UL

[Rick83]

I'm obsessing on it now; if I'm Napier, if I beat App I still have to go on the road and beat a strong, well-rested, plenty of time to get prepared Ark State team (Ark State has a bye weekend before their Thursday night game) because of the head-to-head tie breaker. Beating us and losing to Ark State most likely means UL loses the SBC West. The game for the SBC West is going to be the following Thursday at Ark State so I wonder if he'll hold back just enough...

Doubt it. We have had. a target on our back since we joined and it has gotten bigger every year. We are going to get their best shot

So, you're suggesting that to Napier, beating us is better than winning the Sun Belt Championship?

Those things are not mutually exclusive...?

They're not but it's set up perfectly for Ark State, who's playing great ball so far, with the UGA exception, but it was UGA.
If Ark State beats Ga State this Saturday on the road, they then have a bye week and their toughest remaining opponent is UL, whom they play at home. Anything can happen in football, but UL really needs to beat Ark State to hold the tie breaker because they're probably not going to get help from anybody else giving Ark State two conference losses. If they lose to Ark State, then Ark State likely wins the SBC West (anything can happen obviously), so again, if I were Napier I'd have an eye on that Ark State game. I'm not saying their going to lay down on us, I'm just wondering if he'll hold back just enough for us to pull out the win although I think we're the better team anyway. As I said before, weird things can happen in football.
But the bottom line is throwing everything at us to win and then to lose to Ark State likely takes them out of the running.

[yosef69]

I'm obsessing on it now; if I'm Napier, if I beat App I still have to go on the road and beat a strong, well-rested, plenty of time to get prepared Ark State team (Ark State has a bye weekend before their Thursday night game) because of the head-to-head tie breaker. Beating us and losing to Ark State most likely means UL loses the SBC West. The game for the SBC West is going to be the following Thursday at Ark State so I wonder if he'll hold back just enough...

Doubt it. We have had. a target on our back since we joined and it has gotten bigger every year. We are going to get their best shot

The target on our back has been huge for years, and probably never bigger than the SBC championship game last season, and they haven't beat us yet. Maybe they are due for it, but we should be used to being everyone's biggest game of the year by now. This is our biggest game of the year too, because its the next on the schedule. I'd say we are going to give UL the biggest shot they have had so far, too.

I agree and I'm not saying their best shot is enough to beat us if we play our game. I was simply telling Rick that they're not going to hold anything back. If they're losing and they have better plays in the book, I fully expect them to use those plays. Same goes for us.

[yosef69]

I'm obsessing on it now; if I'm Napier, if I beat App I still have to go on the road and beat a strong, well-rested, plenty of time to get prepared Ark State team (Ark State has a bye weekend before their Thursday night game) because of the head-to-head tie breaker. Beating us and losing to Ark State most likely means UL loses the SBC West. The game for the SBC West is going to be the following Thursday at Ark State so I wonder if he'll hold back just enough...

Doubt it. We have had. a target on our back since we joined and it has gotten bigger every year. We are going to get their best shot

So, you're suggesting that to Napier, beating us is better than winning the Sun Belt Championship?

Those things are not mutually exclusive...?

They're not but it's set up perfectly for Ark State, who's playing great ball so far, with the UGA exception, but it was UGA.
If Ark State beats Ga State this Saturday on the road, they then have a bye week and their toughest remaining opponent is UL, whom they play at home. Anything can happen in football, but UL really needs to beat Ark State to hold the tie breaker because they're probably not going to get help from anybody else giving Ark State two conference losses. If they lose to Ark State, then Ark State likely wins the SBC West (anything can happen obviously), so again, if I were Napier I'd have an eye on that Ark State game. I'm not saying their going to lay down on us, I'm just wondering if he'll hold back just enough for us to pull out the win although I think we're the better team anyway. As I said before, weird things can happen in football.
But the bottom line is throwing everything at us to win and then to lose to Ark State likely takes them out of the running.

You're acting like we cant beat them if they throw the kitchen sink at us which simply isnt the case

[Rick83]

I'm obsessing on it now; if I'm Napier, if I beat App I still have to go on the road and beat a strong, well-rested, plenty of time to get prepared Ark State team (Ark State has a bye weekend before their Thursday night game) because of the head-to-head tie breaker. Beating us and losing to Ark State most likely means UL loses the SBC West. The game for the SBC West is going to be the following Thursday at Ark State so I wonder if he'll hold back just enough...

Doubt it. We have had. a target on our back since we joined and it has gotten bigger every year. We are going to get their best shot

So, you're suggesting that to Napier, beating us is better than winning the Sun Belt Championship?

Really think you're thinking too hard about this. They've had a week and a half to get ready for this just like we have. They'll have an extra day for stAte. I'm sure they want to beat us, both to show that they can and to get home field in case of a rematch.

This ain't the SEC West - there aren't THAT many tough teams you have to get up for. They'll give us everything they've got and I expect we'll do the same.

LOL, you're probably right, I am just putting myself in Napier's shoes and if I were him some of this past bye week they've had would have been spent on Ark State game planning because that's the one that will likely determine the winner of the West...I'd want to do anything to win the championship first and foremost.

[Rick83]

Doubt it. We have had. a target on our back since we joined and it has gotten bigger every year. We are going to get their best shot

So, you're suggesting that to Napier, beating us is better than winning the Sun Belt Championship?

Those things are not mutually exclusive...?

They're not but it's set up perfectly for Ark State, who's playing great ball so far, with the UGA exception, but it was UGA.
If Ark State beats Ga State this Saturday on the road, they then have a bye week and their toughest remaining opponent is UL, whom they play at home. Anything can happen in football, but UL really needs to beat Ark State to hold the tie breaker because they're probably not going to get help from anybody else giving Ark State two conference losses. If they lose to Ark State, then Ark State likely wins the SBC West (anything can happen obviously), so again, if I were Napier I'd have an eye on that Ark State game. I'm not saying their going to lay down on us, I'm just wondering if he'll hold back just enough for us to pull out the win although I think we're the better team anyway. As I said before, weird things can happen in football.
But the bottom line is throwing everything at us to win and then to lose to Ark State likely takes them out of the running.

You're acting like we cant beat them if they throw the kitchen sink at us which simply isnt the case

Oh, I'm absolutely not saying that, but UL has a good team and they're playing at home and anything can happen in football. I'm merely suggesting that this scenario might be beneficial for us. The Ark State game will likely decide the winner of the West. and I said likely..

[Black Saturday]

So, you're suggesting that to Napier, beating us is better than winning the Sun Belt Championship?

Those things are not mutually exclusive...?

They're not but it's set up perfectly for Ark State, who's playing great ball so far, with the UGA exception, but it was UGA.
If Ark State beats Ga State this Saturday on the road, they then have a bye week and their toughest remaining opponent is UL, whom they play at home. Anything can happen in football, but UL really needs to beat Ark State to hold the tie breaker because they're probably not going to get help from anybody else giving Ark State two conference losses. If they lose to Ark State, then Ark State likely wins the SBC West (anything can happen obviously), so again, if I were Napier I'd have an eye on that Ark State game. I'm not saying their going to lay down on us, I'm just wondering if he'll hold back just enough for us to pull out the win although I think we're the better team anyway. As I said before, weird things can happen in football.
But the bottom line is throwing everything at us to win and then to lose to Ark State likely takes them out of the running.

You're acting like we cant beat them if they throw the kitchen sink at us which simply isnt the case

Oh, I'm absolutely not saying that, but UL has a good team and they're playing at home and anything can happen in football. I'm merely suggesting that this scenario might be beneficial for us. The Ark State game will likely decide the winner of the West. and I said likely..

Let's make their Ark State game a must win for them.

[Rick83]

Those things are not mutually exclusive...?

They're not but it's set up perfectly for Ark State, who's playing great ball so far, with the UGA exception, but it was UGA.
If Ark State beats Ga State this Saturday on the road, they then have a bye week and their toughest remaining opponent is UL, whom they play at home. Anything can happen in football, but UL really needs to beat Ark State to hold the tie breaker because they're probably not going to get help from anybody else giving Ark State two conference losses. If they lose to Ark State, then Ark State likely wins the SBC West (anything can happen obviously), so again, if I were Napier I'd have an eye on that Ark State game. I'm not saying their going to lay down on us, I'm just wondering if he'll hold back just enough for us to pull out the win although I think we're the better team anyway. As I said before, weird things can happen in football.
But the bottom line is throwing everything at us to win and then to lose to Ark State likely takes them out of the running.

You're acting like we cant beat them if they throw the kitchen sink at us which simply isnt the case

Oh, I'm absolutely not saying that, but UL has a good team and they're playing at home and anything can happen in football. I'm merely suggesting that this scenario might be beneficial for us. The Ark State game will likely decide the winner of the West. and I said likely..

Let's make their Ark State game a must win for them.

Absolutely! But my point is that it's likely a must win for them whether they beat us or not...but anything can happen in football...

[BeauFoster]

Let's make their Ark State game a must win for them.

For whatever reason, this little sentence has me ready to run through a frickin wall. It's Pacino-like. And we're still 7 days away.

Albeit said wall is a thin wall, as I am slight of build, but a wall nonetheless.

[AppSt94]

Does anyone know if we should get the majority of our injured guys back for the Louisiana game?

EJ played against coastal...isnt Franklin our only injury?

Franklin sat in hopes that the extended rest would help him heal up.

[Yosef84]

OK, obviously I want to win every single game that we play. I think this one will be a dog fight and should be a great game. I've already said that I think App's D will step up and get it done. I'm always a homer, so that's my default position.

Just for a minute I want to take the Devil's advocate role. IF I had to pick a conference game for us to lose, I think this one would be it. I say that because I believe we remain the masters of our own destiny even with a loss. If we beat GS and Troy, we still play in the CC game and the motivational edge might even go our way if we lost during the season, although it could cost us the home field which would be bad. Sooner or later, we're going to lose one. I'm really hoping it isn't this year, but UL is going to be tough. GS and Troy are both somewhat down (still dangerous). We will see how they look by the time we play them.

I'm definitely glad to see a couple of the guys who have been concerned about the D starting to feel more confident about this game.

[AtlAppMan]

If we lose A game then we are not the masters of our own destiny. Even if we win all our games we are not the masters of our own destiny, where we want it to be.

[Yosef84]

If we lose A game then we are not the masters of our own destiny. Even if we win all our games we are not the masters of our own destiny, where we want it to be.

I think I explained my point adequately. Sorry you don't like the use of that term but the fact is that, if we win the rest of our games, we are still in the conference championship game. If we win that, we are the champions. We are not dependent on others in order to achieve our goal. "Masters of our own destiny" doesn't mean we have everything we could possibly want. It means that we don't have to reply on factors outside our control.

[yosef69]

Has anyone watched them this year? Why are their fans so confident our DL is going to get "dominated" by their OL? Our DL has looked pretty good this year, it's the LB play that looks suspect.

[Rick83]

We've needed help in the past and got some major help last year with ULM surprisingly beating Ga Southern. Troy beating Ga Southern wasn't a surprise and of course our beating Troy gave us the tie breaker over them as we each only had 1 conference loss.
It's much easier to overcome a West loss than losing within the East for us.

[Yosef84]

Has anyone watched them this year? Why are their fans so confident our DL is going to get "dominated" by their OL? Our DL has looked pretty good this year, it's the LB play that looks suspect.

I've watch bits and pieces of them. They're pretty solid and they do have a good OL. They had a good OL last year. This is just my opinion but I think they look at last year....two close games. They figure they have improved, which appears to be true. They read that App's D is inconsistent and they make assumptions.

I can't blame any opposing fan for "believing" in their team. I still think our D is improving and is going to surprise them. We probably won't shut them down but I don't think we get "dominated."

Every team we have played this year has featured a big OL, including ETSU. Even Charlotte has a pretty solid OL. That's one of their strongest units. I'm not sure how Coastal's OL compares but my point is that we are probably more prepared than they (UL fans) think to match up with their talented linemen.

[Yosef84]

We've needed help in the past and got some major help last year with ULM surprisingly beating Ga Southern. Troy beating Ga Southern wasn't a surprise and of course our beating Troy gave us the tie breaker over them as we each only had 1 conference loss.
It's much easier to overcome a West loss than losing within the East for us.

Exactly

[Black Saturday]

I'd think UNCs line was the best we've played this year? I mean it's an ACC recruited line with 3-4-5 star players.

[yosef69]

I'd think UNCs line was the best we've played this year? I mean it's an ACC recruited line with 3-4-5 star players.

That's what I was thinking and we dominated them so I'm not too worried about their OL

[EastHallApp]

I'd think UNCs line was the best we've played this year? I mean it's an ACC recruited line with 3-4-5 star players.

That's what I was thinking and we dominated them so I'm not too worried about their OL

They did put up 470 yards and 31 points so I’m not sure I’d call that dominant, but it was a solid defensive effort.

[appstatealum]

Has anyone watched them this year? Why are their fans so confident our DL is going to get "dominated" by their OL? Our DL has looked pretty good this year, it's the LB play that looks suspect.

Our LBs have been struggling with assignments, but most of their woes have come from the DL not getting enough push. If OLineman are getting to the second level and restricting LB movement, the LBs will look bad, but it’s the DLines fault. The front 7 is so dependent on each other for success. Roofs scheme is highly dependent on the front 3 DL and OLB getting pressure, that when we aren’t, things go downhill quickly. The DLines best performance was the Carolina game, wasn’t a coincidence that our defense looked better all around.