National take on Wake's season

[AtlAppMan]

Maybe next year those folks will be dropping by your App State tent looking to party. Just remember to be as gracious to them.

[App74]

Here's a local look at WF by Bret Strelow:

http://www.journalnow.com/sports/acc-ki ... d69b0.html

[Rekdiver]

Wake has a very good offense. We and the ACC could be in for a surprise if their QB's stay healthy. We better have our A++++ game

[S.Lewis15]

SB Nation's Bill Connelly with his in depth preview on Wake's Season

https://www.sbnation.com/college-footba ... ule-roster

[AtlAppMan]

What a FSU analyst thinks of Wake.

https://www.tomahawknation.com/2017/7/1 ... e-2017-fsu

Not much love for Wake's offense.

[AtlAppMan]

Hero Sports has App at #54 and Wake at #69

http://herosports.com/college-football- ... -2017-ahah
http://herosports.com/college-football- ... -2017-ahah

Note the nice video clip on Lamb throwing the deep ball against UL. I would like to see that more often this year.

[MDaniels84]

Hero Sports has App at #54 and Wake at #69

http://herosports.com/college-football- ... -2017-ahah
http://herosports.com/college-football- ... -2017-ahah

Note the nice video clip on Lamb throwing the deep ball against UL. I would like to see that more often this year.

Plus, did you notice that protection that the oline was giving Taylor on that play ? !

[NO.2]

Hero Sports has App at #54 and Wake at #69

http://herosports.com/college-football- ... -2017-ahah
http://herosports.com/college-football- ... -2017-ahah

Note the nice video clip on Lamb throwing the deep ball against UL. I would like to see that more often this year.

Plus, did you notice that protection that the oline was giving Taylor on that play ? !

Could have parked the Short Bus in that pocket.

[AtlAppMan]

I believe that was on the opening drive/play for our offense for 56 yrds to Meadors with the next play a Jalin Moore pound it in from the 2 yrd line to start the game off on the right foot. By my observations it was roughly a 55 yrd pass by Lamb.

[App74]

In today's WS Journal by Bret Strelow:

“How much of our fans are going to go to Logan, Utah, or how much of our fans are going to go to Monroe, Louisiana?” Clawson responded last week when asked about playing an in-state road game against a Group of Five opponent. “If we’re going to play those games, I’d much rather play games that are close that our fans can drive to. This is getting on my soap box a little bit, but as conferences have expanded and they’ve gotten bigger and the geographic footprint has increased, there’s less and less games that have regional meaning.

“I think the App game is a great game that our fans like it and want it. Their fans want it. They’ll travel to Winston. Our fans will travel to Boone, and it will be a great atmosphere for college football. I wish they weren’t so good. I wish they were 2-10 last year. It just so happens they’re good, and I’m sure they wish they were getting us three years ago as well. It’ll be a good football game.”

http://www.journalnow.com/sports/asu/ap ... bfb87.html

[MDaniels84]

I am really looking forward to getting this series back on track. I don't think that many folks remember that we played Wake 22 out of 25 years during that stretch from the mid 70's through late 90's.

[Rick83]

I am really looking forward to getting this series back on track. I don't think that many folks remember that we played Wake 22 out of 25 years during that stretch from the mid 70's through late 90's.

Yes, and even though we were a visiting FCS team, we won roughly a third of our games and even the ones we lost were almost always close exciting games that came down to the wire. This has the makings of being a great non-conference rivalry that will carry importance with recruiting as I believe they last-minute flipped one or two of our recruits this past signing period. Recruits will need to decide if they want to play for a lower level P5 and MAYBE go to a bowl game or play for a strong G5 and go to multiple bowl games. We need to make sure to treat their fans with respect and show them a good time while our Mountaineers kick their team around on the field...CAN'T WAIT!!

[moonshine]

This has the makings of being a great non-conference rivalry that will carry importance with recruiting as I believe they last-minute flipped one or two of our recruits this past signing period.

Clawson seems to have done a great job at every stop in his 4th year so this could be a knock down drag out. I hope we see SS run the score up them!

Not many of their fans think highly about thee Mountaineers, especially as a rival. See some of the posts from their message board below:

"Is App an old 2-for-1 deal, when there were FCS? No more of that, please."
"Can't believe we're actually playing them in Boone next year."
"App will never be a rival for Wake. I liked the Vandy rivalry."
"Not only is this cultivation of App rivalry idea insane, we shouldn't even have scheduled them for this home & home and should never play them for any reason. NCS and UNC play strong local teams due to political pressure, otherwise they wouldn't play games like this either. You simply don't cultivate more competitive programs in your own backyard. Bad for the program."
"I think we should cancel the games right now."
"Boone sucks, that's all I know."


This post was scorned:
"With APP now FBS this has the chance to be our strongest football rivalry. Regardless of what we think of our rivalry with NCSU and UNC, they're always going to view us as best their at best their 3rd or 4th biggest opponent. APP/Wake OTOH has strong regional ties, local recruiting overlap, and some history. I could see this becoming a home/away/neutral (Charlotte) rotation."

Responses:
"NegRep incoming"
"Spoken like a true App fan trying to advance their team's standing by regularly scheduling a nearby P5 school."
"This is a really bad joke right?"
"If our biggest football rival becomes a team that we've played 21 times and currently resides in the Sun Belt Conference (after we've got 100 years of history with the rest of the Big Four), then we should disband the program. "

[EastHallApp]

Well, I actually agree with them that it's probably not great from their perspective to consider this a rivalry. Even if we dominate them, their fans will never consider - or admit - that it's a rivalry. Just not a lot of upside for them, at least until we break through and are considered a top 25 program like a Boise or Houston. And at that point, I'm not sure it's a great rivalry for us - current upswing notwithstanding, Wake is a perennial ACC doormat after all.

Bottom line, it's a big series for us, and as App fans, we can't let our satisfaction be dependent on whether the other team's fans consider us a "rival." We don't need some stamp of approval from Wake fans of all people. Just beat them and move onward and upward.

As far as not believing they're playing us in Boone - strong words from someone whose team played in Monroe, LA a couple years back. And lost.

And the fan who said State and Carolina only play "games like this" due to political pressure is misinformed. That used to be the case with their games vs. ECU. There's no political pressure on them to play us, UNCC, ODU etc. They play those home-and-homes for recruiting and because it's cheaper than paying us to come play them without a return game.

[moonshine]

Well, I actually agree with them that it's probably not great from their perspective to consider this a rivalry. Even if we dominate them, their fans will never consider - or admit - that it's a rivalry. Just not a lot of upside for them, at least until we break through and are considered a top 25 program like a Boise or Houston. And at that point, I'm not sure it's a great rivalry for us - current upswing notwithstanding, Wake is a perennial ACC doormat after all.

Bottom line, it's a big series for us, and as App fans, we can't let our satisfaction be dependent on whether the other team's fans consider us a "rival." We don't need some stamp of approval from Wake fans of all people. Just beat them and move onward and upward.

As far as not believing they're playing us in Boone - strong words from someone whose team played in Monroe, LA a couple years back. And lost.

And the fan who said State and Carolina only play "games like this" due to political pressure is misinformed. That used to be the case with their games vs. ECU. There's no political pressure on them to play us, UNCC, ODU etc. They play those home-and-homes for recruiting and because it's cheaper than paying us to come play them without a return game.

I concur. I couldn't care less what their fans think. Just referencing their message board's overall perspective of the game for some of our fans, especially as it relates to a rivalry.

It's funny how some of them think the triangle programs should be their "rival". I guess those programs should be since they are all in the same conference and close in proximity. One would think, after playing those programs for decades, those rivalries would have already developed. UNC, NCSU and to a lesser extent Duke do not consider WF as a rival in football. My guess is that Wake would be 3rd or 4th at best in terms of rivalry as far as those programs are concerned.

[EastHallApp]

Aside from the fact that their primary rivals are each other, UNC and State fans look at Wake (and ECU) the way Wake fans look at us - being considered "rivals" with them is like a kiss of death. This despite the fact that Wake-State has been a very competitive series in recent years.

[DaphneUrquhart]

And the fan who said State and Carolina only play "games like this" due to political pressure is misinformed. That used to be the case with their games vs. ECU.

I concur. I couldn't care less what their fans think. Just referencing their message board's overall perspective of the game for some of our fans, especially as it relates to a rivalry.

It's funny how some of them think the triangle programs should be their "rival". I guess those programs should be since they are all in the same conference and close in proximity. One would think, after playing those programs for decades, those rivalries would have already developed. UNC, NCSU and to a lesser extent Duke do not consider WF as a rival in football. My guess is that Wake would be 3rd or 4th at best in terms of rivalry as far as those programs are concerned.

Long, long ago when I was at Chapel Hill (late 70's), the ECU game was definitely a political issue. It was about that time that ECU was arguing for a medical school. I can remember being a student and thinking how absurd it was. At the time, the Carolina football team was rather good, too.

Interestingly, Wake Forest was a rival in those days and even beat Carolina in Chapel Hill my sophomore year. Tobacco Road used to include Winston-Salem. In the past fifteen years ... or more, that Winston-Salem stop seems to have been omitted.

Go Apps!

[AtlAppMan]

Well, I actually agree with them that it's probably not great from their perspective to consider this a rivalry. Even if we dominate them, their fans will never consider - or admit - that it's a rivalry. Just not a lot of upside for them, at least until we break through and are considered a top 25 program like a Boise or Houston. And at that point, I'm not sure it's a great rivalry for us - current upswing notwithstanding, Wake is a perennial ACC doormat after all.

Bottom line, it's a big series for us, and as App fans, we can't let our satisfaction be dependent on whether the other team's fans consider us a "rival." We don't need some stamp of approval from Wake fans of all people. Just beat them and move onward and upward.

I would say it is always good for us if it is a home and home regardless of whether we are top 25 or not. If we are not it helps us climb ladder. If we get to top 25 then they are still a good P5 opponent for us to have on our schedule from a national perspective. Would you rather have a #69 P5 Wake or #80-125 G5, etc. I like good G5 teams on our schedule but it doesn't help us if the G5 falls to 100+ on the national scale. Wake, year over year, would be less likely to dip that low versus some of the other G5 teams we schedule. That is not to mean that we should remove these G5's from our schedule but rather to justify a continued rescheduling of Wake.

[EastHallApp]

Well, I actually agree with them that it's probably not great from their perspective to consider this a rivalry. Even if we dominate them, their fans will never consider - or admit - that it's a rivalry. Just not a lot of upside for them, at least until we break through and are considered a top 25 program like a Boise or Houston. And at that point, I'm not sure it's a great rivalry for us - current upswing notwithstanding, Wake is a perennial ACC doormat after all.

Bottom line, it's a big series for us, and as App fans, we can't let our satisfaction be dependent on whether the other team's fans consider us a "rival." We don't need some stamp of approval from Wake fans of all people. Just beat them and move onward and upward.

I would say it is always good for us if it is a home and home regardless of whether we are top 25 or not. If we are not it helps us climb ladder. If we get to top 25 then they are still a good P5 opponent for us to have on our schedule from a national perspective. Would you rather have a #69 P5 Wake or #80-125 G5, etc. I like good G5 teams on our schedule but it doesn't help us if the G5 falls to 100+ on the national scale. Wake, year over year, would be less likely to dip that low versus some of the other G5 teams we schedule. That is not to mean that we should remove these G5's from our schedule but rather to justify a continued rescheduling of Wake.

Agree 100%. Think it will always be an appealing series, especially as long as we have no easily driveable conference games. Just wouldn't say that necessarily equals a true rivalry.

[Rick83]

This has the makings of being a great non-conference rivalry that will carry importance with recruiting as I believe they last-minute flipped one or two of our recruits this past signing period.

Clawson seems to have done a great job at every stop in his 4th year so this could be a knock down drag out. I hope we see SS run the score up them!

Not many of their fans think highly about thee Mountaineers, especially as a rival. See some of the posts from their message board below:

"Is App an old 2-for-1 deal, when there were FCS? No more of that, please."
"Can't believe we're actually playing them in Boone next year."
"App will never be a rival for Wake. I liked the Vandy rivalry."
"Not only is this cultivation of App rivalry idea insane, we shouldn't even have scheduled them for this home & home and should never play them for any reason. NCS and UNC play strong local teams due to political pressure, otherwise they wouldn't play games like this either. You simply don't cultivate more competitive programs in your own backyard. Bad for the program."
"I think we should cancel the games right now."
"Boone sucks, that's all I know."


This post was scorned:
"With APP now FBS this has the chance to be our strongest football rivalry. Regardless of what we think of our rivalry with NCSU and UNC, they're always going to view us as best their at best their 3rd or 4th biggest opponent. APP/Wake OTOH has strong regional ties, local recruiting overlap, and some history. I could see this becoming a home/away/neutral (Charlotte) rotation."

Responses:
"NegRep incoming"
"Spoken like a true App fan trying to advance their team's standing by regularly scheduling a nearby P5 school."
"This is a really bad joke right?"
"If our biggest football rival becomes a team that we've played 21 times and currently resides in the Sun Belt Conference (after we've got 100 years of history with the rest of the Big Four), then we should disband the program. "

I suspect that those negative posters probably weren't in attendance at any of the 22 games played previously (or even born at the time). I grew up in Winston and have pretty much worked my entire 35 year career in the Triad and currently know and have run across a ton of Wake fans (mainly lawyers and CPAs) over the years. The vast majority of those who followed Deacon football during the years we played them before had nothing but respect for the team and fans that "came down the mountain." The realists at Wake understand that they're a basketball school and will only occasionally have a football team good enough to go to a bowl game so why not enjoy a local rivalry with a strong G5 school. I know several Wake fans that are planning to come to Boone and are looking forward to it and plan to spend the day up there. The naysayers are always going to be out there...which will make a Mountaineer victory that much sweeter!