Athlon 2019

[Yosef10]

I guess i should come to expect it from a few on here but if you’re penciling in UNC as an automatic win you really have another thing coming. They have plenty of talent and now they have the coaching to supplement that talent. Sure, we could definitely come out of there with a win but it’s just a likely a loss. And no we will NOT be favored by Vegas in Chapel Hill. Probably be UNC -3.5 or around there. And no, I’m not a guy who roots for UNC in basketball or anything else. Just calling it like i see it.

I don't think anybody on this board thinks UNC is an "automatic win". In fact, I am not sure if any opponent is an automatic. That is not what is being suggested. If we look at our schedule there are opponents we should definitely win, probably win, toss ups, and probably lose. Let's be real, we could LOSE all our games but that is very unlikely. We could WIN all of our games and that is possible but many things would have to fall into place and some good fortune come our way.

The game we are not supposed to win is USC but it should not be considered unwinnable. It depends on how both teams mature throughout the year. If we grow and improve our chances are better but if we plateau or go south it looks bad for us in Nov. The tough games that we can win but could go either way are Troy, UNC, GA South, ULL. We have to play at our peak level to win those games but that should be expected. The other games are not automatic but if we play to our abilities we should win.

Multiple comments on the very first page of this thread implying we shouldn’t lose in chapel hill.

[AppSt94]

[/quote]
Who made you a freaking expert? Your opinion is just that your opinion. And for all we know you pulled it out of your ass cause it stinks.
[/quote]
First off, I am responding to this guy that has made some outlandish claims such as pulling donations for a 9 win season, and calling our DC washed up with no factual information to support it other than he was fired after he couldn’t turn around the dumpster fire that Duke Football was during that era. As far as name calling, please show me where I called him any names? I questioned his logic and debated his position. At the end of my comments, I merely cautioned him, and anyone that makes the baseless comments that he does, can be seen as talking out of ones ass and that causes bad breath.

But I am sincerely sorry that my comments triggered such a response from you. You should work on that.

[appfanz]

A lot of ridiculous posts on this thread. Can we not just wait until the season starts? Geez!

[appstate77]

Beat ETSU.

[appstatealum]

Unc has talent, but they are also coming off a horrendous season and Mack is shaking them all up and trying to implement his system. Will it come together by the time they play us? Maybe, but it may be a steeper hill to climb than they think.

Troy always has talent, but I think alot depended on their coaching, so we shall see how they perform under new staff.

USC has SEC size, but App has the speed to give them trouble. This game worries me more as it could come down to depth, and SEC schools will always have an advantage there.

Our wild cards are how far this App team has come implementing Drinks offense by the time the season starts. We have the talent to compete with anyone, and Drink has the playbook to maximize our talent (even more than Satt). But the players have to buy in and execute. Roof has the experience and knowledge to not get "surprised" or overwhelmed by teams as we have had happen in the past, but the kids have to buy in to what he is selling. The next few months are critical for preparation, if the athletes prepare like we have historically, a magical season is certainly on the table for this year.

Beat ETSU

[AppSt94]

Unc has talent, but they are also coming off a horrendous season and Mack is shaking them all up and trying to implement his system. Will it come together by the time they play us? Maybe, but it may be a steeper hill to climb than they think.

Troy always has talent, but I think alot depended on their coaching, so we shall see how they perform under new staff.

USC has SEC size, but App has the speed to give them trouble. This game worries me more as it could come down to depth, and SEC schools will always have an advantage there.

Our wild cards are how far this App team has come implementing Drinks offense by the time the season starts. We have the talent to compete with anyone, and Drink has the playbook to maximize our talent (even more than Satt). But the players have to buy in and execute. Roof has the experience and knowledge to not get "surprised" or overwhelmed by teams as we have had happen in the past, but the kids have to buy in to what he is selling. The next few months are critical for preparation, if the athletes prepare like we have historically, a magical season is certainly on the table for this year.

Beat ETSU

100% agree with you. Especially the beat ETSU point. If I was a Troy fan, I feel a bit less confident with Sawyer Smith transferring. Barker was a better QB but coming off an ACL injury, and no proven backup, if he goes down, they are in a world of hurt.
I wouldn't expect a great deal from the offense in the short term. There is a lot of playbook to integrate and practice so it might take a bit of time until we see the offense takeoff. From all reports, the defense has not skipped a beat. Should be a fun year.

[ericsaid]

I like our chances against UNC, I think APP should be a 3-5 point favorite, and a 3-5 point underdog in Columbia

All true, but we have to beat the Carolina Blue leaning refs.

Considering it's a 2-1, shouldn't Sun Belt ref's be at UNC?

[appst89]

I like our chances against UNC, I think APP should be a 3-5 point favorite, and a 3-5 point underdog in Columbia

All true, but we have to beat the Carolina Blue leaning refs.

Considering it's a 2-1, shouldn't Sun Belt ref's be at UNC?

It's not a 2-1. There is one stand-alone game in Chapel Hill and then a home-and-home.

[Boroneer10]

I like our chances against UNC, I think APP should be a 3-5 point favorite, and a 3-5 point underdog in Columbia

All true, but we have to beat the Carolina Blue leaning refs.

Considering it's a 2-1, shouldn't Sun Belt ref's be at UNC?

It's not a 2-1. There is one stand-alone game in Chapel Hill and then a home-and-home.

Ok so where will the refs be from?

[appst89]

I like our chances against UNC, I think APP should be a 3-5 point favorite, and a 3-5 point underdog in Columbia

All true, but we have to beat the Carolina Blue leaning refs.

Considering it's a 2-1, shouldn't Sun Belt ref's be at UNC?

It's not a 2-1. There is one stand-alone game in Chapel Hill and then a home-and-home.

Ok so where will the refs be from?

That I don't know.

[sixtoes9134]

I like our chances against UNC, I think APP should be a 3-5 point favorite, and a 3-5 point underdog in Columbia

All true, but we have to beat the Carolina Blue leaning refs.

Considering it's a 2-1, shouldn't Sun Belt ref's be at UNC?

It's not a 2-1. There is one stand-alone game in Chapel Hill and then a home-and-home.

Ok so where will the refs be from?

The Big 10 refs screwed us at Penn State and we just about won anyway. It's likely to happen again, but I don't think UNC is good enough to beat us, even with refs in their corner. That said, I'm sure they will be ACC refs.

[CoachRob]

There's just WAAAAAAAAAY too many question marks going into a football season like new coaching staff, changing senior leadership, injuries, improved opponents, chemistry, among others to sit here and guarantee a 11+ win season.
Just keep in mind, App always seems to have a (UMass 16, ULM 17, GS 18) type game and has never beaten a P5 opponent since the move up. The potential is there for a great season, but let's be a little bit more realistic and enjoy this ride. I'm happy with a 4th straight conference title and 5th straight bowl title.

[AppStFan1]

I guess i should come to expect it from a few on here but if you’re penciling in UNC as an automatic win you really have another thing coming. They have plenty of talent and now they have the coaching to supplement that talent. Sure, we could definitely come out of there with a win but it’s just a likely a loss. And no we will NOT be favored by Vegas in Chapel Hill. Probably be UNC -3.5 or around there. And no, I’m not a guy who roots for UNC in basketball or anything else. Just calling it like i see it.

I don't think anybody on this board thinks UNC is an "automatic win". In fact, I am not sure if any opponent is an automatic. That is not what is being suggested. If we look at our schedule there are opponents we should definitely win, probably win, toss ups, and probably lose. Let's be real, we could LOSE all our games but that is very unlikely. We could WIN all of our games and that is possible but many things would have to fall into place and some good fortune come our way.

The game we are not supposed to win is USC but it should not be considered unwinnable. It depends on how both teams mature throughout the year. If we grow and improve our chances are better but if we plateau or go south it looks bad for us in Nov. The tough games that we can win but could go either way are Troy, UNC, GA South, ULL. We have to play at our peak level to win those games but that should be expected. The other games are not automatic but if we play to our abilities we should win.

Multiple comments on the very first page of this thread implying we shouldn’t lose in chapel hill.

Is it possible that we lose? Anything is possible but we SHOULDN'T lose that game. I fully expect to win it. The only game that I think should be 50/50 is the South Carolina game. We SHOULD beat UNC. Of course we should have beat that 0-10 VMI team in the 90s, ETSU team led by Jamey Chadwell, Wofford the year we beat Michigan, etc and we did not. Hopefully we come out on top here.

Bottom line here is everyone talks about us receiving votes and being ranked and if we truly are that good then we should beat UNC. It will be a tough game but one I expect to win. Injuries and off the field drama are the two things that could derail us but so far so good. Knock on wood.

[Boroneer10]

There's just WAAAAAAAAAY too many question marks going into a football season like new coaching staff, changing senior leadership, injuries, improved opponents, chemistry, among others to sit here and guarantee a 11+ win season.
Just keep in mind, App always seems to have a (UMass 16, ULM 17, GS 18) type game and has never beaten a P5 opponent since the move up. The potential is there for a great season, but let's be a little bit more realistic and enjoy this ride. I'm happy with a 4th straight conference title and 5th straight bowl title.

The thing about those past games is that if a team stopped our running game we might have a tough time. Under Drink I think we should be able to have a more modern passing game that can allow us to continue scoring if the run game can’t get going.

[Boroneer10]

I guess i should come to expect it from a few on here but if you’re penciling in UNC as an automatic win you really have another thing coming. They have plenty of talent and now they have the coaching to supplement that talent. Sure, we could definitely come out of there with a win but it’s just a likely a loss. And no we will NOT be favored by Vegas in Chapel Hill. Probably be UNC -3.5 or around there. And no, I’m not a guy who roots for UNC in basketball or anything else. Just calling it like i see it.

I don't think anybody on this board thinks UNC is an "automatic win". In fact, I am not sure if any opponent is an automatic. That is not what is being suggested. If we look at our schedule there are opponents we should definitely win, probably win, toss ups, and probably lose. Let's be real, we could LOSE all our games but that is very unlikely. We could WIN all of our games and that is possible but many things would have to fall into place and some good fortune come our way.

The game we are not supposed to win is USC but it should not be considered unwinnable. It depends on how both teams mature throughout the year. If we grow and improve our chances are better but if we plateau or go south it looks bad for us in Nov. The tough games that we can win but could go either way are Troy, UNC, GA South, ULL. We have to play at our peak level to win those games but that should be expected. The other games are not automatic but if we play to our abilities we should win.

Multiple comments on the very first page of this thread implying we shouldn’t lose in chapel hill.

We shouldn’t lose to them.

[AppSt94]

Their QB play versus our CB play will probably go along way toward the results.

[T-Dog]

On the ref question. This season, App picks the on-field refs and CH picks the replay officials. In 2022 in Boone, CH picks the on-field refs and App picks the replay officials.

In 2023, CH picks all the refs.

In all three UofSC games, even the one in Boone, the SEC assigns the refs.

[sixtoes9134]

On the ref question. This season, App picks the on-field refs and CH picks the replay officials. In 2022 in Boone, CH picks the on-field refs and App picks the replay officials.

In 2023, CH picks all the refs.

In all three UofSC games, even the one in Boone, the SEC assigns the refs.

Thanks T-Dog!

[Yosef10]

I guess i should come to expect it from a few on here but if you’re penciling in UNC as an automatic win you really have another thing coming. They have plenty of talent and now they have the coaching to supplement that talent. Sure, we could definitely come out of there with a win but it’s just a likely a loss. And no we will NOT be favored by Vegas in Chapel Hill. Probably be UNC -3.5 or around there. And no, I’m not a guy who roots for UNC in basketball or anything else. Just calling it like i see it.

I don't think anybody on this board thinks UNC is an "automatic win". In fact, I am not sure if any opponent is an automatic. That is not what is being suggested. If we look at our schedule there are opponents we should definitely win, probably win, toss ups, and probably lose. Let's be real, we could LOSE all our games but that is very unlikely. We could WIN all of our games and that is possible but many things would have to fall into place and some good fortune come our way.

The game we are not supposed to win is USC but it should not be considered unwinnable. It depends on how both teams mature throughout the year. If we grow and improve our chances are better but if we plateau or go south it looks bad for us in Nov. The tough games that we can win but could go either way are Troy, UNC, GA South, ULL. We have to play at our peak level to win those games but that should be expected. The other games are not automatic but if we play to our abilities we should win.

Multiple comments on the very first page of this thread implying we shouldn’t lose in chapel hill.

We shouldn’t lose to them.

If ya wanna be delusional then have at it!

[BallantyneApp]

Prefer delusion