Best QB passer in App State football history?

User avatar
CornCobPipes
Posts: 1463
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:22 pm
School: Appalachian State
Has thanked: 1122 times
Been thanked: 377 times

Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by CornCobPipes » Wed Aug 20, 2025 4:30 pm

My favorite QBs all time are #1 AE and #2 Richie Williams. My favorite passer was Chase Brice with his strong arm until this Cali kid named Joey "Dimes" Aguilar came along (here is to a successful great year for the young man in his last college year at Tennessee! )

Had Aguilar played 4 full years at App, I don't think there is any question he would have shattered most of the school passing records especially all time yards, TDs career. He set the single season mark with 33 TDs as well as the single season yds 3757. Quite possibly he could have set the total yds passing mark had he remained here for his last year. It's hard to fathom hypothetically that would surpass AE in just 3 seasons.

So farewell and wishing success to JA at Tennessee and welcome wishes for huge successes to AJ Swann leading us to new horizons. GO APP!!!
KICK ASS!!!

Black Saturday
Posts: 10699
Joined: Mon Oct 14, 2002 11:22 am
School: Appalachian State
Has thanked: 1022 times
Been thanked: 1181 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by Black Saturday » Wed Aug 20, 2025 8:14 pm

Todd Payton
BLACK SATURDAY

User avatar
AppDub
Posts: 1501
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2018 9:52 am
School: Appalachian State
Has thanked: 1521 times
Been thanked: 725 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by AppDub » Wed Aug 20, 2025 8:49 pm

Had to do a deep dive on the interwebs to find out who Todd Payton was. Found his 1986 stats. .503 completion percent, 7 interceptions to 9 TDs with 1307 net passing yards. I'm going to stick with AE and Chase. In all fairness, we probably ran the ball more back then though.

BUTCH1991
Posts: 2686
Joined: Sat Aug 11, 2012 9:53 am
School: Appalachian State
Location: High Point
Has thanked: 1855 times
Been thanked: 1031 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by BUTCH1991 » Wed Aug 20, 2025 9:32 pm

Black Saturday wrote:
Wed Aug 20, 2025 8:14 pm
Todd Payton
Ouch

User avatar
Lowcountry App
Posts: 319
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 7:06 pm
School: Appalachian State
Location: Summerville, SC
Has thanked: 41 times
Been thanked: 124 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by Lowcountry App » Wed Aug 20, 2025 9:45 pm

Todd Payton was the QB during most of my time at App. He handed the ball off to John Settle a lot. Nothing flashy. Here’s a good story on Todd. Also a chance to see those flying Yosef head helmets in action.


appfanjj
Posts: 1156
Joined: Sat Aug 11, 2012 9:34 am
School: Appalachian State
Has thanked: 1610 times
Been thanked: 503 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by appfanjj » Wed Aug 20, 2025 11:16 pm

Brice

BambooRdApp
Posts: 6024
Joined: Sun Dec 22, 2019 9:32 am
School: Appalachian State
Has thanked: 2341 times
Been thanked: 3981 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by BambooRdApp » Thu Aug 21, 2025 2:56 am

Under appreciated is some respects. I like scoring TDs and 90 of them makes me smile. Taylor Lamb
Today I Give My All For Appalachian State!!
#FreeMillerHillForMoMoney!!

Saint3333
Posts: 14541
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2000 8:42 am
Has thanked: 4079 times
Been thanked: 6338 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by Saint3333 » Thu Aug 21, 2025 7:08 am

Best QB and best passer are two different questions. AE the former, consistent passer - Brice, upside - Joey, he could make throws even Brice couldn’t.

Lamb was just a winner, probably got the most of his ability of anyone we’ve had at QB.

AppSt94
Posts: 11585
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:39 pm
School: Appalachian State
Location: Huntersville, NC
Has thanked: 7878 times
Been thanked: 4989 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by AppSt94 » Thu Aug 21, 2025 7:17 am

Smartest - Taylor Lamb
Toughest - Zac Thomas
Best Athlete - AE
Best Passer - Brice
Game Manager - Lamb
Competitor - Aguilar

User avatar
Wally
Posts: 109
Joined: Tue Nov 18, 2014 11:08 am
School: Appalachian State
Has thanked: 91 times
Been thanked: 50 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by Wally » Thu Aug 21, 2025 7:20 am

Lowcountry App wrote:
Wed Aug 20, 2025 9:45 pm
Todd Payton was the QB during most of my time at App. He handed the ball off to John Settle a lot. Nothing flashy. Here’s a good story on Todd. Also a chance to see those flying Yosef head helmets in action.
I'm glad a took a couple of minutes to watch this video... seems like a great guy!

MrCraig
Posts: 1603
Joined: Fri Jun 16, 2017 8:27 am
School: Appalachian State
Has thanked: 1090 times
Been thanked: 1210 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by MrCraig » Thu Aug 21, 2025 8:25 am

AppSt94 wrote:
Thu Aug 21, 2025 7:17 am
Smartest - Taylor Lamb
Toughest - Zac Thomas
Best Athlete - AE
Best Passer - Brice
Game Manager - Lamb
Competitor - Aguilar
I wonder how we might view these QBs if they had played under different coaches. Satt seemed to really understand Lamb's positives and negatives and game-planned well around that. IDK if Clark would have been able to do that. Conversely, I don't think Aguilar's passing numbers are as crazy if he plays under Satt because the run game was always first option. I could be wrong. I'm just spitballing.

AppSt94
Posts: 11585
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:39 pm
School: Appalachian State
Location: Huntersville, NC
Has thanked: 7878 times
Been thanked: 4989 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by AppSt94 » Thu Aug 21, 2025 8:27 am

MrCraig wrote:
Thu Aug 21, 2025 8:25 am
AppSt94 wrote:
Thu Aug 21, 2025 7:17 am
Smartest - Taylor Lamb
Toughest - Zac Thomas
Best Athlete - AE
Best Passer - Brice
Game Manager - Lamb
Competitor - Aguilar
I wonder how we might view these QBs if they had played under different coaches. Satt seemed to really understand Lamb's positives and negatives and game-planned well around that. IDK if Clark would have been able to do that. Conversely, I don't think Aguilar's passing numbers are as crazy if he plays under Satt because the run game was always first option. I could be wrong. I'm just spitballing.
Outside of AE, they all had the same QB Coach/OC. And even AE was coached by Satt. Lots of crossover in philosophy.

AppSt94
Posts: 11585
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2012 6:39 pm
School: Appalachian State
Location: Huntersville, NC
Has thanked: 7878 times
Been thanked: 4989 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by AppSt94 » Thu Aug 21, 2025 8:35 am

Great story. RIP Bowie, Eggers, Owens Feildhouse and stadium parking lot.

9Steelman
Posts: 525
Joined: Mon Aug 13, 2012 4:40 pm
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 270 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by 9Steelman » Thu Aug 21, 2025 8:53 am

Pat Murphy Late 60'S

2016Yosefgrad
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2023 5:00 pm
School: Appalachian State
Location: Asheville
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by 2016Yosefgrad » Thu Aug 21, 2025 8:58 am

Surprised no one has mentioned Zac Thomas yet, that kid was tough as nails. Will never forget watching him almost lead us to victory in Happy Valley, best games I've ever been to

Saint3333
Posts: 14541
Joined: Tue Jun 27, 2000 8:42 am
Has thanked: 4079 times
Been thanked: 6338 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by Saint3333 » Thu Aug 21, 2025 9:04 am

MrCraig wrote:
Thu Aug 21, 2025 8:25 am
AppSt94 wrote:
Thu Aug 21, 2025 7:17 am
Smartest - Taylor Lamb
Toughest - Zac Thomas
Best Athlete - AE
Best Passer - Brice
Game Manager - Lamb
Competitor - Aguilar
I wonder how we might view these QBs if they had played under different coaches. Satt seemed to really understand Lamb's positives and negatives and game-planned well around that. IDK if Clark would have been able to do that. Conversely, I don't think Aguilar's passing numbers are as crazy if he plays under Satt because the run game was always first option. I could be wrong. I'm just spitballing.
Of course pure speculation and very biased, but if Satt or Drink coached Joey (and he had a similar leash as Clark) Joey would have run 4-5 times more per game. I also think Joey's INT numbers would have been down about 30%. We put Joey is a tough spot more than necessary last year.

BallantyneApp
Posts: 1291
Joined: Mon Jan 08, 2018 4:33 pm
School: Appalachian State
Has thanked: 96 times
Been thanked: 990 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by BallantyneApp » Thu Aug 21, 2025 9:11 am

Saint3333 wrote:
Thu Aug 21, 2025 9:04 am
MrCraig wrote:
Thu Aug 21, 2025 8:25 am
AppSt94 wrote:
Thu Aug 21, 2025 7:17 am
Smartest - Taylor Lamb
Toughest - Zac Thomas
Best Athlete - AE
Best Passer - Brice
Game Manager - Lamb
Competitor - Aguilar
I wonder how we might view these QBs if they had played under different coaches. Satt seemed to really understand Lamb's positives and negatives and game-planned well around that. IDK if Clark would have been able to do that. Conversely, I don't think Aguilar's passing numbers are as crazy if he plays under Satt because the run game was always first option. I could be wrong. I'm just spitballing.
Of course pure speculation and very biased, but if Satt or Drink coached Joey (and he had a similar leash as Clark) Joey would have run 4-5 times more per game. I also think Joey's INT numbers would have been down about 30%. We put Joey is a tough spot more than necessary last year.
Definitely think Joey would have run more under Satt.

Whether its Clarks "fault" or not, Satt and Drink had much better defenses to rely on. They, with rare circumstances , didn't need the QBs to go out and win games for them. They just needed them to play within themselves, limit mistakes and the running/defense would get take over. Someone mentioned Zac Thomas '18 against Penn State. One of the few games where a Satt QB needed to go out and try to win for us. Zac was slingin' it that game. I remember texting my buddies from before the game started being worried about replacing Taylor Lamb.

Since we started pretty much every game down 14-0 last year, Clark needed Joey to go out and try to win the game for us, which means more risks and more ints.

MrCraig
Posts: 1603
Joined: Fri Jun 16, 2017 8:27 am
School: Appalachian State
Has thanked: 1090 times
Been thanked: 1210 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by MrCraig » Thu Aug 21, 2025 9:23 am

BallantyneApp wrote:
Thu Aug 21, 2025 9:11 am
Saint3333 wrote:
Thu Aug 21, 2025 9:04 am
MrCraig wrote:
Thu Aug 21, 2025 8:25 am
AppSt94 wrote:
Thu Aug 21, 2025 7:17 am
Smartest - Taylor Lamb
Toughest - Zac Thomas
Best Athlete - AE
Best Passer - Brice
Game Manager - Lamb
Competitor - Aguilar
I wonder how we might view these QBs if they had played under different coaches. Satt seemed to really understand Lamb's positives and negatives and game-planned well around that. IDK if Clark would have been able to do that. Conversely, I don't think Aguilar's passing numbers are as crazy if he plays under Satt because the run game was always first option. I could be wrong. I'm just spitballing.
Of course pure speculation and very biased, but if Satt or Drink coached Joey (and he had a similar leash as Clark) Joey would have run 4-5 times more per game. I also think Joey's INT numbers would have been down about 30%. We put Joey is a tough spot more than necessary last year.
Definitely think Joey would have run more under Satt.

Whether its Clarks "fault" or not, Satt and Drink had much better defenses to rely on. They, with rare circumstances , didn't need the QBs to go out and win games for them. They just needed them to play within themselves, limit mistakes and the running/defense would get take over. Someone mentioned Zac Thomas '18 against Penn State. One of the few games where a Satt QB needed to go out and try to win for us. Zac was slingin' it that game. I remember texting my buddies from before the game started being worried about replacing Taylor Lamb.

Since we started pretty much every game down 14-0 last year, Clark needed Joey to go out and try to win the game for us, which means more risks and more ints.
That's kind of what I was getting at. Maybe I should've said "how would these QBs be viewed differently if they were on different TEAMS" instead of coaches. If Joey isn't down 14-0 all the time, his yards and TD stats may not be as eye-popping, but I agree that he'd probably have more rushing yards, less INTs, less incompletions, etc. Most importantly, he'd have more Ws.

User avatar
NattyBumppo'sRevenge
Posts: 3900
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2014 8:55 am
School: Appalachian State
Location: Charlotte, NC
Has thanked: 2084 times
Been thanked: 2165 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by NattyBumppo'sRevenge » Thu Aug 21, 2025 9:35 am

We’ve been fortunate to have great QB’s for most of the past 20 years. Too bad we didn’t get to test any of them against Virginia Tech had we ever played them.

AppStFan1
Posts: 6972
Joined: Mon Dec 03, 2018 10:37 am
School: Appalachian State
Has thanked: 1002 times
Been thanked: 1893 times

Re: Best QB passer in App State football history?

Unread post by AppStFan1 » Thu Aug 21, 2025 9:43 am

AppSt94 wrote:
Thu Aug 21, 2025 7:17 am
Smartest - Taylor Lamb
Toughest - Zac Thomas
Best Athlete - AE
Best Passer - Brice
Game Manager - Lamb
Competitor - Aguilar
List is good overall but a couple changes and a category to add:

Toughest: Richie Williams- Zac is tough but this still isn't close when you consider Richie coming off the bench from wearing crutches in the 2005 title game to win. AE could also be mentioned here.

I also think AE and Richie were better competitors than Aguilar, who is a solid one.

One category that is important to have for a QB is arm strength:
Strongest Arm: Joe Burchette- A lot of our fans don't know this but the team his senior year had over 10 players getting legit NFL looks and Joe's arm had him high on the radar. If he had put in the work and not underachieved he would have gotten drafted and played a while. He could throw 50 yards on a rope if you asked him to.
Last edited by AppStFan1 on Thu Aug 21, 2025 10:13 am, edited 2 times in total.

Post Reply Previous topicNext topic

Return to “Appalachian Football”