New Generation of Football?

Sorry for the delayed posting. I took a day off to clear my head from the catastrophe that was the opening football game, and the University's wonderful on-campus connectivity prevented me from doing anything useful yesterday. So here's the news:

Ouch. Alright, J.D., we're sorry we fired you. Can you come back now? No hard feelings, right? Saturday's shellacking was painful in every sense of the word.

What looked good:

Jeremy LaFrance (7 grabs for 75 yards) and Brian Wagner (who had an interception for 37 yards while the Zips were still in the game).

What didn't:

Everything else. Here are some stats:

Passing

AKR-Patrick Nicely: 12-35 (12 of 35!!!!), 111 YDS

SYR-Ryan Nassib: 17-27, 229 YDS, 2 TD, 1 INT

Rushing

AKR-Nate Burney: 12 CAR, 38 YDS

AKR-Alex Allen: 7 CAR, 21 YDS

SYR-Delone Carter: 26 CAR, 91 YDS, TD

SYR-Ryan Nassib: 9 CAR, 58 YDS

SYR-Antwon Bailey: 9 CAR, 55 YDS

Receiving

AKR-Jeremy LaFrance: 7 REC, 75 YDS

AKR-Everybody Else: 5 REC, 36 YDS

SYR-Team: 17 REC, 229 YDS, 2 TD

The playcalling on the part of the Zips was awful from the opening kickoff. Nate Burney, a much smaller and quicker back than Alex Allen, was running up the middle. Nicely threw flat after flat after flat, each resulting in two or three yards.

How did that work out? Just look at Akron's first five drives:

1. 3 plays, 9 yards, punt

2. 3 plays, 2 yards, punt

3. 5 plays, 20 yards, punt

4. 5 plays, 24 yards, punt

5. 3 plays, 0 yards, punt

But wait, there's more. After a 40 yard field goal from Igor Iveljic (gasp!), the Zips came out fired up for the second half (ha!) for these two epic drives.

1. 3 plays, -11 yards, punt

2. 3 plays, 2 yards, punt

Then, after putting together a 6+ minute drive encompassing 57 yards, Igor's next field goal was blocked and returned for a touchdown. The Zips punted two more times in the third quarter before having a grand total of two drives in the fourth. The first resulted in yet another punt, and the second was an 8 play, 33 yard drive that resulted in a turnover on downs and the end of the game. At least Zack Campbell got some exercise (10 punts, 383 yards).

One more awful stat before I go scream at a random passer-by. Akron didn't turn the ball over once. Syracuse threw one interception and lost two fumbles. The Zips had a +3 turnover ratio and lost by 26!

It looks like Ianello's new system is going to take some getting used to. The game against Gardner-Webb on Saturday is a breath of fresh air (maybe).