Rifle's Thoughts

[Zipsrifle]

WOW! That was, with out a doubt the best game I have ever seen! Unbelievable! Even this morning I couldn't believe we won. I can't believe it now!

I know I'm going to take heat for what I'm going to start out with, but I've got to give Marshall praise. IMHO, the MAC would not be nearly as good as it is today without Marshall coming in and kicking everyone around. They have consistently been the Top MAC team since joining the league. They are why the Deuce was at the Rubber Bowl last night, don't kid yourself. Though they are generally hated in the MAC, that was because they are on top. I was really amazed at the mobile homes with scenes of a "Thundering Herd" airbrushed on the side that rolled into the lower lot last night. They've built a consistently winning program and that cannot be denied.

I was amazed with how quickly we scored on Marshall at the beginning of the game. After that, their D and our receivers shut us down. Dom was the ONLY guy who was consistently catching balls during the game. Glad Jason found his hands at the end of the game, no way they were going to let Hixon touch the ball in the endzone! I think Jabari is probably still injured. I'll bet he was hearing footsteps all night, even if they weren't any. In general, our receivers were so extremely frustrating last night. Balls bouncing off chests and going through hands. Still some jogging after running their routes. Frye was giving directions to them, on the run, and most of the time it was "go deep". Burned us once. We really need to keep working on this area.

I think the O line is 1/2 fixed from earlier this season. They were giving Frye more time in the pocket last night, though he got rocked a few times, in general he had good time to throw. The half that isn't fixed is the blocking. Frye was our leading rusher with 37 yards. Biggs had 27 on 18 carries....Ouch. Need to fix this area.

As for the D, we shut down their running game well. What I can't figure out is why are we giving their receivers a 10 yard cushion. Actually, I know why, so we don't get burned deep. But, they just made 5 yard passes all night. I don't know what to do here, but that has got to stop. That has been a weekness all year. Tackling still wasn't ideal, but it was much better than at the beginning of the year. I wasn't worried about every play being busted for a TD even though there were 5 Zips around the ball. Overall I would not rank us as a "Top" MAC team right now.

Officiating was terrible. I saw about 5 BAD missed holding calls and at least 2 blatant missed pass interference calls. Hell, one time the one the the Zips was busting through the line after Hill and his head was sideways 'cause a Marshall Lineman has holding onto his facemask! What was the deal with the intentional grounding call?????? Frye was WAY outside of the pocket...almost to the numbers! Finally, the one Marshall run down the sidelines for a TD, he was definately out of bounds. The Zips in the area let up and he ran right past them. Next time, we need to deck him....though I have no doubt that would have resulted in a personal foul last night.

As we all know on this board, the Zips have, in remarkably reliable fashion, been on the other end of these games in the past. Can't, UConn last season, Marshall '00 and being the reason why Big Ben got his nickname . Everyone here has been saying since I stumbled onto the dreamwater board that we need to be "one of those teams". Another Michigan that just seems to find a way to keep winning. This year, we started with the critical goal line stand against Can't. Survived a run by UCF, and managed to come up with an interception at the end of the Ball State game to ice it. Frye-day night has convinced me that JD is indeed the "Messiah" the Zips have been looking for. It might not be his coaching, but the aura that he has started to create in the program. We weren't the best team on the field last night....we just got the bounce, the the fumble, the bobbled snap that turned the game. There were many times for Marshall, a team that has done it to us so many times in the past, to drive the final nail in the coffin. Instead they missed and the hammer smashed their thumb.

I'm going to end up with the fact that this game was one for the die hard fans. I am truely disgusted with the way everyone bailed out when we were down in the third. I will guarantee that 90% of those frenzied "Fans" with painted chests, shirts, and signs pictured on GoZips.com and in the newspapers, weren't there when we rushed the field and high fived the team on the 50! In the end, there were about 7,000 die hard fans, the same ones that showed up for the Buffalo game and sat through the rain of the Ball State game, that can truely say about last night, I was there in the end.

[Guest ***GUEST_racer]

great win for our program. now where are all the people at the beginning of the season that said we dont have d-1 talent .they are doing a great job now at coaching, and that means improving players every week.we have talent esp on offense. the marshall d was ranked 15 in the country last night. our pass defense still scares the h out of me. i did see a ton of holding our d line last night and no calls though. two to go!!!!!!