At Least one poll/ranking has us Top 25

[CornCobPipes]

Thanks for posting....I read those too didn't think about posting. I think we take them I just think they will be tough competition. Overall we have been improving as of late and our DEFENSE wow what can you day have been playing lights out...just hope progress continues.

[iambhooper]

FWIW, we're slightly ahead of Troy in Sagarin, FPI and the aforementioned S&P+. Doesn't mean we'll beat them, but you don't have to be a homer to think we're better than them.

Sagarin has App at 60, which is about right when you look at schedules.

[mtnjax]

Sounds like things in Vols land aren't so good. Saw on twitter that Jalen Hurd quit the team

[Saint3333]

I think we have a lot of people saying the same thing. Troy and App are both pretty good teams. Troy is probably better on offense than App and vice versa on defense.

Let's both take care of business this weekend, if we do that game is going to be BIG.

[Rick83]

I think what also helps us get votes is the fact that more voters have potentially seen our games. As of Thursday night, we've played 6 games on TV, with 4 coming in some kind of primetime slot. Troy has had zero

The ranking that has us in the top 25 is S&P+, which is an advanced statistical metric, not a poll. TV exposure not a factor.

You're correct, the S&P+ is a formula-based determination not counting just wins and losses or perceptions. I seem to remember that our OOC schedule was the 2nd strongest in the G5? Second only to Houston, someone correct me if I'm wrong. We were the better team against Tennessee and it was a fluke that we lost the way we did. Also, I have wondered if the Miami melt-down was partly caused by all of the hype around the game. I also believe (yes I know injuries are part of the game) that if Cox had been able to stay in the game that our offense would have held the field longer and we would have made it a more competitive game. We're a better team with Cox in the lineup (he's a threat running AND receiving), he seems to just will things to happen at times. Moore has an explosiveness to his style and with both Moore and Cox I think we take Troy. Back to the Miami hype, it just seemed to me that there was a lot of pressure on the team to perform in front of that awesome crowd and a Saturday ESPN game coverage. ALSO, Miami didn't beat us with the run, it was those over the top passes which I think we've fixed now in the secondary.

[Yosef84]

I think what also helps us get votes is the fact that more voters have potentially seen our games. As of Thursday night, we've played 6 games on TV, with 4 coming in some kind of primetime slot. Troy has had zero

The ranking that has us in the top 25 is S&P+, which is an advanced statistical metric, not a poll. TV exposure not a factor.

You're correct, the S&P+ is a formula-based determination not counting just wins and losses or perceptions. I seem to remember that our OOC schedule was the 2nd strongest in the G5? Second only to Houston, someone correct me if I'm wrong. We were the better team against Tennessee and it was a fluke that we lost the way we did. Also, I have wondered if the Miami melt-down was partly caused by all of the hype around the game. I also believe (yes I know injuries are part of the game) that if Cox had been able to stay in the game that our offense would have held the field longer and we would have made it a more competitive game. We're a better team with Cox in the lineup (he's a threat running AND receiving), he seems to just will things to happen at times. Moore has an explosiveness to his style and with both Moore and Cox I think we take Troy. Back to the Miami hype, it just seemed to me that there was a lot of pressure on the team to perform in front of that awesome crowd and a Saturday ESPN game coverage. ALSO, Miami didn't beat us with the run, it was those over the top passes which I think we've fixed now in the secondary.

I absolutely believe that the hype played against us in the Miami game. I think it hurt the focus of our team and added to the motivation for Miami. That's not a good then, especially when Miami had nobody else in their sights in preparing for that game. They had two easy games prior to playing us and a bye week following our game. Richt had plenty of incentive to send a message after being fired by Georgia and with so many media personalities picking App to win. We definitely could have played them closer but the way things lined up, we caught their best effort and we didn't really give ours. I wish it had been different, but it happens.

[ASUMountaineer]

I think what also helps us get votes is the fact that more voters have potentially seen our games. As of Thursday night, we've played 6 games on TV, with 4 coming in some kind of primetime slot. Troy has had zero

The ranking that has us in the top 25 is S&P+, which is an advanced statistical metric, not a poll. TV exposure not a factor.

You're correct, the S&P+ is a formula-based determination not counting just wins and losses or perceptions. I seem to remember that our OOC schedule was the 2nd strongest in the G5? Second only to Houston, someone correct me if I'm wrong. We were the better team against Tennessee and it was a fluke that we lost the way we did. Also, I have wondered if the Miami melt-down was partly caused by all of the hype around the game. I also believe (yes I know injuries are part of the game) that if Cox had been able to stay in the game that our offense would have held the field longer and we would have made it a more competitive game. We're a better team with Cox in the lineup (he's a threat running AND receiving), he seems to just will things to happen at times. Moore has an explosiveness to his style and with both Moore and Cox I think we take Troy. Back to the Miami hype, it just seemed to me that there was a lot of pressure on the team to perform in front of that awesome crowd and a Saturday ESPN game coverage. ALSO, Miami didn't beat us with the run, it was those over the top passes which I think we've fixed now in the secondary.

I absolutely believe that the hype played against us in the Miami game. I think it hurt the focus of our team and added to the motivation for Miami. That's not a good then, especially when Miami had nobody else in their sights in preparing for that game. They had two easy games prior to playing us and a bye week following our game. Richt had plenty of incentive to send a message after being fired by Georgia and with so many media personalities picking App to win. We definitely could have played them closer but the way things lined up, we caught their best effort and we didn't really give ours. I wish it had been different, but it happens.

Yeah. I'm willing to cut the boys some slack with the Miami game. It was, in just our third year of FBS, the team's first crack at "primetime" (not the time slot, but the attention), and it may have gotten the best of them--I include coaches in this. It happens, but if we can keep things moving in the right direction, we'll have more opportunities like this and will be better prepared to handle everything that goes along with such a game.

[App91]

I've come to the conclusion that Troy fans are overestimating their game against Clemson and that is why they think more highly of themselves. I've watched them play their last 2 games and they are not what they're hyped to be

I beg to differ.....I think Troy is the team in Sunbelt. On a normal day it's going to take our A game to beat them. On offense they are much more talented than us. I think the OLines in this match up will tell the tape. Chunn is a stud RB and Silvers can throw when he is on and has time and their Receivers are big and fast and run good routes.

If our front four can consistently apply pressure and OLine gets better with snaps and penalties I think we can beat them.......but by no means DONT underestimate TROY.....they are for real if you've watched some of their best play.

To me they should be favored against us not other way around.

Careful, the Sunshine Squad will Shout you down. Say that you are depressed and a pessimist. Clearly such an opinion of their talent vs. ours cannot be tolerated.

[hotrod2001]

We just gotta beat Troy.

[CornCobPipes]

LMAO.....the sunshine squad.....I like that.

I hope I look like and idiot and we win 49 to 0.

I would gladly take the roasting if we could win in that fashion. They will be ready for us playing at home and ready to avenge last year.

[boonetown1]

The good thing is, we're still one of the hotter tickets in town when visiting other stadiums (in our conference).

[AppGrad78]

Count me among those who believe we haven't played to our full potential. I'm not sure if that makes me a pessimist, an optimist or a realist. But we still have another gear in the transmission.

I break football down into four categories: Defense, offense, special teams and coaching. If I offered a grade for each category, I'd give our defense an A, offense a B-minus, special teams a B and coaching a B-minus.

It would be hard to criticize our defensive effort of late, although points are deducted for the Miami and Akron games, and Georgia Southern's offense last week was a dumpster fire. Still, on balance Nate Woody's crew has been a joy to watch.

Our offense has shown signs of life with Sheadon Meadors' recent play. But we still have too many athletes not named Marcus Cox and Jalin Moore who can't break a tackle; a quarterback who's been great one quarter, bad the next; a slotback with a sudden case of the drops; and a center position that, frankly, has been problematic. Lots of room for improvement.

Our special teams gets high marks for Bentlee Critcher's kickoffs and punts, Jaquil Capel's punt returns, Michael Rubino's improved accuracy on PATs and short field goals and our coverage teams' all-around quality play. Special teams is not worthy of an A because of the Tennessee game, but it certainly is one of our strengths.

Our coaching, on the other hand, has been too schizoid for a quality grade. On one side, we have the work that Woody, Dale Jones, Scot Sloan, Bryan Brown and Mark Ivey have done on defense. Nothing to complain about here as we have ably plugged holes left by Ronald Blair, Doug Middleton and Latrell Gibbs ... and actually improved. They get an A-plus-plus. But the other side ... well ... consider the Georgia Southern game as a microcosm of our season. On our first turnover, we not only had poor execution on the throw and catch, but we also should never have called for an empty backfield on a second-and-3 in our territory. For a team like App, that play should only be used in an obvious passing situation or when we planned a quarterback draw. Neither were smart in that situation. Our second turnover was the result of two coaching gaffes. The first came on a delay penalty when the play came in too late (an all-too-frequent problem this season). Then, after a time out, the field goal team was late getting on the field, and before we could get flagged for another penalty, the ball was snapped to a holder who wasn't looking. Certainly we should have taken another 5-yard penalty, but the onus is on the coaching staff to make play calling and team transitions more fluid.

The optimistic side of me believes these head-scratching coaching issues can be fixed. But we're eight games into the season and they're still happening. We'll need to clean that up before we can win the conference championship.

[AppSt94]

I don't want to sound like a Monday morning quarterback but Tennessee and Miami were never Top 20 teams. Tennessee was ranked in the top 10 based on hype and Miami cracked the polls after a 3-0 start based on name recognition only. Tennessee came into the season with the same team that couldn't play 60 minutes and they still can't plus they have been bitten pretty hard by injuries. Miami is talented but it is a new system, new coach and they are very young. We just need to keep winning the games that we are supposed to and our reputation will grow.

[ASUMountaineer]

I've come to the conclusion that Troy fans are overestimating their game against Clemson and that is why they think more highly of themselves. I've watched them play their last 2 games and they are not what they're hyped to be

I beg to differ.....I think Troy is the team in Sunbelt. On a normal day it's going to take our A game to beat them. On offense they are much more talented than us. I think the OLines in this match up will tell the tape. Chunn is a stud RB and Silvers can throw when he is on and has time and their Receivers are big and fast and run good routes.

If our front four can consistently apply pressure and OLine gets better with snaps and penalties I think we can beat them.......but by no means DONT underestimate TROY.....they are for real if you've watched some of their best play.

To me they should be favored against us not other way around.

Careful, the Sunshine Squad will Shout you down. Say that you are depressed and a pessimist. Clearly such an opinion of their talent vs. ours cannot be tolerated.

Who are the members of the Sunshine Squad? Asking for a friend.

[App91]

I've come to the conclusion that Troy fans are overestimating their game against Clemson and that is why they think more highly of themselves. I've watched them play their last 2 games and they are not what they're hyped to be

I beg to differ.....I think Troy is the team in Sunbelt. On a normal day it's going to take our A game to beat them. On offense they are much more talented than us. I think the OLines in this match up will tell the tape. Chunn is a stud RB and Silvers can throw when he is on and has time and their Receivers are big and fast and run good routes.

If our front four can consistently apply pressure and OLine gets better with snaps and penalties I think we can beat them.......but by no means DONT underestimate TROY.....they are for real if you've watched some of their best play.

To me they should be favored against us not other way around.

Careful, the Sunshine Squad will Shout you down. Say that you are depressed and a pessimist. Clearly such an opinion of their talent vs. ours cannot be tolerated.

Who are the members of the Sunshine Squad? Asking for a friend.