In the fictitious movie “Forrest Gump”, Forrest had an IQ of 76. When Forrest ran back kicks for the Crimson Tide, he did not the wherewithal to stop running when he reached the end zone, so the crowd held up signs that read “STOP!” and Forrest would quit running.

I don’t know what Ron Zook’s IQ is, but it may be in Gump’s range as well when it comes to his consistently inane time management decisions near half time or at the end of games. Except that there is one glaring problem: Gump wasn’t real. Zook is.

So my suggestion is this: rather than have Busey Bank give away orange pompons for fans to wave at football games, Busey should instead purchase placards for fans that says “TIME OUT RON!” when the situation obviously presents itself. It would also help if a member of the DIA Academic Services would stand next to Zook to read the signs to him. Zook can then call time outs when they are needed (this weeks example: 20 seconds to go in the first half inside the red zone and two t.o.’s left). Football experts will hail the new Zook as gifted, a genius, and a coach who must have an IQ of 160.

I was at the game. I remember the UI scoring a touchdown on this series without benefit of the timeouts, with one second left on the clock before halftime. Isn't that good time management? So, what's your point?

Do you have an explanation for the end of the IU game when a couple of TOs might have allowed us to score earlier, retrieve an onside kick and throw a Hail Mary to win? Not likely, but not totally impossible.

Great idea! My question: Will Busey Bank pay my travel expense to away games so I can hold up the cards?

I was at the game as well..............sure we scored, and not having 7 secs or 15 secs left didnt come into play, but it was a silly stupid risk, because had he been stopped a yard short, we would have had to settle for field and likely lost the game, or had he been stopped short as time expired, we would have gotten nothing.

its just stupid football.............because it happened to work out, doesnt make it a smart course of action.

these clock mismanagement issues happen ALL THE TIME with ZOOK. I happen to wonder if he ignores the guys in the booth, or if they are as inept at clock issues as well. Its just so fundamental, I just think RZ purposely chooses to do things counterintuitively -- Like the penalty accepting issues in the '07 Iowa game. The head scratching game coaching decisions he has made in the five years he has been HC are endless. Of all his weaknesses as HC, its the most obvious to the casual fan, and to me, and bothers me the most.

They scored the touchdown in spite of the clock management, not because of it. It's something that's happened with great regularity during the Zook era. That's the point.

If the running play had not been a TD I suspect the time to run the last play would have resulted in the loss of the final second. Thus, there would have been no score and possibly another loss. Many of Zook's game day decisions border on the idiotic. He either takes unnecessary risks or simply makes bad judgement calls through either miscalculation or lack of awareness (I sense the latter quite often). It is maddening.

They had the benefit of timeouts and only used one of them. That was the problem.

I think its safe to say that RZ has an issue with numbers and math in general.

The guy is completely clueless when it comes to:

1. clock managment
2. time outs (where and when to use them)
3. penalties (when and where to accept them)
4. going for a 2 point conversion (remember the IU game in 05 when he chased points!!)

All in all, i think there should be a position created for someone with half a brain (i would like to apply!!) that could overrule a stupid penalty acceptance, call a timeout when needed and just in general talk to this guy and explain simple math and common sense.

He is obviously clueless. And yes, i agree, that he gets lucky way too many times for his own good, and in the losses the mistakes are further magnified.

I haven't watched any other coach completely screw up clock mgmt on a weekly basis more than RZ, not ONE COACH IN AMERICA!!

here is what I am convinced of, and the reason he has a difficult time attracting and keeping decent assistants:

during the game: HE IGNORES THEM

there is just no frickin way the coaches upstairs arent screaming into the headset to:
~ call time out
~ decline penalty
~ punt vs go for it
~ take a knee
~ kick field goal

etc etc etc

there is just no way the staff is buying into those same idiotic decisions, and it frustrates them as much as us. Word is out through the coaching fraternity, and hence is the reason he cant get guys to come here, and why so many leave the minute an offer from somewhere else comes.

RZ is a classic ADD guy, as am I , and it takes unique people, who are typically given unique rewards, to work for and with people with it. Many ADD guys are salesman, risk takers, and entrepenuers. There are many reasons in the business world to be around guys with it. Not sure those rewards exist in the football coaching world, though.

Well, according to Not Sure, time outs are for pussies.

I don't care if Zook has ADD, he needs to get an Asst Coach, or a game manager with a brain. If Coach Guenther doesn't recognize this by now, then he is an idiot too.

and what good would it do if he consistently and continually ignores them?

RG , deep down, knows he made the wrong hire 5 years ago . But will never admit it, and is going to retire in 14 months, without having to. Our next AD is gonna make that call.

RG overlooked all the game and practice/preparation coaching issues for a guy who could recruit with the best of them. He, and we, had no idea that the stupid calls we were seeing in years 1, 2 & 3 were going to continue ad infinitum. All the asst coaches in the world wont matter, as Zook is still the guy pacing up and down the sidelines looking lost and puzzled everytime a crucial decision needs to be made. I can only imagine what the 'inside baseball' stories must be on him regarding game day flubs

I agree w/all your points. I believe in a FL game that he went for a 2 point conversation when there was no need to and it contributed to losing a close game. He obviously does not learn from his past mistakes. It is mind boggling. He needs a COORDINATOR OF TIME MANAGEMENT.

You know, I never had thought of this, but you are probably right. It is hard to imagine that a whole crew of coaches could all miss the obvious call. Zook must simply not be listening. He may not have ADD but he sure acts like he does. I still can't believe that we are going to be stuck with this level of coaching for another year. Hopefully RG MAKES Zook step away from game day decisions and rely more on his assistants. With push coming to shove in terms of losses, I wonder if that happened the past two games? If so, look what we got? Winning football. I still can't believe that a team that played so badly was able to turn it around and play well. It HAS to do with the coaching chemistry, decisions being made, and not the players.