App State Observations

[CharlestonTiger]

Just wanted to say that I enjoyed interacting with the App State fans that made the trip to Clemson yesterday. Y'all had a lot show up, and I tried to talk to as many as I could. I kinda just wanted to ask if any of you that were there had a positive experience aside from the score. As far as the game, your d line looked very good but got put in bad situations from those turnovers. I'll be pulling for you for the rest of your season, and I think y'all will win a lot of games within your conference. Thanks for not being obnoxious in a visiting atmosphere.

[AppGrad78]

Our group thoroughly enjoyed ourselves (minus the second quarter) and appreciate your hospitality. We couldn't have been treated more cordially. In my opinion, Clemson is the ideal money game for App -- close proximity to our fanbase and a program that competes at the highest level with fans who are respectful of visitors. Here's hoping for another meeting in the not-too-distant future.

[CharlestonTiger]

I'm glad to hear that y'all had an enjoyable experience, and I'm on the same page about hopefully playing again in the near future. I know that it would be a longterm project, but if y'all were to make some stadium renovations that could accommodate larger schools, I think Boone would be a really cool place to go to a game. It seems like more and more Power 5 schools are starting to schedule away games with their smaller opponents, which I think is great. That might be long shot, but I think it's an idea worth entertaining.

[AppFan11]

Hey C-tiger our group had a great time in Clemson. The stadium was very easy to get to and get out of. People were really friendly... just as advertised. We had a blast. Hope to come back soon. Good luck the rest of the way.

[DaphneUrquhart]

We had a blast! I tailgated with some Clemson friends (along with several other App fans) before and after the game. Our host is a recent Clemson grad and is definitely Solid Orange. He's very active with IPTAY and the young alum program and such.

Since I have the pleasure of serving on the Yosef Club Advisory Board, I'm always trying to learn what I can about what other schools do well. Clemson does many things very well when it comes to the football gameday experience.

The bottom line is that Clemson were great hosts and, other than the score and all that orange, I was in heaven celebrating everything that is good about southern football Saturdays.

Y'all go win the ACC!

[Saint3333]

I will never complain about Boone traffic again, getting to that stadium was the most difficult drive I've witnessed.

Otherwise, good atmosphere for tailgating.

[kickass143]

A really nice away game experience (except for the score)! I saw nothing but classy, passionate college football fans wearing lots of orange and purple. I have a new respect for the Clemson Tiger program and fan base! Very proud that App Nation showed up and supported our boys with energy, enthusiasm and CLASS!!! Oh..... and whoever ordered the cloud cover, breeze and cooler temps is freaking awesome!!

[sixtoes9134]

We had a blast! We arrived early at the advice of many and had no problems with traffic. Kite Hill was a little bit of a hike.

Aside from Clemson's smothering D causing our QB to make a lot of poor decisions, I was generally pleased with most everything else.

We were in the App section and there were only a couple of Clemson folks sitting near us, but they were very cordial.

[huskie3]

The traffic was backed up, but heeding the advice of Clemson friends we were able to use back roads and miss most of it. There were no taunting fans, everyone was friendly. Looking forward to another visit in the not too distant future.

[App74]

We had a great time! Went downtown Friday night and everyone was courteous. The parking staff at University Beach went out of their way to accommodate us in parking/tailgating as a group. Walking in, an older Clemson fan said, "I hope we beat you by one on a last second field goal". The shuttle was efficient and fast except for having to do turnarounds in the stadium parking lot. Traffic coming out of there was no biggie.

Your tailgating looked like a city, your stadium awesome. I like going to venues like Clemson to see "how it's done". Experiencing a Clemson game day makes me realize we have a long way to go at App as we adjust to FBS; much growing up to do and maturing as a fan base. I looked around and wondered how many in local government, Clemson faculty, students, staff, fans, etc. complain and what they complain about when you have a nationally televised Thursday night game especially since you have a fair share of Saturday nationally televised games.

If we ever play again, I will go. I am looking forward to traveling to ODU in a couple of weeks to see how another school more on our level "does it".

Thanks for the memories! Best wishes this season!

[IGgreer]

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Great atmosphere, great time.

The Mountaineers came to play, turnovers put us behind the 8-ball in the 2nd.

[appbio91]

Folks around us were polite and complimentary of our team and crowd. They were impressed at how loud we could get with the APP STATE chant. Frankly I was too given how dispersed we were among the 80+ in attendance. Like was commented above can't wait to get back to the warm confines of Boone and KBS. That 2.5 mile walk to the stadium and the traffic made me realize how much I love what we have. I want to thank you guys for not being obnoxious as well. Good fans and good game day experience. I was taking notes when fans were allowed to leave at halftime and come back in. That would be nice to have in Boone.

[YesAppCan]

CharlestonTiger,
Thanks for the nice words. Our group had a fantastic time. Clemson fans were welcoming in every way. Absolutely LOVED the atmosphere inside Death Valley. You folks have a LOT to be proud of... We will be pulling for Clemson to win a national championship!

[WVAppsfan]

I was amazed with the atmosphere on the entire campus. The Clemson fans were very nice but quiet. meaning that they did not say anything harsh after the game. We went over to the ESSO Club in Friday evening and the Clemson fans then were asking about specific players and our thoughts on the game on Saturday.

They expected a game from App State.

All in all it was a wonderful game experience for me. I do not understand why the band was not afforded the opportunity to attend and experience Memorial Stadium. The Clemson fans would have appreciated the Marching Mountaineers.

I would love to see a team like Clemson come to the Rock

[YesAppCan]

I do not understand why the band was not afforded the opportunity to attend and experience Memorial Stadium.

...Money

[moonshine]

We had a blast! I tailgated with some Clemson friends (along with several other App fans) before and after the game. Our host is a recent Clemson grad and is definitely Solid Orange. He's very active with IPTAY and the young alum program and such.

Since I have the pleasure of serving on the Yosef Club Advisory Board, I'm always trying to learn what I can about what other schools do well. Clemson does many things very well when it comes to the football gameday experience.

The bottom line is that Clemson were great hosts and, other than the score and all that orange, I was in heaven celebrating everything that is good about southern football Saturdays.

Y'all go win the ACC!

What did you learn that may work for App in the future?

[PhillyApp1]

The things i learned:

The traffic from Cherry street to get out north was UNBELIEVABLE, fast and moving.
I had a 10 minute walk to truck on Cherry st. and an express to the back roads....home to Charlotte in a little over 2 hours.

Our Defense is very ligit. Special teams is very much improved.

Our Offensive play calling and QB left me very upset ...i do not think i will go to Tennessee next year. The coaches have killed my enthusiasm for watching us play the P5 schools

[MtnDevil95]

We had a great time. I underestimated the traffic coming up from Anderson, and got to the tailgate later than I wanted, but still had time before the game for a few cold ones with some excellent Clemson fans. The RV parking around by the little finger lake is incredible atmosphere for tailgating. The Clemson fans around us in the game were very complimentary, even when App was falling apart in the 2nd quarter and urged us to come back after the half. I'm glad we did too.

All in all it was worth the trip from the eastern part of NC and would love to come back to Death Valley.

[Yosef84]

We got there pretty early, and parked out at the YMCA/Beach. The Clemson fans were excellent hosts and I don't think I heard a single disrespectful comment. I had my 10 year old son with me and we had a great time (except for that 2nd quarter).

I made the mistake of carrying my backpack with me and was told at the stadium that I couldn't take it in. That was irritating because I had checked the stadium rules online and backpacks were not listed as prohibited items, although I did find it printed on the back of the ticket and it's clearly marked at the stadium. I wasn't mad at Clemson as much as I was irritated with myself. Fortunately, the nice young lady at the Customer Kiosk offered to hold it for me. I fully expected it to be gone, but she was there after the game and handed it back with a smile. THAT was ABOVE AND BEYOND and I greatly appreciad her helping out! She saved me from having to order a new App backpack.

Also, I had a flat tire when I got back to the parking lot (not vandalism...just bad luck). A Clemson fan came over and was helping me locate a tire repair shop that might still be open. He wouldn't leave until he was confident that we had a plan for gettng it fixed! A couple of App fans from Cornelius also came over and helped change the tire. These kinds of people helped to turn what could have been a really bad situation into just a bump in the road.

Thank you to all the grascious Clemson fans, and to the App fans who showed up and represented our university so well. From my description above, it sounds like I should have had a terrible day....but because of the good people, we had a great experience!

[JTApps1]

This was my four trip to Clemson for a game, and I can say that I've never had a bad experience. Three of those games were against App and one was against GT on a Thursday night 2 years ago (I was pulling for the Tigers that night).To me our two fan bases are very similar from everything I've seen at those games, and from interactions with friends and coworkers who are Clemson fans. I hope we can continue to play each other in the future on a semi regular basis.