Comments on: Looking ahead to 2009

By: Randy King

Randy King — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 04:13:20 +0000

Dale Martin 4 star athlete and healthy right now!!! Your new corner Deannte Ball 4.3 speed and hits like a truck. Your future looks bright!!

By: LEE ADAMS

LEE ADAMS — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 20:58:28 +0000

Is it for sure Flemming is coming back as D-coordinator? His son was a safety at Hoban, I believe. I would love to see someone with size as a safety in a 4-3 with two deep. They need a kid with some size back there to do a little 'head hunting' in support of the run and to shut down the middle of the field against the pass. That defense cuts down on the big plays because they don't have everyone chasing receivers and leaving holes everywhere.

By: brianwood@the2

brianwood@the2 — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:06:28 +0000

Mike – I think that you are spot on with your assessment of Bowser. He is a great combo of speed and size but has the tendency to drop routine passes that end up being drive killers, which in turn gets the crummy defense back out on the field sooner than it should be. It's a shame that Bowser, Bruce, and Miller couldn't be counted on to consistently catch the ball with the raw ability that all three seem to possess.

By: dan.

dan. — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 19:42:48 +0000

You're an idiot if you think Bowser had more drops than catches. Sure, you probably said it facetiously, but name an Akron receiver who would have caught a lot of the passes he did that were bad throws. In fact, I'd say he had just as many drops as catches that were bad Jacquemain throws.

If Akron wants to go to a 4-3, Brookhart just needs to get a couple JC guys for depth on the line. There is clearly talent here.

By: BZ

BZ — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:28:57 +0000

Mike, good stuff. I noticed you left Marvase Byrd off the DB list. I think he will be a player.
Also, you have Flemming at LB. Is that official or your guess?
You also left Odofin and Cowels Steart off the DL list. I think they will be a player.

We have the numbers to play a 4-3, hopefully the talent is there.

By: mrasor

mrasor — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:24:11 +0000

Rick, Those are all legitimate needs. I think the defense will get much better with a 4-3 next season. I'm assuming it's going to be a 4-3 because, if not, most fans will riot. I might even retire from covering the football team. Probably not, but it would be very frustrating.

GJGood, I don't know about Morefield. He is 5-9 and weighs 215. Odd size for a DB, unless he plays SS.

By: GJGood

GJGood — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:00:32 +0000

I think we all know it could have been better too. If they would've held on and won just two of the extremely tight losses against Ohio, Cincinnati, Bowling Green, and Buffalo this team which was picked dead last would be in the school's second ever FBS (1-A) bowl game. All of those games could easily have gone either way. Usually in situations like that the more experienced and/or battle-tested team wins those types of games. This was a young or at least fairly inexperienced team, especially on defense.

Mike, do you know anything about what Brookhart has in mind to do with LeVon Morefield? Where do you see him on next year's depth chart? He was a pretty good player on a pretty good team in high school and he always looked very good to me but hasn't seen any game action as of yet as far as I know.

By: Rick

Rick — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:23:27 +0000

Pretty optimistic forecast for a team that's been 5-7, 4-8, 5-7 the past three seasons (and we all know it coulda been worse).

Glaring needs:
A center who won't snap the ball over the QB's head.
A kicker who won't miss the gimme-FGs and PATs, especially in close games.
A QB who will lead and get the most from his cast
Bowser to catch more balls than he drops
A defense.
A coach who inspires players to OVERachieve, not phone-it-in.