Football

John Mackey might set an American football record for quickest return to the field after an ACL tear.

It was just three weeks ago when the Zips’ defensive captain went down with the injury against Kent State. Today, J.D. Brookhart said Mackey participated in 20 plays and individual work.

Brookhart said it’s not certain that he will be able to play at all, but the team will determine that in the next week. How incredible would his return be?

Other tidbits from Brookhart’s weekly press conference:

The team doesn’t want to tear off redshirts at this point in the season. That probably includes Matt Rodgers, whom I have heard will not play this season.

The coaches have been very careful to choose the proper regiment during the bye week. They realize the team will play three games in 12 days.

Brookhart is very high on Buffalo running back James Starks, and the Zips’ gameplan will focus on limiting him.

Football

A three-game lead is not insurmountable. Ask the Indians.

Still, it’s nice to see Zippy overcome a large lead by Monte to stay undefeated at 6-0. Eight mascots are tied at 3-3.

Vote here for Zippy against Cocky from South Carolina. It’s dead even as of 12:52 p.m. Monday.

(It’s pretty absurd that this is my only Zips news of the day.)

Football

First, some observations from yesterday’s action…

As you probably know, I think Kent State’s Doug Martin is a bad coach. His comments after Saturday’s loss to Bowling Green show his candor is also too high for the leader of a program. “They really did a nice job of changing their offense drastically from what they’d done this whole season and kind of caught us off-guard,” he said. So coach, you’re saying you can’t adjust to a team who likes to pass, but decides to run?

Buffalo played Syracuse close, losing 20-12. Lee Corso said yesterday that Turner Gill would make a fine coach at Nebraska — his alma mater. I agree, although it would destroy the momentum he has going for the MAC East leaders.

Speaking of the Bulls, they have a division record of 2-0. Miami and Bowling Green are 2-1. Akron and Temple are 1-1 and 2-2, respectively. Kent State (1-3) and Ohio (0-2) have an uphill climb. As I mentioned, however, it’s all about the head-to-head tiebreaker. In that sense, Akron controls its own destiny.

Regardless, my conclusion in all of this is that the MAC is garbage this year. No team can play consistently from week to week. The team closest to doing that is Buffalo and maybe Ball State.

MAC Power Rankings…

1) Ball State
2) Central Michigan
3) Bowling Green
4) Buffalo
5) Western Michigan
6) Miami
7) Temple
8 ) Akron
9) Ohio
10) Kent State
11) Eastern Michigan
12) Toledo
13) Northern Illinois

Oh yeah, and vote for Zippy, who might suffer her first loss to Monte.

Men’s soccer

Caleb Porter said his team played its best soccer of the season in the second half of Saturday’s 4-0 win over Bowling Green.

English sensation Steve Zakuani scored two goals and Evan Bush kept his scoreless streak alive, despite not needing to save a single shot.

Akron will play at Michigan Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Football

The MAC scoreboard shows a few surprises…

First, Central Michigan gave up 70 points to Clemson. The Chips’ disparity between effort in conference and nonconference games is incredible. The Tigers gained 656 yards (about 1/3 mile) of offense in their 70-14 win.

Temple helped out the Zips by knocking off Miami in Philly, 24-17. Unfortunately for the Owls, Adam DiMichele left the game on a stretcher after fracturing his shin bone. That leaves Buffalo alone in the driver’s seat in the MAC East.

Bowling Green waltzed into Dix Stadium and further buried Kent State with a 31-20 win.

Toledo beat Ohio 43-30 on a last-second field goal.

I’ll give my MAC rankings tomorrow. Will the mighty Bulls surpass our beloved Zips???

Football

There are a few MAC games to keep a eye on Saturday…

Miami @ Temple — Clearly Miami could be in for a surprise against the Owls, who apparently feed off momentum.

Ohio @ Toledo — It’s a crossover game, but also a matchup of two underachieving teams. One must win, but who will it be???

Ball State @ Western Michigan — The winner has a shot against Central Michigan. The loser has to hope it becomes bowl-eligible.

Notes:

John Mackey will attempt a comeback this season. I’m not sure of the details, but indeed, he’s going to give it a shot. If the Zips are in the hunt, it will make for a great emotional boost.

Spend your Saturday voting for Zippy, who leads by just 36 votes as of 3:23 a.m. Saturday morning.

Men’s basketball

Seems pretty odd that you can come within an eyelash of winning the MAC Championship, lose two of eight rotation players and somehow show up at Media Day to hear you’re going to finish in the bottom half of the division.

It’s all moot. You know what will happen this season. Miami, Ohio, Kent State and Akron will all beat each other on their own home courts. They will meet in Cleveland as the 1, 3, 4 and 5 seeds. Whoever plays defense and makes free throws will go to the NCAA Tournament.

The voting was pretty close, with Kent getting the preseason nod, followed by Miami, Ohio and Akron. Each received at least five first-place votes. Western Michigan, led by point guard David Kool, was the MAC West’s overwhelming favorite.

In the next few weeks, I plan to break down the MAC teams. I just have to find the time…

Football

J.D. Brookhart should take his running back along on recruiting trips in Northeast Ohio.

Bryan Williams loves being home after a two-year stint at Valley Forge Military College. Vincent Dorsey wrote a fine feature about the junior’s collegiate career.

Zippy update…

The new Capital One commercial features Zippy, who hits an iron from the fairway. The ball improbably ricochets off several items and competitors and finds the cup. Great shot, Zippy! I saw the commercial on ESPN tonight. Hopefully that gives the marsupial a boost. She trails Monte by about 150 votes as of 1 a.m. Thursday morning. Vote here.

Here’s my plan: Everyone needs to vote twice today and Friday. Do it before you leave work for lunch and when you return. Bam boom! There’s 10,000 votes right there.

Men’s soccer

Akron beat Penn State tonight 3-0 in what Caleb Porter called the Zips’ most complete performance this season.

Steve Kalan scored two goals for Akron while Evan Bush pitched another shut out and extended his no-goals streak to 790 minutes.

Next victim: Bowling Green at home, Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Football

Some Zips notes…

The PD’s Elton Alexander writes about how the Zips have consistently fooled followers of MAC football.

The flip-flopping Zips got some face time on ESPN’s college football show today. Taking questions from the ESPN staff, Rece Davis asked “What is a Zip?” One of the meatheads correctly answered. I was impressed.

That primadonna Vince Hill verbally committed to Minnesota, if that really means anything.

Football

Just try to cook up a worse nightmare for Zips football than this: Lose to Temple Saturday, find out your new stadium is delayed Monday.

The university still believes (publicly, at least) that InfoCision Stadium will be open for the 2009 season.

Talking to people in the know, it’s would not be a complete surprise if the opening year gets bumped back to 2010. For now, though, 2009 is looking good.

More inside information: One of the outspoken property owners in that area is becoming more receptive to a buyout. As what often occurs in eminent domain procedings, everyone calls their lawyer and gets excited to fight at first. Then, one by one, dissenters start to fall off. I predict Ted Curtis and Co. won’t have too much difficulty gathering the remaining parcels.

Tidbits from J.D. Brookhart’s press conference…

Maybe the Zips were a tad conservative down the stretch, but Brookhart blamed the execution of the plays they did call.

Brookhart blamed missed tackles, a dropped interception and missed assignments for Adam DiMichele’s march to the endzone.

The bye week will include scrimmaging some of the young players.

p.s. Help out Zippy. She’s getting her tail handed to her.

Men’s soccer

After tying Northern Illinois 1-1 on Saturday, Akron trails Buffalo for the MAC lead.

NIU’s excellent student newspaper, the Northern Star, says the Huskies kept close with the Zips thanks to solid defense.

The Zips will travel to Buffalo on Oct. 26 in a battle for the regular season conference crown. As the team found last season, however, it’s the postseason tournament that gets you a berth to the NCAA Tournament.

Football

Some notes…

Temple coach Al Golden told the Philadelphia Inquirer he was going for the win in the final drive, not the tie.

Zippy finished ahead of Seymour from Southern Miss. Next up: Monte from Montana. Vote here, because the Roo is losing by 200 as of noon Monday. It’s inevitable that other schools will start voting against the front-running marsupial.

No new recruiting offers or commitments lately. Believe me, I’ve been checking the Web sites.