Watched the second half versus Arkansas, they have a great WR in Scott, going to be tough stopping him. Their defense wasn't very good on third downs so we should be able to move the ball.

There are some tough conf games on our schedule that weren't tough in previous years but that's football.

QB put up some good numbers ---

WVAPPeer wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 30, 2017 5:42 pm

QB put up some good numbers ---

He has in every game so far. Our defensive backfield will get challenged this week, hopefully our gameplan defensively has a way to get pressure and disguise coverage. It will be interesting to see how we stack up statistically to Arizona State and Arkansas defenses versus the NMSU offense.

This game could be a track meet. Offense needs to score points.

Anyone noticed if their OL is beatable? I'd hope we can cover long enough to get pressure.

I think our defense will be able to handle these guys. Saw this on the Appstatesports site:

THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT

By forcing three-and-outs on 51.1 percent of its possessions, the Mountaineers rank third at the FBS level. They have forced 24 three-and-outs on 47 defensive possessions.

Rick83 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:07 am

I think our defense will be able to handle these guys. Saw this on the Appstatesports site:

THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT

By forcing three-and-outs on 51.1 percent of its possessions, the Mountaineers rank third at the FBS level. They have forced 24 three-and-outs on 47 defensive possessions.

That includes Savannah State, however.

NewApp wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:15 am

Rick83 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:07 am

I think our defense will be able to handle these guys. Saw this on the Appstatesports site:

THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT

By forcing three-and-outs on 51.1 percent of its possessions, the Mountaineers rank third at the FBS level. They have forced 24 three-and-outs on 47 defensive possessions.

That includes Savannah State, however.

True; however, almost all FBS teams schedule an easier FCS opponent. Here's the breakdown, the worst performance was against Texas State:

"App State forced three-and-outs on 8 of 13 possessions against Wake Forest, 2 of 10 at Texas State, 9 of 12 against Savannah State and 5 of 12 at Georgia. After the opening drive against Wake Forest, the Mountaineers forced five straight three-and-outs on their way to claiming a 9-3 halftime lead."

Does NMSU have a dual threat QB? That seems to be our Achilles. Always hard to account for that variable.

Yosef84 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:35 am

Does NMSU have a dual threat QB? That seems to be our Achilles. Always hard to account for that variable.

It doesn't appear so. Their QB has 23 carries for 3 yards...

But they do have the conference best running back in Larry Rose III (who has been pretty bottled up this year), and the QB throws for over 350 yards per game (including games against Arizona State, New Mexico, Troy and Arkansas). Their patsy game was UTEP. All the rest have been close whether wins or losses. It must be pointed out that they have scored a lot of points in the fourth quarter to make some of these games close.

Interesting that the spread is somewhere around 10 or 11. Sagarin has us as a 12 point favorite, and Massey has us as a 13.5 point favorite. Massey says we have an 81% chance for a win with the score being something like 34 to 21. However, they put up more points on Arizona State, Troy and Arkansas than they are predicted to put up on us. They are averaging 30 points per game.

PS-this is not the prediction thread. Always wait for Big C before posting predictions.

Dual threats are tough for any defense to defend, but we've done OK against some of them. Dobbs/UT, Washington/ODU, and we did pretty well against Wolford if you want to count him as a DT.

The ones that really seem to hurt us are the ones that can stretch the field with the deep ball. And if you have a QB who can do both... well, again, that's tough for any defense.

Our ongoing achilles is without a doubt the hurry up offense. We are NEVER ready for it.

EastHallApp wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:52 am

Dual threats are tough for any defense to defend, but we've done OK against some of them. Dobbs/UT, Washington/ODU, and we did pretty well against Wolford if you want to count him as a DT.

The ones that really seem to hurt us are the ones that can stretch the field with the deep ball. And if you have a QB who can do both... well, again, that's tough for any defense.

How many decent teams close to our level have a QB who is all of the threats? Probably not very many. Really don't want us to blow everyone out as that would mean the SB really sucks. A few close wins are fine because that means good games

bigdaddyg wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 02, 2017 10:07 am

EastHallApp wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:52 am

Dual threats are tough for any defense to defend, but we've done OK against some of them. Dobbs/UT, Washington/ODU, and we did pretty well against Wolford if you want to count him as a DT.

The ones that really seem to hurt us are the ones that can stretch the field with the deep ball. And if you have a QB who can do both... well, again, that's tough for any defense.

How many decent teams close to our level have a QB who is all of the threats? Probably not very many. Really don't want us to blow everyone out as that would mean the SB really sucks. A few close wins are fine because that means good games

Not many, especially when you add in receivers with the speed to stretch the field too.

Put me down as hoping for beating everyone left by 30+.

Close games are overrated. We are 1-1 in close games this year. That's enough excitement for me. I prefer we finish the season building insurmountable leads and get playing time for those that need it. Call me boring.

Rick83 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:23 am

NewApp wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:15 am

Rick83 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:07 am

I think our defense will be able to handle these guys. Saw this on the Appstatesports site:

THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT

By forcing three-and-outs on 51.1 percent of its possessions, the Mountaineers rank third at the FBS level. They have forced 24 three-and-outs on 47 defensive possessions.

That includes Savannah State, however.

True; however, almost all FBS teams schedule an easier FCS opponent. Here's the breakdown, the worst performance was against Texas State:

"App State forced three-and-outs on 8 of 13 possessions against Wake Forest, 2 of 10 at Texas State, 9 of 12 against Savannah State and 5 of 12 at Georgia. After the opening drive against Wake Forest, the Mountaineers forced five straight three-and-outs on their way to claiming a 9-3 halftime lead."

Good info, Rick.

sixtoes9134 wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:59 am

Our ongoing achilles is without a doubt the hurry up offense. We are NEVER ready for it.

First memory that popped in my head after reading this was the Miami game. Bubble screen after bubble screen after bubble screen. Same plays all in a hurry up, which our guys are looking to the sidelines.

One thing to think about is, how does back to back road trips to the East affect NMSU?

They do have some dynamic athletes on O and Rogers is stats-wise the top QB in the league. They also have picked off 8 balls this year. Needless to say, this is not likely an easy game.