The Blame game

[ZachTheZip]

Let's fire this thing up. OK. First up is Jacquemain. He looked lost all game. He did have less mistakes than last game, but he was still holding on to the ball too long and still tried to run it way too much. (A hint: You're no CJ, Chris).Next is the defensive scheme in the 4th quarter. They were in "prevent" for the whole time. That's right, prevent. Whoever made that decision needs to be fired.Also, QUIT THROWING SCREEN PASSES!!! They don't work with our players and our offense. Running out the clock and then giving the ball back to your opponent is stupid in a one score game. If they score, you have no time to come back. Kind of like what WMU did last week. Can't you learn from your opponents and not repeat their mistakes?

[Zipgrad1990]

The team played not to loose once they were up 20-3.Conservative Offense + Prevent Defense = Zips lose!I feel sick after watching that game.

[Lee Adams]

saddest part of all this is that the rest of the season becomes a whole lot less meaningful...ZIPS had a chance to ride at the top until they got to Miami and BG...now they stare another sub .500 season in the face...don't look now Buffalo is rolling...

[skip-zip]

And, We get to play Buffalo after two weeks rest, and BG is not nearly as good as we thought they were. Thinks change weekly in the MAC. I'm as stunned as anyone right now, but its still early.

[Ryno aka Menace]

I kid you not i felt it coming, I told my daughter You know what right now Temple has momentum. She said what is momentum, I said well it is kinda like when you are playing a basketball game and a team is scoring alot of points really quickly, a coach will call time out to stop their momentum, just mess with them like calling a timeout before a field goal kicker kicks. Man this one was hard to swallow, up 20 - 10 in the fourth and lost!!

[ZZZips]

I kid you not i felt it coming, I told my daughter You know what right now Temple has momentum. She said what is momentum, I said well it is kinda like when you are playing a basketball game and a team is scoring alot of points really quickly, a coach will call time out to stop their momentum, just mess with them like calling a timeout before a field goal kicker kicks. Man this one was hard to swallow, up 20 - 10 in the fourth and lost!!

A small point but we were up 20 -3 in the fourth quarter and lost!!

[scottditzen]

Our offense is the worst I've seen in many years.I hated it the first time I saw it at the open practice and I hate it even worse now. Way too conservative....our inability to convert on 3rd and short has haunted us all season.

[Lee Adams]

was it me or did Davanzo Tate look like he had his helmet on backwards all night..? didn't seem he could cover anything except the grass under his shoes...

[Ryno aka Menace]

was it me or did Davanzo Tate look like he had his helmet on backwards all night..? didn't seem he could cover anything except the grass under his shoes...

1. The defense really misses John Mackey, his leadership is irreplaceable. 2. If a team we play has a quarterback that can run even a little bit we have problems.3. The defense can't stop the run.I am not done with this team as some are already, I am being upbeat about this season, I think we still have an outside shot we just need some help and in this conference we may very well get it. Remember college football as a whole has been turned upside down. Temple and Buffalo win and LSU and CAL lose, completly upside down. BOston College and South Florida top 3 teams in the country????? Alot can happen when u have 5 games left and they are all conference games.

[LosAngelesZipFan]

On the offense-- doesn't it seem like we have an awful lot of tools but no strategy to use them? It's like their is an offensive scheme/approach that had been adopted that all but ignores the actual talent that does exist on this team. To paraphrase one of the bigger idiots of our era, you go to war with the football team you have, not the one you would like to have.Arthur-- solid receiver with a canon of an arm. Some above average MAC backs in Williams and Allen. An excellent receiving back in Kennedy. Two big TE targets (who granted have trouble catching). A highly mobile QB with good arm strength (CJ7). I dunno...seems like there are assets there that would provide more than enough firepower if creatively deployed. The best play that's been called all year was the play action against Can't in short yardage that went for a TD-- where was that yesterday? Again, where is rolling out Jackson? Hell, where is Jackson period? We obviously don't have the receiving corp or o-line to justify a drop back passer. Why does it feel like this was a rebuilding year but we never actually had anything to rebuild to? Why does it feel like there is no progression in any aspect of the game for this team and program?

[Zip_ME87]

On the offense-- doesn't it seem like we have an awful lot of tools but no strategy to use them? It's like their is an offensive scheme/approach that had been adopted that all but ignores the actual talent that does exist on this team. To paraphrase one of the bigger idiots of our era, you go to war with the football team you have, not the one you would like to have.Arthur-- solid receiver with a canon of an arm. Some above average MAC backs in Williams and Allen. An excellent receiving back in Kennedy. Two big TE targets (who granted have trouble catching). A highly mobile QB with good arm strength (CJ7). I dunno...seems like there are assets there that would provide more than enough firepower if creatively deployed. The best play that's been called all year was the play action against Can't in short yardage that went for a TD-- where was that yesterday? Again, where is rolling out Jackson? Hell, where is Jackson period? We obviously don't have the receiving corp or o-line to justify a drop back passer. Why does it feel like this was a rebuilding year but we never actually had anything to rebuild to? Why does it feel like there is no progression in any aspect of the game for this team and program?

This is exactly how I feel. Our offensive coaches do not call a game that is suited to our players. I can understand if the first few games of the season look this way. But, by this time, they should know the strengths of this team and play to those strengths.

[Zip_ME87]

was it me or did Davanzo Tate look like he had his helmet on backwards all night..? didn't seem he could cover anything except the grass under his shoes...

1. The defense really misses John Mackey, his leadership is irreplaceable. 2. If a team we play has a quarterback that can run even a little bit we have problems.3. The defense can't stop the run.I am not done with this team as some are already, I am being upbeat about this season, I think we still have an outside shot we just need some help and in this conference we may very well get it. Remember college football as a whole has been turned upside down. Temple and Buffalo win and LSU and CAL lose, completly upside down. BOston College and South Florida top 3 teams in the country????? Alot can happen when u have 5 games left and they are all conference games.

I blame the offense moreso than the defense. Make the first down, and the Zips could have run out the clock. (I think Temple only had 1 remaining timeout.)

[Ryno aka Menace]

was it me or did Davanzo Tate look like he had his helmet on backwards all night..? didn't seem he could cover anything except the grass under his shoes...

1. The defense really misses John Mackey, his leadership is irreplaceable. 2. If a team we play has a quarterback that can run even a little bit we have problems.3. The defense can't stop the run.I am not done with this team as some are already, I am being upbeat about this season, I think we still have an outside shot we just need some help and in this conference we may very well get it. Remember college football as a whole has been turned upside down. Temple and Buffalo win and LSU and CAL lose, completly upside down. BOston College and South Florida top 3 teams in the country????? Alot can happen when u have 5 games left and they are all conference games.

I blame the offense moreso than the defense. Make the first down, and the Zips could have run out the clock. (I think Temple only had 1 remaining timeout.)

I agree as well the offense is the majority of our problems but obviously they aren't gonna win any games for us so the defense is gonna have to do it. If our D could of put 1 score on the board we win despite our talented nonproductive offense.It's a shame it is that way but until our QB looks at more than 1 receiver we will not win games.

[Lee Adams]

all i can say is thank god for Bryan Willams running ALL over the field or this team would have been left in the locker room in the 2nd half...now for the Defense that was supposed to carry the team but has given up points and yards like they never played the game...prior to the season everyone picked this D as one of the best in the MAC...experienced players back with some decent talent...when experienced and talented players vastly UNDERACHIEVE where do you look?maybe we need to start looking at Jim Fleming and J.D. Brookhart...it is obvious they are not getting these players to perform at the levels they are capable of...i know the coaches won't change now but assuming the D continues to detrioratethe AD needs to look real hard at the coaching abilities on this staff...its beginning to appear that some of the staff is not up to coaching at the D-I level...when you start hearing a head coach always blaming one play here or one play there during a game it may mean the coach(es) aren't doing their jobs during the game...

[zip37]

Fading late in game=lack of conditioning, remember LO & Hipsher.With ball ammunition lock and load and of coursse

[Zip_ME87]

was it me or did Davanzo Tate look like he had his helmet on backwards all night..? didn't seem he could cover anything except the grass under his shoes...

1. The defense really misses John Mackey, his leadership is irreplaceable. 2. If a team we play has a quarterback that can run even a little bit we have problems.3. The defense can't stop the run.I am not done with this team as some are already, I am being upbeat about this season, I think we still have an outside shot we just need some help and in this conference we may very well get it. Remember college football as a whole has been turned upside down. Temple and Buffalo win and LSU and CAL lose, completly upside down. BOston College and South Florida top 3 teams in the country????? Alot can happen when u have 5 games left and they are all conference games.

I blame the offense moreso than the defense. Make the first down, and the Zips could have run out the clock. (I think Temple only had 1 remaining timeout.)

I agree as well the offense is the majority of our problems but obviously they aren't gonna win any games for us so the defense is gonna have to do it. If our D could of put 1 score on the board we win despite our talented nonproductive offense.It's a shame it is that way but until our QB looks at more than 1 receiver we will not win games.

It's not just the QB. It's the play calling. Very first play of the game was a backward screen pass that had DISASTER written all over it. The Zips were lucky to have just lost a couple of yards on that type of bonehead play. INSANITY - doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Those screen passes do NOT work, especially when they are backward...which can easily become a fumble!

[uafan]

I guess it's time for my 2 cents.Play calling was atrocious; I think we all agree. Who's fault? Yes, the offensive coordinator calls the plays. But shouldn't JD override what isn't working? He didn't! He was PO'd at the coordinator, but I think this falls directly in JD's lap! Wasn't a game plan in place. Didn't JD approve it? Wasn't he paying attention to what was going on? Not enough! He was too busy yelling "Punt alert!" and making sure his special teams were ready. Special teams need to be handed off to an assistant coach so JD can manage the entire game!And speaking of special teams, the punting game was again abysmal! A 15 yard punt? Come on now! When the first QB did not play well, he was replaced. When our tailback didn't perform, he was replaced. Our punter is terrible. Why isn't he replaced? I say it is time to give Hildreth a chance. Can he do worse than a 15 yarder? God, I hope not! If he is so bad, why is he on scholarship?Oh, and GP1, I know you won't agree with me, but don't call me names this week!