Better season: Us or A-State?

[EastHallApp]

Love all the opinions, but the notion that we were one bad quarter away from beating Clemson (as if that quarter was some kind of fluke, BTW) requires some serious Black and Gold glasses to take seriously.

[Wally]

I think ours feels better because of the "firsts" that we get to enjoy... first team with 11 wins, first team to win its bowl game in first year of eligibility... plus the momentum feels really good going into next season with an exciting 2016 OOC schedule to talk about for the next 256 days.

BTW, we absolutely would have beaten stAte if Chapman hadn't been injured during that game. I give that man a tremendous amount of credit for getting himself back on the field because I'm not sure we are having this conversation without him.

[Rekdiver]

I love all the enthusiasm....but The U and UT within 3 weeks and we might wish our depth is very deep...........We are used to playing 1 Big Brother. The U has talent and now they haave a coach. Don't be counting your chickens yet............

[scatman77]

Love all the opinions, but the notion that we were one bad quarter away from beating Clemson (as if that quarter was some kind of fluke, BTW) requires some serious Black and Gold glasses to take seriously.

You do realize that after that 2nd quarter we played Clemson to a 10-10 tie in the second half? The endzone pick (led to a CU score), the pick-6, and the fumble/short field (led to score) was huge. Granted CU is a very good team but still. I'm just saying that if we discount the A-State bad quarter then it's justifiable to discount this CU quarter and the dreams could have been wonderful.

[bigdaddyg]

This is a very good question and some of the opinions are interesting. I kind of agree with EastHallApp regarding the Sunbelt Championship. Even though in the FCS glory days we ran off a string of conference championships most of us have to agree that playoff seeding and winning a NC was the goal. Outside of our program nobody cared that we won or shared the conference title for several years. I personally don't put a tremendous amount of stock in winning the Sunbelt especially since there is no conference championship and that the big boys don't all play each other. Who knows what would have happened had Stink been able to play Ark St. If we had gone 8-4 wouldn't we have most likely still played in the same bowl? That being said I will take 11-2 with a win in the last game of the season. The most lasting memory is the last game. I would have hated to had our doors blown off in the last game. We are kind in a catch 22 situation in regards to scheduling. Take on two big boys, possibly lose both then take maybe a loss in conference and go 9-3 or schedule a weaker NC schedule, win them all and possibly go 11-1 with a conference loss (share or win the conference) and end up in the same bowl. The only way we are going to move up the ladder is to keep taking on all comers, consistently challenge for the conference title and to continue to build up our name nationally. In 5 years I would love for App to be known as the program who knocked off UT and the U in the same season!!

[EastHallApp]

Love all the opinions, but the notion that we were one bad quarter away from beating Clemson (as if that quarter was some kind of fluke, BTW) requires some serious Black and Gold glasses to take seriously.

You do realize that after that 2nd quarter we played Clemson to a 10-10 tie in the second half? The endzone pick (led to a CU score), the pick-6, and the fumble/short field (led to score) was huge. Granted CU is a very good team but still. I'm just saying that if we discount the A-State bad quarter then it's justifiable to discount this CU quarter and the dreams could have been wonderful.

We played them even in the second half BECAUSE they had already blown us out. The fact that it took them two quarters to do it rather than four doesn't somehow make it a competitive game. It would be like Howard or ODU bragging that they played us even in the fourth quarter.

[MtnMan09]

Love all the opinions, but the notion that we were one bad quarter away from beating Clemson (as if that quarter was some kind of fluke, BTW) requires some serious Black and Gold glasses to take seriously.

You do realize that after that 2nd quarter we played Clemson to a 10-10 tie in the second half? The endzone pick (led to a CU score), the pick-6, and the fumble/short field (led to score) was huge. Granted CU is a very good team but still. I'm just saying that if we discount the A-State bad quarter then it's justifiable to discount this CU quarter and the dreams could have been wonderful.

We played them even in the second half BECAUSE they had already blown us out. The fact that it took them two quarters to do it rather than four doesn't somehow make it a competitive game. It would be like Howard or ODU bragging that they played us even in the fourth quarter.

Exactly. This goes back to my posts right after this game was played. Take nothing away from the boys and the way they played tough in the first quarter. It was a thing of beauty to watch our line finally getting separation and penetration on the hogs at a P5 school. However, it was easy to tell that they let up after they had us on the ropes. There really is no way to spin a 30 point loss. In the future if we want people to count a loss to a big boy as "close," we have to make sure the score reflects that.

[MAD Doctor]

They had a better conference season than us (though they didn't have to play Stink). We had a better OOC and Bowl season than them. SBC title aside, I believe we feel better about our season than they do about theirs- good enough for me.

[Gonzo]

They had a better season, but we're clearly happier as of today and I honesty feel like we're still the best team in the Sun Belt.

[EastHallApp]

They certainly had a better night on Nov. 5. I challenge anyone to find anything from the other 12 games that was better about their season than ours.

[Yosef84]

This is a fun discussion point, but in the end it's all opinion and doesn't mean much. I can't take our 11-2 record and flaunt it at Arkansas State making boastful claims because, their schedule OOC was significantly more difficult than ours (except the Clemson game of course). I will say this though: Our season moved us toward our goal much more than theirs did. We have exceeded all expectations and have tons of momentum. I wouldn't trade with them if given the choice.

[appbio91]

Here's a good illustration of what I mean: Look at Western Kentucky. They moved up from FCS just a few years ago and joined the Sun Belt. They never won a Sun Belt title. But they moved on to CUSA, and now they're in the top 25 and one of the 3-4 best G5 teams in the country.

They never won the league title - but they've lapped all the programs that were ahead of them in the Sun Belt.

Best point made in this thread.

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[appbio91]

Love all the opinions, but the notion that we were one bad quarter away from beating Clemson (as if that quarter was some kind of fluke, BTW) requires some serious Black and Gold glasses to take seriously.

Yea, I like the enthusiasm too but we need to remember they took their starters out early in the 3rd qtr. If they needed to they could have embarrassed us. I am no Clemson fan at all, and hope they lose to OSU but they were far, far, far better than App State. Our offense would not have produced a point against their starting D. Our D might have held them under 40.

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[chiefsfan]

What's the point of this thread? Of course we would have traded seasons with you guys. An 11-2 record for us would have meant wins over 2 of La Tech, Missouri, and Toledo. Those would have been some of the biggest wins in our history.

Now, trading schedules is another matter entirely. We would never have taken 9-4 with your schedule, and 10-2 would have been the minimum expectation of playing games against MWC Cellar Dwellar Wyoming and Low Tier CUSA Old Dominion. Likewise, if you guys had finished 9-4 with our OOC schedule, I think many of you would have gladly taken it.

You have to understand that our understanding of our current situation is very clear to most of our fans. We know that we have not shot at ever getting into CUSA, regardless how many SBC Titles we win, because we don't carry a television market. TV execs don't flock to a metropolitan area of 70K. It just doesn't happen. Because of that, the minimum expectation for us in a given season is 7 wins and a challenge for the conference title. In that sense, we did not really surpass the expectations of our fans this season by losing all of our OOC games. In a way its a bit of an embrrassment to us, because we believe we are up to the level of the Toledo's and La Tech's of the world, and getting blown out by those schools is a big wake up call that Anderson doesn't have us where we want yet. So in that note, we're not thrilled by this season. We're happy to be conference champs, but not happy we failed to show out against the top of the G5.

[Golfguy]

Can't dismiss the value of a conference championship but 11-2 with a bowl win is pretty strong. Good question, but in as much as I would love that conference championship l don't think I would trade their accomplishments for ours.

[AppAttack]

I don't think the conf champ means much unless there are A) only 9 teams with each team playing everybody; or B) divisions with a conference championship game. I'll gladly take ours. Go Apps!

[AppState89]

And the MAC conference champ is getting beat 44-27 with 1:51 left in the 3rd.

[hotrod2001]

We had the better record at the end of the year and hoisted a championship trophy to thunderous applause. Arky State had their championship Fed-Exed to them and then their @$$es handed to them by longtime rival LA Tech in their bowl game.

I know stAte beat us, but I think they took advantage of a fatigued App team who had just came off a rivalry game with Georgia Southern and an insurgent Troy.

I guess it depends what you hold in heavier weight, a conference title or a bowl win. Personally stAte I think had the easier Sun Belt schedule than us (their last three opponents had only 8 wins COMBINED between them)

[AppFan11]

Hey chiefsfan..... get a clue.... while your ooc schedule may have been better but your Sunbelt schedule was weaker... almost a wash. And Arky was sooooo lucky that Chapman (center) got hurt at the end of the first half. If he had not we would have won going away and that conf. championship would have been ours. And by the way, try getting a defense if you want to be considered int the top of the G5.

[chiefsfan]

Hey chiefsfan..... get a clue.... while your ooc schedule may have been better but your Sunbelt schedule was weaker... almost a wash. And Arky was sooooo lucky that Chapman (center) got hurt at the end of the first half. If he had not we would have won going away and that conf. championship would have been ours. And by the way, try getting a defense if you want to be considered int the top of the G5.

Of course our SBC schedule was weaker. We didn't play Georgia Southern, while you guys got the luxury of skipping two of the worst teams in the league. You can only play the SBC schedule the league gives you, and we beat you guys head to head.

Now the Chapman argument might be bordering on the absurd. You lost that game because you gave us 14 free points in the first half, and the defense quickly became exhausted in the 2nd half, giving up 23 points and a huge edge in time of possession. You can argue Chapman till you are blue in the face. I'm sure it had an impact, but if you guys get to claim this, then we get to excuse our loss to Tech because our top 2 offensive weapons and best players on both the Offensive and Defensive lines were hurt. (I don't think that made an impact)

We claim the head to head over you guys, but most of us would gladly be just as excited for an 11 win season without a league title. That was an incredible season by you guys, and you deserve full credit for it.