2021 Expectations...

[Tatedc]

Something that really hit me looking at our 2021 roster (sorry for such a long post):

Keep in mind yosef's cabin isn't necessarily representative of the entire fan base. Here we have 30-50 posters...we have 60,000 plus engaged fans and maybe much more. The general fan base is not miserable...but they don't blindly fight to constantly stand up for players and coaches and bicker about Ice and stuff like we do. They are less close to the situation than many of us...and so in my opinion they are more realistic. It is very clear the App fan base isn't thrilled with our 2020 performance...and I get it. Save the great Bowl Win....we did not perform with the talent we had. Proof that the fan base is a tad bit out of it? While nothing is guaranteed of course....we have an absolutely LOADED team next year, More so than ever before, and no one really talks about it. Look at the senior/super seniors alone by general position:

Specialists:

Xavier Subotsch (P) *#8 best punting average in school history
Chandler Staton (L) *Sun Belt all-time leading scorer, #5 FG % in school history, #1 PAT% and #2 PAT points in school history
Clayton Howell (P)* #1 best punting average in school history

D-Line:

Demetrius Tylor
Caleb Spurlin
Tommy Dawkins Jr.
George Blackstock

Linebackers:

Tim Frizzell
D'Marco Jackson
Trey Cobb
T.D. Roof
Tyler Bird
Lougan Doublin

Secondary:

Kaiden Smith
Stu Head (Stanford Transfer)
Shaun Jolly
Ryan Huff
Steven Jones


O-Line:
Baer Hunter
Gage Blackston

Tight End:

Mike Evans
Henry Pearson

Quarterback:

Chase Brice (Duke Transfer)
Tanner Wilson

Running Back:

Daetrich Harrington
Jahmir Smith (Notre Dame Transfer)
Gabe Montgomery

Wide Reciever:

Corey Sutton
Thomas Hennigan
Malik Williams
Jalen Virgil
Austyn Chestnut (North Carolina Transfer)


That is 32 seniors. 2 specialist starters (1 in the 2 deep), 15 starters/2 deep players on defense & 9 offensive starters/2 deep players. Not to mention Cam Peoples, Cooper Hodges, Nate Noel, Christian Wells and a host of allegedly super talented highly rated recruits. This is undeniably the most experienced, deep and talented team weve ever had. There is question at O-line and somewhat QB (but Zac had such a poor year that Chase doesn't have to be a world beater to improve immensely on that performance). You never want to say NY6 or bust....but when do you think we will have a better shot? Could be a long time. We have a very tough schedule...but should expect to win every game with Miami being a tossup. We should be more bullish about the season. We are an amazing program and will continue to be so, but to mimic this depth and talent is so hard. This is our tine.

Also....its hard to fathom how we wont be GOD AWFUL in 2022. Losing that many players will be devastating. But thats a fight for another day.

Get hyped. Go Apps.

[Rekdiver]

The only expectation I have is being in the stands.....

[BambooRdApp]

yes, we are loaded. I believe many teams at G5 level may be loaded with players coming back. With that said, I personally believe we go as the OC and and QB goes given all the returning players. My motto going into the season is "In Brice we Trust". I do not believe we can have young QB trying to "figure college FB out" on the fly.
In going with "In Brice we Trust" and Ponce having some creativity on offense, I am going 11-1 or 10-2. In the one loss scenario, losing to Miami. I believe we fare better when going against P5 are teams that are not as athletic (like Penn State, Michigan). Matchups with Miami may be difficult. In the 2 loss scenario, we lose one non-conference game.
We host SBC championship game and continue to be the only team to host a SBC since inception of the SBC championship game.

[Stonewall]

We don’t have 60,000 engaged fans. Well,not my definition of “engaged” anyway.

[yosef95]

Thanks for your post. I alway like visual depth charts. Why do you say 2022 team will be bad? We had a couple good rec classes?

[AppSt94]

I think that the key to the offense returning to form, at least to the level most expected last year, will be a full offseason of meshing between coaches and players. I’m not concerned about CB under center. It’s a bit unfair to judge him on his time at Duke. The other piece that is paramount is Watts development of some TE’s that can effectively block. We suffered mightily with that last year and it had an adverse affect on the overall OL play.

[NoLongerLurking]

We don’t have 60,000 engaged fans. Well,not my definition of “engaged” anyway.

Please, do share with us the fiscal responsibilities of an engaged fan. If the comment had nothing to do with money, please share further.

[Neer86]

QB is the most important thing. If we can get a good one going, and protect him with an oline that will have to be next man up, it could be a special season.

Good news, we have a new OC, and hopefully he can design an offense that will get the ball out of the QB's hands quickly, taking pressure off his protection. We have enough weapons around him to get it done.

Does anyone know how Miami is supposed to be next year? That would be a very tough win either way.

One good thing for '22. As noted above, we've got very good recruiting classes on campus, and this year should add another one. Giving these guys a year to get college strong and learn the game will make them more ready to step in next year. Hopefully, we get some big leads in a lot of games (unlike last year) and get these guys some game time to learn.

We need our coaching staff to take a step as well. If they do, our continued growth in the national spotlight will lead to even better recruiting. The quality of our transfers this year shows our growth here.

[BambooRdApp]

QB is the most important thing. If we can get a good one going, and protect him with an oline that will have to be next man up, it could be a special season.

Good news, we have a new OC, and hopefully he can design an offense that will get the ball out of the QB's hands quickly, taking pressure off his protection. We have enough weapons around him to get it done.

Does anyone know how Miami is supposed to be next year? That would be a very tough win either way.

One good thing for '22. As noted above, we've got very good recruiting classes on campus, and this year should add another one. Giving these guys a year to get college strong and learn the game will make them more ready to step in next year. Hopefully, we get some big leads in a lot of games (unlike last year) and get these guys some game time to learn.

We need our coaching staff to take a step as well. If they do, our continued growth in the national spotlight will lead to even better recruiting. The quality of our transfers this year shows our growth here.

Several polls have The U in the 20s in Top 25 rankings. Some of that probably has to do with how the regular season ended as well as QB1 getting injured in Bowl game (ACL). Probably out for App. St. game or will not be the QB1 he was during 2020.

[AppStFan1]

Something that really hit me looking at our 2021 roster (sorry for such a long post):

Keep in mind yosef's cabin isn't necessarily representative of the entire fan base. Here we have 30-50 posters...we have 60,000 plus engaged fans and maybe much more. The general fan base is not miserable...but they don't blindly fight to constantly stand up for players and coaches and bicker about Ice and stuff like we do. They are less close to the situation than many of us...and so in my opinion they are more realistic. It is very clear the App fan base isn't thrilled with our 2020 performance...and I get it. Save the great Bowl Win....we did not perform with the talent we had. Proof that the fan base is a tad bit out of it? While nothing is guaranteed of course....we have an absolutely LOADED team next year, More so than ever before, and no one really talks about it. Look at the senior/super seniors alone by general position:

Specialists:

Xavier Subotsch (P) *#8 best punting average in school history
Chandler Staton (L) *Sun Belt all-time leading scorer, #5 FG % in school history, #1 PAT% and #2 PAT points in school history
Clayton Howell (P)* #1 best punting average in school history

D-Line:

Demetrius Tylor
Caleb Spurlin
Tommy Dawkins Jr.
George Blackstock

Linebackers:

Tim Frizzell
D'Marco Jackson
Trey Cobb
T.D. Roof
Tyler Bird
Lougan Doublin

Secondary:

Kaiden Smith
Stu Head (Stanford Transfer)
Shaun Jolly
Ryan Huff
Steven Jones


O-Line:
Baer Hunter
Gage Blackston

Tight End:

Mike Evans
Henry Pearson

Quarterback:

Chase Brice (Duke Transfer)
Tanner Wilson

Running Back:

Daetrich Harrington
Jahmir Smith (Notre Dame Transfer)
Gabe Montgomery

Wide Reciever:

Corey Sutton
Thomas Hennigan
Malik Williams
Jalen Virgil
Austyn Chestnut (North Carolina Transfer)


That is 32 seniors. 2 specialist starters (1 in the 2 deep), 15 starters/2 deep players on defense & 9 offensive starters/2 deep players. Not to mention Cam Peoples, Cooper Hodges, Nate Noel, Christian Wells and a host of allegedly super talented highly rated recruits. This is undeniably the most experienced, deep and talented team weve ever had. There is question at O-line and somewhat QB (but Zac had such a poor year that Chase doesn't have to be a world beater to improve immensely on that performance). You never want to say NY6 or bust....but when do you think we will have a better shot? Could be a long time. We have a very tough schedule...but should expect to win every game with Miami being a tossup. We should be more bullish about the season. We are an amazing program and will continue to be so, but to mimic this depth and talent is so hard. This is our tine.

Also....its hard to fathom how we wont be GOD AWFUL in 2022. Losing that many players will be devastating. But thats a fight for another day.

Get hyped. Go Apps.

I always expect a winning season but 3 things will determine how I feel about our results.

1. QB performance- Brice or someone else becoming an All-SBC talent.
2. Injuries- Can we stay healthy and keep from a deep spot like RB and TE suddenly becoming thin?
3. Do we develop depth at say TE, DT, and RB to hold up? TE injuries killed us in blocking. We are truly lucky we played an awful run defense in the bowl game so we could finish on a strong run game performance.

We definitely have talent so if those major questions go in our favor then we should be fine. I could see a scenario where we win 7-8 or 12-13. My expectation is a 9 or 10 win season.

I don't think 2022 will be as bad as expected if a lot of the juniors this past year take the extra year and return. If we lose all of them and the super seniors then we will be in trouble.

One thing to keep in mind when you say we are loaded is the fact that many other teams are returning everyone. Coastal Carolina and Louisiana are both returning several 1st and 2nd team All-SBC players that will be Super Seniors. We are not the only school with a loaded class that will depend on how many underclassmen use the extra year.

[ukappfan]

I expect to win. Always will. If we do not win then I expect to see our best effort and no dumb penalties that cost the game.

[Tatedc]

Thanks for your post. I alway like visual depth charts. Why do you say 2022 team will be bad? We had a couple good rec classes?

Well of course I hope I'm wrong...but I cannot fathom any precident in college football history where you lose 27 players that contribute and only keep 3 or 4. But we will see how that goes.

[Tatedc]

Thanks for your post. I alway like visual depth charts. Why do you say 2022 team will be bad? We had a couple good rec classes?

Typical years we average 25k per game. One would have to assume 60-120k unique visitors in a given year over 8 home games...plus fans with health issues or who live out of state. I way underestimated our fan base in the initial post.

[EastHallApp]

I am not quite as optimistic about ‘21 as you but also not as pessimistic on ‘22. First of all, keep in mind the regular seniors will have the option to return for another year just like the guys did this year. We’ve also had an extra year to develop the next group behind them.

That list of seniors also includes walk-ons and career backups. So the number of actual contributors we’ll lose will likely be significantly less than 32 or whatever.

We’re also not the only team that will be deeper than usual because we brought back guys for an extra year and/or brought in more transfers than usual. None of what you said is happening in a vacuum at App. Everyone is dealing with this temporary rule, so it won’t be as massive of an advantage or disadvantage as you suggest.

That said, I think we’ll be at least pretty good, and if we can find a good QB we could bounce back to ‘18-19 level.

[ASU85Grad]

While I realize that all teams are in the same position as App with returning seniors and transfers, what I feel good about is the fact that the games we lost were not by much, and we have made a significant upgrade at the OC position. I hope this upgrade helps.

[AppSt94]

While I realize that all teams are in the same position as App with returning seniors and transfers, what I feel good about is the fact that the games we lost were not by much, and we have made a significant upgrade at the OC position. I hope this upgrade helps.

Having a healthy, Sutton, Hennigan and Virgil should be a tremendous factor in the offensive proficiency.

Look, I love the Ponce hire. I think the man is a great coach. But to say that he is a significant upgrade to what we had is a stretch. It may prove to be correct, over the long run, but to say hiring a guy who as zero experience being “the guy” is a significant upgrade over a guy that has vast experience has an OC? C’mon.

We may go 14-1 this year. We may go 8-5. Who knows. But I can tell you in an apples to apples comparison, the FP and TP weren’t playing with the same deck.

[Stonewall]

“Casual fans”, sure that’s an easy one. “Engaged fans” .I wish but no. Not close. Participation in this forum costs nothing. I don’t see 60,000 users .A couple of thousand I suppose. Nowhere close to 60k. YOSEF Club members , what three thousand ? Four or five thousand? Doubt it.

[Tatedc]

“Casual fans”, sure that’s an easy one. “Engaged fans” .I wish but no. Not close. Participation in this forum costs nothing. I don’t see 60,000 users .A couple of thousand I suppose. Nowhere close to 60k. YOSEF Club members , what three thousand ? Four or five thousand? Doubt it.

No. Casual fans are people who don't really keep up with the team. Message boards are no quality indicator of fan base size. Of my closest 20 App friends only 2 of us are on the cabin. You can't average 25k in football without 60k to 200k fans. Its not possible. You have at least 60k different people who attend App games....probably much more we you consider road games.


Now we don't have millions of fans like Alabama, UNC or Notre Dame. But we do have a good bit.

Now I will 100% conced the weakness of Yosef Club membership. But I believe that is for an entirely different reason than fans being engaged. Id be glad to share my 2 cents with anyone (based on my experience as a graduate within the last 10 years) but I don't believe the answer will be recepted well...

[AppStateNews]

While I realize that all teams are in the same position as App with returning seniors and transfers, what I feel good about is the fact that the games we lost were not by much, and we have made a significant upgrade at the OC position. I hope this upgrade helps.

Having a healthy, Sutton, Hennigan and Virgil should be a tremendous factor in the offensive proficiency.

Look, I love the Ponce hire. I think the man is a great coach. But to say that he is a significant upgrade to what we had is a stretch. It may prove to be correct, over the long run, but to say hiring a guy who as zero experience being “the guy” is a significant upgrade over a guy that has vast experience has an OC? C’mon.

We may go 14-1 this year. We may go 8-5. Who knows. But I can tell you in an apples to apples comparison, the FP and TP weren’t playing with the same deck.

But... he's been "the guy." He did the offensive game plan for Satt as soon as Ledford left. Even when Ledford was here, Ponce had a large part of the game plan. He was the "eyes in the sky" for Satt. Satt very rarely went against what Ponce called.

It is a very significant upgrade from Petersen with the offense we run. Petersen didn't know how to call our offense. He will tell you that.

[AppSt94]

While I realize that all teams are in the same position as App with returning seniors and transfers, what I feel good about is the fact that the games we lost were not by much, and we have made a significant upgrade at the OC position. I hope this upgrade helps.

Having a healthy, Sutton, Hennigan and Virgil should be a tremendous factor in the offensive proficiency.

Look, I love the Ponce hire. I think the man is a great coach. But to say that he is a significant upgrade to what we had is a stretch. It may prove to be correct, over the long run, but to say hiring a guy who as zero experience being “the guy” is a significant upgrade over a guy that has vast experience has an OC? C’mon.

We may go 14-1 this year. We may go 8-5. Who knows. But I can tell you in an apples to apples comparison, the FP and TP weren’t playing with the same deck.

But... he's been "the guy." He did the offensive game plan for Satt as soon as Ledford left. Even when Ledford was here, Ponce had a large part of the game plan. He was the "eyes in the sky" for Satt. Satt very rarely went against what Ponce called.

It is a very significant upgrade from Petersen with the offense we run. Petersen didn't know how to call our offense. He will tell you that.

And that’s fair. He didn’t have the benefit of the off season and fall camp to learn how to call it nor learn how to adjust. So if you are calling it an upgrade from a perspective of familiarity, sure. But the previous OC was handcuffed by situations that were out of his control. I for one, think he did a helluva job, given the circumstances. But I digress. We need to find some depth at TE that can block for our Offense to work effectively.