It is really dreary outside (did manage to cut my grass yesterday) in southeastern NC with no sign of change in site. Need to get back to work but thought I would just throw this topic out for fun. We all agree we might have something special developing this season. I personally don't think we lose another game. IF (big if) that happens, in conjunction with what I see is a Clemson ACC Championship and final 4 bid, who would we stack up against, or behind for a New Year's Day Bowl bid? Again, I am a realist and am not counting the chickens, etc but just for the sake of argument (and for fun) who do you guys think our main competition will come from (other than Stink)?

Boise State. It's theirs to lose, and after the smack down they laid on Virginia last week in Charlottesville, I don't think they will do anything to open the floor for debate.

I agree with you whole heartedly, bigdaddy. I think that our biggest adversary is COMPLACENCY. We have a great YOUNG team who appears to be developing a heavy weight title contender's approach to each week. As long as we don't let up, I don't think that anyone else will beat us this season. With each win comes extra pressure to perform the next week. However, I think that our guys appear a little more mentally tough than in recent seasons and are up to the task.
New Years bowl or no, I am extremely proud of these young men and their obvious work ethic and blue collar , bring your lunch pail, ATTITUDE !

Ahem...

http://www.yosefscabin.com/week-4-g5-to ... eparation/

Honestly, I don't think we're in the running for the NY6 bid this year. Needed to beat Clemson for that. We play in the weakest league in the nation, and our OOC schedule other than Clemson is also very weak.

We are not likely in the conversation for a New Year's Day Bowl. We simply don't have the schedule that would allow us to be considered, even if we go undefeated the rest of the way. The champions of the other 4 G5 conferences would all likely be considered before we get a sniff.

As others have mentioned, our schedule is so weak and the conference strength is not doing us any favors at all so far. Right now Boise and Toledo look like the real deal for all the G5's and the precious New Year's Day bowl.

Taking into account Wyoming and GaSt "should" be W's, I want to see how we do against ULM and GaSou to really get a good feel for this team. I still think it's way too early to really know how good we really are.

Man that really stinks for now and the foreseeable future but reality is what it is. We would have to run the table most likely for years to come or have Stink or another top Sunbelt have a stellar year in order to get some respectability for the conference. It will really be tough to take if a Boise State loses 2 games and gets the nod over us if we only have the Clemson loss. Oh well lets just play the games and see what happens.

Has anybody taken a hard look at Georgia Southern since the Eagles got their quarterback back? I didn't see too many weaknesses (at least offensively) against Idaho last Saturday. Granted, it was against inferior competition. But all this talk of running the table and a New Year's Day bowl seems way ... WAY ... too premature considering we've got nine games to play, including our Oct. 22 date with GSU.

We would have to go undefeated to make a New Year's bowl. Even then it might be a stretch given our very weak schedule. I personally don't think we could compete with anyone we would be scheduled against in a New Year's bowl. We would likely face the second place team from Pac 12, Big 10, Big 12, or SEC...We are good, but we ain't that good YET. I feel we will get there one day. For now, let's just win out, win the SunBelt, and hope we land the bowl tie in with either a trip to New Orleans or Orlando. Wherever we end up, I am sure we will travel well.

Go Apps

I am as excited about this team as anyone, but I do believe some App fans may be setting themselves up for a disappointment. I see away games at ULM, and South Alabama as well as home games against GS, ASU and ULL as tough tests for the mountaineers. To go undefeated against all those teams would be quite a feat, especially since we play GS only five days after traveling to Monroe. I will be happy with a good bowl game, hopefully the Cure Bowl, but lots of play left to do. GO APPS!

AppGrad78 wrote:Has anybody taken a hard look at Georgia Southern since the Eagles got their quarterback back? I didn't see too many weaknesses (at least offensively) against Idaho last Saturday. Granted, it was against inferior competition. But all this talk of running the table and a New Year's Day bowl seems way ... WAY ... too premature considering we've got nine games to play, including our Oct. 22 date with GSU.

Yep. GaSouthern is the game I am most looking forward to. It will be interesting to see how we do against ULM and how Georgia Southern does against them this week. I would love if both us and Georgia Southern came in with only 1 loss. But like you said there is a long way to go and 9 games left.

For those who might have missed it in the original post:

bigdaddyg wrote:IF (big if) that happens

Nobody is assuming App will win out. It's hypothetical discussion, for fun. Some of us find it interesting to gauge where the team and the league are relative to the rest of the country.

For those who are troubled by looking too far ahead, try here: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=7616

AppGrad78 wrote:Has anybody taken a hard look at Georgia Southern since the Eagles got their quarterback back? I didn't see too many weaknesses (at least offensively) against Idaho last Saturday. Granted, it was against inferior competition. But all this talk of running the table and a New Year's Day bowl seems way ... WAY ... too premature considering we've got nine games to play, including our Oct. 22 date with GSU.

GS struggled some early at Idaho, but that will be a tough game.

I've very interested in GS@ULM this weekend as I see ULM's defense as one of the top two defenses in the conference. Hopefully we'll get some good film on how to stop them. I do that GS still wins that game by 10.

GS has lost their #1 WR for the season, which makes their limited passing game even more limited. Our defense is better than it's been in years, and I think we will absolutely destroy their offensive line and greatly disrupt their run game. It will be the toughest game remaining on our schedule, but I'm confident.

AtlantaMountaineer wrote:I am as excited about this team as anyone, but I do believe some App fans may be setting themselves up for a disappointment. I see away games at ULM, and South Alabama as well as home games against GS, ASU and ULL as tough tests for the mountaineers. To go undefeated against all those teams would be quite a feat, especially since we play GS only five days after traveling to Monroe. I will be happy with a good bowl game, hopefully the Cure Bowl, but lots of play left to do. GO APPS!

Frankly, I would be surprised if we ran the table the rest of the way. We have some very difficult games ahead of us, both home and away.

S.Lewis15 wrote:GS has lost their #1 WR for the season, which makes their limited passing game even more limited. Our defense is better than it's been in years, and I think we will absolutely destroy their offensive line and greatly disrupt their run game. It will be the toughest game remaining on our schedule, but I'm confident.

We still don't know what UL and AState will be like in November. No doubt based on the play to date the Southern game is a big one but there are certainly some stumbling blocks along the way in addition to the Eagles.

One game at a time for this old fart... I know how different App was from early-season last year to winning @ A State and @ U-L back to back... I'll just enjoy them one at a time.

UL Monroe game looks like the trap game to me. Away game with the big Thursday showdown with GSU. And we should be sitting at 4-1.

bigdaddyg wrote:UL Monroe game looks like the trap game to me. Away game with the big Thursday showdown with GSU. And we should be sitting at 4-1.

Agree, tough to blow them out because they play good D. They also gave us the toughest game of anyone during our winning streak last year.

AppGrad78 wrote:Has anybody taken a hard look at Georgia Southern since the Eagles got their quarterback back? I didn't see too many weaknesses (at least offensively) against Idaho last Saturday. Granted, it was against inferior competition. But all this talk of running the table and a New Year's Day bowl seems way ... WAY ... too premature considering we've got nine games to play, including our Oct. 22 date with GSU.

That's a big "Yep!"