Moving on to Liberty

[appstate24]

Ok here goes…

Saturday we turn things around with a close win against Liberty. This gets us rolling and we get hot, dropping maybe 1 more game somewhere along the way.

Do I sound crazy? Maybe. But last year I called the win and turnaround against USM. Look it up.

That being said, knock on wood, that I didn’t just jinx it.

GO APPS!!

I totally agree with you...you sound crazy.

Been called worse. Just trying to stay positive, and I have a little gut feeling.

Also, as bad as Thursday sucked, I was there, I’m already sick of the woe is me, everybody including Watauga high is gonna beat us by 40 attitude.

I may be wrong, but if I’m right, you better believe I’ll be here to say told you so!

[Stonewall]

I hope you are right. I see no reason to think so but there is hope.

[Rekdiver]

Ok here goes…

Saturday we turn things around with a close win against Liberty. This gets us rolling and we get hot, dropping maybe 1 more game somewhere along the way.

Do I sound crazy? Maybe. But last year I called the win and turnaround against USM. Look it up.

That being said, knock on wood, that I didn’t just jinx it.

GO APPS!!

I totally agree with you...you sound crazy.

Been called worse. Just trying to stay positive, and I have a little gut feeling.

Also, as bad as Thursday sucked, I was there, I’m already sick of the woe is me, everybody including Watauga high is gonna beat us by 40 attitude.

I may be wrong, but if I’m right, you better believe I’ll be here to say told you so!

Not much u n I agree on ….but this we do

[DenverOfTheEast]

Is it bad that I’d rather go to a 1 year olds birthday party instead?

only turns 1 once, App losing to LU has already happened before... you pick

It’s a home game, on a long week, against a familiar opponent. Assuming App gets some health back on defense and makes the required personnel changes on offensive line and at running back, I think App wins that game.

Sloan has got to figure the defense out though. Three games in a row where the offense has been put in a bind to open the game and I think you can imagine what the guys on offense are thinking and feeling. You should be able to go a drive or two without points on offense without having to dig out of a 17 point hole.

when you defer every game and then you can't make catches on 3rd downs to extend drives you put the flipping defense in bind!!!!!!!!!

But yeah defense can't tackle but offense couldn't match scores with USA either - throwing INT's in the red zone.

College football is a offensive dominated game my friend --

[AppDub]

Ok here goes…

Saturday we turn things around with a close win against Liberty. This gets us rolling and we get hot, dropping maybe 1 more game somewhere along the way.

Do I sound crazy? Maybe. But last year I called the win and turnaround against USM. Look it up.

That being said, knock on wood, that I didn’t just jinx it.

GO APPS!!

I totally agree with you...you sound crazy.

Been called worse. Just trying to stay positive, and I have a little gut feeling.

Also, as bad as Thursday sucked, I was there, I’m already sick of the woe is me, everybody including Watauga high is gonna beat us by 40 attitude.

I may be wrong, but if I’m right, you better believe I’ll be here to say told you so!

And if you are right, I will be one of the first to say congratulations. Here is to hoping that gut feeling is a win for the Apps instead of that burrito you had for lunch.

[mountainman33]

Planned this trip awhile ago, heading up from TX. I can live with a hard fought loss, but if that giving up starts to happen my buddy will have to keep me from getting on the field, lol. Crowd fires me up every time I'm lucky enough to come back for a game. I agree this is a make or break game for the season. Every App v Liberty game I've been to, we won. I'm bringing the magic baby!

[AppStateMtneer]

Prediction:
We start out on D and give up a TD within the first 7 plays. Our offense then punts after 7 plays or less and we pick things up where we left them a few days ago….I go hoarse from yelling…

Liberty Biberty - 51
White Flags - 13

[ASUTodd]

I'm curious how the game today plays out for both ECU and Liberty. I'm hoping ECU takes it to them and our coaches can get a good enough look at Liberty to come up with a plan of attack.

[AppWyo]

Ok here goes…

Saturday we turn things around with a close win against Liberty. This gets us rolling and we get hot, dropping maybe 1 more game somewhere along the way.

Do I sound crazy? Maybe. But last year I called the win and turnaround against USM. Look it up.

That being said, knock on wood, that I didn’t just jinx it.

GO APPS!!

What worries me now is we don’t have a USM on our schedule until basically Halloween when we see Ga State.

We are 2-2, 0-1 in conference staring down the barrel of:

Liberty
@ Marshall
@ Louisiana

We are going to have to find a way to get right QUICK, during an exceptionally challenging run of our schedule. Or we’re gonna be 2-5 (0-3) before we get a breather.

South Alabama was our USM. We needed to be 3-1 with the stretch that we’re about to go thru. Any losses to USA/ETSU/ECU meant we are going to struggle with the remaining difficult SBC teams and Liberty.

Maybe they will believe that we are not good and not prepare as they should. Appalachian uses that to its advantage and wins big in the remaining games.

[311neers]

Ok here goes…

Saturday we turn things around with a close win against Liberty. This gets us rolling and we get hot, dropping maybe 1 more game somewhere along the way.

Do I sound crazy? Maybe. But last year I called the win and turnaround against USM. Look it up.

That being said, knock on wood, that I didn’t just jinx it.

GO APPS!!

What worries me now is we don’t have a USM on our schedule until basically Halloween when we see Ga State.

We are 2-2, 0-1 in conference staring down the barrel of:

Liberty
@ Marshall
@ Louisiana

We are going to have to find a way to get right QUICK, during an exceptionally challenging run of our schedule. Or we’re gonna be 2-5 (0-3) before we get a breather.

South Alabama was our USM. We needed to be 3-1 with the stretch that we’re about to go thru. Any losses to USA/ETSU/ECU meant we are going to struggle with the remaining difficult SBC teams and Liberty.

Maybe they will believe that we are not good and not prepare as they should. Appalachian uses that to its advantage and wins big in the remaining games.

I like it. False sense of security. Lull them to sleep and attack.

[AtlAppMan]

Using logic some have applied

Since we have 3 extra days to prep for Liberty we should curb stomp them.

[ericsaid]

Clemson is boat racing NC State right now. I’m not ready to chalk up the South Alabama loss to scheduling nonsense just yet but, it’s quite possible Clemson is that good and that South Alabama had a huge advantage in prep time with a new coaching staff.

Time will tell, but I’d like to think the App State defense that we saw against ECU is more of what we should expect than what we saw Thursday.

I get the whole short week argument, but sitting in the stands on Thursday night South Alabama not only looked more prepared, they looked faster and more physical than App. Those are two things that don't require extra preparation.

Physicality definitely takes preparation. They basically had 2 weeks off while App had three days, after playing a very physical game in Greenville.

I’ll withhold judgment until this Saturday but I’m honestly thinking a huge part of it was scheduling. I’ll take the crow if I’m wrong, but gone are the days of App simply being better. Preparation matters, rest matters, depth and health matters.


We will see what happens against Liberty. Should be able to get some guys back, get a full week of rest against a coach that the coaching staff is very familiar with. If App looks outgunned Saturday, I’ll hop on the bandwagon.


As far as scheduling, not only did South Alabama have the advantage of a two week break, or 2.5 week break, they have a new coaching staff. Applewhite had been there but he obviously had input from Wommack with a completely different style of QB. If that game is played on standard rest, I think it turns out different. Even thinking of going into halftime, if Joey doesn’t throw that pick, it’s 21-7 with App getting the ball back. Totally different ballgame, different flow, etc.

[ericsaid]

Also, Liberty is now in a delay, looks like they will be for a bit longer. They may not get done with this game until later than midnight and ECU is a very physical team which will play to App’s advantage.

Side note, App should never have a Thursday game that follows an evening or night road game. The travel is just too long and whether people admit it or not, it plays a role.

[ericsaid]

Is it bad that I’d rather go to a 1 year olds birthday party instead?

only turns 1 once, App losing to LU has already happened before... you pick

It’s a home game, on a long week, against a familiar opponent. Assuming App gets some health back on defense and makes the required personnel changes on offensive line and at running back, I think App wins that game.

Sloan has got to figure the defense out though. Three games in a row where the offense has been put in a bind to open the game and I think you can imagine what the guys on offense are thinking and feeling. You should be able to go a drive or two without points on offense without having to dig out of a 17 point hole.

when you defer every game and then you can't make catches on 3rd downs to extend drives you put the flipping defense in bind!!!!!!!!!

But yeah defense can't tackle but offense couldn't match scores with USA either - throwing INT's in the red zone.

College football is a offensive dominated game my friend --

Yes, and giving up touchdowns on your first three drives on defense is absurd. Blame the offense all you want. The offense rarely got the ball in plus territory, they didn’t get good field position off of special teams, and receivers cannot get off of coverage.


The offense is lacking speed outside and is missing Nate Noel who has over 200 total yards tonight against Vanderbilt. It may be time for Ponce and Clark to shuffle in some younger guys who may not know the whole offense but who have speed.

[ericsaid]

If ECU stays within 10 of Liberty I’ll give us a chance to pull the upset.

I think ECU beats Liberty by 6.

Don’t look now, but JMU is up 46-21 on UNC with 6 minutes left in the second quarter.

This is looking pretty good right now. Knew I should’ve parlayed ECU, JMU, and Buffalo.

[704App]

Y'all, we've just been playing everything super close to the chest and are changing everything next week to confuse Burger and Liberty!

[Saint3333]

Defense is going to have to play disciplined vs Liberty’s offense and make open field tackles.

[AppSt91]

Couldn’t defend the Chadwell offense at Coastal. Chances of the necessary adjustments being made don’t seem very likely.

[ericsaid]

Couldn’t defend the Chadwell offense at Coastal. Chances of the necessary adjustments being made don’t seem very likely.

It all depends on Sloan’s ability to adapt, doesn’t it? We thought things were bad under Dale Jones. Is this just a continuation of the same issues or are these new?

To me, App just lacks speed. You had the smaller, twitchy guys at corner. You signed small, fast linebackers who you took three years to develop and grow. The transfer portal seems to have effected that rapproach.

It takes discipline to contain Liberty’s offense but their defense is getable. If ECU’s offense can pass block, App should have no issue in that regard. If the line can hold up, it comes down to Ponce, and some personnel decisions. The offense desperately needs speed from the inside receiver position to get separation. Right now you are running three possession style receivers out who are fast straight, but they aren’t quick.

I honestly think Kaedin would benefit the most from a shifty receiver because it would take some pressure off of him. As far as I can tell, he’s almost been bracketed which negates his best quality which is route running.

[appgrad95&97]

I'm announcing my campaign for the Board of Trustees, so I just hope both teams have fun.