Out of Top 10 for First Time Since 2005

[RankinApp]

MOUNTAINEERS FALL IN NATIONAL RANKINGS: Despite a strong showing against a formidable NCAA Division I FBS opponent, Appalachian State dropped five spots to No. 11 in this week’s The Sports Network NCAA Division I FCS media poll and three spots to No. 8 in the American Football Coaches Association poll.

Appalachian’s No. 11 ranking in The Sports Network poll marks the first time since Oct. 24, 2005 that the Mountaineers have been ranked outside the top 10 during the regular season. The five-spot drop in the TSN poll came despite trailing Conference USA’s East Carolina by just one point with less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter of Saturday’s season opener in sweltering Greenville, N.C.

The Mountaineers have a great opportunity to impress voters this Saturday when they host No. 12/9 Montana on Saturday at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

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[vegattk]

That just shows me that the people (or person) doing the rankings look only at the final score...

Anyone at that game can tell you that App is at least in the top 10... if not top 5.

The only thing holding us back in the ECU game was the decision to kick to the return guy...

Dumb poll... dumb...

[Black Saturday]

That just shows me that the people (or person) doing the rankings look only at the final score...

Anyone at that game can tell you that App is at least in the top 10... if not top 5.

The only thing holding us back in the ECU game was the decision to kick to the return guy...

Dumb poll... dumb...

I'll say we have a top notch FCS defense, but I'd like for us to prove we can score more and darn sure fix our special teams gaffes before I'll say we are a top team. We won't win many games scoring one TD, albeit we probably played the toughest D we face all season. Our line play really gave me a sigh of relief, glad to know that all stones tossed at McLain were just. The new line coach deserves the "game ball' this week. What happened to that thread anyway?

[RankinApp]

The new line coach deserves the "game ball' this week. What happened to that thread anyway?

For realz. Get on it, vegattk.

[Black Saturday]

Not so certain we had a top 10 finish last year, probably living off our rep?

When we beat the Gnats last season I honestly thought we had a shot at a run, but the committee canned that. The talent was there, no doubt.

[Saint3333]

We didn't deserve to be in the top preseason IMO.

We'll be a top ten team by year end, not worried about polls yet.

[BUTCH1991]

I'm not sure whether or not we were a top ten team prior to the game, but we definitely didn't deserve that kind of a drop in the poll.

[HappyHippie]

Does it really matter. We have 10 more games.

[kiddbrewer]

The only thing holding us back in the ECU game was the decision to kick to the return guy...

That was the only thing? If so, you must have missed at least 4 bad calls by the officiating crew, the int thrown by JJ with a wide open receiver behind the defense, and a couple other things.

[AtlAppMan]

"at least 4 bad calls by the officiating crew,"

Of all the things pollsters don't look at are bad calls. We have got to quite complaining about the bad calls and the end result. I am not saying we got fair shake but, like it or not, we will have to live with bad calls throughout the season. We knew going into this game that we would get the short end of the refs. If you have any questions see my "ECU: What to expect" thread. The way you deal with bad calls is play at a level that overcomes bad calls. That is part of home field advantage. You have to outplay the opponent, fans and refs.

[kiddbrewer]

"at least 4 bad calls by the officiating crew,"

Of all the things pollsters don't look at are bad calls. We have got to quite complaining about the bad calls and the end result. I am not saying we got fair shake but, like it or not, we will have to live with bad calls throughout the season. We knew going into this game that we would get the short end of the refs. If you have any questions see my "ECU: What to expect" thread. The way you deal with bad calls is play at a level that overcomes bad calls. That is part of home field advantage. You have to outplay the opponent, fans and refs.

I totally agree. I'm certainly not placing blame on the officials, just pointing a few things out, which was somewhat listed after the part you quoted me on.

[strongwxnc]

Amen man..
ASU gave the ball over three times, (could have been twice but I did not see if JJ knee was really down) and had 100 yards on 11 penlites. <-- that has to stop. But the game was closer than the score notes. Trying my best to take off the black and gold glasses also..

Go APP.

That just shows me that the people (or person) doing the rankings look only at the final score...

Anyone at that game can tell you that App is at least in the top 10... if not top 5.

The only thing holding us back in the ECU game was the decision to kick to the return guy...

Dumb poll... dumb...

[DaphneUrquhart]

It seems to me that the season really starts this Saturday as far as rankings should be concerned. Through the sweat dripping into my eyes, I saw plenty of encouraging things at ECU. All of the discouraging things I saw were things that can - and most likely will - be corrected. For as young a team as we have, I'm liking what I see so far.

Also, when I stop and think about the last time we were not in the Top 10 and look at the end of that season, I don't mind being out of the Top 10 at all.

[moonshine]

Amen man..
ASU gave the ball over three times, (could have been twice but I did not see if JJ knee was really down) and had 100 yards on 11 penlites. <-- that has to stop. But the game was closer than the score notes. Trying my best to take off the black and gold glasses also...Go APP.[

Yea it's tough to overcome 3 turnovers and 100 yards in penalties. The first time I saw the fumble, I thought JJ was down. I felt had the refs called him down, there wasn't enough video evidence to overturn that call in ECU's favor. Upon further investigation, I saw a slow motion replay and it does appear the ball starts to come loose prior to JJ's knee touching the ground, although it's very close. Sucks our players didn't play through the whistle because that was a trash TD they gave up.

The calls I had an issue with were the 2 PI calls. On TV, it looked as if both balls were uncatchable, so therefore PI should not have come into play. Now I'm not saying our DB wasn't all over their WRs but the ref has to call a hold on the defense, in order for the call to hold up. I don't believe Megatron could have caught one of those balls if it were just him on a practice field with a jugs machine.

[vegattk]

The new line coach deserves the "game ball' this week. What happened to that thread anyway?

For realz. Get on it, vegattk.

Having a kid... and a new job has kind of squashed my ability to do the thread....

[JMappfan5]

I'm not concerned about being out of the TOP TEN for now. Our season starts with Montana. Plus, win the SoCon title and home field playoff advantage will be ours!!!

[Rekdiver]

The bad calls aside, if the ECU QB didn't overthrow their receivers the score could have been worse. I'm concerned about pressure on the QB and our pass defense. the top ten thing menas nothing to me in a system that has a playoff. Our goal is to get in and wins on the field will determine the ranking.
To hell with the pollsters........

[Deano]

The biggest blow that losing to ECU did for us was just worsen our argument to go FBS, nothing more. For our school, who doesn't have the benefit of being in a huge TV market, we have to prove that we belong with the big dogs by beating them on the field. There were alot of positives coming out of the game against ECU but we really need to take the next step and start to beat these guys when we have the chance.
I could care less about the polls and actually I prefer not to be ranked #1 in the polls until the end of the season.

[strongwxnc]

I 100% agree with you on the PI calls. Even the ECU fans I sat beside stated the passes was to high..

Either way, I hate having to complain about missed calls..

Amen man..
ASU gave the ball over three times, (could have been twice but I did not see if JJ knee was really down) and had 100 yards on 11 penlites. <-- that has to stop. But the game was closer than the score notes. Trying my best to take off the black and gold glasses also...Go APP.[

The calls I had an issue with were the 2 PI calls. On TV, it looked as if both balls were uncatchable, so therefore PI should not have come into play. Now I'm not saying our DB wasn't all over their WRs but the ref has to call a hold on the defense, in order for the call to hold up. I don't believe Megatron could have caught one of those balls if it were just him on a practice field with a jugs machine.

[ASUMountaineer]

Polls this early in the season are useless. Anyone watching that game Saturday saw a better team than any team we trotted out last season and somehow we remained in the top ten throughout 2011. I think these are some pollsters that only looked at the final score and want to be the first to scoop ASU as being down. I'm not concerned in the least with this poll. Beat the tar out of Montana this week and ASU will be back in the top 10.