Final Game Thoughts

[Captain Kangaroo]

Beautiful November evening for a game. Tailgate lot was a bit wet, but temp had to be in the upper 50's. Couldn't ask for better.

Tailgate lot was full! Kudos to all the folks that made it live up to the nickname: "The Greatest Neigborhood in Northeast Ohio." Had the pleasure of sharing beers with Big Zip for the first time, as well as former Zips Paul Ondrusek and Brad Detweiler. Guest appearances by Z-P, ZipDude and ZFF made for a great evening. Thanks to all for stopping by!

Things looked really good at the beginning. Too bad it was short lived. Opening couple of possessions were a joy to watch.

The defense played well all night. I wish our OL and DL had the depth to go into the 4th quarter, but against Miami it wasn't going to happen.

Missed FG at before halftime hurt. Gave Miami some hope, and took some major wind out of our sails. With the transfer kicker from Wisconsin now in the fold, was this Swiger's last game?

Biggs is so damn good when he gets some room to run. Unfortunately there were few. As was the story the entire season vs. "good" teams, Biggs got no decent holes, and was held to negligible rushing yards.

Ringer did a nice job on his few carries.

Hixson was outstanding. I can't wait to watch him next season. He could dominate.

Mongomery had a hell of a game as well.

Why did we abandon the TE after the 2nd quarter?

Dan Basch had a great RAC on a screen, mowing down several would be tacklers. Shades of what could have been if injuries hadn't bit him.

Beacon's front page sports feature story was the Zips!! On the OSU/Michigan day, nonetheless??!! Has hell frozen over?

Wish Elie would have pulled in that easy INT. It didn't hurt us, but man that would have given us some momentum.

Frye was awesome. Simply awesome. Damn, I'll miss him. I hope Luke Getsy was taking good notes. That's how you lead a team.

The last game of the year is usually Dr. Z, me, players, parents, the band and referees. Total of about 500. To see 17,500 at the Zips final game was awesome. Thanks to the team, staff and Marketing for proving what all of us have said for years...give the Akron fans a quality product...compete for championships...and they will come.

Will the MAC take notes on this, and keep the "big" games reserved for late in the season? If attendance is going to be a factor in staying D1, then the MAC MUST schedule its better teams to meet late in the season. You get both fans, and TV interest at a time of year when weather takes a big toll on MAC crowds. I've seen enough of 700 person crowds at the end of the season, vs. Buffalo or Can't. Keep the cupcakes for the beginning of the season. The Zips should now be considered a championship contender and play the Miami's, Toledo's and BG's of the world in November. Let Buffalo play Western Michgan in November, not the Zips.

Sucks to see the opposing team celebrate on your turf. Hope to do it to Miami some time soon.

Great showing by the students. Stood up an cheered the entire game. It was great to see Hixson gesturing to the endzone crowd (mostly students) getting them pumped up.

Nice to have Sullivan back next season. He had another solid game.

DB's played great all night. I wish they'd have tightend up the coverage on those sideline passes a bit earlier, but in general you can't complain. Betts had nothing deep all night, and he usually had all day to throw.

When we play the crappy MAC teams we get "Players of the Week" on DL. When we play good teams, they turn into "Players of the Weak?" We never could get a decent rush on Miami..or Marshall...etc. Against OU, or UCF...man we were like Gastineau and Klecko.

I said before...but I'm too lazy to go back and find the quote...that Murphy would hurt us more than Clemens. We need more speed on D...and better discipline to "stay home" and guard against the cutback next year. The shifty RB's killed us all year. Clemens also had a solid game, but he worked for his yards. We contained him fairly well until the end.

Zipboy was right...the beer tent was PACKED! Unlike the Detroit Pistons' fans, apparently Zips fans have the class enough to simply have a couple beers, and enjoy the gamenight.

Classiest ending to a Miami/Zips game in a while. No garbage, as I have personally witnessed in some recent games. Teams were very respectful at game's end.

Zips need some impact OL's and DL's in this recruiting class if we're going to give these guys a run in Oxford next season. They are a solid, well coached football team. And we aren't all that far behind them.

Hell of a game Zips. Be proud. You exceeded everyone's expectations and gave us fans a kick-ass fall 2004. I expect to see all graduating seniors in the tailgate lot next fall!!! Unless of course, you're playing somewhere on Sundays!

[Z-P]

Well done CK.............

Couple little add ons..............I 'm sure The Staff (big ups from over here ) considers the 05 season to have started on Sunday...........and this could not have been said in years past.

Another thing to keep in mind............there is SERIOUS work to be done. They surely know this all too well. Our "run" was against the very bottom (excluding only WMU) of the MAC except for the Freyday Surprise. If we are to step on the field and compete with Toledo, NIU and BG we still have a loooooooooooooooong way to go IMHO. Credit the staff with creating a great game plan for Miami, and getting the MOST out of what they had to work with all year. So I too think things are looking pretty good.

Regardless of the outcome (said this even before the game) it was great to have an "event" like Saturday night to attend. What fun!!

I got a kick out of seeing UAM running around "like a mother hen" finally having all his hard work yield something to be so proud of. He was in constant motion all night long. I was really happy for him and The Boss. UAM even made a pass by all the "fence" area gaiters to say thanks for the support and loyalty.............what a classy cat.

BTW, from the "Coors Seats" looking back into the stadium I was ready to call it a crowd of at least 20K. Man was I shocked at the 17.4 number that came out Sunday morning. Are you guys sure of that? Really? That was the biggest crowd I can ever remember (I missed the Freyday Night Massacre due to work) at the bowl for an Akron Football Game................however, I was in the "Coors Seats" and you know what that means

One final observation........is it just me or did there seem to be a lot of kids at the game? I was shocked and pleasently surprised to see how many dads brought their young sons out to the game. That was super. Makes us crazies behave ourselves a little more, but that's OK. I'll take the tradeoff to develope young fans.

Go Zips! On to BB now.............