Football
Akron rushed for a net of zero yards in a 28-14 loss at Syracuse, which takes the Zips' record to 1-6.
Grades are coming tomorrow.
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Zips offense stifled in loss to Syracuse
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{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
J.D's a good guy, and he doesn't deserve the abuse he's been getting by zips fans, but c'mon. How many straight losing seasons? What is our record? Sheesh, everything is ugly. I just hope Nicely can hang in there because I know if UA makes the right hire than this team will compete–and soon(not soon enough to salvage anything this year).
I concur with what Eric said. Injuries can't be your excuse for losing every single season. All teams deal with them. JD is, indeed, a good guy and deserves to go out with class for all the hard work he's put into the program. For whatever reason, the results just haven't followed. That's the frustrating part about coaching. But one (barely above) .500 season in six years won't cut it. The bottom line is wins, which attracts $, which enables the athletic dept. to flourish.
When you spend millions of dollars in facility upgrades to give the football coach the best possible environment to produce winning teams and all you are given in return is losing season after losing season, it's time to move on. JD, you're a good guy, but your time her has since past. You have proved nothing to us except that you have faith in an inept defensive scheme and you have no ability to make coaching adjustments to win games. 2005? It was a fluke.
I believe Nicely will stick around now that he knows that he's almost guaranteed the starting position from here on out. He's looked solid since he came in after Rodgers was hurt and I know that he can only get better from here. There are brighter days ahead of Zips fans…. unfortunately, they are not with JD commanding this ship.
WHAT is all the doom and gloom about? Geesh! You guys are 13-0 or something like that? Ooops! Sorry, wrong sport.
The tough-talkers on ZN have thrown in the towel. Here's a sample:
"I continue to lament the incredible disaster this year has been. I'm starting to actually wonder whether the money spent on the stadium and the drive to build this football program was/is wasted. Who's going to come in to build a program from here, basically from scratch? How will this program hire a winning coach the way they pay shamefully low coaching salaries? How will the program recruit difference makers when we're now a dead program within several hours driving of OSWho, Michigan, MSU, Pitt, PSU, WVU, etc?"
Guess they're not still lining up to pay $20 for that KSU game, huh? A "premium" game, to be sure. ha ha
Well, sounds like some of the posters on ZN and here need to get a dose of reality: even with a new stadium you AREN'T going to compete in recruiting with Ohio State, Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame, etc. Those schools have athletic budgets, facilities, tradition, and fan bases that dwarf anything in the MAC. When I saw the complaint that readers here couldn't understand how "expectations were too high" this is what people were talking about: that the opening of the new stadium was somehow going to raise Akron to the same level with the BCS schools. If you haven't noticed, virtually all of the MAC schools have been upgrading their facilities in various ways, so in most ways InfoCision Stadium isn't that far ahead of anyone else (even KSU) in terms of locker rooms and other player-related facilities (things most players would care about when they visit). Really, InfoCision Stadium has a bigger press box and more suites and a few extra amenities compared with most other MAC stadiums. It's a great MAC stadium, but it is nowhere near the level of any BCS stadium. Not even close. Never mind the lack of tradition in the MAC and the complete lack of prestige. Even with Cincinnati doing as well as it is right now, it still pales in comparison to the coverage, prestige, and tradition at Ohio State whether you like it or not. It would take YEARS of high rankings and bowl wins for Cincinnati to start being a major in-state recruiting rival for OSU, so it is unrealistic to think that ANY MAC school will do the same even with new facilities.
JRid has it right. In NO WAY can a MAC school compete with a BCS school. Dix stadium with it`s new improvments is a very nice stadium. New? Doesn`t have to be. Unfortunately there is and will continue to be ONE big dog in Ohio. The MAC needs to find "their" niche in the football world and be comfortable with it. Even with the unbelievable run of KSU basketball it was unrealistic to expect Kent to compete with the power conferences. And, Rasor, if I understood you correctly a couple of weeks ago you wrote you " dreamed of playing on a bigger stage". Does that mean being a member of a bigger football conference? If not, what did you mean? Remember the Marshall syndrome. Marshall wanted to be in a higher profile football conference. What have they won? Marshall made a monumental mistake by leaving the MAC!
Honestly, If Akron football could do what our basketball team is in the process of doing, I'd be thrilled. Unfortunately, coaches like KD, in any sport, are rare. I don't just mean the whole hometown aspect either. He get's the most out of his players, he knows each players strength, and he sees where he wants this program to be in five years.
I don't think anyone on ZN dreams of competing with Ohio State in football. We'd need BCS revenue to even begin that discussion. See Cincy. But we most certainly could compete with Ohio state in basketball. Dambrot wants to make this program an Xavier/Dayton/Gonzaga. We're on the road to doing so.
I hope to God the university fires JD. You don't spend that much money on a football program and give them the best facilities in the conference just to accept a .500 season(and that's the best case scenario).
If Dambrot is anywhere as successful as you hope, don`t be surprised if KD is courted by power schools. It is a fact of life in college athletics.
Yup, but as I said KD is a a local guy. He won't stay forever, but he will stay longer than, say, Stan Heath…
LOL…I love how this has morphed into a basketball discussion. And seriously, Stan Heath may have only been in Kent one year, but name ANY MAC coach who wouldn't get lured away after leading a team to the Elight Eight (for the record, I think Arkansas was stupid to have hired him after only one season at Kent). And he has no local ties to the area either, so leaving was not hard. To me, the biggest reason Dambrot hasn't been approached by a power conference team is the lack of post-season success at Akron thus far. The MAC being so weak lately hasn't helped either.
As for the general hope of being the next Gonzaga, Dayton, or Xavier, (or dare I say Kent State??) Akron better start scheduling better teams than what they typically do and actually win a game or two in the NCAA tournament. Gonzaga hasn't established its current reputation by one miracle run in the NCAA tournament; it was built over several seasons by playing – and beating – highly ranked teams during the regular season. Their initial NCAA Cinderella run in 1999 was a catalyst for that. Even with all of Gonzaga's success, however, despite higher seeding, their 1999 Elite Eight is still their high point in the NCAA tournament.
I respectfully disagree with JRid and Fred that no MAC school can compete with a BCS school. I agree they can't with the Ohio state, Michigan, and Penn States of the world. They can, however, compete with some BCS schools. If schools like Boise State and TCU can be competitive nationally certainly a good MAC school can be on par with mid- to lower level Big East and ACC teams.
GJGood,
I have to agree with you. People seem to be so blinded by the "brand-name" BCS schools that they forget there are many, many more teams in those big-time BCS conferences. Take Indiana for example; Many thought we had a serious chance of beating them when they came here on Sept 19. In fact, I think we would have been toe-t0-toe with them had Jac not gotten the boot for his stupidity. Indiana is a member of the Big10, regarded as one of the "upper-tier" BCS conferences. While its true there is no way we can directly compete with Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, or Notre Dame, we can still compete with many others. Cincy belongs to a conference generally regarded as the lowest of the BCS conferences, yet they are ranked #8 in the nation in the BCS results and 9 spots ahead of the almightly OSU.
My point is this… Akron CAN compete on a national level once we have the proper coaching in place. We have the facilities, even if some refuse to believe it, and I firmly believe that this team has the talent to win quite a few games. We just need a coaching staff that is dedicated to winning and utilizing our players to their fullest potential. Once we are able to do that, we'll start winning and things will turn around for us.
I think the UA coaching staff is dedicated to winning. The coaches want to win as bad as UA fans. So that is not a good argument. It is a good argument that winning is not happening at UA. Who is responsible? Coaches! Players. Maybe it is time for a change. But it is not through a lack of dedication and hard work. And, there is no way a MAC school can compete on a national level. A MAC school can steal away precious few football players, but facts are facts. It just ain`t going to happen!
Akron is fully capable of developing a winning football tradition in the Bowl Championship Series division, which is the highest national level in NCAA sports competition. Last year a MAC football team was #12 in the Country in week 14 in the FCS. Part of the fun of following a college team is to see the steps it takes to get better, along with the color and tradition of the game. If competing on a national level means always being undefeated and in line for a national championship game then that fan will be disappointed almost every season. If you are that kind of a pathetic football fan, then you ought to give it up and move on to watching only Tiger Wood in golf. At least he will win one championship for you once a year if that's what it takes for you to be happy. It wasn't too long ago that naysayers said that Akron, competing then in Div. IAA, would never be able to get a football game scheduled with Ohio State. That same Akron team scared the pants off OSU fans two years ago when the score was 3-2 late in the game. Never say no-way and the facts aren't ( I mean ain't) always the facts… if you don't believe me then listen to Inspector Clouseau's explanation in 'A Shot In The Dark'.
Correction: Ball State was #12 in week 14 of 2008 in the BCS not FCS. I can't get used to the new designations.
I know I should leave well enough alone, but… Correction #2: the highest division in Collegiate Football is the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) not BCS. The BCS is a system that was put in place to stop a Div. IA playoff from occuring.
The problem with several of the posters on ZN is that they have personal agendas which have nothing to do with actually watching and understanding football games. They have been exposed since 2006. Akron will NEVER consistently compete with top level D-1 competetion. BUT, they don't have to. Go 7-5/8-4 on a fairly regular basis 99.99% of fans will be ecstatic,me included. It hasn't happened since we moved to D-I though. Why should we expect more after years of futility? At this point there is not another conference save for the Sunbelt that MAC most teams can compete with year in and year out. So lets get with the Sunbelt and figure it out!
Lastly, the ABUSE some seem to think MR. Brookhart is getting is not personal. As a retired parole officer, if I did my job as he and his staff have the past four years I would realize that I was not suited for the job and move on. Look, he and his family will live at a much more comfortable level than most of us EVER will, me included!