of games expecting to win. I hate it that we always seem to go into these games thinking, "well, hopefully we can keep it close enough that we can sneak out of here with a win." It's a losers mentality and I for one am tired of it. It isn't impossible for mid-majors to go out and knock off the big boys. Boise State, Fresno State, Utah, BYU and a host of others have proven it. They did it by going into the big boys houses with the expectation that they can and will win. Do they always come away with a W? No. Ofcourse not, but they go in there with a winners mentality and it gives them a chance to win games every time they go up against the big boys.

[zff]

QuickZips I am going to throw some facts at you why I think UCONN is ahead of us in Div. IA Football. These by no way are excuses because I agrre with you.1.

We are living in a hotbed of football talent.

I agree but the top talent goes to OSU. And the next level goes to other Big Ten Schools or other BCS schools. But this still leaves some darn good talent. We the local kids don't want to stay home so they go to other MAC schools or CUSA schools. So that just leaves us with PA kids. They all the ones we want are going to Pitt even though were are a head of them. Hopefully the realize Coach Wann at Pitt is really bad.2.

We have, or are going to have the nicest facilities in our conference. Facilities that rival a lot of BCS schools.

We had only had this for a few years. And now the final piece will be in place in 2009. (I hope....). Now the kids can use the filed house and also play in a top notch stadium which is now on campus. I hope this will be the final thing to get kids away from other BCS shcools.3.

We have a President, AD and Athletic Department that are fully onboard with making this program better.

Once again this just happened a few years ago. When the Zips made the jump from I-AA onlu Coach Faust was on board with this. The rest of admin could have cared less. And this carried through until Mike Thoams cam on board. So again.

[GP1]

You guys are missing a big point about our games against OSU and IU and to some extent UCONN. If these teams wanted to beat us by more, especially OSU, then they could have. In fact, I think OSU was doing their usual hiding of their plays until they play a major conference team.There is no doubt they stunk yesterday. I'll say it again though, it's a long season and Akron will be in position to win the MAC East late in the season.

[Quickzips]

QuickZips I am going to throw some facts at you why I think UCONN is ahead of us in Div. IA Football. These by no way are excuses because I agrre with you.1.

We are living in a hotbed of football talent.

I agree but the top talent goes to OSU. And the next level goes to other Big Ten Schools or other BCS schools. But this still leaves some darn good talent. We the local kids don't want to stay home so they go to other MAC schools or CUSA schools. So that just leaves us with PA kids. They all the ones we want are going to Pitt even though were are a head of them. Hopefully the realize Coach Wann at Pitt is really bad.2.

We have, or are going to have the nicest facilities in our conference. Facilities that rival a lot of BCS schools.

We had only had this for a few years. And now the final piece will be in place in 2009. (I hope....). Now the kids can use the filed house and also play in a top notch stadium which is now on campus. I hope this will be the final thing to get kids away from other BCS shcools.3.

We have a President, AD and Athletic Department that are fully onboard with making this program better.

Once again this just happened a few years ago. When the Zips made the jump from I-AA onlu Coach Faust was on board with this. The rest of admin could have cared less. And this carried through until Mike Thoams cam on board. So again.

I'm not arguing that UConn isn't ahead of us. I think it is pretty obvious that they are. I just don't know why. I understand that we usually get the bottom of the barrell high school talent in Ohio, but with the amount of talent in the area I'd still like to believe that the guys available to us are at the very least comparable to anything that hot bed football state of Conneticut is putting out.I understand our facilities are new, but we've had the fieldhouse for 3 1/2 years now and it's been pretty well documented that we've been using the promise of a brand new stadium for at least the last couple recruiting classes. We should be starting to see the fruits of our labor on those fronts by now.The same goes for the President, AD and athletic department. Proenza has been on board for at least 4 years now. Mack has only been here a couple years, but we had a very good AD before him as well and the athletic department has been behind this thing since I got here 5 years ago. I just want to know why? Why can't we beat teams like Indiana and UConn? We can we go into Columbus and feel like we've got a real shot to beat OSU? What is it that is holding this program back? I'm not content with just being competitive in the MAC anymore. The conference as a whole is a joke anyways. We should be dominating this conference and we should be gunning for the big boys. I just can't figure out why we aren't.

[GP1]

I just want to know why? Why can't we beat teams like Indiana and UConn? We can we go into Columbus and feel like we've got a real shot to beat OSU? What is it that is holding this program back? I'm not content with just being competitive in the MAC anymore. The conference as a whole is a joke anyways. We should be dominating this conference and we should be gunning for the big boys. I just can't figure out why we aren't.

We beat NC State last year. It's BCS school. How soon we forget.As far as being competitive in the MAC, I would say that where we sit right now we should be a favorite to win the MAC East and go to a Bowl. Can't beat OU at OU and we beat them. I feel good about the rest of the season.You guys need to understand something. We'll never be able to beat BCS schools on a regular basis. The NCAA has made certain that schools like Akron or any other MAC school will never again be able to beat the BCS schools on a regular basis. No fieldhouse, no new 25,000 seat stadium is going to change that. All of those big schools have big fieldhouses and bigger stadiums. It's not a negative or positive, it's just the way things are. The MAC is a fun and entertaining league and we should all take it for what it is and enjoy it.If you guys want it to change at Akron, it needs to change at the NCAA first. Good luck.

[ZachTheZip]

I'm not arguing that UConn isn't ahead of us. I think it is pretty obvious that they are. I just don't know why. I understand that we usually get the bottom of the barrell high school talent in Ohio, but with the amount of talent in the area I'd still like to believe that the guys available to us are at the very least comparable to anything that hot bed football state of Conneticut is putting out.I understand our facilities are new, but we've had the fieldhouse for 3 1/2 years now and it's been pretty well documented that we've been using the promise of a brand new stadium for at least the last couple recruiting classes. We should be starting to see the fruits of our labor on those fronts by now.The same goes for the President, AD and athletic department. Proenza has been on board for at least 4 years now. Mack has only been here a couple years, but we had a very good AD before him as well and the athletic department has been behind this thing since I got here 5 years ago. I just want to know why? Why can't we beat teams like Indiana and UConn? We can we go into Columbus and feel like we've got a real shot to beat OSU? What is it that is holding this program back? I'm not content with just being competitive in the MAC anymore. The conference as a whole is a joke anyways. We should be dominating this conference and we should be gunning for the big boys. I just can't figure out why we aren't.

The answer is simple. They are in the Big East, and we are in the MAC. They get recruits we don't have a chance of landing, whether they are good or terrible. They get huge $$$ from the BCS contract even if they don't participate in one of the bowls, simply by virtue of being in the conference. They can afford to pay teams to play them at home, improving their revenue from ticket sales, and giving them a better shot at winning than playing games on the road like us. We play against the refs bad calls constantly, but I never like to use that as an excuse because it goes both ways (usually).Bottom line is, they have the $$$. We do not. UConn makes money off their basketball program, and re-invests the profit into improving it's football program. We can't do that, but the stadium revenues from the uber-expensive suites they are including should help. They are the main college team for the Boston market. Until we get a substantial fan base in Cleveland , we can't compete. They expect to win, we just hope to win. that falls on the coaching staff. What kind of horrible half-time speeches are our coaches giving to account for our 3rd quarter woes? It is clear that if the players don't expect to win, then they won't win. The coaches don't seem to have much confidence. JD said his ultimate goal this season was to go 11-1. That means he expected to lose a game, and that tells me that he didn't expect to win. His goal should have been 12-0 and there's no reason not to aim for that. No excuses.

[ZipAlumn]

There is no doubt they stunk yesterday. I'll say it again though, it's a long season and Akron will be in position to win the MAC East late in the season.

I hope you are right about being in position to win the MAC East at the end of the season. Unfortunately I think that by the end of the season the best that we can hope for is the ability to compete with other MAC East teams, and the chance to win the MAC East will have long passed us by. If anyone feels this is negative, it's not, I feel that it is just being realistic.

[johnnyzip84]

I'm not arguing that UConn isn't ahead of us. I think it is pretty obvious that they are. I just don't know why.

uakronkid, you hit the nail on the head. I would add that UConn already has a full (or nearly full) Rentschler Field for all of it's games (witness Saturday) and huge name recognition (mostly due to the hoops program) in one of the most densely populated places in the US. Let's not forget the close proximity to the largest TV market in the country. I agree with Quickzips that their rise in football has been quite sudden, but the reasons listed above and by uakronkid allowed for it to happen. They also took full advantage of, what looked at the time, to be the dismantling of the BigEast (when the defectors began jumping ship).