7-4

[WVAPPeer]

Coming into the season, the consensus seemed to be that this is a youthful bunch and would be a 7-4 team. Now, it appears that we will get exactly what we expected and many seem ready to abandon ship. Is anyone else confused by that?

Many on here did predict 7-4 - I personally thought we would be better and I guess we still can be if we win all 3 - of course GSU is going to have to help us out - but I do find it ironic as do you mike83 that so many are back to firing the coach and not coming to any more games ---

[YesAppCan]

if capacity is still 24,500
The new capacity is 24, 050

[Appersrule]

if capacity is still 24,500
The new capacity is 24, 050

Ehh, pretty close for a guess.

[cbarrier90]

Coming into the season, the consensus seemed to be that this is a youthful bunch and would be a 7-4 team. Now, it appears that we will get exactly what we expected and many seem ready to abandon ship. Is anyone else confused by that?

It's easy to say you can live with predictions before they actually happen. Doesn't make those 4 losses any easier.

[hapapp]

If you listen carefully, it is announced as tickets sold, not seats occupied.

[asumike83]

Coming into the season, the consensus seemed to be that this is a youthful bunch and would be a 7-4 team. Now, it appears that we will get exactly what we expected and many seem ready to abandon ship. Is anyone else confused by that?

It's easy to say you can live with predictions before they actually happen. Doesn't make those 4 losses any easier.

I understand that and I am not taking the losses lightly either. Although I did expect some of this, I am still pissed off about it. Losing sucks and we are all frustrated.

This is a proud program and we should never expect to lose or be happy with a loss. That is what I love about Appalachian fans. A demanding fan base is crucial to a successful program. However, there is a difference between being upset and disappointed after a loss and taking your ball and going home like a spoiled child when the season does not exceed all your expectations. It seems we have a lot of fans that are threatening to go that route.

I could understand all the indignant fans if we were expecting 10-11 wins and a run for the national championship but I think we all knew that inexperience was going to be an issue with this team.

[87ASUgrad]

Last year some of those same people were leaving if we didn't get rid of the OL coach. Others were leaving if we didn't get rid of the RB coach. Now we have a new staff that needs time to work together. We have a very young team that has had several injuries this year. Hec 8-3 would be great, but 7-4 is more likely.

[hapapp]

Agendas. My guess is some folks secretly are happy to see us struggle as it fits into their agenda against a certain head coach.

Any true fan had to be disappointed in yesterday's performance. In reality we were fortunate to even to have been in position to win yesterday. The offense was atrocious for long stretches during the game. Decision making from the QB was poor. Clock management during the final drive was curious. It seemed it took a long time for plays to signal to the field. It was reminiscent of last year. The defense actually had two good series to start the game but the offense did nothing. Eventually, that came back to bite us. In the end, the better team won.

There are lots of explanations for our hardships this year and most of them have been stated somewhere on this blog today. We don't have to like it, but it is a reality that all teams face at some point. My Hokie friends certainly didn't expect to 4-4 at this point in the season. Their streak of consecutive ten win seasons has ended. Sure there is grumbling but like ASU they have a pretty bright future next year.

[JTApps1]

With enthusiasm waning amongst our crowd at home,

There were 27K there today. You know, a few weeks after The Citadel supposedly wiped out the bandwagon for good. And you know what? There will be 27K against Furman.

It's okay to admit our fanbase isn't that fickle...

No way there were 27,000 people in KBS Saturday. From our view on the East deck, the bank was almost empty, the student sections weren't full , the upper level on the West was 2/3, the end zone was 1/2 full, and the club seats were 2/3 full. I'm sure the east side wasn't any better. If KBS has actual seating for 24,050 there couldn't have been more than 18-19k in the stadium. I'm sure paid attendance was 27K but not all of them showed up. The crowd was as lifeless as the team saturday.

[JTApps1]

Coming into the season, the consensus seemed to be that this is a youthful bunch and would be a 7-4 team. Now, it appears that we will get exactly what we expected and many seem ready to abandon ship. Is anyone else confused by that?

A 7-4 or 8-3 season is pretty much what I expected as well, but I thought we would show improvement as the season went on. At this point we aren't getting any better. Some of that is due to injuries, but it seems like there is more to the story than that.

[asumike83]

Coming into the season, the consensus seemed to be that this is a youthful bunch and would be a 7-4 team. Now, it appears that we will get exactly what we expected and many seem ready to abandon ship. Is anyone else confused by that?

A 7-4 or 8-3 season is pretty much what I expected as well, but I thought we would shoud improvement as the season went on. At this point we aren't getting any better. Some of that is due to injuries, but it seems like there is more to the story than that.

I do think we have improved, Wofford is just a better team than us right now. Not many (myself included) expected the team to run off 4 straight after the debacle against The Citadel. The road wins at Samford and Chattanooga showed a lot of heart.

It does seem like we took another step back this week but compared to what happened the first time we saw the option, there was some progress made. To be clear, we have to get a LOT better against the triple option to win in this conference but Wofford is a much stronger team than The Citadel and our defense at least hung in there well enough to give us a chance to win. Until the fumble TD in the fourth, it was anyone's ball game.

Injuries definitely did play a part as well. Being down two starters on the OL really showed on Saturday.

[appst89]

Coming into the season, the consensus seemed to be that this is a youthful bunch and would be a 7-4 team. Now, it appears that we will get exactly what we expected and many seem ready to abandon ship. Is anyone else confused by that?

A 7-4 or 8-3 season is pretty much what I expected as well, but I thought we would shoud improvement as the season went on. At this point we aren't getting any better. Some of that is due to injuries, but it seems like there is more to the story than that.

I do think we have improved, Wofford is just a better team than us right now. Not many (myself included) expected the team to run off 4 straight after the debacle against The Citadel. The road wins at Samford and Chattanooga showed a lot of heart.

It does seem like we took another step back this week but compared to what happened the first time we saw the option, there was some progress made. To be clear, we have to get a LOT better against the triple option to win in this conference but Wofford is a much stronger team than The Citadel and our defense at least hung in there well enough to give us a chance to win. Until the fumble TD in the fourth, it was anyone's ball game.

Injuries definitely did play a part as well. Being down two starters on the OL really showed on Saturday.

Wofford may be more disciplined than The Citadel, but they don't have the athletes of El Cit. Everyone in my section on Saturday was struck by just how slow Wofford was. We called it the Slothbone offense after watching them slo-motion down the field time after time.

I agree with JT, I don't think we've shown any improvement since game one, but a lot of that is caused by having the 18 injuries/suspensions that were mentioned in an earlier thread.

There is enough raw athletic ability on this team to be very encouraged for the future, but they have to learn some discipline. What I think we are sorely missing is the forceful leader we had on all the championship teams. I don't yet see a leader on this team.

[bcoach]

Yes I am. I think many of us were saying that 7-4 would be good for this team and that we look for big things NEXT year.
I will be pleasently surprised if we get a home game. Glad we got picked and glad we spent the money.

[GoAppsGo92]

Count me as another fan that thought 7-4 or 8-3 was highly likely this year. We have both youth and injuries and it has shown. I think we need to continue to beef up and improve our line play on both sides of the ball. Our skill guys can play if they can stay in one piece.

I'm not ready to count GSU as a loss. We have a history of playing our best when we are behind in the count. Wofford is not unbeatable. They have some tough games ahead. We really only have one. It could be a three way tie for first with a win over GSU.

[Histor3]

Everyone in my section on Saturday was struck by just how slow Wofford was. We called it the Slothbone offense after watching them slo-motion down the field time after time.

I don't believe Wofford finds their speed to be a disadvantage, nor do their opponents. In the triple option, the QB must read the Defensive End to see if he bites on the initial handoff. The entire process takes some time, especially starting 5 yard off the line of scrimmage. With a slow start, there is a great chance for failure, especially if your routes collapse early. However, when it succeeds, they're off to the races. Just my view... plus they have Eric Breitenstein, whose speed isn't his primary asset.

[appst89]

Everyone in my section on Saturday was struck by just how slow Wofford was. We called it the Slothbone offense after watching them slo-motion down the field time after time.

I don't believe Wofford finds their speed to be a disadvantage, nor do their opponents. In the triple option, the QB must read the Defensive End to see if he bites on the initial handoff. The entire process takes some time, especially starting 5 yard off the line of scrimmage. With a slow start, there is a great chance for failure, especially if your routes collapse early. However, when it succeeds, they're off to the races. Just my view... plus they have Eric Breitenstein, whose speed isn't his primary asset.

I didn't say it was a disadvantage to them. Many teams have been successful running the TO without a lot of speed. Air Force in the Fisher DeBerry days comes to mind quickly, and when they execute properly they will get yards. Wofford does what they do very well. It doesn't make it any less frustrating to watch them slowly churn down the field.

[asumike83]

Wofford may be more disciplined than The Citadel, but they don't have the athletes of El Cit. Everyone in my section on Saturday was struck by just how slow Wofford was. We called it the Slothbone offense after watching them slo-motion down the field time after time.

I agree with JT, I don't think we've shown any improvement since game one, but a lot of that is caused by having the 18 injuries/suspensions that were mentioned in an earlier thread.

There is enough raw athletic ability on this team to be very encouraged for the future, but they have to learn some discipline. What I think we are sorely missing is the forceful leader we had on all the championship teams. I don't yet see a leader on this team.

The Citadel does have more speed, particularly at the QB position but I still think Wofford is a better offense. We have a long way to go but we did hold them in check better than The Citdadel, which is progress. Not enough improvement but it is a start. We had a chance to win on Saturday, while The Citadel game was over before the half.

I agree that we have problems on this team to solve and maybe I am a hopeless optimist but I do see improvement. Our second performance against an option team was better than the first and it is hard to argue otherwise. As for the more traditional opponents, I think we played our two best games immediately following the loss to El Cid. Hopefully we have a similar response to this loss.

[asug8]

I'd like to respectfully ask that everyone step away from high places, put the razor blades away, stop running with scissors, and loosen the knot on the hangman's noose. This isn't a team like we had in the NC years, but there are a ton of FCS programs out there that would kill to have a "disappointing" 8-3/7-4 season. Everyone was ready to drive off a cliff last year after losing in the first round while it's quite an accomplishment just to get there.

We're going to have years where we aren't that good....there are going to be disappointments along the way. Simply put, three NC's in a row have many of us acting like spoiled brats. There is a lot of talent on that field every week, a lot of talented coaches in a new system still trying to get on the same page, and a solid core base of fans that will show up if we're 10-1 or 2-9. Winning is fun, losing blows but these guys deserve the support of this fanbase as long as they're giving it a solid effort on all fronts. $.02.

[JTApps1]

Coming into the season, the consensus seemed to be that this is a youthful bunch and would be a 7-4 team. Now, it appears that we will get exactly what we expected and many seem ready to abandon ship. Is anyone else confused by that?

A 7-4 or 8-3 season is pretty much what I expected as well, but I thought we would shoud improvement as the season went on. At this point we aren't getting any better. Some of that is due to injuries, but it seems like there is more to the story than that.

I do think we have improved, Wofford is just a better team than us right now. Not many (myself included) expected the team to run off 4 straight after the debacle against The Citadel. The road wins at Samford and Chattanooga showed a lot of heart.

It does seem like we took another step back this week but compared to what happened the first time we saw the option, there was some progress made. To be clear, we have to get a LOT better against the triple option to win in this conference but Wofford is a much stronger team than The Citadel and our defense at least hung in there well enough to give us a chance to win. Until the fumble TD in the fourth, it was anyone's ball game.

Injuries definitely did play a part as well. Being down two starters on the OL really showed on Saturday.

Mike, I just don't think Wofford is that good of a team. They haven't beaten anyone that is any good all season. They were slow and had even less of a passing attack than normal. Their defense was solid, but that's about it. They still have El Cid, @ Samford, UTC, and @ S. Carolina left. I wouldn't be surprised to see them 2-2, and wouldn't be shocked if they went 1-3.

Our injuries are definitely taking a toll, but some of our experienced players are making the same mistakes as last year. We might have to go after some JUCO players on both lines and at QB.

[JTApps1]

This isn't a team like we had in the NC years, but there are a ton of FCS programs out there that would kill to have a "disappointing" 8-3/7-4 season. Everyone was ready to drive off a cliff last year after losing in the first round while it's quite an accomplishment just to get there.

You're right there are a lot of programs that would love to have a 7-4 year, and those are programs that have never really been successful. I'm sorry but there is a reason they would be excited to have a mediocre team. We are a top 10 program and we have a different standard just like every other traditional power-house program in FCS. That term "traditional power-house" in itself defines the difference in programs that expect excellence verses those that hope for excellence.

Last month I had the chance to hear Bill Romanowski speak at the Charlotte Touchdown Club. His entire message revolved around the fact that one constant in his football career was most teams were only as good as their desired goal. Teams that had a mindset of nothing other than a Super Bowl being acceptable got Super Bowls while teams that only set out to make the playoffs made the playoffs but didn't advance. In college his coach said we want to make a bowl; they made the Cotton Bowl but got blown out because everyone was happy to meet their goal. That applies to us as well and is why we can't ever say we shouldn't be upset because WCU would love to be 7-4.