Clemson game thread and discussion

[Pikapp79]

Just win the conference. We have to get back to winning our conference before the rest of this really matters. It is all a side show. Win the conference.



Anyone saying they are embarrassed to be an App fan right now should take their diploma and return it to the chancellor's office, never step foot on campus again, never post on this board again, trash all your App gear, never put your App degree on your resume again, and completely disown and disavow anything App from your life.

Or....stop being stupid and get over yourself about a football game. I hate that we lost, but I'm not embarrassed to be an App fan because of it. Let's be perfectly truthful about one thing. If your life revolved around football to that degree that you feel embarrassed to get blasted by a program that has two national championships in the last ten years, then you should have attended a college with a bigger program. I love our program, but I accept our limitations and pull for us anyway.

Agree on this game. If we can’t win the Sun Belt will not be embarrassed but will be fed up with current staff. Long way to go. Go Apps!

[appgrad95&97]

I haven’t read this thread since yesterday and I don’t really see the point.

Is it justifiable to be disappointed in the results yesterday? Absolutely

Were we out-coached yesterday? No question. They knew our gameplan on defense and figured out how to exploit it. Kudos to them.

Were we outmanned yesterday? It certainly appears so. That is a good football team with superior talent.

Does anyone deserved to be fired for last night? No.

Will anyone be fired for last night? Again, NO!

I’m not going to pick on player performance but the passing game was off badly yesterday and that was on all parts.

The results of last night do not change anything about the team goals. The SBC East, the conference championship and a possible CFP berth are all still attainable.

Clemson was the best opponent that we will face this season unless we get into the CFP.

The games over, the season starts next week with 10 games about G5 peers.

If you want to sit and stew in your feeling, feel free. We have another game in 7 days.

GO APP!

A playoff birth is out of the question. If we run the table, the CFP committee is going to remember last night. Boise St. was competitive against Oregon, they have the opportunity to have signature wins. A 12-1 Sun Belt champion won't get the credit a 10-3 MW or American champion gets. Not with the memory of what we looked like with a competitive (not elite) P4 program. Can we win the conference, sure, but we haven't under Clark. Yes he's played for two in four years, but we weren't particularly competitive. And let's not forget, we only technically won the East last year. A week ago we were given less than 3% chance of making the playoffs. The rest of the world sees us for what we are. We are an above average FBS football program. That's it.

[AppStFan1]

Meanwhile Boise is up on Oregon 20-14 in the third.

Not shocked. Someone from the G5 is going undefeated and if they beat Oregon it could be them. I know that nobody is eliminated but a win tonight for Boise will put them in the drivers seat over all other G5s if they keep winning. I am interested to see if they hold their lead.

Oregon has started slow and had it not been for special teams, Boise would have pulled it off. Regardless, we don't look anywhere near on par with Boise. I still think they are the favorite to rep G5 and rightfully so.

100% agree here. I do want to see how we respond against ECU but we are not on par with Boise right now.

[AppinVA]

It's a one off game, Clemson will be top 5 by seasons end....calm down - they had them on two 3rd downs and DB's had mental breakdowns, you can't win the game in the 1st quarter but you sure as hell can lose it.

The more alarming thing and Ive harped on it for a few years now,

The September schedule the AD has put before #TEAMCLARK the last 3 Septembers '22 - '23' '24 has been first class unjust and unfair. The man has zero feel at being able to piece a schedule together in order to help make his program look better..

Ya"ll will dispute me but I am 110% correct on this...cupcakes need to be in place between P5 and rivalry's

#TeamClark still lives here!

Top 5 only because of their schedule. Good team, not great. Welcome back.

Thanks for having me back!

Clemson has a top 5 defense... there is no pre season in college so it takes til week 3 to really settle in as a team in college football.

and to reference your Clemson weak schedule comment - that's my point - App State can't continue to sneak up on these P5's each year and pull off an upset - Dabo had them boys ready, App made 2 3rd down mistakes in 1st quarter and the snowball rolled at that point.

Dummy down the schedule and the playoff is a possibility in the future!!! but not until then, can't ask a App State team to play perfect for 12 games. Doug gives in to the Sofields and Ricks crew on playing the big boys and other decisions -- he can't think for himself to help elevate the program, it's stuck in the purgatory of FBS.... Other schools stepped up there game and all he did was add seats to create more debt.

Now onto a rival game and a SBC game 4 days after that, tough sleding ahead.

Only 3 App State teams since 1990 has finished the season with only 1 loss -- #TeamClark was apart of 2 out of the 3.

Been saying this for years, I’m fine with p4, but there’s about 15 teams we should stay away from. I know the “anytime anywhere crowd” won’t like it, but the extra 400k isn’t worth last night. With that said, last night was a combo of awful secondary play and no pass rush, and a P4 elite giving us the real deal intensity for more than a few possessions, we done sneaking up on people, that’s for sure. Play the system, adapt with it, like the game itself. Pile up the wins, the SB is good enough to get us in w an undefeated season.

You make a good point. We can make just as much playing a good G5 at home. Conservatively, say we sell 20,000 tickets, allowing a generous 15,000 student tickets, at an average of $75, that’s $1.5 million right there. That’s before concessions and merchandise. Take away what it costs to put on a home game day, and we are still not out all that much. We may have made as much, if not more by hosting East Tennessee than we did by traveling to Clemson.

[311neers]

Quick question. When was the last time our defense was legitimately good? 2019?

[Yosef1986]

We can slice and dice this game for ever. Bottom line - I am not sure we are growing as a team. I do not believe we are going backwards - just not progressing as a team. I see the same team on the field year after year. Same type of seasons and up's and down's. I do not have any answers - and just for the record I am not a fire everyone fan. However, we do need to take a look and do what is necessary to build on our program.

[appdaze]

Just win the conference. We have to get back to winning our conference before the rest of this really matters. It is all a side show. Win the conference.



Anyone saying they are embarrassed to be an App fan right now should take their diploma and return it to the chancellor's office, never step foot on campus again, never post on this board again, trash all your App gear, never put your App degree on your resume again, and completely disown and disavow anything App from your life.

Or....stop being stupid and get over yourself about a football game. I hate that we lost, but I'm not embarrassed to be an App fan because of it. Let's be perfectly truthful about one thing. If your life revolved around football to that degree that you feel embarrassed to get blasted by a program that has two national championships in the last ten years, then you should have attended a college with a bigger program. I love our program, but I accept our limitations and pull for us anyway.

Oh golly gee willikers I was so happy to be a Mountaineer last night. I was bursting with pride as I watched the most highly touted app team since 2020 get torched over and over again by open receivers and bad coverages. Seeing the black and gold anytime I can is what it’s all about. I know the guys tried their best and that’s what being a mountaineer is about.

I stand by my statement. If you are that embarrassed, then disavow everything about App from your life. Just do it. Stop being so embarrassed and do it for your mental health. I don't want to see you suffer like this. No one will blame you for putting your mental health first and walking away from everything Appstate and turning in your diploma due to the embarrassment.

[AppStFan1]

I haven’t read this thread since yesterday and I don’t really see the point.

Is it justifiable to be disappointed in the results yesterday? Absolutely

Were we out-coached yesterday? No question. They knew our gameplan on defense and figured out how to exploit it. Kudos to them.

Were we outmanned yesterday? It certainly appears so. That is a good football team with superior talent.

Does anyone deserved to be fired for last night? No.

Will anyone be fired for last night? Again, NO!

I’m not going to pick on player performance but the passing game was off badly yesterday and that was on all parts.

The results of last night do not change anything about the team goals. The SBC East, the conference championship and a possible CFP berth are all still attainable.

Clemson was the best opponent that we will face this season unless we get into the CFP.

The games over, the season starts next week with 10 games about G5 peers.

If you want to sit and stew in your feeling, feel free. We have another game in 7 days.

GO APP!

They absolutely out coached us and we saw Clemson wake up.

The results don't technically change team goals because the realists on here expected to lose for sure but you would expect a deserving playoff team to look better. I said before that I felt we would know if there is a legit chance at the end of this month and I maintain that. I want to see how this teams responds. If we are going to end up as a playoff contender then we better come out mad like Clemson did and put a beating on ECU. I do think we beat ECU but if we lose then we are definitely done.

[311neers]

I haven’t read this thread since yesterday and I don’t really see the point.

Is it justifiable to be disappointed in the results yesterday? Absolutely

Were we out-coached yesterday? No question. They knew our gameplan on defense and figured out how to exploit it. Kudos to them.

Were we outmanned yesterday? It certainly appears so. That is a good football team with superior talent.

Does anyone deserved to be fired for last night? No.

Will anyone be fired for last night? Again, NO!

I’m not going to pick on player performance but the passing game was off badly yesterday and that was on all parts.

The results of last night do not change anything about the team goals. The SBC East, the conference championship and a possible CFP berth are all still attainable.

Clemson was the best opponent that we will face this season unless we get into the CFP.

The games over, the season starts next week with 10 games about G5 peers.

If you want to sit and stew in your feeling, feel free. We have another game in 7 days.

GO APP!

They absolutely out coached us and we saw Clemson wake up.

The results don't technically change team goals because the realists on here expected to lose for sure but you would expect a deserving playoff team to look better. I said before that I felt we would know if there is a legit chance at the end of this month and I maintain that. I want to see how this teams responds. If we are going to end up as a playoff contender then we better come out mad like Clemson did and put a beating on ECU. I do think we beat ECU but if we lose then we are definitely done.

Playoff expectations are well tempered for now after watching that thrashing. The good news is the Sun Belt looks like a bad conference this year, just hope we aren’t one of those bad teams. It’s a winnable league, go get it!

[AppGrad20]

I fully believe our coaching staff prepared our team extremely well for the matchup that WE and all of Clemson fans anticipated. All of last season and even in the Georgia game, Clemson played conservatively. Run the ball, bubble screens, short passes. Only pass the ball deep when you’re trailing. You don’t put extra men deep when they’re throwing the ball behind the line of scrimmage or running it 90% of the time.

It is pretty clear that Clemson’s offense is no longer being ran by Dabo. Dabo swallowed his pride and let Garrett Riley, one of the best offensive minds in the game, finally take over. I’m shocked it took this long. Even prior to the game, I believed Clemson would be the team to beat in the ACC. They avoid playing Miami, Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, and Boston College in regular season. Even if we had won, there was no reason for them not to run the table. If Garrett Riley continues to call the plays, they will be a national championship contender alongside Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee.

Do we need to improve on all fronts? Yes. Was tackling awful? Yes. Did Joey finally look human and rattled by a tough environment? Yes. Can our receivers catch the ball or show effort in fighting for the 50/50 balls? Yes. Can our secondary do its job? Yes.

It’s early in the season and I’m glad we got humbled now. We ran into a team who got humbled and had a point to prove. Having Dabo on the hot seat did not help. Phil Mafah got more cheers pre-game than Cade or Dabo. There were even some boos… pretty telling. Dabo showed no mercy and wanted to make a statement (going for it on 4th down three times when up 35+). After the game, I saw Dabo was back to being Dabo. Eating up the media/TV coverage on ACCN. Life is good in Clemson.

Calling for Clark’s head after last night is ridiculous. At the end of the day, it’s about how we respond next week. Will this be our equivalent of Clemson’s humbling loss to Georgia? Will we bounce back and stick it to ECU next week? I believe we will. Go App!

[Stonewall]

EZU is a legitimate measuring stick. Lose to them and that is solid evidence that we are moving backward. Win Saturday and we have a chance to get back on track.

[AppStFan1]

I haven’t read this thread since yesterday and I don’t really see the point.

Is it justifiable to be disappointed in the results yesterday? Absolutely

Were we out-coached yesterday? No question. They knew our gameplan on defense and figured out how to exploit it. Kudos to them.

Were we outmanned yesterday? It certainly appears so. That is a good football team with superior talent.

Does anyone deserved to be fired for last night? No.

Will anyone be fired for last night? Again, NO!

I’m not going to pick on player performance but the passing game was off badly yesterday and that was on all parts.

The results of last night do not change anything about the team goals. The SBC East, the conference championship and a possible CFP berth are all still attainable.

Clemson was the best opponent that we will face this season unless we get into the CFP.

The games over, the season starts next week with 10 games about G5 peers.

If you want to sit and stew in your feeling, feel free. We have another game in 7 days.

GO APP!

They absolutely out coached us and we saw Clemson wake up.

The results don't technically change team goals because the realists on here expected to lose for sure but you would expect a deserving playoff team to look better. I said before that I felt we would know if there is a legit chance at the end of this month and I maintain that. I want to see how this teams responds. If we are going to end up as a playoff contender then we better come out mad like Clemson did and put a beating on ECU. I do think we beat ECU but if we lose then we are definitely done.

Playoff expectations are well tempered for now after watching that thrashing. The good news is the Sun Belt looks like a bad conference this year, just hope we aren’t one of those bad teams. It’s a winnable league, go get it!

The SBC looking bad is actually not a good thing for playoff hopes. It might mean we could still have a chance but it means that our champ will need to be undefeated and we already have a loss.

[NewApp]

daze said: I stand by my statement. If you are that embarrassed, then disavow everything about App from your life. Just do it. Stop being so embarrassed and do it for your mental health. I don't want to see you suffer like this. No one will blame you for putting your mental health first and walking away from everything Appstate and turning in your diploma due to the embarrassment

What the Hades is happening, daze? We totally agree on something for a change.

[Saint3333]

SBC went 9-5 yesterday, 3-2 vs AAC, 1-0 vs MWC.

It was a decent day for the conference don’t let our shortcomings fool you, others in the conference are improving or at a minimum competing at the G5 level.

[AppSt94]

Quick question. When was the last time our defense was legitimately good? 2019?

Fair question and to be honest that defense was special, especially for a G5 team. That defense had Meech, Charles, Davis-Gaither. Thomas, Jolly, Jackson, Hampton, and Ross. All of them proved to be NFL caliber talent. That is an insane quantity of players for one defense at our level. That is hard to replicate.

[AppSt94]

I haven’t read this thread since yesterday and I don’t really see the point.

Is it justifiable to be disappointed in the results yesterday? Absolutely

Were we out-coached yesterday? No question. They knew our gameplan on defense and figured out how to exploit it. Kudos to them.

Were we outmanned yesterday? It certainly appears so. That is a good football team with superior talent.

Does anyone deserved to be fired for last night? No.

Will anyone be fired for last night? Again, NO!

I’m not going to pick on player performance but the passing game was off badly yesterday and that was on all parts.

The results of last night do not change anything about the team goals. The SBC East, the conference championship and a possible CFP berth are all still attainable.

Clemson was the best opponent that we will face this season unless we get into the CFP.

The games over, the season starts next week with 10 games about G5 peers.

If you want to sit and stew in your feeling, feel free. We have another game in 7 days.

GO APP!

A playoff birth is out of the question. If we run the table, the CFP committee is going to remember last night. Boise St. was competitive against Oregon, they have the opportunity to have signature wins. A 12-1 Sun Belt champion won't get the credit a 10-3 MW or American champion gets. Not with the memory of what we looked like with a competitive (not elite) P4 program. Can we win the conference, sure, but we haven't under Clark. Yes he's played for two in four years, but we weren't particularly competitive. And let's not forget, we only technically won the East last year. A week ago we were given less than 3% chance of making the playoffs. The rest of the world sees us for what we are. We are an above average FBS football program. That's it.

We are two games into a 12 game season. We lost a game that we were likely expected to lose. Let it play out and let’s see how it shakes out.

[pop5app]

Team loses by 40+ to a playoff caliber team (all playoff teams will be close to Clemson caliber) … my opinion is we don’t deserve to be in the playoff. I’m putting that notion to bed. Win the conference get a good bowl.

[311neers]

I haven’t read this thread since yesterday and I don’t really see the point.

Is it justifiable to be disappointed in the results yesterday? Absolutely

Were we out-coached yesterday? No question. They knew our gameplan on defense and figured out how to exploit it. Kudos to them.

Were we outmanned yesterday? It certainly appears so. That is a good football team with superior talent.

Does anyone deserved to be fired for last night? No.

Will anyone be fired for last night? Again, NO!

I’m not going to pick on player performance but the passing game was off badly yesterday and that was on all parts.

The results of last night do not change anything about the team goals. The SBC East, the conference championship and a possible CFP berth are all still attainable.

Clemson was the best opponent that we will face this season unless we get into the CFP.

The games over, the season starts next week with 10 games about G5 peers.

If you want to sit and stew in your feeling, feel free. We have another game in 7 days.

GO APP!

A playoff birth is out of the question. If we run the table, the CFP committee is going to remember last night. Boise St. was competitive against Oregon, they have the opportunity to have signature wins. A 12-1 Sun Belt champion won't get the credit a 10-3 MW or American champion gets. Not with the memory of what we looked like with a competitive (not elite) P4 program. Can we win the conference, sure, but we haven't under Clark. Yes he's played for two in four years, but we weren't particularly competitive. And let's not forget, we only technically won the East last year. A week ago we were given less than 3% chance of making the playoffs. The rest of the world sees us for what we are. We are an above average FBS football program. That's it.

We are two games into a 12 game season. We lost a game that we were likely expected to lose. Let it play out and let’s see how it shakes out.

Then we should win the next 10 games we are likely expected to win. Well, a few years ago, we would be expected to win every remaining game in the schedule. Not sure about that anymore though. That’s where we’ve gotten to. Every game is now a toss up.

[appstatealum]

With the turnover in personnel, it wouldn't be out of left field if things gelled and we ran the table. BUT, we would need to do it in dramatic fashion like Clemson did to us and absolutely embarrass teams, which I don't see happening with this staff. Some of us need to stop looking at CFB the way we used to, it's a completely different game. I still like it, but I don't have the same passion I once did bc it's never going to be worthy of that again. That's just a fact. There is a reason why I promoted the idea of being a launchpad program for coaches instead of trying to duplicate traditions of old. This just isn't the same sport it once was.

[appgrad95&97]

I haven’t read this thread since yesterday and I don’t really see the point.

Is it justifiable to be disappointed in the results yesterday? Absolutely

Were we out-coached yesterday? No question. They knew our gameplan on defense and figured out how to exploit it. Kudos to them.

Were we outmanned yesterday? It certainly appears so. That is a good football team with superior talent.

Does anyone deserved to be fired for last night? No.

Will anyone be fired for last night? Again, NO!

I’m not going to pick on player performance but the passing game was off badly yesterday and that was on all parts.

The results of last night do not change anything about the team goals. The SBC East, the conference championship and a possible CFP berth are all still attainable.

Clemson was the best opponent that we will face this season unless we get into the CFP.

The games over, the season starts next week with 10 games about G5 peers.

If you want to sit and stew in your feeling, feel free. We have another game in 7 days.

GO APP!

A playoff birth is out of the question. If we run the table, the CFP committee is going to remember last night. Boise St. was competitive against Oregon, they have the opportunity to have signature wins. A 12-1 Sun Belt champion won't get the credit a 10-3 MW or American champion gets. Not with the memory of what we looked like with a competitive (not elite) P4 program. Can we win the conference, sure, but we haven't under Clark. Yes he's played for two in four years, but we weren't particularly competitive. And let's not forget, we only technically won the East last year. A week ago we were given less than 3% chance of making the playoffs. The rest of the world sees us for what we are. We are an above average FBS football program. That's it.

We are two games into a 12 game season. We lost a game that we were likely expected to lose. Let it play out and let’s see how it shakes out.

ESPN gives ECU a 57.3% chance of winning. I'm guessing Vegas will have us as a road dog. Soooo, will that count as a game we are expected to lose? That's a legitimate question. I get that we are two games into the season. But in fairness, we have four seasons under Clark to look at.