IT'S THE WAKE FOREST GAME ---

[app80]

I totally agree WVA App. Beating WFU in the 1970's is why ASU is considered a football school now. This is serious stuff too us old guys. Beat the Baptist.

[AppSt94]

The opening line is Wake -3. I honestly thought it would be higher.

[WVAPPeer]

Again, I can't speak to others thoughts on this game but as for me, keep in mind I have made my point clear that my feelings have to do with this game only - not the entire season ---

[JTApps1]

I think we will be ok vs wake. Yea they are good and it will be a tough game. I think we will play hard and win a close one. I hope the coaches prep for the fast tempo and quick plays that killed us vs Miami. Though I am not sold that wake has the talent to do the quick game Miami did last year.

At least we know what's coming with Wake this year unlike a Miami team that hadnt really shown much of that prior to playing us. Also, thanks to Miami being so successful with it plenty of other teams tested us with up tempo, and by the end of last year we were defending it better.

I don't believe their QB is overly mobile so hopefully we won't have the same issues with that like this week.

[MarxistMountaineer]

I think we will be ok vs wake. Yea they are good and it will be a tough game. I think we will play hard and win a close one. I hope the coaches prep for the fast tempo and quick plays that killed us vs Miami. Though I am not sold that wake has the talent to do the quick game Miami did last year.

At least we know what's coming with Wake this year unlike a Miami team that hadnt really shown much of that prior to playing us. Also, thanks to Miami being so successful with it plenty of other teams tested us with up tempo, and by the end of last year we were defending it better.

I don't believe their QB is overly mobile so hopefully we won't have the same issues with that like this week.

False. Wolford has almost 200 yards on the ground through three games. He's clearly the best QB we will face all year.

[3rd]

Yea idk about coaching preparing for other teams going up tempo.... it's been 3 years and we still arnt prepared when teams go uptempo it's just most sunbelt teams don't have the personal and it still
bothers us.

[Rekdiver]

We will learn what kind of teams Wake and App have after this game. My concerns are not so much about how talented I view Wake is rather the inability of our OLine to open holes, our preparation for a hurry up offense, and lack of play calling creativity. Hennigan is emerging as a go to Receiver in the absence of Meadors thank goodness but the other Receivers seen to fail to get separation.
Anxious to hear some tough questions asked Scott.

[AppSt94]

The posters on the Wake board seem to have the same concerns about their O-line.

[bigdaddyg]

Will ESPN do a special in 10 years looking back at our huge win over Wake in 2017? Kind of doubt it. Will Sports Center lead off their show with highlights of the App State stunner? No. We ain't playing Alabama but it would be a nice win. Just hope we don't have a pep rally and just come ready to rock

[appvette]

Will ESPN do a special in 10 years looking back at our huge win over Wake in 2017? Kind of doubt it. Will Sports Center lead off their show with highlights of the App State stunner? No. We ain't playing Alabama but it would be a nice win. Just hope we don't have a pep rally and just come ready to rock

Silly to think a pep rally will doom us.

[biggie]

Thunder sticks would.

[EastHallApp]

I think we will be ok vs wake. Yea they are good and it will be a tough game. I think we will play hard and win a close one. I hope the coaches prep for the fast tempo and quick plays that killed us vs Miami. Though I am not sold that wake has the talent to do the quick game Miami did last year.

At least we know what's coming with Wake this year unlike a Miami team that hadnt really shown much of that prior to playing us. Also, thanks to Miami being so successful with it plenty of other teams tested us with up tempo, and by the end of last year we were defending it better.

I don't believe their QB is overly mobile so hopefully we won't have the same issues with that like this week.

False. Wolford has almost 200 yards on the ground through three games. He's clearly the best QB we will face all year.

He's been mediocre for three years. So far this year he's avoided throwing an INT, which has been a problem for him in the past. Remains to be seen if he can keep it up against better defenses. Hopefully we fit that description.

[EastHallApp]

I agree and disagree with a lot of what is being said so far in this thread. I agree that we're literally going to have zero chance if we just try to "wear them down" with the run and then hope our defense plays lights out. If that is the game plan - which I deeply fear it is - it's going to be a repeat of Miami and there's nothing we can do about it.

I still think some of you are overhyping the importance of this game. Would a win be great? Absolutely. Would a loss be damaging? I don't think so. I don't want to already be making excuses, but it does suck this is looking like the best Wake team in over 10 years. They have a scary good QB and athletes every where. Clawson has done a tremendous job there. We have to be realistic and take into consideration how many more resources they have than we do. I think some of you are getting carried away with the current status of our program. We have been dominant in conference recently, a huge accomplishment this early into our FBS era. Do you know how many teams would kill to just compete for their conference on a yearly basis? Even if we lose to Wake, 10-2 and 8-0 in the conference is absolutely on the table and you're insane if you would consider that a bad season.

It depends on what you think are realistic program goals. If you think the ultimate goal of moving up to FBS was to win Sun Belt titles, then no, this game's not that important.

If you think it's reasonable to have higher aspirations, then yes, it is. We've been right on the cusp of being a top-tier G5 program for the past couple years - one that can legitimately talk about a top 25 ranking and a NY6 bid. But to get over that hump, we need to beat a P5.

Lose to Wake Forest at home - especially following the way Miami embarrassed us - and we're probably going to have to just sit down and hush for a couple years when it comes to those discussions.

With that said, I don't think anyone has said or would say that 10-2 would be a bad season.

[boonedocks]

We lost one of the best running backs we've had in a long time, certainly the most productive yardage wise. Our O-line hasn't been as dominant and Moore is a great back but not as good in traffic as Cox was. Yes this is a big game and we have got to start winning some of these games.

However, I assure you Appalachian State will field a team next season regardless of the outcome. It will take a herculean effort and some good luck to win this game.

I disagree that this defines our program win or lose. It was nice to win those games that did help define our program when we beat Wake, and it would be helpful to start knocking P5 teams off every once in a while to take the next step in our FBS evolution. Losing to Wake hurts perception, until we beat somebody next year or the year after. It would suck and may make trash talking other fans a little harder, but it only matters what you have done lately.

If we roll up a couple scalps in the next few years, nobody will continue to hold a loss to WF against us. We need to win, but it's not do or die. It only helps to win and win out this year, and I have some serious concerns about us doing that.

[APP93]

Must win??? So what happens if App does not win??? I am very happy we are playing Wake again, but if App loses the sun will still rise on Sunday.

I want to see App win the sun belt outright this year and to do that we need to be 8-0 and get some help vs the schools we are not playing. So for me, if given a choice I would choose a win in 3 weeks over NMS (which has me concerned), then one next weekend.

[Yosef84]

It seemed like a lot of people wanted to take the Wake game for granted as a win before and have now given up. That kind of black and white thinking just isn't realistic. Based on Sagarin, they are about 9.5 point favorites now. Big whoop! One bag game, or even a couple of bad games does not define our season. Our young WRs are developing every week and hopefully we have Meadors and Evans back. Regardless, Wake hasn't played a team as good as App, especially on D.

I hated playing the Savannah State game and I think it bit us on Saturday. I don't mind playing an FCS game, but SSU wasn't even good enough to give us a good scrimmage. Just my opinion, but I think that false sense of security combined with improvement by Texas State (especially on D) set up a perfect trap game. I was proud of how our guys played tough and pulled out a win.

Saturday is a new day. No reason to expect a repeat of Saturday. Yes, we have to play better this week to compete and I believe we will. I will always believe that because yes...I'm a HOMER. I'm not delusional. There's just no way I'm giving up on a game just because we aren't favored.

I can't wait till Saturday! GO APPS!!!!

[Rick83]

Interesting to see in the Amway Coaches poll...we're tied with Wake with 2 votes each in the "others receiving votes."

Others Receiving Votes:
West Virginia 100; Vanderbilt 92; Colorado 84; Maryland 48; Kansas State 45; Memphis 36; Notre Dame 24; Kentucky 18; California 18; Minnesota 14; Stanford 11; North Carolina State 9; Houston 9; Duke 8; Navy 7; Iowa 6; Tennessee 3; Wake Forest 2; Boise State 2; Appalachian State 2; Michigan State 2; Arkansas 1.

I'm bringing a Deacon fan to the game so we've got to win or it's gonna be a long ride back home...

[GoBoone]

It seemed like a lot of people wanted to take the Wake game for granted as a win before and have now given up. That kind of black and white thinking just isn't realistic. Based on Sagarin, they are about 9.5 point favorites now. Big whoop! One bag game, or even a couple of bad games does not define our season. Our young WRs are developing every week and hopefully we have Meadors and Evans back. Regardless, Wake hasn't played a team as good as App, especially on D.

I hated playing the Savannah State game and I think it bit us on Saturday. I don't mind playing an FCS game, but SSU wasn't even good enough to give us a good scrimmage. Just my opinion, but I think that false sense of security combined with improvement by Texas State (especially on D) set up a perfect trap game. I was proud of how our guys played tough and pulled out a win.

Saturday is a new day. No reason to expect a repeat of Saturday. Yes, we have to play better this week to compete and I believe we will. I will always believe that because yes...I'm a HOMER. I'm not delusional. There's just no way I'm giving up on a game just because we aren't favored.

I can't wait till Saturday! GO APPS!!!!

Being the underdog has advantages. Just ask Texas State.

[Rick83]

Yea idk about coaching preparing for other teams going up tempo.... it's been 3 years and we still arnt prepared when teams go uptempo it's just most sunbelt teams don't have the personal and it still
bothers us.

I know others have posted otherwise on this thread but I wonder if our strategy of eating up the clock as much as possible when we have the ball (like we did last year in Knoxville), is the way to go Saturday. I would think a hurry up offense needs to get into a groove which they can't do if there's a longer time between series, plus the obvious fact that if they are able to score quickly then they have fewer chances if we're holding the ball longer. Not sure we can execute that though unless our OL comes together as a unit which i think they will at some point and I hope that point is this Saturday.

[Rekdiver]

I believe we are viewed in the same vein as middle of the pack P5 teams. A loss to Wake would drop that view to bottom of the pack...................