Spring Practice

[Mjohn1988]

Defense wins Championships!

Saban disagrees. That’s an antiquated way of looking at the game if you wanna reach the highest heights in the game.



I wish our offensive staff would listen to this as well.

Saban's comments are spot on, but I'm not sure saying "defense wins championships" equates to favoring any particular offensive philosophy. I mean Saban in that clip you just provided mentioned that they led the SEC in scoring defense. And the difference between a shootout and a blowout in the CFP final was that they held Ohio State's also explosive offense to 10 points in the last 48 minutes of the game.

Defense is still essential, it's just that what constitutes a successful defense is a little different than in the power I days.

Yeah but his last words are literally “we have to outscore them”. Which i don’t think many on the ole Cabin is a style of play they think they wanna see. Look at Ole Miss vs Alabama last year. Not saying it’s not essential, you’re not gonna win without a somewhat competent one, but like he said, with the rules and philosophies it doesn’t matter how good it is, the offense can and will beat it. Hopefully Ponce being back changes it up, but last year surely felt like “run the ball and play defense and the rest will take care of itself”.

Look at the games we won with Drink, the offensive guru at the helm. He basically got the lead and went into a shell and let the D finish the game. I hope we’re strong on both sides of the ball but I think theirs more than one way to win football games. Play to your strength. It’s also worth noting that our D did a lot of scoring that year.

[EastHallApp]

I for one would like to see App employ an offensive style that gains a lot of yards and scores many points, while complementing it with a defense that, conversely, limits the opponent to relatively few points by making it difficult to gain yards. If the defense can also force more turnovers than most teams, I feel that would also increase our chances of winning games.

[bigdaddyg]

Good stuff about stats and what not. There are a bunch of unrealistic dudes on this board who won’t be content unless we win every game 50-0, go unbeaten and win the NC. Look back at the “fire Ted” threads. We beat UNCC by, I believe about 20 which equates to about 3 scores yet guys wanted him fired. People hated that perceived “go in the shell” style that Drink apparently employed. I seem to recall Satt taking his foot off the gas on more than one occasion. I for one would rather be a leader in wins rather than stats- although winning both is great. Nobody ever says, “yeah we went 8-4 but damnit we lead the league in offense!”

I’ve said many times that the teams we were play also recruit, practice, coach, game plan and attempt to win just like we do.

[Rick83]

I just wanna see us score more points than the other team...and I don't care if the points come from special teams, the defense, or the offense.

[AppSt94]

Good stuff about stats and what not. There are a bunch of unrealistic dudes on this board who won’t be content unless we win every game 50-0, go unbeaten and win the NC. Look back at the “fire Ted” threads. We beat UNCC by, I believe about 20 which equates to about 3 scores yet guys wanted him fired. People hated that perceived “go in the shell” style that Drink apparently employed. I seem to recall Satt taking his foot off the gas on more than one occasion. I for one would rather be a leader in wins rather than stats- although winning both is great. Nobody ever says, “yeah we went 8-4 but damnit we lead the league in offense!”

I’ve said many times that the teams we were play also recruit, practice, coach, game plan and attempt to win just like we do.

Georgia Southern fans do.

[Appstate88]

1st Team Defense continues to shine. QB2 is Tanner Wilson. Second string receivers are ready to play. Here’s the link to the scrimmage recap and comments from HBCIC.

https://appstatesports.com/news/2021/4/ ... il-17.aspx

[T-Dog]

Eventually App will need to move on from the 60/40 offense with outside stretch zone runs, just like we needed to move away from the I-Formation and the original spread option offense when the game changed.

Right now the only thing that really needs to change on offense is the ability to adapt during the game, because that was lacking in 2020.

For the most part, the offense is doing really good. The big lift in 2018 and 2019 came from special teams having more big plays. The defense was consistent and in 2019, came up with clutch scoring plays against UNC and USC that helped us win.

[EastHallApp]

People hated that perceived “go in the shell” style that Drink apparently employed. I seem to recall Satt taking his foot off the gas on more than one occasion.

Difference was that Satt took his foot off the gas when we were up 30, and usually only on the offensive side until the very end. Drink did it up 10, then had Roof put the defense in prevent and hold on for dear life.

[Appstate88]

Video clips from Today’s scrimmage.

[mountaineerman]

Video clips from Today’s scrimmage.

Brice throws an amazing Ball!!!

[AppSt94]

Wilson’s throw to Wells was money. Perfect placement.

[Mjohn1988]

Good stuff about stats and what not. There are a bunch of unrealistic dudes on this board who won’t be content unless we win every game 50-0, go unbeaten and win the NC. Look back at the “fire Ted” threads. We beat UNCC by, I believe about 20 which equates to about 3 scores yet guys wanted him fired. People hated that perceived “go in the shell” style that Drink apparently employed. I seem to recall Satt taking his foot off the gas on more than one occasion. I for one would rather be a leader in wins rather than stats- although winning both is great. Nobody ever says, “yeah we went 8-4 but damnit we lead the league in offense!”

I’ve said many times that the teams we were play also recruit, practice, coach, game plan and attempt to win just like we do.

People have gotten so involved in fantasy sports that stats are starting to be what matters. Just have to hope that we never have championship that are defined by anything other than W’s. But it won’t surprise me if we do.

[Mjohn1988]

People hated that perceived “go in the shell” style that Drink apparently employed. I seem to recall Satt taking his foot off the gas on more than one occasion.

Difference was that Satt took his foot off the gas when we were up 30, and usually only on the offensive side until the very end. Drink did it up 10, then had Roof put the defense in prevent and hold on for dear life.

Take away our defenses scores in 2019 and Drink would still be our coach.

[asueddie]

I believe all the longer completions in the video were Wilson’s, and not Brice. The 2s are performing well apparently.
Also read in the W-S Journal that Kaiden Smith was injured in the scrimmage. Hopefully, it isn’t serious. He seems like such a great kid

[AppSt94]

Good stuff about stats and what not. There are a bunch of unrealistic dudes on this board who won’t be content unless we win every game 50-0, go unbeaten and win the NC. Look back at the “fire Ted” threads. We beat UNCC by, I believe about 20 which equates to about 3 scores yet guys wanted him fired. People hated that perceived “go in the shell” style that Drink apparently employed. I seem to recall Satt taking his foot off the gas on more than one occasion. I for one would rather be a leader in wins rather than stats- although winning both is great. Nobody ever says, “yeah we went 8-4 but damnit we lead the league in offense!”

I’ve said many times that the teams we were play also recruit, practice, coach, game plan and attempt to win just like we do.

People have gotten so involved in fantasy sports that stats are starting to be what matters. Just have to hope that we never have championship that are defined by anything other than W’s. But it won’t surprise me if we do.

This and video games.

[Appstate88]

Getting better....

[Appstate88]

HBC Comments, Recap and Video Highlights.

[AtlAppMan]

Which QB was running the #2 Offense? Wilson? Does that mean he is currently in the 2 spot or are they switching them around a lot?

[AppStateNews]

Which QB was running the #2 Offense? Wilson? Does that mean he is currently in the 2 spot or are they switching them around a lot?

They are all taking reps with the 2's to figure out who the best option is.

Also adding its important to remember Wilson has been coached by Ponce previously. Not saying that gives him an automatic head start against the others, but it's possible in Spring ball Wilson has caught on to the nuances Ponce demands quicker. This does not mean that is the case come fall.

I don't have any insight on this other than Brice is the clear favorite for QB1 (to be expected) and the other 3 are all battling it out for QB2.

[AtlAppMan]

Good stuff about stats and what not. There are a bunch of unrealistic dudes on this board who won’t be content unless we win every game 50-0, go unbeaten and win the NC. Look back at the “fire Ted” threads. We beat UNCC by, I believe about 20 which equates to about 3 scores yet guys wanted him fired. People hated that perceived “go in the shell” style that Drink apparently employed. I seem to recall Satt taking his foot off the gas on more than one occasion. I for one would rather be a leader in wins rather than stats- although winning both is great. Nobody ever says, “yeah we went 8-4 but damnit we lead the league in offense!”

I’ve said many times that the teams we were play also recruit, practice, coach, game plan and attempt to win just like we do.

On the Saban philosophy:
When we started winning NCs in FCS our offensive numbers went way up vs past when we got to playoffs and never won it. Typically the teams that had good defense and great offenses won it. I discussed this many times back then that most years, the I-AA/FCS champ was able to put up big numbers, i.e. GaSo and Marshall, etc. So for App to win we had to have a prolific offense. This is consistent with Saban's comments as well.

On the "just be happy we won" philosophy:
I believe you can evaluate a team's offense, defense and special teams independently, i.e. the UNCC game mentioned above. In the UNCC game, I liked the offense but didn't like the defensive performance that day. You can be happy we won and unhappy with how we won. I want to see positive progression throughout the season.

I also believe really good teams should overwhelm mid to weak teams, and if you don't, you probably aren't one of the best. That is also going to have an impact on our national rankings, NY6 and premier bowl prospects (whether you like it or not). That is a logical point of view. I want App to be relevant on a national level so therefore we have to buy into that philosophy.