Defense

[mountaineerman]

122 points allowed in the last two games is really a hard number to grasp. I’m not a defense expert but coach is right that’s not app state football. My question is Clark mentioned a personnel problem.. is this a recruiting issue or a coaching issue?

[AppSt94]

122 points allowed in the last two games is really a hard number to grasp. I’m not a defense expert but coach is right that’s not app state football. My question is Clark mentioned a personnel problem.. is this a recruiting issue or a coaching issue?

A combination of both. Coaching turnover, misses on guys, Guys quitting football. Most of our issues Sat we’re communication breakdowns. Easily correctable and should work more smoothly as the year goes on. IMO

[Stonewall]

I see talent , especially speed there .We will learn alot these next three weeks.

[Saint3333]

We are going to need to right the ship over the next two weeks, Troy and JMU are going to be tough games.

[bigdaddyg]

Other than Robert Morris, Citadel and maybe Texas State isn't every other game probably going to be tough? If those are the 3 "easiest" so to speak who is considered the next easiest on the schedule? Apparently not ODU

[Saint3333]

JMU plays Norfolk St, bye, then us that’s what I think they’ll be a tougher out than ODU in November. Our defense will get better as the season goes.

[AtlAppMan]

UNC basically had 13 possessions, scored on 10, punted twice and fumbled once.

They scored on 7 of their first 8 possessions thru 12:10 mark of 4th quarter.

They scored 63 points on us. If you say opponent will score 63 on you, I expect a loss before the game starts.

Clark clearly was pissed and said coaches and players were not getting it done on D.

We can't win at a high-level playing D like that no matter how potent our Offense is.

After calming down for a few days, I remind myself that it may take few games to get the Defensive side of the ball doing a better job. I remember 2019 and was not happy after Charlotte. I believed Roof would get them there and he eventually did. Problem this year is we had two of our toughest games up front so we have no room for margin. If we expect to compete at the highest levels and be a top 25 team we cannot keep starting the season with our Defense playing so poorly.

I want to be like a Cincinnati last year and run the table. Someone said on another thread that the environment we are playing in (i.e. SBC) is rising thus what level of play we delivered 5 yrs ago is no longer good enough JUST to win the SBC. If we want to get to a 12 team CFP then we have to win these types of games, even at the beginning of the season. I KNOW Clark and his staff and all the players also want that. We all do but the defense has to be better out of the gate. Just stop them 2-3 more times and we easily win the game. We didn't have to throw a shutout, just a middling defense for game 1.

I do expect us to improve, I just don't know how quickly and how good we will get.

[AppSt94]

Other than Robert Morris, Citadel and maybe Texas State isn't every other game probably going to be tough? If those are the 3 "easiest" so to speak who is considered the next easiest on the schedule? Apparently not ODU

Based on our offensive output, which I know that can’t be relied upon week in and week out, who on the schedule can score enough to keep up? Coastal?

Who has the defense to slow us down? Troy? Ga State?

[yosef69]

Other than Robert Morris, Citadel and maybe Texas State isn't every other game probably going to be tough? If those are the 3 "easiest" so to speak who is considered the next easiest on the schedule? Apparently not ODU

Based on our offensive output, which I know that can’t be relied upon week in and week out, who on the schedule can score enough to keep up? Coastal?

Who has the defense to slow us down? Troy? Ga State?

I’ll reserve judgement until UNC plays GSU. If GSU cuts through them they have some serious issues.

[bigdaddyg]

Other than Robert Morris, Citadel and maybe Texas State isn't every other game probably going to be tough? If those are the 3 "easiest" so to speak who is considered the next easiest on the schedule? Apparently not ODU

Based on our offensive output, which I know that can’t be relied upon week in and week out, who on the schedule can score enough to keep up? Coastal?

Who has the defense to slow us down? Troy? Ga State?

I try not to get too up or down. As a Panther fan you learn to temper your expectations but unless we lose an offensive lineman or two and maybe a linebacker (and obviously Chase) I can't see us getting slowed down after Saturday. We are way too deep at the skilled positions and won't face bigger or faster defenses. If our defense figures it out and we keep teams at 20 PPG or so they won't keep up.

[AppSt94]

Other than Robert Morris, Citadel and maybe Texas State isn't every other game probably going to be tough? If those are the 3 "easiest" so to speak who is considered the next easiest on the schedule? Apparently not ODU

Based on our offensive output, which I know that can’t be relied upon week in and week out, who on the schedule can score enough to keep up? Coastal?

Who has the defense to slow us down? Troy? Ga State?

I try not to get too up or down. As a Panther fan you learn to temper your expectations but unless we lose an offensive lineman or two and maybe a linebacker (and obviously Chase) I can't see us getting slowed down after Saturday. We are way too deep at the skilled positions and won't face bigger or faster defenses. If our defense figures it out and we keep teams at 20 PPG or so they won't keep up.

Yep. You do have to factor potential injuries and also account for future cohesion and development form units.

I’m sure that we will get better definitively and 20 ppg seems doable. I guess my question is who can keep up under 35?

[AppSt94]

Other than Robert Morris, Citadel and maybe Texas State isn't every other game probably going to be tough? If those are the 3 "easiest" so to speak who is considered the next easiest on the schedule? Apparently not ODU

Based on our offensive output, which I know that can’t be relied upon week in and week out, who on the schedule can score enough to keep up? Coastal?

Who has the defense to slow us down? Troy? Ga State?

I’ll reserve judgement until UNC plays GSU. If GSU cuts through them they have some serious issues.

Fair.

[biggie]

JMU plays Norfolk St, bye, then us that’s what I think they’ll be a tougher out than ODU in November. Our defense will get better as the season goes.

Agreed, ODU offense didn't scare me.

[hapapp]

JMU plays Norfolk St, bye, then us that’s what I think they’ll be a tougher out than ODU in November. Our defense will get better as the season goes.

Moreover, I saw nothing in ODU's offense that really impressed me. Frankly, the QB play was overall poor. Though, he did connect on a couple of passes down the stretch.

[/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09]

The only alarming Week 1 stat that I see from other SBC opponents is the fact that JMU QB rushed for 110 yards. MTSU looked terrible on both sides of the ball, so take that for what it's worth. I just know we've historically struggled with mobile QBs, even against non P5 schools.

Didn't see any other off the chart stats.

[sixtoes9134]

The only alarming Week 1 stat that I see from other SBC opponents is the fact that JMU QB rushed for 110 yards. MTSU looked terrible on both sides of the ball, so take that for what it's worth. I just know we've historically struggled with mobile QBs, even against non P5 schools.

Didn't see any other off the chart stats.

Yep and I don’t know how good MTSU is now versus when we played them in New Orleans, but still found it a little alarming that JMU beats up on its first FBS opponent after making the jump. Hell, it took us 5 games to figure it out.

[/\PP ST/\TE GRAD 09]

The only alarming Week 1 stat that I see from other SBC opponents is the fact that JMU QB rushed for 110 yards. MTSU looked terrible on both sides of the ball, so take that for what it's worth. I just know we've historically struggled with mobile QBs, even against non P5 schools.

Didn't see any other off the chart stats.

Yep and I don’t know how good MTSU is now versus when we played them in New Orleans, but still found it a little alarming that JMU beats up on its first FBS opponent after making the jump. Hell, it took us 5 games to figure it out.

MTSU has seen a decline since they last played us and it's not because the C-USA has gotten that much better. Hard to tell these days between transfer portal, graduation, and players just quitting the sport what exactly contributed to the decline. I felt JMU could win that game. Wasn't expecting such a large margin, but MTSU definitely looked pretty bad.

[Yosef1986]

We have a coach in SC that is extremely invested in APP and our program. He was still fired up after the game - he even pushed back on a few of the questions post game. His passion shows and he is on a mission to uphold the tradition of App State football. This will be fixed. I have faith!

[Rekdiver]

I’m not sure I saw blitz schemes until we got behind…Did we let UNC and Maye get into a rhythm?

[biggie]

I’m not sure I saw blitz schemes until we got behind…Did we let UNC and Maye get into a rhythm?

I saw some early, but we weren't getting much pressure then.