Athlon mag out, Lindys PDF out

[AppStFan1]

Am I being unreasonably confident/comfortable in thinking that a guy who was appointed “next man up” behind Trevor Lawrence, and then welcomed in as the starter by Dave Cutcliffe is probably a damn good QB? We’ll see how he does on the mountain (with plenty of weapons to draw!), but at first glance I feel pretty good.

He literally transferred from Clemson because he was not “next man up”. He was a nice depth piece at Clemson, never was gonna be the starter unless they really missed on the QB spot in recruiting, which they did not. Yes a lot of y’all have on black and gold shades. I do think he’ll end up being pretty good but nothing he has done at Clemson or Duke guarantees that.

I too have heard the reports out of spring ball, and while nice to hear, I would expect a guy who spent 3 years in the ACC to be able to make it through spring ball adequately. Whether or not that means he’ll lead us to a W on 9/2 and beyond is still a mystery. To everyone.

Yeah sometimes I feel like I'm the old Eeyore everyone hates for always pumping the brakes on Brice.

The reports from spring ball are encouraging. I'd be lying if I said I don't let myself daydream of him coming in and torching the Sun Belt for 3500 and 35 TDs, with Sutton and Hennigan overpowering helpless corners and Virgil getting loose for a few home runs while Peoples repeatedly gashes the front seven. It's fun to imagine.

Until he gets his first taste of more than a few plays of success, though, I'm going to stay grounded.

I'm with you here. We need to be grounded because we have a lot we don't know. The addition to the QB room should help it and I still think we could see more competition there than people around the team expect right now. I expect Brice to start but I won't be shocked if at some point there is at least debate on who it should be during the fall.

Wait, are you saying that the #2 QB might actually be the best player on the team?

I think QB2 will either push Brice and make him so much better and bring him up to speed 2x as fast or if Brice struggles with turnovers this person may end up being QB1. I am optimistic that they are going to help Brice a ton and actually makes me feel a little better about the fall. I have gone from worried about the QB position to being cautiously optimistic now.

[AtlAppMan]

Here’s another way to ask question about 2021 season vs 2020 in Sun Belt.

CCU has most of their talent returning. Assume they perform about same or better. Unknown for CCU is how they handle season full of A games from their competition. How many Opponent’s A games did they play last year?

App in 2021 will has significantly more coming back in skill positions vs 2020 due to injuries last year. Should our upside be much higher than last year? Hopefully yes. If QB reload is as good or better than 2020 we should be much better than 2020 team.

[Rekdiver]

The only thing I know with some degree of certainty is most sportswriters and “experts” and P5 snobs have a tough time with a school in a rural environment continuing to showcase an excellent program with success in the “shadow” of the ACC. Jim Brakefield, Sparky Woods Jerry Moore, Scott Satterfield, Eli Drinkwitz and now Shawn Clark have all improved our program. The “Rags” just don’t get it. Having had my rah rah moment,
Im still disturbed about the QB situation. Fingers crossed.

[Bootsy]

Here’s another way to ask question about 2021 season vs 2020 in Sun Belt.

CCU has most of their talent returning. Assume they perform about same or better. Unknown for CCU is how they handle season full of A games from their competition. How many Opponent’s A games did they play last year?

This is a great point. Now CCU will know what App faces, year in and year out as the preeminent program in the conference. Because when you're at the top of the mountain, everyone wants to "take a shot at the champ."

One other question: can CCU produce another season of the same caliber? A lot of pressure comes with elevated hype and expectations. A lot of film is now available for opposing coaches to analyze. It will be fun to see what happens in Conway this year.

[BambooRdApp]

I believe that it will be interesting to see how Coach Clark and rest of coaching staff manage the off-season as last year was not an ordinary year. Personally, I believe we have the talent to win conference and championship game with talent we have....IMHO, I believe this year will show how good our coaching staff is...and, in a few years, we will see how good they are at recruiting as well as development of personnel after they are in Boone.

[AtlAppMan]

One simple example last year, anybody that saw Ga State play CCU and App saw two totally different teams. Ga State has never beat App and they wanted us in the worst way, same for Louisiana and CCU last year. How many teams can CCU say that about?

[AppfaninCAALand]

Forgive my confusion, what is the deal with what seems like coyness about the QB room? What am I missing? Who are people calling QB2? Huesman, Shuler, Tabscott? Why aren't their names being used? What is the good news out of camp re QBs? Sorry if I'm missing the obvious.

[Bootsy]

I can't speak for the "coyness" about the QB room. But I can say that Huesman's return is a massive win for the program.

Think about it: we now have a significant talent/experience upgrade in the top 2 QB slots. Jacob's comfort with our offense will help Brice and the younger QB's get up to speed faster with our scheme. He'll be invaluable to Brice during games. Huesman can help everyone in our offense get better.

Plus, how much more confidence do we have knowing that QB2 could smoothly transition to QB1 should Brice not perform as expected, get injured, etc.?

[AppfaninCAALand]

I can't speak for the "coyness" about the QB room. But I can say that Huesman's return is a massive win for the program.

Think about it: we now have a significant talent/experience upgrade in the top 2 QB slots. Jacob's comfort with our offense will help Brice and the younger QB's get up to speed faster with our scheme. He'll be invaluable to Brice during games. Huesman can help everyone in our offense get better.

Plus, how much more confidence do we have knowing that QB2 could smoothly transition to QB1 should Brice not perform as expected, get injured, etc.?

That's what I thought everyone was talking about. By coyness, I meant it seemed to be some kind of a secret (or yet to leak rumor) the way folks were talking.

Agreed, it's great to have him around another year.

[AppGrad78]

I suppose I understand what you mean by “coyness.” From my standpoint, I prefer to be a bit vague in deference to QBs 4, 5 and 6. I think I know who they are, but it’s not for me to make that determination on a public message board without benefit of seeing a single practice or watching them go through August workouts. Plus, Andre Goodman and Ethan Reid have just gotten to campus. It’ll reveal itself in due time.

[AppfaninCAALand]

I suppose I understand what you mean by “coyness.” From my standpoint, I prefer to be a bit vague in deference to QBs 4, 5 and 6. I think I know who they are, but it’s not for me to make that determination on a public message board without benefit of seeing a single practice or watching them go through August workouts. Plus, Andre Goodman and Ethan Reid have just gotten to campus. It’ll reveal itself in due time.

Actually, looking back over this thread, it started earlier than I thought it had. I think those people who knew Huesman was coming back were just being coy because it wasn't announced at the time, but I read the whole thread after knowing he was back, so it was just me being confused on the timing of the thread. That is all, sorry.

[Deano]

Maybe its just me but I really really want to beat ECU and Marshall. ECU because I've had to listen to their mouths for years and Marshall because of the highly televised last loss. I don't expect to win at Miami but I do expect to compete for a conference championship this year. Last year expectations were high due to all of our seniors coming back but for many reasons as discussed previously we had what some fans would say as a down year, I don't think it was down. I did notice Zach seemingly look uncomfortable and maybe he put alot of pressure on his self to try and win the game. whatever the reason I'm optimistic about Bryce, maybe he'll be a breath of fresh air.

[BambooRdApp]

I want to beat every team we play... regardless of who they are

[Bootsy]

Let's hope you're right. ECU really started to put it together toward the end of the 2020 season. Once the Pirates shelved Pinnix and moved to a tandem of younger RB's, their running game began paying dividends. The new faces along App's defensive line will be tested early in the game. Let's hope questions around our NT position are settled early.

CJ Johnson is a true deep threat at WR and Maceo Donald in the slot is also a decent target.But Blake Proehl was the go-to guy on 3rd down. Now he's left for the NFL, so who picks up the mantle? Overall, I'm confident our secondary can deliver the goods against this WR corps.

Ahlers is 100% legit and he isn't afraid to put the team on his back to win ballgames. The question here is not so much Holton Ahlers as it is the rest of the offense: can he motivate them to get onboard when the chips are down? And will he avoid making bad decisions if/when his back is against the wall?

Another question: how much has ECU's defense improved? To stop a deep, high-powered, Mountaineer running attack and a gifted (and healthy) WR corps, they'll need to be geometrically better than the rolling dumpster fire that was their 2020 squad.

App is a VERY different team than the one they barely beat in Greenville a few years back. Houston is a good coach and the Pirates are moving in the right direction. But is it enough to put one in the win column over the Mountaineers this August?

[Saint3333]

One simple example last year, anybody that saw Ga State play CCU and App saw two totally different teams. Ga State has never beat App and they wanted us in the worst way, same for Louisiana and CCU last year. How many teams can CCU say that about?

CCU’s play calling vs GA St was good, showed versatility vs whatever App ran that day.

[The Rock]

My predicted QB depth chart is:
1- chase Brice
2-Jacob huesman
3- Tanner Wilson
4-DC Tabscott OR Navy Shuler

[Yosef84]

Regarding the attention CCU is getting, that's just the way it is in the sports media world. They're always looking for a new darling to talk about. We've been on the receiving end of this before and now we're on the other end. It really doesn't mean anything but it will likely help to motivate the team this season since they know they left some unfinished business in 2020. App took CCU to the wire last year and didn't really execute well. I still think that if there had been a rematch, we would likely have won it. I'm not trying to diminish what Coastal accomplished. They put together a great season! That said, they weren't dominant over the top of the Belt (App & UL). Kudos to them for getting it done though.

I think App has the talent to run the table in 2021 but it will take some luck, especially at Miami since we'll be significant underdogs there. We have considerably more talent (depth) than we did last time we played though. Barring an unprecedented rash of injuries, I think App controls our own destiny. The 2020 team was good but lacked focus/discipline/execution...whatever you want to call it. It was a crazy year, so they have a mulligan. I am looking forward to this season more than I have in a long time....and that's a LOT!

GO APPS! UNFINISHED BUSINESS!!!

[Yosef10]

Let's hope you're right. ECU really started to put it together toward the end of the 2020 season. Once the Pirates shelved Pinnix and moved to a tandem of younger RB's, their running game began paying dividends. The new faces along App's defensive line will be tested early in the game. Let's hope questions around our NT position are settled early.

CJ Johnson is a true deep threat at WR and Maceo Donald in the slot is also a decent target.But Blake Proehl was the go-to guy on 3rd down. Now he's left for the NFL, so who picks up the mantle? Overall, I'm confident our secondary can deliver the goods against this WR corps.

Ahlers is 100% legit and he isn't afraid to put the team on his back to win ballgames. The question here is not so much Holton Ahlers as it is the rest of the offense: can he motivate them to get onboard when the chips are down? And will he avoid making bad decisions if/when his back is against the wall?

Another question: how much has ECU's defense improved? To stop a deep, high-powered, Mountaineer running attack and a gifted (and healthy) WR corps, they'll need to be geometrically better than the rolling dumpster fire that was their 2020 squad.

App is a VERY different team than the one they barely beat in Greenville a few years back. Houston is a good coach and the Pirates are moving in the right direction. But is it enough to put one in the win column over the Mountaineers this August?

Sounds like you follow the Pirates about as much as I do, good post. Holton has got better every year down there and I fully expect that trend to continue into 2021. The more I’ve thought about it though, I think as it stands now, QB is the only position group that I would give ECU the nod at. I’ll take our OL, RB, and WR over theirs, TE I’ll give us the slight edge as long as we have Pearson, but it could be a toss up depending how their guys develop.

I’m confident that the new guys filling in on the OL will be more than capable, though I could perhaps see this one as more of a toss up depending how that truly shakes out.

RB, you’re right they do have two talented youngsters in Harris and Mitchell, but I’ve got to give the nod to People’s and Noel there, even more so if Smith turns out to be a weapon. Hopefully Daetrich is able to make it back at some point.

I think App might have the best WR corp in the G5, Ponce did a podcast recently where he said the returning starters we have coming back this year could have played for them at Louisville. After his freshman year i would have told you CJ Johnson was destined for the NFL but last year was a pretty massive step back in production and there were whispers there was sole problems behind the scenes.

TE they do have what looks to be a promising guy in Shane Calhoun coming off his freshman season, and they took an Oklahoma transfer originally out of Mallard Creek (think he played with Corey Sutton and put up monster numbers as a WR) who was playing LB at OU and has now switched to TE, huge kid who could be scary if he puts it together at TE.

As you said Bootsy, the defense is the worrisome unit for the Pirates. Their CB’s are a little small, both starting CB’s from 2020 do return and both listed at 5’9. Ja’Quan McMillian is a pretty good cover corner though. They did boost the Safety position with transfer DJ Ford from UNC, he certainly looks the part.

On the D Line I’m glad to see Chris Willis did not return for them, wish we still had him up on the mountain. They also just recently kicked off Jason Romero, pretty talented kid who would have got snaps at DE. One of their best, if not the best, on defense is the DT Rick D’Abreu.

They have a couple solid Backers in Bivens and Berry. They also had a kid from TCU come in and i would expect him to get snaps. Along with Jeremy Lewis who they converted from TE to be and EDGE guy.

I’ve had this game circled from the moment it was announced, so I’ve already got a feeling in the pit of my stomach for this one. I really do think this game all comes down to what Chase Brice gives us. If he proves to be at the least just competent, I could envision either a close App win or a close App loss. I think if he proves to be more than just baseline competent then we could leave BOA Stadium with a pretty convincing win that night. Really looking forward to it.