The morning after
Posted October 28th, 2007 by mrasor
Football
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Grades…
Quarterback – I've said enough about the quarterback situation. I may have been too harsh on Chris Jacquemain though. The wind was pretty bad. His receivers dropped passes. My main complaint is his complete lack of accuracy when the Zips had a chance to get back in the game. Grade: D
Running back — Bryan Williams ran for 100 yards. Alex Allen was good in relief. The only blemish is the dropped touchdown pass to Williams. Grade: B+
Tight end — Merce Poindexter caught a ball for an important first down. Grade: B-
Wide receiver — The Bulls took away Jabari Arthur, which was smart. As a whole, the corps dropped too many passes. Grade: D
Offensive line — The line continues to produce results: only two sacks and 171 rushing yards. Grade: A-
Defensive line — Jared Cecchetti played the best game of his career. Almondo Sewell battled through a nagging injury and still logged seven tackles. It would be nice to see what Deni Odofin can do. The true freshman had a tackle for loss. Buffalo's James Starks could have done at lot more damage. Grade: A
Linebacker – The trio played pretty well and also should get credit for the successful run defense. Doug Williams finally made a big play. Brion Stokes continues to be the defensive cornerstone. Grade: B
Secondary – Buffalo's Drew Willy threw only 14 times, but he connected on 11 of them, including three touchdowns. Grade: D+
Punter – Although the depth chart suggests a platoon, John Stec punted all four times. He averaged 39 yards per attempt. Grade: C+
Kicker – Igor Iveljic made a 25-yarder and missed from 35. He's had a great season and was bound to miss a chip shot someday, I suppose. Grade: D+
Coaching – I liked Joe Moorhead's play calling more this week than before. Problem is, he doesn't have a quarterback that can execute it. The Zips could have cashed in on several opportunities if they had the right CJ on the field. Personnel errors fall squarely on the coaches. Grade: D
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Media clips…
ABJ – The "punchless Zips" failed to score with the wind at their backs. I like that term.
Plain Dealer – Buffalo's win was a triumph of a traditional offense.
Niagara Gazette — Buffalo's AD speculates on Turner Gill's possible departure to Nebraska.
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Around the MAC…
Ball State allowed 324 rushing yards in a 28-17 loss to Illinois.
Kent State tore the redshirt off quarterback Giorgio Morgan, who threw three touchdowns and no interceptions against Central Michigan. (Un)fortunately, KSU's kicker biffed two extra points and three field goals, and the Chips won, 41-32.
Miami gave up 290 rushing yards in a 24-13 loss at Vanderbilt.
Western Michigan's once-mighty running game gained only 57 yards in a 19-2 loss to Eastern Michigan.
Toledo dropped a 70 spot on Northern Illinois. Yes, 70 points on 812 yards of offense. The MAC is so friggin' bizarre.
Ohio's Kalvin McRae rushed for 200 yards in a 38-27 victory over Bowling Green.
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Power rankings…
1) Ball State
2) Central Michigan
3) Buffalo
4) Bowling Green
5) Miami
6) Toledo
7) Ohio
8 ) Temple
9) Akron
10) Kent State
11) Eastern Michigan
12) Western Michigan
13) Northern Illinois
October 28th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Your ranking for Akron is generous, Rasor. Isn't it strange that in such a "down" year in the MAC, the Zips find themselves looking UP at most teams, even in their coach's fourth year? We all know the W.Mich. win was "really" a loss, and only an uncharacteristic 2nd half enabled UA to beat KSU. Wow, is our talent *really* this bad? And if so, why are they here? Exactly *how* has the coach capitalized on the sparkling new facilities at UA?
Look at the difference Chidzinski has made for the Browns. I'm certainly not naive to believe that Carlton Jackson is any type of D-1 quarterback. But an offensive mind, like Chud, can turn a program around.
October 29th, 2007 at 6:13 am
I'd move BG down one spot, given their loss at home last weekend. Other than that, I concur.
October 29th, 2007 at 11:43 am
Any way you slice it, this Zips team is becoming increasingly irrelevant and ignored. That can't be good for a university that is sinking millions of dollars into the program year after year with little to show for it on the field.
October 29th, 2007 at 11:53 am
Zips D line and O line score A's and we get beat!?!?!?
October 29th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Lee O,
Akron outgained Buffalo by a significant amount of yardage. So yes, I can barely justify that.
October 29th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
Is anyone else tired of having these same discussions about why we lost another game we should have won over and over again? I'm sorry, but SOME kind of change needs to be made with this program.
October 30th, 2007 at 9:59 am
Has anyone looked at our website gozips.com and go under football.
https://www.nmnathletics.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=10800&KEY=&SPID=4319&SPSID=47122
They still have Getsy, Reid and Crouch on the banner. How can they still have these guys on the banner when they left last year? I guess Brookhart and the Rhoades can't see.