Orlando Sentinel Ranks Apps 126

[moehler]

If there is any positive about the Michigan game is this isn't going to be one of Michigan's better teams, from what I have read, poor recruiting the last 2 years, lost their best 2 offensive tackles on a line that wasn't very good to begin with. Having said that, Brady Hoke is on the hot seat, he knows he cant afford for this game to be even close, much less App upsetting them again. He is going for it on almost every forth down, throw deep as much as possible, etc. his goal is to run up the score, and try and embarrass us. I agree that if we can survive the first 10 minutes of the game, we could keep it close into the 3rd, my fear is, like the Georgia game last year, our starters wear down, and the 2nd and 3rd team players aren't able to keep up and Michigan shows no mercy in the 4th, and puts 28+ on us late.

[Yosef84]

The Georgia team that pounded us in the second half last year was lightyears better than Michigan will be next year. Georgia had one of the best offenses in the country. They had one of the best throwing QBs in the country and a pair of RBs that were also at the top of the national list. We were lucky that one of those RBs was out, and the other was dinged up. There was no way App could stop both the running and the passing game. We clearly decided to stop the running game, so when Richt turned his QBs loose to throw in the second half, we had no answer.

App will be better on both sides of the ball than we were last year...and I mean better than we were at the END of the year when we were playing better. I'm not expecting to stand toe to toe with Michigan. They are the heavy favorite, but I don't think they can execute at will against us. Of course, I'm an optimist so I could be completely wrong.

Everyone says they will be gunning for us, but honestly it has been 7 years. None of the guys on the 2014 team were in college, and many weren't even in high school in 2007. It's a whole new coaching staff. They will watch the game on video, but ultimately the arrogance of the power program will seep in and they are just as susceptable to complacency as the 2007 team was. Our bad 2013 actually helps in that respect. Don't get me wrong...they WANT to run up the score, but they will still be prone to underestimate us.

We definitely can't stumble out of the blocks this year or it will get ugly. I am praying that having Michigan as the opener guaruntees a very focused August. If we play our best, and they still kick our butts, then kudos to them. I can live with that.

Go Apps!

[Maddog1956]

The Georgia team that pounded us in the second half last year was lightyears better than Michigan will be next year. Georgia had one of the best offenses in the country. They had one of the best throwing QBs in the country and a pair of RBs that were also at the top of the national list. We were lucky that one of those RBs was out, and the other was dinged up. There was no way App could stop both the running and the passing game. We clearly decided to stop the running game, so when Richt turned his QBs loose to throw in the second half, we had no answer.

App will be better on both sides of the ball than we were last year...and I mean better than we were at the END of the year when we were playing better. I'm not expecting to stand toe to toe with Michigan. They are the heavy favorite, but I don't think they can execute at will against us. Of course, I'm an optimist so I could be completely wrong.

Everyone says they will be gunning for us, but honestly it has been 7 years. None of the guys on the 2014 team were in college, and many weren't even in high school in 2007. It's a whole new coaching staff. They will watch the game on video, but ultimately the arrogance of the power program will seep in and they are just as susceptable to complacency as the 2007 team was. Our bad 2013 actually helps in that respect. Don't get me wrong...they WANT to run up the score, but they will still be prone to underestimate us.

We definitely can't stumble out of the blocks this year or it will get ugly. I am praying that having Michigan as the opener guaruntees a very focused August. If we play our best, and they still kick our butts, then kudos to them. I can live with that.

Go Apps!

I agree with you, not that I'd put it in the win column, but I think it will be more in line with some of the ECU games.

[moehler]

I think we are going to surprise a lot of teams with just how good our starters are, but I fear that there is going to be a big drop off in terms of talent and experience with our backups. I could see us close, or even in the lead against Michigan early in the 3rd, but once our starters are exhausted,and we have to bring in the backups I could see Michigan really pile it on and winning by 24 or more.

[Nugget49]

Next year uncc will be rated. I doubt it will be as "high" as 126.

I agree with you. We could be dead last as both an honest assessment of our position and a matter of policy--new teams go to the back of the line. I will say here what I said on our board though, Charlotte fans will not be upset by this. We do not have 85 years of football tradition on the line, we are about to enter Year 2. It is all icing for us for a few more years. All we need to do is trend up and life is great. I think App is in a much more precarious position moving to FBS because your fans have higher expectations.

Charlotte and App are going to compete in football. For recruits, for media attention, for future fans, and soon on the field. We are too close geographically not to. But more importantly for a while, we are each going to compete with our own fan's expectations. I think you guys have the much tougher job there. Charlotte has never won a National Championship in football so it can't be a monkey on our back. Don't get me wrong, it is great to have them, but those glory days are your measuring stick.

[Gonzo]

So your board of 6-7 fans uses this ranking as evidence that App is doomed to be crushed by UNCC and fade into obscurity thereafter. But next year, when UNCC makes the list, a similarly low ranking won't make a bit of difference, because your fans are just happy to have football.

Got it.

[bcoach]

The Georgia team that pounded us in the second half last year was lightyears better than Michigan will be next year. Georgia had one of the best offenses in the country. They had one of the best throwing QBs in the country and a pair of RBs that were also at the top of the national list. We were lucky that one of those RBs was out, and the other was dinged up. There was no way App could stop both the running and the passing game. We clearly decided to stop the running game, so when Richt turned his QBs loose to throw in the second half, we had no answer.

App will be better on both sides of the ball than we were last year...and I mean better than we were at the END of the year when we were playing better. I'm not expecting to stand toe to toe with Michigan. They are the heavy favorite, but I don't think they can execute at will against us. Of course, I'm an optimist so I could be completely wrong.

Everyone says they will be gunning for us, but honestly it has been 7 years. None of the guys on the 2014 team were in college, and many weren't even in high school in 2007. It's a whole new coaching staff. They will watch the game on video, but ultimately the arrogance of the power program will seep in and they are just as susceptable to complacency as the 2007 team was. Our bad 2013 actually helps in that respect. Don't get me wrong...they WANT to run up the score, but they will still be prone to underestimate us.

We definitely can't stumble out of the blocks this year or it will get ugly. I am praying that having Michigan as the opener guaruntees a very focused August. If we play our best, and they still kick our butts, then kudos to them. I can live with that.

Go Apps!

Yes but the fan base was there 7 years ago and are still there. The coaches and players have been given a number of history lessons. This coach knows how that last coach lost his job

[Black Saturday]

Next year uncc will be rated. I doubt it will be as "high" as 126.

I agree with you. We could be dead last as both an honest assessment of our position and a matter of policy--new teams go to the back of the line. I will say here what I said on our board though, Charlotte fans will not be upset by this. We do not have 85 years of football tradition on the line, we are about to enter Year 2. It is all icing for us for a few more years. All we need to do is trend up and life is great. I think App is in a much more precarious position moving to FBS because your fans have higher expectations.

Charlotte and App are going to compete in football. For recruits, for media attention, for future fans, and soon on the field. We are too close geographically not to. But more importantly for a while, we are each going to compete with our own fan's expectations. I think you guys have the much tougher job there. Charlotte has never won a National Championship in football so it can't be a monkey on our back. Don't get me wrong, it is great to have them, but those glory days are your measuring stick.

As for media attention in Charlotte, UNCC will be competing against UNC Chapel Hill as does everyone else in the sports world. As for recruiting players to a limited scholarship start up program with no tradition and a bad schedule, that is your monkey. It was hard enough to bring in the stars in with a tradition as APPs.

[Nugget49]

Next year uncc will be rated. I doubt it will be as "high" as 126.

I agree with you. We could be dead last as both an honest assessment of our position and a matter of policy--new teams go to the back of the line. I will say here what I said on our board though, Charlotte fans will not be upset by this. We do not have 85 years of football tradition on the line, we are about to enter Year 2. It is all icing for us for a few more years. All we need to do is trend up and life is great. I think App is in a much more precarious position moving to FBS because your fans have higher expectations.

Charlotte and App are going to compete in football. For recruits, for media attention, for future fans, and soon on the field. We are too close geographically not to. But more importantly for a while, we are each going to compete with our own fan's expectations. I think you guys have the much tougher job there. Charlotte has never won a National Championship in football so it can't be a monkey on our back. Don't get me wrong, it is great to have them, but those glory days are your measuring stick.

As for media attention in Charlotte, UNCC will be competing against UNC Chapel Hill as does everyone else in the sports world. As for recruiting players to a limited scholarship start up program with no tradition and a bad schedule, that is your monkey. It was hard enough to bring in the stars in with a tradition as APPs.

I post here occassionally but I try not to fan the flames, and I get it that nobody here cares too much about Charlotte sports. I have a board for that so I will not generally bore you. However Charlotte did get pulled into this thread, and appropriately I think. We do exist in each other's sphere and are both stepping up to FBS.

No doubt, we all play second-banana to theTarheels--in the Observer especially--when it comes to coverage. I do not think that changes the fact the Charlotte and App will be fighting for inches on the sports page.

I am not sure what you mean about "limited scholarship start up program". We are bound by FCS limits this year, and will have FBS limits next year. From a practical standpoint we have not hit our allowance yet because you want to balance your classes, but the rules do not limit us. Recruiting seems to be going pretty well so far given the context of being a new program. The kids on the field last year were recruited when we did not even have a stadium. Now recruits are coming to visit, seeing a game, and know they will be in FBS and it makes all the difference. I know you already know this.

While our schedule was not exciting last year and will be mostly the same teams this year, it was appropriate for a team full of real and red-shirt freshman. Plus, as an independent you have to do what you have to do. In year 3 we move to a C-USA schedule. I would think that you would find that schedule appealing.

I do think tradition is our big monkey. People are enjoying football at Charlotte right now because it is new, and we do have a beautiful stadium to enjoy the event that is Saturday college game day. But, if you can believe fans everywhere we are going to get punched in the mouth when we move to FBS. Will our fans stick with us if we go 3-9? Who knows? That is one of the things that makes stadium expansion so hard to plan. App probably takes a lot of this for granted because you have been doing it for so long, but we still have some nice milestones coming up. In year 3 we will start playing conference teams, introduce our marching band, and have night games. It will probably bring a small stadium expansion too. Year 4 will probably be a real expansion that gets us to K-B size. Year 5...well we play App. See, we have a lot to be excited about.

I am not really pulling against App. I don't think one of us has to fail for the other to succeed. Now in our games on the field you can all go to hell, but stop by and have a beer anyway.

[Gonzo]

The Stink's ranking came out. On the heels of their win over Florida, they came in two spots above us at 124.

These rankings are a joke.

[GoApps70]

Here is Georgia Southern's article if you want to read it:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/b ... 70805.post

[bcoach]

The Stink's ranking came out. On the heels of their win over Florida, they came in two spots above us at 124.

These rankings are a joke.

Not speaking to the whole deal as I haven't seen it. Polls are just one guys guess anyway .As far as GS being ranked above us I have no argument. Similar records and they have a higher quality win. It will change when we beat them.

[ASUGoose]

I think we are going to surprise a lot of teams with just how good our starters are, but I fear that there is going to be a big drop off in terms of talent and experience with our backups. I could see us close, or even in the lead against Michigan early in the 3rd, but once our starters are exhausted,and we have to bring in the backups I could see Michigan really pile it on and winning by 24 or more.

I disagree that there is a big drop off in terms of talent with our backups. The last few years of recruiting have been some of the best talent to come to Boone (based on recruiting rankings - not necessarily accurate I know). I do agree that they are young and there is a big drop off in experience which will hurt. We are still a young team on the 2 deep but things are lining up very nicely for our 2015 campaign.

GO 'NEERS!

[Gonzo]

The Stink's ranking came out. On the heels of their win over Florida, they came in two spots above us at 124.

These rankings are a joke.

Not speaking to the whole deal as I haven't seen it. Polls are just one guys guess anyway .As far as GS being ranked above us I have no argument. Similar records and they have a higher quality win. It will change when we beat them.

Yeah I'm not sure what made you think I was saying that App should be rated higher. I think GaSo should be much higher than 124.

[Maddog1956]

The Stink's ranking came out. On the heels of their win over Florida, they came in two spots above us at 124.

These rankings are a joke.

Not speaking to the whole deal as I haven't seen it. Polls are just one guys guess anyway .As far as GS being ranked above us I have no argument. Similar records and they have a higher quality win. It will change when we beat them.

If we use last year as our gage wouldn't we have to consider that we destroyed them on the field? But I see your point.

[Black Saturday]

I think we are going to surprise a lot of teams with just how good our starters are, but I fear that there is going to be a big drop off in terms of talent and experience with our backups. I could see us close, or even in the lead against Michigan early in the 3rd, but once our starters are exhausted,and we have to bring in the backups I could see Michigan really pile it on and winning by 24 or more.

I disagree that there is a big drop off in terms of talent with our backups. The last few years of recruiting have been some of the best talent to come to Boone (based on recruiting rankings - not necessarily accurate I know). I do agree that they are young and there is a big drop off in experience which will hurt. We are still a young team on the 2 deep but things are lining up very nicely for our 2015 campaign.

GO 'NEERS!

They newer guys will really have to develop and produce to be better than the players that came through the program of the decade starting about 2003. Collectively our best based on Championships and players put into the NFL, along with some that were just outstanding players for the program that didn't get a chance at the next level because of their measurements.

[Rekdiver]

I really dont give a crap about the rankings. Until we do something we have no way to complain how we rank. Charlotte is the least of my worries right now. And Charlotte like us has to compete with not only UNC but NCSU and Clemson and USC in the Charlotte market for media attention.

[bcoach]

The Stink's ranking came out. On the heels of their win over Florida, they came in two spots above us at 124.

These rankings are a joke.

Not speaking to the whole deal as I haven't seen it. Polls are just one guys guess anyway .As far as GS being ranked above us I have no argument. Similar records and they have a higher quality win. It will change when we beat them.

Yeah I'm not sure what made you think I was saying that App should be rated higher. I think GaSo should be much higher than 124.

I misunderstood. I though you were saying that they were to high.

[bcoach]

The Stink's ranking came out. On the heels of their win over Florida, they came in two spots above us at 124.

These rankings are a joke.

Not speaking to the whole deal as I haven't seen it. Polls are just one guys guess anyway .As far as GS being ranked above us I have no argument. Similar records and they have a higher quality win. It will change when we beat them.

If we use last year as our gage wouldn't we have to consider that we destroyed them on the field? But I see your point.

Yes you would. No argument. What I should have said is that it will change this year when we beat them and have a better record.

[GoApps70]

Just tired of losing to teams that we should beat.
Not a good sign.