I want to know

[9Steelman]

Per njcarr: I agree - cannot believe how may times I heard the F>>> word during tailgate, walking in, and during and after game. Mostly students doing this, totally unacceptable. Shows no class, low self esteem, small vocabulary, lack of self discipline and diminishes a person character. We need to work on this as a society. Starts at home at a young age like so many other things that needs to be improved.

[9Steelman]

Per njcarr: I agree - cannot believe how may times I heard the F>>> word during tailgate, walking in, and during and after game. Mostly students doing this, totally unacceptable. Shows no class, low self esteem, small vocabulary, lack of self discipline and diminishes a person character. We need to work on this as a society. Starts at home at a young age like so many other things that needs to be improved.

Please choose NOT to use the F>>>> word!

[pop5app]

Sorry to tell you guys, but the ”F” has become acceptable in everyday speech. It really is pathetic. People use it in regular conversation. I think it’s awful but they don’t.

[Kafarmer]

It’s fine to discuss the team and coaching decisions, but……. Who you think would come in and be better? Better for one year? Clark bleeds black and gold. We want wins, no doubt. Guess what…… we won’t win them all! I’m happy with Coach Clark and his vision. If you didn’t live through the Working years you have no idea. Give ‘Em Hell Apps!

[Seattleapp]

Per njcarr: I agree - cannot believe how may times I heard the F>>> word during tailgate, walking in, and during and after game. Mostly students doing this, totally unacceptable. Shows no class, low self esteem, small vocabulary, lack of self discipline and diminishes a person character. We need to work on this as a society. Starts at home at a young age like so many other things that needs to be improved.

Please choose NOT to use the F>>>> word!

It must be nice to have a life where hearing profanity is this big of a problem. In our country today, hearing a drunk college kid cussing around his buddies at a football tailgate is pretty low on my worry about list all things considered.

[ASUFan4863]

I have been critical of Clark and the coaching in the past and on this thread after the game. In hindsight, I am more confident in Clark now than I ever have been. I saw a fire in him post-game that I haven't seen. It was not the glossy coach speak. It was passion for App State. The way the players have already responded on social media shows me they are ready to go to fix the issues we faced Saturday. The difference between us and UNC is they know their defense is poo and we know we can fix ours. I have faith SC will light fire under Dale's you know what to get the D in line.

[spacemonkey]

I have been critical of Clark and the coaching in the past and on this thread after the game. In hindsight, I am more confident in Clark now than I ever have been. I saw a fire in him post-game that I haven't seen. It was not the glossy coach speak. It was passion for App State. The way the players have already responded on social media shows me they are ready to go to fix the issues we faced Saturday. The difference between us and UNC is they know their defense is poo and we know we can fix ours. I have faith SC will light fire under Dale's you know what to get the D in line.

Dude, If you were at the game and watched Coach Clark he was nuts. I kept waiting for some kind of penalty on him. He was all over the refs losing his mind most of the game. HE WAS FIRED UP. I liked Clark before this game and I am a bigger fan now. I think he will do great things at APP.

[hapapp]

The reason our defensive scheme isn't ran at a lot of places is because it's difficult to learn. It takes an insane amount of communication, trust, and experience running it together for it to come full circle.

Defense played pretty damn good in the first 20 minutes of the game. Really, for me, the turning point was the swing pass on 3rd down where we had a safety flying in to make the tackle near the LOS (possibly a loss) and he doesn't wrap up. RB takes it's nearly to the end zone. If we wrap up there, it's a 2 score game, we can run the clock out and possibly score another before half. That's not what happened. That's what happens with inexperience on the field. You bet your ass those safety's will be working on nothing but wrapping up this week.

Also, we were forced to play more man defense than we have in years. Really, as far as I can remember, since we brought this scheme in. We had a guy that walked on, just got a scholarship, trying to man up a 5 star receiver that will be in the NFL some day. Against a good QB, that's going to be exploited. Not to discredit Jackson Greene -- he performed really well and I believe was the highest graded safety.

Safety's have to get it fixed and they will. UNC benefited from having the FAMU game. According to the two tar holes that sat in front of us (actually really nice guys), Mack Brown purposely moved the FAMU game to week 0 for that reason. Your biggest improvement during the season always comes from game 1 and 2. You get game speed film. You see where the communication issues were. You how you should have lined up for various offensive alignments. You see what gap was missed. You see what calls should have been made pre snap. These are all things you can simulate in practice, but with minimal full padded, full contact practices now, the first real game speed film makes a world of difference.

Yes, defense needs to improve -- mainly in the secondary. Front 7 played very admirably. Got a lot of pressure and made Maye make elite plays. McCall (and possibly Grainger) will be the only other QB we play than can make most of the throws he made. Difference is, they won't have the weapons Maye had to throw to.

We outplayed the Holes for 75% of the game. The only stat line that went in their favor was the only one that mattered -- the final score. But, to be doom and gloom after week 1 against a P5 program that was playing their second game is not the move.
Were we the better team? Yes.
Should we have won? Yes.
Should coaches be fired after one game? No.

You can say all you want about Dale Jones and the defensive performance against WKU and UNC. It's an apples to oranges comparison. Against WKU, we had WRs playing CB. We had CBs playing safety. We had a star CB who couldn't make the grades to be eligible so he declared for the draft instead of playing. Against an air raid offense, that's a recipe for disaster.

Jones knows it needs to be fixed. Clark knows it needs to be fixed. The entire secondary knows it needs to be fixed. It'll get fixed.

I totally agree that the game turned on the missed tackle on third and long. To that point, we had all the momentum and control of the game. But, that one play really seemed to flip the switch.d

[BUTCH1991]

Safety's have to get it fixed and they will. UNC benefited from having the FAMU game. According to the two tar holes that sat in front of us (actually really nice guys), Mack Brown purposely moved the FAMU game to week 0 for that reason. Your biggest improvement during the season always comes from game 1 and 2. You get game speed film. You see where the communication issues were. You how you should have lined up for various offensive alignments. You see what gap was missed. You see what calls should have been made pre snap. These are all things you can simulate in practice, but with minimal full padded, full contact practices now, the first real game speed film makes a world of difference.

So, what you're telling me is that this game was actually Carolina's "Super Bowl"

[AppStFan1]

The reason our defensive scheme isn't ran at a lot of places is because it's difficult to learn. It takes an insane amount of communication, trust, and experience running it together for it to come full circle.

Defense played pretty damn good in the first 20 minutes of the game. Really, for me, the turning point was the swing pass on 3rd down where we had a safety flying in to make the tackle near the LOS (possibly a loss) and he doesn't wrap up. RB takes it's nearly to the end zone. If we wrap up there, it's a 2 score game, we can run the clock out and possibly score another before half. That's not what happened. That's what happens with inexperience on the field. You bet your ass those safety's will be working on nothing but wrapping up this week.

Also, we were forced to play more man defense than we have in years. Really, as far as I can remember, since we brought this scheme in. We had a guy that walked on, just got a scholarship, trying to man up a 5 star receiver that will be in the NFL some day. Against a good QB, that's going to be exploited. Not to discredit Jackson Greene -- he performed really well and I believe was the highest graded safety.

Safety's have to get it fixed and they will. UNC benefited from having the FAMU game. According to the two tar holes that sat in front of us (actually really nice guys), Mack Brown purposely moved the FAMU game to week 0 for that reason. Your biggest improvement during the season always comes from game 1 and 2. You get game speed film. You see where the communication issues were. You how you should have lined up for various offensive alignments. You see what gap was missed. You see what calls should have been made pre snap. These are all things you can simulate in practice, but with minimal full padded, full contact practices now, the first real game speed film makes a world of difference.

Yes, defense needs to improve -- mainly in the secondary. Front 7 played very admirably. Got a lot of pressure and made Maye make elite plays. McCall (and possibly Grainger) will be the only other QB we play than can make most of the throws he made. Difference is, they won't have the weapons Maye had to throw to.

We outplayed the Holes for 75% of the game. The only stat line that went in their favor was the only one that mattered -- the final score. But, to be doom and gloom after week 1 against a P5 program that was playing their second game is not the move.
Were we the better team? Yes.
Should we have won? Yes.
Should coaches be fired after one game? No.

You can say all you want about Dale Jones and the defensive performance against WKU and UNC. It's an apples to oranges comparison. Against WKU, we had WRs playing CB. We had CBs playing safety. We had a star CB who couldn't make the grades to be eligible so he declared for the draft instead of playing. Against an air raid offense, that's a recipe for disaster.

Jones knows it needs to be fixed. Clark knows it needs to be fixed. The entire secondary knows it needs to be fixed. It'll get fixed.

All so true. Another reason many don’t run it is because it’s impossible to run a true NFL style 3-4 defense at G5 and small school level. Ideal 3-4 DL looks something like 6-5 285 DE, 6-4 330 NG, and 6-6 295 DE. Maybe the ends are 6-3 or 6-4 but they would be 275-290 range. Don’t get me started on a typical 3-4 OLB which is certainly not 6-2 220 but more like 6’4 245 or so. Hard to find those athletes who can move. System is indeed hard to recruit and complex. It’s why we have to have smart players. It seems to be Watts has to put a premium on speed and intelligence so if we have someone who is a step slow it stands out big time. For us to run a true NFL style 3-4 we would have to be in SEC or ACC so we run a variation that is effective. I’m sure we will see major changes. They definitely know we have to fix some things in the secondary.

[WVAPPeer]

I'm pretty sure we had 2 true freshmen playing at CB during parts of the game -

[appbio91]

Here are the numbers ---
• Going into last year’s bowl game, App State ranked in the top 20 nationally in scoring defense (No. 16,
19.3 points), total defense (No. 18, 325.5 yards), pass efficiency defense (No. 12, 114.7), INTs (No. 10, 15),
defensive TDs (No. 6, four), red zone defense (No. 15, 73.7%) and rushing defense (No. 19, 118.8).

Here’s another number:

Clark is now 2-8 is games where App isn’t favored by 7.5 or more

Great record at winning the lopsided ones, 2-8 in the toss up games.

I don’t really have any issues with coaching today.

This will be by far the best offense we face this year but you’re cool with giving up 60? This defense has been declining year after year.

Did we score 61 because our offense is good or because they suck? If you say a little of both then let’s give our guys the same credit. We had no answer for a very good QB, but we did step up a few times late in the game to get the ball back in Brice’s hands. Acknowledging we have things to work on w/o pretending we gave the 63 points with poor play.

[bigdaddyg]

I looked back at the play by play. Other than the PIC and the last one play before the half we basically had one drive that went nowhere (9 yards). We missed the 51 yard FG (by like 10 yards..ouch) and had the sack on 4th around their 35. We scored so fast in the 4th that the defense barely had time to sit down.

I've been one to ask about our front 7 size. I know we have some size at middle linebacker but those 210ish 6'2" outside backers must be fast and not afraid to hit. I think we lose a bit at that spot against the bigger squads. Playing freshmen in the secondary against those guys was going to be a challenge. Like I've said practice and when the lights come on are 2 different animals.

[AppSt94]

We also spent fall camp going up against ourselves. We aren't the only team that needs some adjustments. Great point about the loss of players and the additions. Some folks act like we are a reload program. We have an Arkansas transfer at linebacker who never played here and we have secondary guys who haven't played much. I always want to temper expectations after hearing how great a guy looks in practice (empty stadium against his own team).

There is obviously a huge reason why good teams open against crap teams.

In a sense we are a reload team. I think there is some expectations that whoever steps in is just like the guy that they are replacing and it doesn’t work like that. McKnight and DDP are Spurlin and Taylor. Parker isn’t Jackson and Lawson/Johnson aren’t Jolly. They’re different players with different skill sets.

I meant reload like a Georgia who doesn't skip a beat. I feel like we are established enough to avoid rebuild but we can somewhat reload but still need some time to gel.

Yes. Completely agree. My comment was meant to expound upon that point. Teams like Bama and Georgia rebuild by “plug & play” whereas App is more of a “plug & grow.”

[AppSt94]

I looked back at the play by play. Other than the PIC and the last one play before the half we basically had one drive that went nowhere (9 yards). We missed the 51 yard FG (by like 10 yards..ouch) and had the sack on 4th around their 35. We scored so fast in the 4th that the defense barely had time to sit down.

I've been one to ask about our front 7 size. I know we have some size at middle linebacker but those 210ish 6'2" outside backers must be fast and not afraid to hit. I think we lose a bit at that spot against the bigger squads. Playing freshmen in the secondary against those guys was going to be a challenge. Like I've said practice and when the lights come on are 2 different animals.

Hampton is an outside guy at 240. Harrington is smaller but a powerful hitter.

[proasu89]

The reason our defensive scheme isn't ran at a lot of places is because it's difficult to learn. It takes an insane amount of communication, trust, and experience running it together for it to come full circle.

Defense played pretty damn good in the first 20 minutes of the game. Really, for me, the turning point was the swing pass on 3rd down where we had a safety flying in to make the tackle near the LOS (possibly a loss) and he doesn't wrap up. RB takes it's nearly to the end zone. If we wrap up there, it's a 2 score game, we can run the clock out and possibly score another before half. That's not what happened. That's what happens with inexperience on the field. You bet your ass those safety's will be working on nothing but wrapping up this week.

Also, we were forced to play more man defense than we have in years. Really, as far as I can remember, since we brought this scheme in. We had a guy that walked on, just got a scholarship, trying to man up a 5 star receiver that will be in the NFL some day. Against a good QB, that's going to be exploited. Not to discredit Jackson Greene -- he performed really well and I believe was the highest graded safety.

Safety's have to get it fixed and they will. UNC benefited from having the FAMU game. According to the two tar holes that sat in front of us (actually really nice guys), Mack Brown purposely moved the FAMU game to week 0 for that reason. Your biggest improvement during the season always comes from game 1 and 2. You get game speed film. You see where the communication issues were. You how you should have lined up for various offensive alignments. You see what gap was missed. You see what calls should have been made pre snap. These are all things you can simulate in practice, but with minimal full padded, full contact practices now, the first real game speed film makes a world of difference.

Yes, defense needs to improve -- mainly in the secondary. Front 7 played very admirably. Got a lot of pressure and made Maye make elite plays. McCall (and possibly Grainger) will be the only other QB we play than can make most of the throws he made. Difference is, they won't have the weapons Maye had to throw to.

We outplayed the Holes for 75% of the game. The only stat line that went in their favor was the only one that mattered -- the final score. But, to be doom and gloom after week 1 against a P5 program that was playing their second game is not the move.
Were we the better team? Yes.
Should we have won? Yes.
Should coaches be fired after one game? No.

You can say all you want about Dale Jones and the defensive performance against WKU and UNC. It's an apples to oranges comparison. Against WKU, we had WRs playing CB. We had CBs playing safety. We had a star CB who couldn't make the grades to be eligible so he declared for the draft instead of playing. Against an air raid offense, that's a recipe for disaster.

Jones knows it needs to be fixed. Clark knows it needs to be fixed. The entire secondary knows it needs to be fixed. It'll get fixed.

I totally agree that the game turned on the missed tackle on third and long. To that point, we had all the momentum and control of the game. But, that one play really seemed to flip the switch.d

No doubt. We had just sacked Maye to make it 3rd & 11. Not sure who had the ankle but Steven Jones went for the hit instead of the wrap up. Could have got the ball back up 21-7 with all the momentum.

[Stonewall]

I think we would have benefited from a week zero game and I know it was discussed. Perhaps it wasn't possible .A game where one play , anywhere through out , could have turned a loss into a win...we will never know.

[Bootsy]

Here's an observation:

Postgame at Kidd-Brewer: UNC gives up 61 points but wins by 2. Mack and his players celebrate like they won the CFP.

Postgame at Dowdy-Ficklen: NCSU gives up 20 and wins by 1. Doeren and his players leave the field like they lost the CFP.

Care to draw any conclusions?

[BambooRdApp]

Sounds like Doeren would not be fun at
neighborhood parties...

[BeauFoster]

Here's an observation:

Postgame at Kidd-Brewer: UNC gives up 61 points but wins by 2. Mack and his players celebrate like they won the CFP.

Postgame at Dowdy-Ficklen: NCSU gives up 20 and wins by 1. Doeren and his players leave the field like they lost the CFP.

Care to draw any conclusions?

NC State expects to win and has that mentality. UNC doesn’t.

Look at the UNCC players dancing around on the sidelines while getting their asses handed to them by and FCS team-they’ve taken on the mentality of their coach in that they don’t care if they win or perform. It’s all about goofing around and being carefree.