Zac

[AppStFan1]

No one is saying RGB should start this season. He is a true freshman who hasn't payed a down of CFB. Hurts won a National Championship with Alabama, didn't mean that Tua had no chance of taking over. I prefer to see Zac finish his time at App as a starter, but if we have a QB that can come in and push him, im all for it. I hope we recruit a whole class of guys that can push our starters. Let the best man win the job.

100%. Best player should play. If he was so ready to play now and Zac is truly injured then I have no doubt Drink would play him. If that is the case and Drink is not then he is making a massive mistake. I don't see practice but he does so I have to trust he is going about this the way it should be done, unless he states regret otherwise. Baldwin has a shot to be a good player but I don't think we see him this year unless we blow out Texas State or are getting blown out by South Carolina. Even then, I'm not sure I would put him in over Gibbs and Huesman. Last thing we need is to make our #2 guy mad and want to transfer.

[AppSt94]

I see your point, the jury is still out on Peoples. Let's see how things play out once he gets healthy. If we have a bruiser in the backfield he would be the one (in theory), we'll see. That said, without a bruiser why did we keep attempting to force our will against The Stink 8 man front until it was too late? That's what has me scratching my head. Would Peoples have made a difference, maybe? If you're going to force your will against that 8 man front, he would have given us a better chance. Then again, no guarantees.

I don't think of Cam as a bruiser, but understand your point. In my opinion, and we all have them, my favorite RB of the group is Harrington. He, and Williams are violent runners. Much like the bruiser you are referencing. To me, Cam's greatest value is when he gets to the second and third level where he is big enough to get by LBs on bad angles and also big enough to match size with Safeties.

[WataugaMan]

Now that you've mentioned Harrington, it would have been nice to have him Thursday night too.

[appstatealum]

Now that you've mentioned Harrington, it would have been nice to have him Thursday night too.

Harrington is sorely missed. Cam had the ability to take on tacklers, but his greatest skill is his versatility in space.

[AppSt94]

No one is saying RGB should start this season. He is a true freshman who hasn't payed a down of CFB. Hurts won a National Championship with Alabama, didn't mean that Tua had no chance of taking over. I prefer to see Zac finish his time at App as a starter, but if we have a QB that can come in and push him, im all for it. I hope we recruit a whole class of guys that can push our starters. Let the best man win the job.

100%. Best player should play. If he was so ready to play now and Zac is truly injured then I have no doubt Drink would play him. If that is the case and Drink is not then he is making a massive mistake. I don't see practice but he does so I have to trust he is going about this the way it should be done, unless he states regret otherwise. Baldwin has a shot to be a good player but I don't think we see him this year unless we blow out Texas State or are getting blown out by South Carolina. Even then, I'm not sure I would put him in over Gibbs and Huesman. Last thing we need is to make our #2 guy mad and want to transfer.

If Zac is hurt, then Huesman comes in. End of story.

[AppStFan1]

No one is saying RGB should start this season. He is a true freshman who hasn't payed a down of CFB. Hurts won a National Championship with Alabama, didn't mean that Tua had no chance of taking over. I prefer to see Zac finish his time at App as a starter, but if we have a QB that can come in and push him, im all for it. I hope we recruit a whole class of guys that can push our starters. Let the best man win the job.

100%. Best player should play. If he was so ready to play now and Zac is truly injured then I have no doubt Drink would play him. If that is the case and Drink is not then he is making a massive mistake. I don't see practice but he does so I have to trust he is going about this the way it should be done, unless he states regret otherwise. Baldwin has a shot to be a good player but I don't think we see him this year unless we blow out Texas State or are getting blown out by South Carolina. Even then, I'm not sure I would put him in over Gibbs and Huesman. Last thing we need is to make our #2 guy mad and want to transfer.

If Zac is hurt, then Huesman comes in. End of story.

I would guess Huesman like you but we did have one game where Gibbs came in when we took Zac out. It should be Huesman unless Gibbs is outplaying him in practice.

[AppSt94]

No one is saying RGB should start this season. He is a true freshman who hasn't payed a down of CFB. Hurts won a National Championship with Alabama, didn't mean that Tua had no chance of taking over. I prefer to see Zac finish his time at App as a starter, but if we have a QB that can come in and push him, im all for it. I hope we recruit a whole class of guys that can push our starters. Let the best man win the job.

100%. Best player should play. If he was so ready to play now and Zac is truly injured then I have no doubt Drink would play him. If that is the case and Drink is not then he is making a massive mistake. I don't see practice but he does so I have to trust he is going about this the way it should be done, unless he states regret otherwise. Baldwin has a shot to be a good player but I don't think we see him this year unless we blow out Texas State or are getting blown out by South Carolina. Even then, I'm not sure I would put him in over Gibbs and Huesman. Last thing we need is to make our #2 guy mad and want to transfer.

If Zac is hurt, then Huesman comes in. End of story.

I would guess Huesman like you but we did have one game where Gibbs came in when we took Zac out. It should be Huesman unless Gibbs is outplaying him in practice.

Not sure why Gibbs came in for Huesman. Could just be a reward for effort in practice or it could be that he earned it. I don't think that question gets asked by those who get to interview Drink weekly, and honestly, I wouldn't expect an answer that I could accept as being 100% true. DGB may be as good as some of you anticipate him to be. But to your point above, I agree that you have to be careful on how you use him as you could lose some experience and maturity from your QB room next year.

[AppStFan1]

No one is saying RGB should start this season. He is a true freshman who hasn't payed a down of CFB. Hurts won a National Championship with Alabama, didn't mean that Tua had no chance of taking over. I prefer to see Zac finish his time at App as a starter, but if we have a QB that can come in and push him, im all for it. I hope we recruit a whole class of guys that can push our starters. Let the best man win the job.

100%. Best player should play. If he was so ready to play now and Zac is truly injured then I have no doubt Drink would play him. If that is the case and Drink is not then he is making a massive mistake. I don't see practice but he does so I have to trust he is going about this the way it should be done, unless he states regret otherwise. Baldwin has a shot to be a good player but I don't think we see him this year unless we blow out Texas State or are getting blown out by South Carolina. Even then, I'm not sure I would put him in over Gibbs and Huesman. Last thing we need is to make our #2 guy mad and want to transfer.

If Zac is hurt, then Huesman comes in. End of story.

I would guess Huesman like you but we did have one game where Gibbs came in when we took Zac out. It should be Huesman unless Gibbs is outplaying him in practice.

Not sure why Gibbs came in for Huesman. Could just be a reward for effort in practice or it could be that he earned it. I don't think that question gets asked by those who get to interview Drink weekly, and honestly, I wouldn't expect an answer that I could accept as being 100% true. DGB may be as good as some of you anticipate him to be. But to your point above, I agree that you have to be careful on how you use him as you could lose some experience and maturity from your QB room next year.

I have no clue how good Baldwin will be. We have yet to see him and some who look bad in practice can look good in a game. You never know until you see them in real games.

As for Huesman, I would guess he is the guy as well but yeah you never know if it was a reward or what. If it was, then Gibbs could come back in as #2 in a game. Maybe it is a week to week thing as to who the #2 will be solely based on practice performance?

[spacemonkey]

Does anyone know if drinkowitz is making Zack stay in the pocket instead of running.. Telling him not to run. He seemed to have running opportunities that he chose not to take. He used to take them.

Yes. He also has stated that he would prefer to run less to reduce the risk of injury. His reason for this is so that he doesn’t miss anymore games. We have a warrior, who wants nothing more than to win and has done it better than most qbs in the nation and some of you want to nit pick a performance in horrendous conditions to say that he might not be the right guy. Give me a qb that starts his career 17-3 all day long.

I definitely don’t blame Zac, I think he is great. I think Coach is telling him not to run. I would have him running, especially if the game was on the line.

[AppOrange]

The biggest factor was the weather - the next factor was no running game - then the other things mentioned come into play

This, plus the run game blocking was trash. Pass blocking was pretty good but that damn weather

[AppSt94]

The biggest factor was the weather - the next factor was no running game - then the other things mentioned come into play

This, plus the run game blocking was trash. Pass blocking was pretty good but that damn weather

Again, when you use 6 guys to try and block 8, it isn’t going to look good.

[AppinATL]

Does anyone know if drinkowitz is making Zack stay in the pocket instead of running.. Telling him not to run. He seemed to have running opportunities that he chose not to take. He used to take them.

Yes. He also has stated that he would prefer to run less to reduce the risk of injury. His reason for this is so that he doesn’t miss anymore games. We have a warrior, who wants nothing more than to win and has done it better than most qbs in the nation and some of you want to nit pick a performance in horrendous conditions to say that he might not be the right guy. Give me a qb that starts his career 17-3 all day long.

The thing is though, that a lot of that success Zac has lead us to has come from him being a true dual threat QB. Think of all the games we might not have won during that 17-2 stretch if it weren’t for big plays that came from his legs. We saw the result Thursday night when there were several opportunities for him to pick up a drive-extending first down but he threw it instead, frequently incomplete. His legs are just as big a weapon as his arm. Its what got him where he is. Taking that away is a questionable move.

[asu7]

Not having Harrington hurt us bad Thursday.

[The Rock]

Does anyone know if drinkowitz is making Zack stay in the pocket instead of running.. Telling him not to run. He seemed to have running opportunities that he chose not to take. He used to take them.

Yes. He also has stated that he would prefer to run less to reduce the risk of injury. His reason for this is so that he doesn’t miss anymore games. We have a warrior, who wants nothing more than to win and has done it better than most qbs in the nation and some of you want to nit pick a performance in horrendous conditions to say that he might not be the right guy. Give me a qb that starts his career 17-3 all day long.

The thing is though, that a lot of that success Zac has lead us to has come from him being a true dual threat QB. Think of all the games we might not have won during that 17-2 stretch if it weren’t for big plays that came from his legs. We saw the result Thursday night when there were several opportunities for him to pick up a drive-extending first down but he threw it instead, frequently incomplete. His legs are just as big a weapon as his arm. Its what got him where he is. Taking that away is a questionable move.

Nailed it. So many times on the last drive there was nothing but real estate in front of him and we threw a short yardage pass or incompletion. I think we at least get in to FG range if ZT uses his legs a few times more. Seems trying to learn Drink's system has taken the instinctive part of Zac's game away that causes him to overthink and get away from what made him and Taylor Lamb so successful.

[NavyApp]

Nailed it. So many times on the last drive there was nothing but real estate in front of him and we threw a short yardage pass or incompletion. I think we at least get in to FG range if ZT uses his legs a few times more. Seems trying to learn Drink's system has taken the instinctive part of Zac's game away that causes him to overthink and get away from what made him and Taylor Lamb so successful.

I think there are a couple of factors that should be added in. First, by the time he made his first start he had two years in the system under his belt; if I remember correctly his nickname early one was bam bam because he would always throw the ball as hard as he could regardless of situation and Satterfield openly discussed working with Zac on that and decision making. We all saw how great he can be when he is comfortable with what he is doing. The second hangs off the first, this is year one in a completely different system. I highly doubt Drink is asking him not to run. I do however believe Zac is being asked to process information differently this year and that has to be insanely difficult at full game speed. I have seen more than once this season where it looks like he is going to pull the ball and run it then tries and reset and throw it. I have zero inside knowledge about their relationship but Zac seems consistently frustrated. I would love to see the offense throw caution to the wind and go all out, but I doubt that happens because I think our HC is terrified of turning the ball over.

[Mjohn1988]

Nailed it. So many times on the last drive there was nothing but real estate in front of him and we threw a short yardage pass or incompletion. I think we at least get in to FG range if ZT uses his legs a few times more. Seems trying to learn Drink's system has taken the instinctive part of Zac's game away that causes him to overthink and get away from what made him and Taylor Lamb so successful.

I think there are a couple of factors that should be added in. First, by the time he made his first start he had two years in the system under his belt; if I remember correctly his nickname early one was bam bam because he would always throw the ball as hard as he could regardless of situation and Satterfield openly discussed working with Zac on that and decision making. We all saw how great he can be when he is comfortable with what he is doing. The second hangs off the first, this is year one in a completely different system. I highly doubt Drink is asking him not to run. I do however believe Zac is being asked to process information differently this year and that has to be insanely difficult at full game speed. I have seen more than once this season where it looks like he is going to pull the ball and run it then tries and reset and throw it. I have zero inside knowledge about their relationship but Zac seems consistently frustrated. I would love to see the offense throw caution to the wind and go all out, but I doubt that happens because I think our HC is terrified of turning the ball over.

Well, I hope your wrong about the terrified part. You can’t be terrified and great at anything at the same time.

[NavyApp]

Well, I hope your wrong about the terrified part. You can’t be terrified and great at anything at the same time.

I hope I am too!

[AppState89]

Sometimes you have bad games. I think a lot played into Thursday's game.
1-Weather was horrible (cold, rain and HIGH winds)
2-Dropped passes
3-Passes weren't on target
4-Nobody talks about this. The O-line had a bad game at times. Several times their linemen were in the backfield "at the same time" Zac was getting ready to hand the ball off. A lot of times they were in the backfield make TFL on our RBs and WRs on runs.

Just a bad game, but take away 2 long runs (TD), the outcome would be different. Just need to put this game behind us and move forward. We are still a GREAT football team. I want to win all the games, but doesn't always happen. Start Saturday 1-0.

[WASU 93]

I see your point, the jury is still out on Peoples. Let's see how things play out once he gets healthy. If we have a bruiser in the backfield he would be the one (in theory), we'll see. That said, without a bruiser why did we keep attempting to force our will against The Stink 8 man front until it was too late? That's what has be scratching my head. Would Peoples have made a difference, maybe. But, without him no chance.

Peoples definitely makes a difference and hopefully he comes back 100% next year. I think Drink believed he saw something in the GSU front 7 that he could exploit and so I don't blame him for coming into the game thinking he could. Where I look at him and question what he did is why did he stick with it so long. After a couple of drives I would have made some changes and either tried to go wide on them or throw the ball a lot.

One other thing to consider. We had a very quick opening possession. GaSo was pounding it against our defense and their style is to put together long drives that burn up the clock. Running the ball rests our defense a little bit more. I know we were struggling with the run, but with the inaccuracy and drops in the passing game, we were in a tough situation either way. We were "behind the chains" whether we opened with a run or a pass for most of the night.

[Rekdiver]

Sometimes you have bad games. I think a lot played into Thursday's game.
1-Weather was horrible (cold, rain and HIGH winds)
2-Dropped passes
3-Passes weren't on target
4-Nobody talks about this. The O-line had a bad game at times. Several times their linemen were in the backfield "at the same time" Zac was getting ready to hand the ball off. A lot of times they were in the backfield make TFL on our RBs and WRs on runs.

Just a bad game, but take away 2 long runs (TD), the outcome would be different. Just need to put this game behind us and move forward. We are still a GREAT football team. I want to win all the games, but doesn't always happen. Start Saturday 1-0.

Team had a bad game...Stuff happens you are appsolutely correct.