Road Crowds vs. Home Crowds

[WASU 93]

Our Football Team seems to play better on the Road this Season. After attending both Carolinas and Georgia State, I'm starting to think that our Road Crowd is better and much more into the games than our Home Crowd. (I am not talking about our students, who do a great job at home). Obviously, we've had better weather in Chapel Hill, Columbia and Atlanta than the back half of our home slate. Your thoughts?

[Rekdiver]

The team plays better in warmer weather. Fans enjoy dry weather. Yesterday’s crowd actual attendance was probably around 15-17? Much better than I imagined

[yosef13]

Clear skies at UNC and USC.

Rain vs CCU, GS, and TXST.

[/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09]

The piped in music selection is better on the road

[97grad]

The team plays better in warmer weather.

Hard to argue based on the record but honestly this makes me sad. We should be hardened against the elements in ways other teams aren't.

[Mjohn1988]

The home crowds have a lot of casual fans. The road fans are there for the actual game not just an event. Our students have started showing up again and along with elevation they do give us a real home field advantage. We’re not built for bad weather but again the lower O2 level helps us. Just look at Saturday’s game, we took them out late in the game. Conditioning became a factor and it happens a lot in KBS.

[WASU 93]

The team plays better in warmer weather. Fans enjoy dry weather. Yesterday’s crowd actual attendance was probably around 15-17? Much better than I imagined

Yes, I expected about 12K yesterday based on the weather.

[Stonewall]

Seems like it. Likely combination of factors , like focus, fewer distractions and dry conditions.

[Boonegoon]

The team plays better in warmer weather.

Hard to argue based on the record but honestly this makes me sad. We should be hardened against the elements in ways other teams aren't.

I’m not sure this is fair. The only example is GS and that was scheme related. I think it would be really hard to have the offensive output we crave and have an offense that’s built for nasty weather.

[HkyMtneer]

I'll take our road crowd any day versus our home crowd, man for man. I'm not saying we don't have a great atmosphere at KBS, as we often do, and when we're rocking and rolling at home it can be absolute fire. I'm just saying, as a fan that travels to between 4 and a full 6/7 road games per season, that person for person, those that "invest" in following the App State roadshow are a more passionate and involved bunch of fans than the "average" fan at The Rock. Either way, we're still all the Appalachian Family...I just think that those that go on the road in support of the Mountaineers make sure to be a little more involved in the actual game, the game that is ultimately the focal point of our spending hard-earned discretionary dollars to follow the team out of Boone. Not to mention, there is something to be said for wearing our Black & Gold gear into hostile territory and usually doing so knowing the home team has a great chance of walking out with their heads down, courtesy of us. A cocky swagger feels kinda better on the road

[ah59396]

Our Football Team seems to play better on the Road this Season. After attending both Carolinas and Georgia State, I'm starting to think that our Road Crowd is better and much more into the games than our Home Crowd. (I am not talking about our students, who do a great job at home). Obviously, we've had better weather in Chapel Hill, Columbia and Atlanta than the back half of our home slate. Your thoughts?

Most of the Appalachian alumni base sits in Raleigh, Charlotte and Atlanta.

Many of them go to one, maybe two, games a year. Especially exciting if we are playing a P5 team.

So it shouldn’t be too big a shock that we get excited fans, in good weather, against USC or UNC, versus 38 and raining in Boone versus Texas State.

If we host the SB title game and the weather forecast looks good, I’ll be curious to see that crowd. Big time championship game, possibly both ranked (in at least one of the polls), casual fans have actually heard of the Ragin Cajuns.

That’ll be a decent litmus of our hole fan support.

[97grad]

The team plays better in warmer weather.

Hard to argue based on the record but honestly this makes me sad. We should be hardened against the elements in ways other teams aren't.

I’m not sure this is fair. The only example is GS and that was scheme related. I think it would be really hard to have the offensive output we crave and have an offense that’s built for nasty weather.

Yesterday wasn't an example? Also, I don't think there's consensus GSU was "scheme related". We play them every year, how much different was their scheme this time really? It's not about absolute output, it's relative. Both teams play on the same field. In poor conditions, at least where by poor we mean cold and/or wet, I think it's absolutely fair to expect we have an advantage.

[Boonegoon]

The team plays better in warmer weather.

Hard to argue based on the record but honestly this makes me sad. We should be hardened against the elements in ways other teams aren't.

I’m not sure this is fair. The only example is GS and that was scheme related. I think it would be really hard to have the offensive output we crave and have an offense that’s built for nasty weather.

Yesterday wasn't an example? Also, I don't think there's consensus GSU was "scheme related". We play them every year, how much different was their scheme this time really? It's not about absolute output, it's relative. Both teams play on the same field. In poor conditions, at least where by poor we mean cold and/or wet, I think it's absolutely fair to expect we have an advantage.

When I say scheme related, I mean that GS has a definite advantage in that weather since they ALWAYS run the ball. Our offense lost that game, not the D.
It’s mythical to think that a guy from Atlanta playing a guy from Atlanta somehow is tougher because he spends a month longer in the cold. We have an indoor facility.

[Appster99]

The team plays better in warmer weather.

Hard to argue based on the record but honestly this makes me sad. We should be hardened against the elements in ways other teams aren't.

I’m not sure this is fair. The only example is GS and that was scheme related. I think it would be really hard to have the offensive output we crave and have an offense that’s built for nasty weather.

Our offense is designed to be somewhat balanced. The run sets up the pass and the pass opens up the run. We need both dimensions. When we have good weather we have both at our disposal. Zac has made good throws that were too slippery to hang on to. Hennigan rarely drops a ball in dry conditions. He has several drops in wet weather. That big completion to Williams yesterday was nearly dropped but he was so open he had time to coral the bobble. When we have good weather and have all our tools available. If its dry in Troy I think we take care of business with less stress than the ULL game. If its wet, it might be closer than any of us want.

I agree that the fans that travel are the true base. We have, what 3500 YOSEF members? Every car in Atlanta at the hotel I stayed at with other App stuff had YOSEF Club stickers as well. I'll take fair weather fans over no fans, but I am glad to be among those who are there to support our team if at all possible.

[Boonegoon]

The team plays better in warmer weather.

Hard to argue based on the record but honestly this makes me sad. We should be hardened against the elements in ways other teams aren't.

I’m not sure this is fair. The only example is GS and that was scheme related. I think it would be really hard to have the offensive output we crave and have an offense that’s built for nasty weather.

Our offense is designed to be somewhat balanced. The run sets up the pass and the pass opens up the run. We need both dimensions. When we have good weather we have both at our disposal. Zac has made good throws that were too slippery to hang on to. Hennigan rarely drops a ball in dry conditions. He has several drops in wet weather. That big completion to Williams yesterday was nearly dropped but he was so open he had time to coral the bobble. When we have good weather and have all our tools available. If its dry in Troy I think we take care of business with less stress than the ULL game. If its wet, it might be closer than any of us want.

I agree that the fans that travel are the true base. We have, what 3500 YOSEF members? Every car in Atlanta at the hotel I stayed at with other App stuff had YOSEF Club stickers as well. I'll take fair weather fans over no fans, but I am glad to be among those who are there to support our team if at all possible.

All good points. I do believe that if Zac pulled it down and just moved the sticks a couple of times against GS, we win that game. But we had too many 3 and outs and punts. Yesterday, the wind wasn’t as much of a factor but gross nonetheless.
But, I speaking to what 97grad is bringing up, I think the weather advantage should be the crowd. 20000+ braving the cold like Winterfell

[97grad]

When I say scheme related, I mean that GS has a definite advantage in that weather since they ALWAYS run the ball. Our offense lost that game, not the D.
It’s mythical to think that a guy from Atlanta playing a guy from Atlanta somehow is tougher because he spends a month longer in the cold. We have an indoor facility.

Fair point about the scheme. But you're not going to convince me that it's not reasonable to expect our guys to be more acclimated to playing in cold wet conditions. It's not just about the crowd.

[Cro-Magnon App]

We need the ghost of Jim Brakefield with us. It could be raining or snowing or sleeting with high winds, but when he walked out of that field house and looked at the sky, the clouds would part, the sun would often peak out and you still hear him, "Let's go, get 'em on the field!"

[Boonegoon]

When I say scheme related, I mean that GS has a definite advantage in that weather since they ALWAYS run the ball. Our offense lost that game, not the D.
It’s mythical to think that a guy from Atlanta playing a guy from Atlanta somehow is tougher because he spends a month longer in the cold. We have an indoor facility.

Fair point about the scheme. But you're not going to convince me that it's not reasonable to expect our guys to be more acclimated to playing in cold wet conditions. It's not just about the crowd.

I completely agree that it’s reasonable but we have an indoor practice facility to lure guys from the south to come. Do we have designed practices outside to simulate the conditions? I really don’t know. I expect we do but this is also a first year head coach. But he did live in Boise..
Ultimately, we won by 3 scores yesterday, not a real sample. We have one game, GS, to go on. I’m reluctant to call our guys soft because of 40 mph winds and a 3 point loss to a rival that runs the ball incessantly.

[APPdiesel]

The piped in music selection is better on the road

Email your concerns to Doug.

[/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09]

The piped in music selection is better on the road

Email your concerns to Doug.

I don't attend enough home games to voice that opinion. I was more so playing on the "We Ready" thread that talked about other schools we played on the road having a better system.