2017 Expectations

[TheMackAttack]

I think you guys are significantly undervaluing the talent we lost last year. Middleton, Blair, Gibbs, Jones, Beathard, McElfresh, Chapman, Harris, and Matics were all very important contributors and we reloaded and went back to work. We'll do the same next year. I think 10 wins should be considered the floor for us.

[AppState89]

I for one and going to miss Bentley Critcher. Dude was a weapon. If he didn't kick it out of the endzone the. He was down the field mixing it up. Hell, how many kickers does anyone remember having a tackle reviewed for targeting? The kid is a baller that happens to be a solid kicker.

I agree 100%. He really can pretty much do it all. He is one hell of a good kid!!! Great parents to boot. We should be fine with his brother.

[AppState89]

13-0. Yes, with an upset win over Georgia and a dog fight with Wake.

[bigdaddyg]

I guess it's just natural to worry about a huge drop off especially when you have seen guys for 3 years or so and have gotten used to success. I had mentioned on another thread about how big a bunch of guys in shorts looked after the ODU game when we were on the field. I seriously doubt that the cupboard is bare. As long as we didn't recruit and redshirt a bunch of stiffs we will be just fine. My sense is that we are officially a program and not just a football team. On our level we are a reload program not a rebuild

[ashugh]

Edge-Campbell and Johnson back with the two dozers on the right back in Gosset and Nunn. That's the makings of one of the best lines in the nation, again. A fourth year starter at QB. Jalin and crew at running back will be powerful stuff. Gibbs back at corner across from Duck means we can bring more pressure with various blitz packages. I like our outlook very much.
This years team failed to really identify a core group of receivers and get them more involved and let them gain experience. We also got away from our tight end in the red zone and the numbers reflected the impact.
The one thing I think will be very evident and missed, and I realize this is somewhat of a captain obvious statement, is the vision and power of Marcus Cox. He also appeared to our group to have gained a step this year. Not sure if he was nagged with an injury last year, be he just seemed a step more explosive this year. Marcus has been one helluva running back. If he had been healthy all year he would be pushing 6,000 career yds. Man, it's hard to watch those 14's leave.

[ASU3432Mi]

13-0. Yes, with an upset win over Georgia and a dog fight with Wake.

Don't worry about Wake. I got their 2017 game plan from that guy outside Fanfest Saturday in the WF shirt for 12 bucks.

[JMappfan5]

Stout had a great season at NT. Can't wait to see how much he improves.

[bigdaddyg]

I'm thinking we might run the ball just a little bit next year, provided we find a few backs- lol

[AppGrad78]

We keep forgetting that we're losing Critcher ... the guy who hammered almost all of his kickoffs into the end zone and nearly got tossed for targeting. Think of how much better our special teams play got when he stepped on the field.

[t4pizza]

I know we lose a lot of talent and leadership, but as another poster said, we have experienced players in line to step up and start. I really have a special feeling about next season. I think 3-1 out of conference and run the belt puts us in serious access bowl conversations. If we beat UGA to start the season, all bets are off. I may sound crazy here but I think next year we run the table and have an access bowl invite. Of course, if that happens we all better enjoy the ride bc Satt will get scooped up by a big time P5 program. My optimism does have limits though, it is only if we keep our staff intact this off season, worried Woody and a couple others get scooped up.

[The Rock]

Man, it's hard to watch those 14's leave.

Except when Sean Price was wearing that number... for all the talent he had, he needed to go.

[CharleyHustle]

How about an expectation followed by a prediction. We can't handle Georgia in Athens, so give App an L. Provided we remain relatively healthy, we'll run the table in non conference games and the Sun Belt and bring home another conference championship. Then the Sun Belt's 2017 version of Let's Screw Appalachian will begin. Coach Sat will have to determine how to sell a return trip to Montgomery to the players on a back to back conference championship team while lower ranked teams get the best bowl destinations. And AD Gillin will face the difficult task of selling Montgomery once again to App Nation when everyone knows we deserve better than the Sun Belt's wacky bowl selection process provides us. How long will ASU and Gillin continue to abide by these unfair bowl designations without building some support from other conference schools to make the process more equitable?

[Appdoggy]

Man, it's hard to watch those 14's leave.

Except when Sean Price was wearing that number... for all the talent he had, he needed to go.

Yeah it sucks to think about the opportunity that guy wasted. He was a bona fide nfl talent

[EastHallApp]

How about an expectation followed by a prediction. We can't handle Georgia in Athens, so give App an L. Provided we remain relatively healthy, we'll run the table in non conference games and the Sun Belt and bring home another conference championship. Then the Sun Belt's 2017 version of Let's Screw Appalachian will begin. Coach Sat will have to determine how to sell a return trip to Montgomery to the players on a back to back conference championship team while lower ranked teams get the best bowl destinations. And AD Gillin will face the difficult task of selling Montgomery once again to App Nation when everyone knows we deserve better than the Sun Belt's wacky bowl selection process provides us. How long will ASU and Gillin continue to abide by these unfair bowl designations without building some support from other conference schools to make the process more equitable?

Let's see what happens this offseason. We aren't the only ones on the unfair end of that process; it essentially benefits ULL at the expense of everyone else in the league. There's been some change to the bowl tie-ins every year since we joined, so perhaps that will happen again,

[Appdoggy]

Football is one of the more difficult sports to predict incoming new talent (and that's pretty much true at any level of the sport). The optimist in me believes App will fill the graduation holes with guys that have the size, speed and raw talent to make an impact. That by the middle of the season, Woody will have the new guys in the D-Line and Linebacking corps humming along shutting down the opposition. I want to believe the dropsies will be left in Montgomery and the returning WRs will prove to be a weapon other teams will have to account for and that opens Moore and company for another season of multiple 1000+ yard running backs. The question mark there lies in the O-Line . . .

Opening in Athens will be tough, but a good trial by fire for the newcomers to the starting lineups. For the down linemen and linebackers, chemistry will be huge in the overall season success. I do not thing 11-1 is out of reach, but I think 9-3 is perhaps more likely.

Remember though, at most positions we're not going to be plugging freshmen in to replace starters (except cases where a freshman is just too good not to play, which we've seen a few times in recent years).

C: Collins out, TEC in
TE: Burns out, Reed in
RB: Cox out, Moore in
DE: Reed/Norwood out, Godwin/Fuller in
ILB: Law out, Flory/Townes in
OLB: Gilchrist out, Davis/Townes in
CB: Williams out, Gibbs(?) in
FS: Gray out, Thomas/Franklin in

Every one of those "new" guys has already played extensively, if not started some games. Basically the only spots where we don't have a proven player ready to step in are guard (Collmar), backup NT (Fernandez/Small), punter and KR/PR (Capel), plus we do need to develop more OL depth for sure.

Good post. Assuming Gibbs does make it back, he was the punt returner last year. Not sure if the staff would go back to that but he looked pretty good back there.

Also, another guy I'm excited to see potentially step into the returner spots as well as at receiver is Jalen Virgil. Heard a lot of good things about him this past August but he ended up shirting. The guy is 6'2 210 pounds and the fastest player on the team.

[SayYesToTheRock]

How long will ASU and Gillin continue to abide by these unfair bowl designations without building some support from other conference schools to make the process more equitable?

Changing the Sun Belt's bowl selection order, or giving the champ their pick, seems to be our only hope of not going to Camellia every season.

The NCAA put a moratorium on new bowls until 2020, which screwed over App much more than any other team. Two of the three places looking to add bowls were Myrtle Beach and Charleston, SC (the third was Austin, TX). Had one or both of those sites been allowed to establish bowls, App may have played there this season, rather than Montgomery.

[/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09]

13-0. Yes, with an upset win over Georgia and a dog fight with Wake.

Don't worry about Wake. I got their 2017 game plan from that guy outside Fanfest Saturday in the WF shirt for 12 bucks.

Did former App State coach Lonnie Galloway give you any pointers?

[ashugh]

As far as this getting screwed by the bowl selection process goes, App should make it well known we're not happy about it and if it takes a move to another conference for fair reward we're interested. We have to be considered very attractive at this point to more conferences. USA has sucked as a conference, but they do have better bowls, as obviously does AAC.

[AppfaninCAALand]

As far as this getting screwed by the bowl selection process goes, App should make it well known we're not happy about it and if it takes a move to another conference for fair reward we're interested. We have to be considered very attractive at this point to more conferences. USA has sucked as a conference, but they do have better bowls, as obviously does AAC.

It would be really nice for the players, but would the fans tolerate going to the Hawaii, New Mexico, or Bahamas Bowls?

[MtnDevil95]

If the Bahamas Bowl featured an App St. v. EZU match-up, I'm willing to bet there would be a great many of us who would find our way to the islands for Christmas . . . .