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Mountaineers: We have underachievedTommy Bowman/Winston-Salem Journal | Posted: Thursday, September 19, 2013 8:57 pm

Appalachian State players have heard the jabs about not being ready for college football’s bowl subdivision. And they heard some boos during their last game, a loss to N.C. A&T.

All come as part of a rocky early stretch of the 2013 season, with losses to Montana and N.C. A&T in the first two games.

The Mountaineers are taking it in stride but know they desperately need a win Saturday at Elon.

"We didn’t expect to be 1-1, much less 0-2,” senior linebacker Karl Anderson said. “We do have a lot of young guys, but we’ve been saying that for two months now, and nobody cares — it’s not an excuse. We keep making simple mistakes that end up costing (us) ballgames.”

Anderson and his teammates think that their team is better than it has shown. Now it’s a matter of showing it.

"Of course, I feel we haven’t played to the best of our abilities,” senior receiver Tony Washington said. “We lost to two teams that are pretty good teams, but we have underachieved. We haven’t played a solid game yet. We’ve had two weeks to clean up everything, and we have to come out Saturday and show some improvement. A win won’t be enough. We need to show improvement and know that we are getting better.”

Turnovers and special-teams mistakes played a part in both losses.

"In the A&T game, we spotted them 14 points (on an interception and kickoff return),” Anderson said. “That’s not a formula for success.”

Senior receiver Andrew Peacock said: “We’ve made too many mistakes as a team. When you play good teams like we have, you can’t make those mistakes. What it now comes down to is if we’re going to correct those mistakes. We do that, and we’ll get back to being the team we know we are.”

A lack of production on offense also has played a part. The Mountaineers scored just one touchdown in the first seven quarters this season.

"I’ll be the first one to say that our offense hasn’t lived up to our name so far,” Washington said. “The defense, even though they’re young, has played pretty well. We have to put points on the board.”

Washington said that motivation isn’t a factor.

"Guys know we can’t win a conference title and we can’t go to the playoffs (because of a transition to the FBS), but it’s still a pride thing,” he said. “Anybody that plays football wants to go out and make all the plays you can to win. Whether we’re going to the playoffs or not, win a conference championship or not, going out on Saturday and losing is not an option.

"You’re not going to go out and waste three hours of your life to lose. You’re going to give it all you’ve got, for yourself, your teammates and your coaches.”

As for the smattering of boos in the last game, Washington said: “Fans pay money to see us come out and win.”

Peacock said: “We’re not giving up. I can promise that.”

There are no do-overs, but the Mountaineers will be seeking a fresh start after an open date last weekend.

"You have to approach it that way,” Anderson said. “Yesterday’s gone, and we can’t focus on what happened at Montana or here in Boone two Saturdays ago.

"Just because we’re not going to officially be recognized conference champions if we do (have the best record), we’re still going to get rings, and it’s still going to be a season to remember as a senior. No one wants to go into the offseason entering Sun Belt competition having gone 4-8.

"We’re taking this game as a new season and a new start, just as we did in 2009 when we started 0-2 and went on to win 11 straight.”

Saturday’s game at Elon appears to be a crucial one.

"We’re going on the road; it is a conference opponent,” Anderson said. “It is two teams hungry for a win. It will come down to who can eliminate mistakes.

"Hopefully, that will be us on Saturday.”

tbowman@wsjournal.com

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Very good quotes from the kids, better than what I hear most adult athlete say. Seems like they have recognized and owned up to the problems.

Go Apps!

"A win won’t be enough. We need to show improvement and know that we are getting better.”

Don't want to over analyze here, but:

A win will not come without improvement. A continuation of performance exhibited thus far will result in another loss.

If he is saying, "we not only need to win, but, severely kick ass this Saturday", then I totally agree.

WataugaMan wrote:"A win won’t be enough. We need to show improvement and know that we are getting better.”

Don't want to over analyze here, but:

A win will not come without improvement. A continuation of performance exhibited thus far will result in another loss.

If he is saying, "we not only need to win, but, severely kick ass this Saturday", then I totally agree.

I think he means that if they just win but make the same mistakes it really doesn't matter. The team and fans want to see that they have improved (i.e. got things together) and that they're ready to play.

Kicking A$$ would be one way to show that, proper execution is another.

At least that's the way I see it.

"I think he means that if they just win but make the same mistakes it really doesn't matter."

If they make the same mistakes they will be lucky to win.

I think he means a fElon beat down is in the offing. Go Apps!

WataugaMan wrote:"I think he means that if they just win but make the same mistakes it really doesn't matter."

If they make the same mistakes they will be lucky to win.

But you get his point, everyone wants to see the team improving not just winning against a team that doesn't appear to be that good anyway.

Maddog1956 wrote:

WataugaMan wrote:"I think he means that if they just win but make the same mistakes it really doesn't matter."

If they make the same mistakes they will be lucky to win.

But you get his point, everyone wants to see the team improving not just winning against a team that doesn't appear to be that good anyway.

Nailed it! We could probably go out and play half assed and still pull it out like we almost did two Saturday's ago. Nobody wants to see that because we will face much better competition as the season progresses.

BTW, it really bothers me that the kids might think the boos were directed at the them. I truly hope they were directed at the poor coaching decsions. I know in a crowd of 26K there are going to be a lot of numb skulls but I like to think we are more civilized than to boo a bunch a kids playing a game.

I doubt they chalked it up to fans booing the coaches. I'm not sure they would be able to discern the nature of the boos to figure that out. Coaches and players constitute the team. The folks who booed were booing the team.

I don't think the booing is that focused and I have no doubt that it feels very personal to the players. Unfortunately, I do NOT believe that we are (collectvely) more civilized than that. I do think the opinion stated in the article about the booing is about the healthiest that you can expect from the players. I believe that we just might see the team we've been waiting for this weekend.

GO APPS!!!

I actually heard someone yell, "You played bad and you should FEEL bad!" at the A&T game. I told the gentleman to stop.

I think we'll finally see some offense tomorrow. Not that it will mean too much against a terrible team like fElon. I hope it's with Kam at QB.

I really will be surprised if Kam starts. It seems from Scott's comments he is luke warm on Kam. Does not believe he can throw down field. I believe he wants Jackson out there. He even made the comment in the A&T post game that Jackson was still the starter. I know he said it would have to be earned but unless Jackson looked really bad in practice I fully expect him to be on the field tomorrow.

appbio91 wrote:I really will be surprised if Kam starts. It seems from Scott's comments he is luke warm on Kam. Does not believe he can throw down field. I believe he wants Jackson out there. He even made the comment in the A&T post game that Jackson was still the starter. I know he said it would have to be earned but unless Jackson looked really bad in practice I fully expect him to be on the field tomorrow.

I'm wondering if Sat needs to get his eyes checked.

Or perhaps he knows that the playcalling was primarily responsible for our limp-**** start and that any QB short of Armanti would have stunk it up just as badly as Jamal. It just seems unfair and weird that Sat would suddenly change play calling montras at the same moment he pulls the starting QB. Almost like he was scapegoating him.

Gonzo wrote:

appbio91 wrote:I really will be surprised if Kam starts. It seems from Scott's comments he is luke warm on Kam. Does not believe he can throw down field. I believe he wants Jackson out there. He even made the comment in the A&T post game that Jackson was still the starter. I know he said it would have to be earned but unless Jackson looked really bad in practice I fully expect him to be on the field tomorrow.

I'm wondering if Sat needs to get his eyes checked.

Or perhaps he knows that the playcalling was primarily responsible for our limp-**** start and that any QB short of Armanti would have stunk it up just as badly as Jamal. It just seems unfair and weird that Sat would suddenly change play calling montras at the same moment he pulls the starting QB. Almost like he was scapegoating him.

Everybody who watched the last two games knows that Kam outplayed Jamal. That includes Scott. I think we all know that IF JAMAL IS 100%, he is definitely the better QB. Kam's weakness is definitely the downfield throw. Last week, it didn't seem that Jamal could connect even on the short ones, but Coach Satterfield is the person in all this who is working with all the information. Everyone else is making assumptions about why Jamal has struggled. If Satterfield starts Jamal, then it's because he believes he gives us the best chance to do our best. If he's mistaken, we all hope he makes a change more quickly. If he isn't, I will enjoy watching JLJ playing like we all know he can play.

If we want to see full utilization of Price's down field threat (when he returns) we all better hope that JLJ gets back to 100%. I would wager that both QB's see significant action for the rest of the season.