Clemson game thread and discussion

[MrCraig]

The pearl clutching and irrational expectations are a bit much. The talent disparity is glaring when we play teams like Clemson. 4/5 star kids vs 2/3 star kids frequently lead to blowouts.

Folks are also ignoring that App ran into a team with an excellent coaching staff and an axe to grind.
After losing badly to UGA, Clemson needed to put up style points. It’s unfortunate that it was against App. I thought it was going to be a lot closer. Considering the rest of the ACC, we may look back on this at season’s end as not THAT bad of a loss.

[MrCraig]

It's a one off game, Clemson will be top 5 by seasons end....calm down - they had them on two 3rd downs and DB's had mental breakdowns, you can't win the game in the 1st quarter but you sure as hell can lose it.

The more alarming thing and Ive harped on it for a few years now,

The September schedule the AD has put before #TEAMCLARK the last 3 Septembers '22 - '23' '24 has been first class unjust and unfair. The man has zero feel at being able to piece a schedule together in order to help make his program look better..

Ya"ll will dispute me but I am 110% correct on this...cupcakes need to be in place between P5 and rivalry's

#TeamClark still lives here!

Top 5 only because of their schedule. Good team, not great. Welcome back.

Let’s wait and see. Clemson may really be that good, Georgia might just be THAT much better.

[appbio91]

The pearl clutching and irrational expectations are a bit much. The talent disparity is glaring when we play teams like Clemson. 4/5 star kids vs 2/3 star kids frequently lead to blowouts.

Folks are also ignoring that App ran into a team with an excellent coaching staff and an axe to grind.
After losing badly to UGA, Clemson needed to put up style points. It’s unfortunate that it was against App. I thought it was going to be a lot closer. Considering the rest of the ACC, we may look back on this at season’s end as not THAT bad of a loss.

I get the point, but regardless of what they do with the rest of their weak opponents, this was bad and will be bad years from now.

[MrCraig]

The pearl clutching and irrational expectations are a bit much. The talent disparity is glaring when we play teams like Clemson. 4/5 star kids vs 2/3 star kids frequently lead to blowouts.

Folks are also ignoring that App ran into a team with an excellent coaching staff and an axe to grind.
After losing badly to UGA, Clemson needed to put up style points. It’s unfortunate that it was against App. I thought it was going to be a lot closer. Considering the rest of the ACC, we may look back on this at season’s end as not THAT bad of a loss.

I get the point, but regardless of what they do with the rest of their weak opponents, this was bad and will be bad years from now.

I won’t argue with that. Having records set against you is never good. I’m just saying that it might look a little better by the end of the year. Won’t we feel a little better if NC State and FSU get trounced by Clemson as well?

[JTApps1]

It's one game, a terrible one, but just one. Our response the next two weeks is more important than the result tonight. Clemson had a gut check and responded with their best. Can we do the same?

[AppDub]

Meanwhile Boise is up on Oregon 20-14 in the third.

Not shocked. Someone from the G5 is going undefeated and if they beat Oregon it could be them. I know that nobody is eliminated but a win tonight for Boise will put them in the drivers seat over all other G5s if they keep winning. I am interested to see if they hold their lead.

Oregon has started slow and had it not been for special teams, Boise would have pulled it off. Regardless, we don't look anywhere near on par with Boise. I still think they are the favorite to rep G5 and rightfully so.

[DenverOfTheEast]

It's a one off game, Clemson will be top 5 by seasons end....calm down - they had them on two 3rd downs and DB's had mental breakdowns, you can't win the game in the 1st quarter but you sure as hell can lose it.

The more alarming thing and Ive harped on it for a few years now,

The September schedule the AD has put before #TEAMCLARK the last 3 Septembers '22 - '23' '24 has been first class unjust and unfair. The man has zero feel at being able to piece a schedule together in order to help make his program look better..

Ya"ll will dispute me but I am 110% correct on this...cupcakes need to be in place between P5 and rivalry's

#TeamClark still lives here!

Top 5 only because of their schedule. Good team, not great. Welcome back.

Thanks for having me back!

Clemson has a top 5 defense... there is no pre season in college so it takes til week 3 to really settle in as a team in college football.

and to reference your Clemson weak schedule comment - that's my point - App State can't continue to sneak up on these P5's each year and pull off an upset - Dabo had them boys ready, App made 2 3rd down mistakes in 1st quarter and the snowball rolled at that point.

Dummy down the schedule and the playoff is a possibility in the future!!! but not until then, can't ask a App State team to play perfect for 12 games. Doug gives in to the Sofields and Ricks crew on playing the big boys and other decisions -- he can't think for himself to help elevate the program, it's stuck in the purgatory of FBS.... Other schools stepped up there game and all he did was add seats to create more debt.

Now onto a rival game and a SBC game 4 days after that, tough sleding ahead.

Only 3 App State teams since 1990 has finished the season with only 1 loss -- #TeamClark was apart of 2 out of the 3.

[AppDub]

Dabo baptized Clark tonight and never let his head back up above water. Plain and simple. Humbling experience for us all.

Yep all while going for it on 4th down multiple times up by 40+. I understand getting your backups reps, but once you get down to your 3rd and 4th string QB, is that really why you are doing it. Nope, Dabo wanted to let the world know they were a good team and used App as an example. I will say, I'd appreciate my coach being a little pissed off about that. Then again, the best way to handle any of it is to stop them.

[appstatealum]

This loss is not going to cause a coaching change. What follows might. Expectations were set high. Need to get there or pretty darn close. Beat EZU!

Let's just go 6-6 in the Sunbelt again!!!!

I know that I and everyone else on this forum has to actually perform at their profession, but Shawn has a degree from App!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’ve bled Black & Gold since 1988. But let’s be honest: you’re getting way too upset here. Because at the end of the day, it’s just a game. Let me say that again…at the end of the day, it is just a game.

It’s OK to be frustrated and we recognize you have no faith in Clark as our HC.

But hating on the players like that? These are 18-21 year old KIDS. How would you like for some stranger to call your kid names? You’re better than that, man!

Just playing devils advocate a little- the days of not criticizing the players is over. They are paid and I was capable of handling plenty of abuse making a lot less than them at that age. This is the new era of CFB.

[mountaineerman]

This loss is not going to cause a coaching change. What follows might. Expectations were set high. Need to get there or pretty darn close. Beat EZU!

100%. This was bad but I want to see how we rebound. I knew the OL would need time to gel. We got a long way to go but what do you feel is the minimum we should do this year?

The D is my concern…

Yeah. Offense never even had time to kick ir into gear before they were in "press mode". Hard to judge performance of an offense when they know they have zero room for error.

I know what I’ve seen the last two games. That’s that we cannot run the ball. Better get that fixed because that’s everything App state football .

[Pikapp79]

It's a one off game, Clemson will be top 5 by seasons end....calm down - they had them on two 3rd downs and DB's had mental breakdowns, you can't win the game in the 1st quarter but you sure as hell can lose it.

The more alarming thing and Ive harped on it for a few years now,

The September schedule the AD has put before #TEAMCLARK the last 3 Septembers '22 - '23' '24 has been first class unjust and unfair. The man has zero feel at being able to piece a schedule together in order to help make his program look better..

Ya"ll will dispute me but I am 110% correct on this...cupcakes need to be in place between P5 and rivalry's

#TeamClark still lives here!

Top 5 only because of their schedule. Good team, not great. Welcome back.

Thanks for having me back!

Clemson has a top 5 defense... there is no pre season in college so it takes til week 3 to really settle in as a team in college football.

and to reference your Clemson weak schedule comment - that's my point - App State can't continue to sneak up on these P5's each year and pull off an upset - Dabo had them boys ready, App made 2 3rd down mistakes in 1st quarter and the snowball rolled at that point.

Dummy down the schedule and the playoff is a possibility in the future!!! but not until then, can't ask a App State team to play perfect for 12 games. Doug gives in to the Sofields and Ricks crew on playing the big boys and other decisions -- he can't think for himself to help elevate the program, it's stuck in the purgatory of FBS.... Other schools stepped up there game and all he did was add seats to create more debt.

Now onto a rival game and a SBC game 4 days after that, tough sleding ahead.

Only 3 App State teams since 1990 has finished the season with only 1 loss -- #TeamClark was apart of 2 out of the 3.

Tell us about Clemson’s offense.

[appgrad95&97]

This may be extremely niave, but I really didn't think any college team was forty points better than we are. I don't expect to win P4 games, but I have come to expect we'd be competitive. Complain all you want about Dabo, but he had his team prepared. Clemson came out to make a statement and they did.

[appstatealum]

It's a one off game, Clemson will be top 5 by seasons end....calm down - they had them on two 3rd downs and DB's had mental breakdowns, you can't win the game in the 1st quarter but you sure as hell can lose it.

The more alarming thing and Ive harped on it for a few years now,

The September schedule the AD has put before #TEAMCLARK the last 3 Septembers '22 - '23' '24 has been first class unjust and unfair. The man has zero feel at being able to piece a schedule together in order to help make his program look better..

Ya"ll will dispute me but I am 110% correct on this...cupcakes need to be in place between P5 and rivalry's

#TeamClark still lives here!

Top 5 only because of their schedule. Good team, not great. Welcome back.

Thanks for having me back!

Clemson has a top 5 defense... there is no pre season in college so it takes til week 3 to really settle in as a team in college football.

and to reference your Clemson weak schedule comment - that's my point - App State can't continue to sneak up on these P5's each year and pull off an upset - Dabo had them boys ready, App made 2 3rd down mistakes in 1st quarter and the snowball rolled at that point.

Dummy down the schedule and the playoff is a possibility in the future!!! but not until then, can't ask a App State team to play perfect for 12 games. Doug gives in to the Sofields and Ricks crew on playing the big boys and other decisions -- he can't think for himself to help elevate the program, it's stuck in the purgatory of FBS.... Other schools stepped up there game and all he did was add seats to create more debt.

Now onto a rival game and a SBC game 4 days after that, tough sleding ahead.

Only 3 App State teams since 1990 has finished the season with only 1 loss -- #TeamClark was apart of 2 out of the 3.

Agree. It's simpler to just say Doug is manipulated by a few select individuals and as much as I've liked Doug, I wish we had an AD that wasn't a puppet for a few wallets

[appstatealum]

This loss is not going to cause a coaching change. What follows might. Expectations were set high. Need to get there or pretty darn close. Beat EZU!

100%. This was bad but I want to see how we rebound. I knew the OL would need time to gel. We got a long way to go but what do you feel is the minimum we should do this year?

The D is my concern…

Yeah. Offense never even had time to kick ir into gear before they were in "press mode". Hard to judge performance of an offense when they know they have zero room for error.

I know what I’ve seen the last two games. That’s that we cannot run the ball. Better get that fixed because that’s everything App state football .

Maybe. But I legit believe Anderson Castle should be the feature back for this team and spelled sporadically by Kanye and Marshall. This whole "assigned" to this drive and that drive with equal distribution is stupid. It doesn't give the backs time to get into rhythm. My criticism of Ponce has been the same over all of the years he's spent as a playcaller for this team, both before and after miami, he rarely does a good job of creating a rhythm for our offense. Ponce gets too cute or too stuck in his head and doesn't adhere to the "keep it simple, stupid" when he needs to.

[appgrad95&97]

It's a one off game, Clemson will be top 5 by seasons end....calm down - they had them on two 3rd downs and DB's had mental breakdowns, you can't win the game in the 1st quarter but you sure as hell can lose it.

The more alarming thing and Ive harped on it for a few years now,

The September schedule the AD has put before #TEAMCLARK the last 3 Septembers '22 - '23' '24 has been first class unjust and unfair. The man has zero feel at being able to piece a schedule together in order to help make his program look better..

Ya"ll will dispute me but I am 110% correct on this...cupcakes need to be in place between P5 and rivalry's

#TeamClark still lives here!

Top 5 only because of their schedule. Good team, not great. Welcome back.

Thanks for having me back!

Clemson has a top 5 defense... there is no pre season in college so it takes til week 3 to really settle in as a team in college football.

and to reference your Clemson weak schedule comment - that's my point - App State can't continue to sneak up on these P5's each year and pull off an upset - Dabo had them boys ready, App made 2 3rd down mistakes in 1st quarter and the snowball rolled at that point.

Dummy down the schedule and the playoff is a possibility in the future!!! but not until then, can't ask a App State team to play perfect for 12 games. Doug gives in to the Sofields and Ricks crew on playing the big boys and other decisions -- he can't think for himself to help elevate the program, it's stuck in the purgatory of FBS.... Other schools stepped up there game and all he did was add seats to create more debt.

Now onto a rival game and a SBC game 4 days after that, tough sleding ahead.

Only 3 App State teams since 1990 has finished the season with only 1 loss -- #TeamClark was apart of 2 out of the 3.

Agree. It's simpler to just say Doug is manipulated by a few select individuals and as much as I've liked Doug, I wish we had an AD that wasn't a puppet for a few wallets

I'm not sure Doug is being manipulated.

[appstatealum]

I've been in a few rooms with the parties we are discussing, and it is rather uncomfortable and downright borderline obnoxious with some of these individuals and the perceived "throne" they sit on with this program.

[Saint3333]

Some really elementary mistakes last night. They did just run past us.

Oline got dominated, don’t say they did well, we were outmanned in trenches.


On Dabo going on 4th down up 40, that shows his character, don’t praise him.

I agree most players didn’t fold and that’s a good thing, a couple did and sat the rest of the night.

Not is not our standard, however it was a new low against a power program in the FBS era.


Get better quick and beat ECU.

[appstatealum]

I'm OK with Dabo doing what he did. He has the right to put up 200 points on us if he wanted to. He has a job to do and new landscape required him to curb stomp our lifeless bodies.

[appst89]

I'm OK with Dabo doing what he did. He has the right to put up 200 points on us if he wanted to. He has a job to do and new landscape required him to curb stomp our lifeless bodies.

I agree with this. It’s our job to stop them. If we can’t then we get what we get.

[Yosef1986]

We can compare APP to ACC SEC etc.... However, I watched some of the other top tier G5 schools play. They look bigger and faster - and played with attitude. I am not sure that we have taken the next step. Not saying that we cannot in this season - however, we continually get beat up from on both side of the ball. And... I am also tired of hearing about the simple mistakes we continually make after a game. All can be fixed - or can it be fixed?