Now that we have beaten

[bigdaddyg]

2 of the top teams (badly) in the SB, in their place, in back to back weeks- how tough is that?, is it safe to say that at this point in the season that Appalachian State University is THE most complete team in the Sunbelt? Just as a quick aside I look back at the teams we had during the championship runs and recall that we didn't have as dominant (with the potential to get even better) a defense as we have now. I say this with the intent of doing an apples to apples comparison- those teams versus comparable FCS teams and the current team versus comparable Sunbelt teams. Did the defenses of those teams ever produce better third down stats, keep top teams to under 300 yards of offense and win big games that weren't high scoring shoot-outs? I seem to recall many a game during those runs that were the 40-39 variety. I know we have a smaller sample size currently but to think about the magnitude of these last few wins- on the road against conference powers. Scouting reports that say how outsized we are yet we jam the ball repeatedly down the throats of the opposing defenses and hit them with long pass plays from another dimension of our offense. And to make it even sweeter, the weakest link of our team, special teams turns in a punt return for a TD- in my mind the distance is irrelevant. All this being said, are we currently the overall most dominant team in the Sunbelt?

[clayton]

We are definitely playing as well as anybody in the conference, right now.

I think we could win the conference next year.

But, we're going to have to put together a full season of excellence in this league before we really start beating out chests.

I do think you're forgetting about 2005 and 2006, though. Dominant defense won a lot of those games. This is definitely the best defense we've had since then.

[bigdaddyg]

Definitely not forgetting those teams. 2005- average yards allowed was 330, 2006- 277 and this season- 346. We had (in my mind) superior FCS talent on those teams. We dominated teams with probably the best FCS QB of all time, one of the best backs and solid offensive lines. We put a lot of one-dimensional running teams in holes that they were not equipped to get out of by throwing. This year's team, while talented, is not yet at superior overall FBS level. If this team was senior-ladened I would temper my comment. At this point we just appear to be the overall most dominant team in the conference. We have shut down top teams who can pass and run the ball. And we have dictated the game by running against teams equipped to stop the run. Just a fun argument.

[Rambo. John, J]

Can't forget that same defense in 2005 practically bailed us out in the second half Of the title game against UNI. Murrel and Hunter made that TD for us - our offense was powerful but the defense truly bailed us out. I agree that this might be the best defense we have seen based on potential alone. I just hope that potential continues to grow. When we had Lynch we were undefeated if he touched the ball in 2007.... Undefeated.....give me some of that black magic the next few years.

[AppSt94]

Until we get the Special Teams cleaned up then a complete team is not in the discussion. I like that our offense is very balanced and our defense play has improved as the competition as gotten better.

[appgrad]

Until we get the Special Teams cleaned up then a complete team is not in the discussion. I like that our offense is very balanced and our defense play has improved as the competition as gotten better.

Yeah - this is the one component the '05-'07 teams had that we are sorely missing. Of course - we didn't have to punt much back then either!

Still - we turned games a few times on special teams. Michigan, obviously, and Furman '06. I agree with whoever said having all these Freshman and Redshirt Freshman coming in next year, hungry for playing time, will help tremendously. Hopefully, the kicker recruit we have coming in is the real deal, and we get rid of the rugby punts.

Sepcial teams can make such a difference in college, almost solely based on the fact that so many teams are so bad at it...and don't spend any time on it. Focusing on being good at it will give us a big edge, I think.

[ASUPATCH]

I dont think we had a single rugby punt this week, so maybe that experiment was scrapped.

[AppSt94]

Until we get the Special Teams cleaned up then a complete team is not in the discussion. I like that our offense is very balanced and our defense play has improved as the competition as gotten better.

Yeah - this is the one component the '05-'07 teams had that we are sorely missing. Of course - we didn't have to punt much back then either!

Still - we turned games a few times on special teams. Michigan, obviously, and Furman '06. I agree with whoever said having all these Freshman and Redshirt Freshman coming in next year, hungry for playing time, will help tremendously. Hopefully, the kicker recruit we have coming in is the real deal, and we get rid of the rugby punts.

Sepcial teams can make such a difference in college, almost solely based on the fact that so many teams are so bad at it...and don't spend any time on it. Focusing on being good at it will give us a big edge, I think.

Not directed at you but generally speaking. The same was being said of Matics when he committed.

[bigdaddyg]

Until we get the Special Teams cleaned up then a complete team is not in the discussion. I like that our offense is very balanced and our defense play has improved as the competition as gotten better.

Very true about special teams and we have beaten that too death. The question remains, at this point in the season is APP the most complete team in the Sunbelt? We have played teams who can't pass and some who can't run. We have played some (last Saturday) who HAD given up little to no yards on the ground but had been shredded via the pass. I wasn't asking if we are an absolute complete team. Just if we are the most complete team in the conference?

Scoring offense- #2
Scoring defense- #5
Total offense- #2
Total defense- #1
Rushing offense- #2
Rushing defense- #2
pass offense- #7 (Idaho #1 for perspective)
pass defense- #3

[AppSt94]

Until we get the Special Teams cleaned up then a complete team is not in the discussion. I like that our offense is very balanced and our defense play has improved as the competition as gotten better.

Very true about special teams and we have beaten that too death. The question remains, at this point in the season is APP the most complete team in the Sunbelt? We have played teams who can't pass and some who can't run. We have played some (last Saturday) who HAD given up little to no yards on the ground but had been shredded via the pass. I wasn't asking if we are an absolute complete team. Just if we are the most complete team in the conference?

Scoring offense- #2
Scoring defense- #5
Total offense- #2
Total defense- #1
Rushing offense- #2
Rushing defense- #2
pass offense- #7 (Idaho #1 for perspective)
pass defense- #3

We do have the longest current winning streak so yes probably so. We have shut down the opponents strengths on offense with our defense. The offense is gashing teams and chewing up the clock. So yea.

[appgrad]

Until we get the Special Teams cleaned up then a complete team is not in the discussion. I like that our offense is very balanced and our defense play has improved as the competition as gotten better.

Yeah - this is the one component the '05-'07 teams had that we are sorely missing. Of course - we didn't have to punt much back then either!

Still - we turned games a few times on special teams. Michigan, obviously, and Furman '06. I agree with whoever said having all these Freshman and Redshirt Freshman coming in next year, hungry for playing time, will help tremendously. Hopefully, the kicker recruit we have coming in is the real deal, and we get rid of the rugby punts.

Sepcial teams can make such a difference in college, almost solely based on the fact that so many teams are so bad at it...and don't spend any time on it. Focusing on being good at it will give us a big edge, I think.

Not directed at you but generally speaking. The same was being said of Matics when he committed.

Yeah - I thought about that when I wrote that comment! Let's hope one of them can become the guy!

[bigdaddyg]

Until we get the Special Teams cleaned up then a complete team is not in the discussion. I like that our offense is very balanced and our defense play has improved as the competition as gotten better.

Very true about special teams and we have beaten that too death. The question remains, at this point in the season is APP the most complete team in the Sunbelt? We have played teams who can't pass and some who can't run. We have played some (last Saturday) who HAD given up little to no yards on the ground but had been shredded via the pass. I wasn't asking if we are an absolute complete team. Just if we are the most complete team in the conference?

Scoring offense- #2
Scoring defense- #5
Total offense- #2
Total defense- #1
Rushing offense- #2
Rushing defense- #2
pass offense- #7 (Idaho #1 for perspective)
pass defense- #3

We do have the longest current winning streak so yes probably so. We have shut down the opponents strengths on offense with our defense. The offense is gashing teams and chewing up the clock. So yea.

In my mind if you really want to answer this question just imagine being the coaching staff for any potential opponent (man I really hate that Saturday is it for the year, kind of makes you miss the old playoffs) and you need to gameplan for App. What do you do on offense? Throw a lot? We have shown that we can bring pressure (sacks) and can limit a passing team. Run? Solid against the run and third down defense has been stellar. On defense do you load the box to stop Cox and company? What to do with Lamb to Meaders and those other wideouts? Tough dilema indeed. We have obviously been able to gameplan against one dimentional teams. The only comparable would be Stink and we all believe things would be much different now.

[ASUPATCH]

Until we get the Special Teams cleaned up then a complete team is not in the discussion. I like that our offense is very balanced and our defense play has improved as the competition as gotten better.

Yeah - this is the one component the '05-'07 teams had that we are sorely missing. Of course - we didn't have to punt much back then either!

Still - we turned games a few times on special teams. Michigan, obviously, and Furman '06. I agree with whoever said having all these Freshman and Redshirt Freshman coming in next year, hungry for playing time, will help tremendously. Hopefully, the kicker recruit we have coming in is the real deal, and we get rid of the rugby punts.

Sepcial teams can make such a difference in college, almost solely based on the fact that so many teams are so bad at it...and don't spend any time on it. Focusing on being good at it will give us a big edge, I think.

Not directed at you but generally speaking. The same was being said of Matics when he committed.

At no point during Matics recruitment was he ever the #8 kicker. Or offered by Penn State. Slightly different level of player IMO.

[AppSt94]

Until we get the Special Teams cleaned up then a complete team is not in the discussion. I like that our offense is very balanced and our defense play has improved as the competition as gotten better.

Yeah - this is the one component the '05-'07 teams had that we are sorely missing. Of course - we didn't have to punt much back then either!

Still - we turned games a few times on special teams. Michigan, obviously, and Furman '06. I agree with whoever said having all these Freshman and Redshirt Freshman coming in next year, hungry for playing time, will help tremendously. Hopefully, the kicker recruit we have coming in is the real deal, and we get rid of the rugby punts.

Sepcial teams can make such a difference in college, almost solely based on the fact that so many teams are so bad at it...and don't spend any time on it. Focusing on being good at it will give us a big edge, I think.

Not directed at you but generally speaking. The same was being said of Matics when he committed.

At no point during Matics recruitment was he ever the #8 kicker. Or offered by Penn State. Slightly different level of player IMO.

It didn't stop some from saying he was the answer. As for the #8 kicker rating. It is impressive and well deserved but I just want him to put it through the uprights. If he can do that then I don't really care what he is ranked.

[MJ1988]

He still has to get on campus.....the chicken hasn't hatched just yet

[bigdaddyg]

Until we get the Special Teams cleaned up then a complete team is not in the discussion. I like that our offense is very balanced and our defense play has improved as the competition as gotten better.

Yeah - this is the one component the '05-'07 teams had that we are sorely missing. Of course - we didn't have to punt much back then either!

Still - we turned games a few times on special teams. Michigan, obviously, and Furman '06. I agree with whoever said having all these Freshman and Redshirt Freshman coming in next year, hungry for playing time, will help tremendously. Hopefully, the kicker recruit we have coming in is the real deal, and we get rid of the rugby punts.

Hope the kid can get the job done. Not asking for 60 yarders but it would be nice not to have to sweat out a 30 yard chipshot or a game tying or game winning extra point- any extra point for that matter.

Someone who has more knowledge about recruiting help me on this one- how is the #8 rated kicker only rated a 2 star recruit? What were his stats this year? Longest FG?
Sepcial teams can make such a difference in college, almost solely based on the fact that so many teams are so bad at it...and don't spend any time on it. Focusing on being good at it will give us a big edge, I think.

Not directed at you but generally speaking. The same was being said of Matics when he committed.

At no point during Matics recruitment was he ever the #8 kicker. Or offered by Penn State. Slightly different level of player IMO.

It didn't stop some from saying he was the answer. As for the #8 kicker rating. It is impressive and well deserved but I just want him to put it through the uprights. If he can do that then I don't really care what he is ranked.

[hapapp]

He still has to get on campus.....the chicken hasn't hatched just yet

He will be here in January.

http://www.appstatesports.com/ViewArtic ... =209771850

[Black Saturday]

Hope he has a great APP career. While we are on the subject,

Who was the kicker that was coming to APP back in the late 80's early 90's, that turned out to be ALL WORLD, but never showed up?

Help me out.

[AppGrad78]

Hope he has a great APP career. While we are on the subject,

Who was the kicker that was coming to APP back in the late 80's early 90's, that turned out to be ALL WORLD, but never showed up?

Help me out.

Jason Elam

(AnnoyingPeasant weaves a pretty good yarn about how we recruited and eventually lost his services.)

[AppGrad78]

One thing with kickers ... well all recruits ... is to pay attention to how their bios are worded, especially the players' list of college suitors.

With Michael Rubino, his bio said he "drew interest from" App, Penn State and East Carolina. It didn't say he drew offers from those schools. It's possible the writer meant to say he drew offers, or it's possible the writer intentionally or unintentionally left it vague. We don't know for sure.

If I had to guess, Penn State more than likely recruited Rubino as a preferred walkon. If anyone has more definitive information (paging Firemoose), I'd be interested in hearing it.