Worst I’ve ever seen

[AppDub]

Posts on this thread sound exactly the same as 2023 midway thru the season, then App beat undefeated and ranked JMU and everything changed...only week 3, let's see what happens next week vs Liberty.

After being at this game and witnessing the lack of skill and effort first hand, I am glad that the Liberty game got relegated to ESPN+. Admittedly, I thought this was a miss on their part when announced, but they got it right. If we think GIO gave this team fits last night, Kaidon Salter is about to torch this defense.

[pop5app]

Well!

Well, I’ve been a loyal and faithful APP fan since 1968. I’ve seen some great times! They are what has helped to keep me engaged. I struggled thru the first split(1-aa), suffered thru the dark ages (Laney/Borkowsky et al year). Reinvigorated in the early 2000’s with the National Championships and new direction (FBS) I’ve suffered thru the Working years and some really embarrassing loses(Fla. A&M , winless VMI, VPI. And on and on). This mess however has been a slow steady death by a thousand cuts. My final conclusion is that, yes, last night was the worst I’ve ever seen.

[WataugaMan]

I've heard recently that last year the team quit on SC, didn't make sense seeing how we finished. However, to this point this season that "argument" APPears to hold water.

[DenverOfTheEast]

The sun came up this morning in Denver, NC

[8993]

Posts on this thread sound exactly the same as 2023 midway thru the season, then App beat undefeated and ranked JMU and everything changed...only week 3, let's see what happens next week vs Liberty.

This is such a tired take.

This ‘let’s wait and see what happens’ attitude is going to get us absolutely nowhere. We can’t accept being middle-of-the-pack in an increasingly competitive G5 and Sun Belt. If that’s what you want, Georgia State, Arkansas State, and USA would love to have you as a fan. If you want to WIN and lead this conference and be a G5 contender every year, something has to give and it can’t just be another change in our Coordinators.

From the top down, we look out played, out practiced, out ran, out led. Our team has clearly given up on Clark and so has the fanbase.

Even if he turns it around, I’ve seen enough: Clark isn’t the guy to lead us into the future.

[8993]

The sun came up this morning in Denver, NC

Shawn Clark? That you? Glad you made it safely down the mountain last night. I’m surprised you even stuck around for the presser!

[AppSt12]

The worst part is...that was possibly our easiest FBS opponent remaining. There is no saving this. We will take years to recover from the Shawn Clark expirement because we didnt pull the trigger after a 6-6 season. This is not App State football and we should all be ashamed for letting it get this far. App State was a top non p5 national brand for nearly 20 years...that is gone and we may not get back.

Thats the part of college football that sucks...the nature of the game takes years to rebuild a succesful program...especially when you dont have an unlimited budget. But we were like frogs boiling alive in hot water...in various ways we convinced ourselfs that 9-3 was acceptable when shawn took over a team that had gone 11-2 and 13-1 and had all the 2019 players return. We accepted a 4 loss season, getting slaughtered by Louisiana and losing the conference title. We accepted 6-6. Then we were so excited to have a 5-1 streak to end 2023 despite going 8-5 and getting crushed by Troy in the title game. Then we look back and no conference titles in 4 years, a losing record by 7-8 games vs opponents we were +/- 5 pts favorites or underdogs and our first bowl loss in humiliating fashion. Now we are in year 5....so none of our players know how to win like App State wins and the dream is dead. We will likely never make the cfb playoff and are doomed to mediocrity because of shawn clark. And the timing couldnt be worse...as the changed landscape of college football required us to be good now to survive these changes.

[AppDawg]

Hot take — perhaps the entire program is experiencing a bit of paralysis by analysis.

https://247sports.com/college/appalachi ... 41189/amp/

[J_Mountaineers]

Posts on this thread sound exactly the same as 2023 midway thru the season, then App beat undefeated and ranked JMU and everything changed...only week 3, let's see what happens next week vs Liberty.

I feel like this is different. Last year the heart and effort was still there. I’ve witnessed two games this year where the guys quit. It’s one thing to get outplayed but I’ve never seen our guys stop caring and fold the chairs mid game until this year.

[AppStateDieHard]

Posts on this thread sound exactly the same as 2023 midway thru the season, then App beat undefeated and ranked JMU and everything changed...only week 3, let's see what happens next week vs Liberty.

Even if he turns it around, I’ve seen enough: Clark isn’t the guy to lead us into the future.

This. Right. Here.

Even if we somehow went 12-2 this season (we won't), it would be an inconceivably bad leadership decision to let SC stay. At this point, we know what we're going to get. To repeatedly shake the Magic 8 Ball and hope for a different outcome is pure ignorance.

I feel bad for SC. I wanted him to succeed. Great guy. But App is going to go the way of ECU (a once up-and-coming mid-major powerhouse beaten into near-obscurity) if the people in charge don't make the necessary decisions their leadership positions demand of them.

[appbio91]

On the bright side, this loss lowers the quality of Clemson’s win, I hate that team.

[appgrad95&97]

The worst part is...that was possibly our easiest FBS opponent remaining. There is no saving this. We will take years to recover from the Shawn Clark expirement because we didnt pull the trigger after a 6-6 season. This is not App State football and we should all be ashamed for letting it get this far. App State was a top non p5 national brand for nearly 20 years...that is gone and we may not get back.

Thats the part of college football that sucks...the nature of the game takes years to rebuild a succesful program...especially when you dont have an unlimited budget. But we were like frogs boiling alive in hot water...in various ways we convinced ourselfs that 9-3 was acceptable when shawn took over a team that had gone 11-2 and 13-1 and had all the 2019 players return. We accepted a 4 loss season, getting slaughtered by Louisiana and losing the conference title. We accepted 6-6. Then we were so excited to have a 5-1 streak to end 2023 despite going 8-5 and getting crushed by Troy in the title game. Then we look back and no conference titles in 4 years, a losing record by 7-8 games vs opponents we were +/- 5 pts favorites or underdogs and our first bowl loss in humiliating fashion. Now we are in year 5....so none of our players know how to win like App State wins and the dream is dead. We will likely never make the cfb playoff and are doomed to mediocrity because of shawn clark. And the timing couldnt be worse...as the changed landscape of college football required us to be good now to survive these changes.

I might disagree with you here. All the pieces are in Boone. I think we have plenty of talent to be a top G5 program. The head coach is the problem. He was a lazy hire, who was not qualified for the job he was given. The only hope was that he could grow into the job. He didn't. If we move on there needs to be a serious search. We recovered pretty quickly from the Mike Working years, and we had a lot less going for us then. A good coach can fix this.

[AppfaninCAALand]

It wasn't the worst loss I have ever seen....because I didn't watch it. I checked the score while at my daughter's game, saw it was 28-0 and never thought about it again until this morning.

[MrCraig]

Posts on this thread sound exactly the same as 2023 midway thru the season, then App beat undefeated and ranked JMU and everything changed...only week 3, let's see what happens next week vs Liberty.

This is such a tired take.

This ‘let’s wait and see what happens’ attitude is going to get us absolutely nowhere. We can’t accept being middle-of-the-pack in an increasingly competitive G5 and Sun Belt. If that’s what you want, Georgia State, Arkansas State, and USA would love to have you as a fan. If you want to WIN and lead this conference and be a G5 contender every year, something has to give and it can’t just be another change in our Coordinators.

From the top down, we look out played, out practiced, out ran, out led. Our team has clearly given up on Clark and so has the fanbase.

Even if he turns it around, I’ve seen enough: Clark isn’t the guy to lead us into the future.

I agree, and I've been slow to get on the coach firing train.
Starting games, and seasons, slow isn't sustainable. If every game, and every season, you start having to come from behind, you just aren't doing it right.
As I said somewhere else, losing to Clemson and USA is not a bad thing by itself. Getting completely obliterated by those two teams, showing almost no fight at all, is inexcusable.

[yosef69]

It wasn't the worst loss I have ever seen....because I didn't watch it. I checked the score while at my daughter's game, saw it was 28-0 and never thought about it again until this morning.

And when your biggest fans don’t think about your team getting smoked at home to a previously bad program… you have reached irrelevance. Yay

[MrCraig]

The worst part is...that was possibly our easiest FBS opponent remaining. There is no saving this. We will take years to recover from the Shawn Clark expirement because we didnt pull the trigger after a 6-6 season. This is not App State football and we should all be ashamed for letting it get this far. App State was a top non p5 national brand for nearly 20 years...that is gone and we may not get back.

Thats the part of college football that sucks...the nature of the game takes years to rebuild a succesful program...especially when you dont have an unlimited budget. But we were like frogs boiling alive in hot water...in various ways we convinced ourselfs that 9-3 was acceptable when shawn took over a team that had gone 11-2 and 13-1 and had all the 2019 players return. We accepted a 4 loss season, getting slaughtered by Louisiana and losing the conference title. We accepted 6-6. Then we were so excited to have a 5-1 streak to end 2023 despite going 8-5 and getting crushed by Troy in the title game. Then we look back and no conference titles in 4 years, a losing record by 7-8 games vs opponents we were +/- 5 pts favorites or underdogs and our first bowl loss in humiliating fashion. Now we are in year 5....so none of our players know how to win like App State wins and the dream is dead. We will likely never make the cfb playoff and are doomed to mediocrity because of shawn clark. And the timing couldnt be worse...as the changed landscape of college football required us to be good now to survive these changes.

I might disagree with you here. All the pieces are in Boone. I think we have plenty of talent to be a top G5 program. The head coach is the problem. He was a lazy hire, who was not qualified for the job he was given. The only hope was that he could grow into the job. He didn't. If we move on there needs to be a serious search. We recovered pretty quickly from the Mike Working years, and we had a lot less going for us then. A good coach can fix this.

Agree with 95&97. In the transfer portal age, App could be back to national prominence next season with the right coaching staff put in place.

To the original post breaking down SC's 5 years. Every season up until this one has a logical excuse. COVID, then a decent year with bad losses to a very good ULL team, then a rebuilding year, then the team learning how to win. But what's the excuse now? If we'd lost to Clemson by 14 or 21, and lost to USA by a field goal or something, I might rationalize it like the beginning of last season. But App has been absolutely blown out in half their games this year. Unacceptable.

[MrCraig]

Hot take — perhaps the entire program is experiencing a bit of paralysis by analysis.

https://247sports.com/college/appalachi ... 41189/amp/

The article barely says anything. Does anyone know what would be gained by using GPS trackers on players? Can't you just... SEE where the players are on the field?

[yosef69]

Hot take — perhaps the entire program is experiencing a bit of paralysis by analysis.

https://247sports.com/college/appalachi ... 41189/amp/

The article barely says anything. Does anyone know what would be gained by using GPS trackers on players? Can't you just... SEE where the players are on the field?

This is the type of shit you do when you don’t know what else to do.

[RunawayJM]

The worst part is...that was possibly our easiest FBS opponent remaining. There is no saving this. We will take years to recover from the Shawn Clark expirement because we didnt pull the trigger after a 6-6 season. This is not App State football and we should all be ashamed for letting it get this far. App State was a top non p5 national brand for nearly 20 years...that is gone and we may not get back.

Thats the part of college football that sucks...the nature of the game takes years to rebuild a succesful program...especially when you dont have an unlimited budget. But we were like frogs boiling alive in hot water...in various ways we convinced ourselfs that 9-3 was acceptable when shawn took over a team that had gone 11-2 and 13-1 and had all the 2019 players return. We accepted a 4 loss season, getting slaughtered by Louisiana and losing the conference title. We accepted 6-6. Then we were so excited to have a 5-1 streak to end 2023 despite going 8-5 and getting crushed by Troy in the title game. Then we look back and no conference titles in 4 years, a losing record by 7-8 games vs opponents we were +/- 5 pts favorites or underdogs and our first bowl loss in humiliating fashion. Now we are in year 5....so none of our players know how to win like App State wins and the dream is dead. We will likely never make the cfb playoff and are doomed to mediocrity because of shawn clark. And the timing couldnt be worse...as the changed landscape of college football required us to be good now to survive these changes.

I totally agree. However, I think the bounce back can happen in 2-3 years with the right head coach. In general, the talent level is pretty even at our level (I’m questioning our talent after last night) but we just need a coach that will get the team prepared, play with passion, and use schemes that fit our strengths). Maybe a lucky get or 2 from the portal as well.

But last night is what everyone that has been on the fire Shaun Clark train has seen coming for years. And now, here we are.

[MrCraig]

Hot take — perhaps the entire program is experiencing a bit of paralysis by analysis.

https://247sports.com/college/appalachi ... 41189/amp/

The article barely says anything. Does anyone know what would be gained by using GPS trackers on players? Can't you just... SEE where the players are on the field?

This is the type of shit you do when you don’t know what else to do.

I don't want to derail the thread, but there's another recent thread about NIL and teams paying players. Y'all really would rather the team use athletic budget to pay for GPS trackers for... whatever reason, instead of paying for athletes?