Appalachian State vs. Samford.

[App1928]

IMHO this is one of the top 3-4 games of the week in FCS...Samford is ranked 22/25 and is in the running for the SoCon title. Looks like this game will break Samford's all time attes ndance record. What do you guys think?

I'm picking App State 24-14.

[SpeedkingATL]

I'm expecting a shootout. Apps defense has been less than steller for much of the season and Apps offense has had to outscore the other guy to win. The one thing App has done well on defense is create turnovers and if they can get at least 2 against Samford I like their chances of winning on the road. With all the personell losses of late more young guys are gonna have to step up for App to win. App played well on the road at UTC so maybe that success will continue. How about 31-30 ASU.

[GlassOnion]

Hard to say. Usually the more nervous I am about a game the better we do, and the more confident, the worse we do. Im nervous, so hopefully thats a good sign.

[woffordgrad94]

I think l'il Sammy takes it at home. Then when the Terriers come in and bite the Mountaineers next week they are going to be in serious trouble. SAMFORD 31, APPALACHIAN STATE 24.

[Mountaineer#96]

I think l'il Sammy takes it at home. Then when the Terriers come in and bite the Mountaineers next week they are going to be in serious trouble. SAMFORD 31, APPALACHIAN STATE 24.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp6gaB-YmVA

[The Moody1]

:D
I think l'il Sammy takes it at home. Then when the Terriers come in and bite the Mountaineers next week they are going to be in serious trouble. SAMFORD 31, APPALACHIAN STATE 24.


Apps Win, and Little Woofie goes down in Statesboro and then Boone.:D

[asumike83]

:D


Apps Win, and Little Woofie goes down in Statesboro and then Boone.:D

I will believe we can beat a good TO team when I see it but in that scenario, which is not out of the question by any means, Wofford would have to win out (except for South Carolina) to be eligible for the playoffs.

[SU DOG]

For the very first time since joining the SoCon, I'm convinced that Samford has the athletes to compete with ASU.xthumbsupx I posted before the season started that this was the most talent I had seen here since our playoff years. After the first 5 games, our OC made the comment that "we've not played near up to our potential yet." Last week was certainly the closest we have come. I'm personally not into trash talk or making bold predictions. One fear I have is that our players will be over-hyped, and that could hurt our chances. Turnovers will be a BIG factor, and IF we can somehow contain(or at least limit) JJ, we definitely have a shot. xnodx

Samford has play-makers on both sides of the ball and lots of depth. Our players will be excited and ready. When our team went to Furman last year, you could just tell that they were tired of losing to the Paladins, and determined to change things - which they did. I get that very same feeling from these players about this upcoming Saturday. Yeah, I know it's not Furman, and App State just somehow knows how to WIN. This Bulldog Team, however, is primed and focused, and I'll take Samford to pull off the upset.

[App1928]

I believe Samford is the 3rd best team we have played (behind East Carolina and Montana), and they can give us a game (especially on the road with all of our injuries and after the long bus ride), I do believe however, that Samford struggles with the same inferiority complex to us than Elon does. App State is the game everyone marks on their calendar, but samford has not proven to themselves they can compete with the mighty mountaineers. This is the closest these two have ever been on paper, I'm just hoping history holds true...no disrespect to Samford whatsoever, they are a damn good ball club...but let's not forget that ASU has been the posterchild for FCS football for nearly a decade, and there is reason that is so....we are a damn good football team too. May the best team win.

[mountaineer in Cane Land]

I picked Samford, because of the injuries to the defense, I think we have lost 7 starters and a number of backups since the season started, it's just hard to win losing that much talent. I far as overall talent, if we are healthy, there isn't a team in the SC that can match us, and if we stay healthy next year, with the experience the young kids are getting, anything less than a NC will be a disappointment, but, unfortunately, that's next year. As far as this game, we have the best offense in the SC, and I don't think Samford can stop it, too many weapons, but I don't think we will stop Samfords offense either, I think the long bus ride, lack of big time game atmosphere, injuries, and looking ahead to Wofford, and Samford is a very good team is too much to overcome. Samford 38 App 35

[MTfan4life]

I will believe we can beat a good TO team when I see it but in that scenario, which is not out of the question by any means, Wofford would have to win out (except for South Carolina) to be eligible for the playoffs.

It will be no easy picnic for Wofford to reach the 7 win threshold. Their last six games are probably the six toughest teams on their schedule with only two home games.

[Reign of Terrier]

Eek, You guys panic too much about Wofford. I don't see us losing more than 2 straight, if that.

As for ASU-Samford, it's hard to say. I don't know how good Samford is, and apparently ASU has question marks on defense. It will be a shootout.

[Jiggs]

IMHO this is one of the top 3-4 games of the week in FCS...Samford is ranked 22/25 and is in the running for the SoCon title. Looks like this game will break Samford's all time attes ndance record. What do you guys think?

I'm picking App State 24-14.

Seibert Stadium seats 6,700. The all time attendance record dates back to 1994 when Samford faced off against Steve McNair and Alcorn State. The attendance was 11,189.

This week: Dogs win 31-17

[gsu_paintballer]

I'll be highly surprised if ASU loses this one.

[App1928]

Seibert Stadium seats 6,700. The all time attendance record dates back to 1994 when Samford faced off against Steve McNair and Alcorn State. The attendance was 11,189.

This week: Dogs win 31-17

Maybe stadium record then....I had read somewhere that people thought this game would take the record....but im admittedly not sure....should be a massive crowd by Samford standards regardless...and 31-17? we will see.

[mountaineer in Cane Land]

31-17? ya wonder what that guys been drinking? I don't think there is a SC team that can hold us under 30, and with all our injuries, not sure we can hold them under 34

[seantaylor]

I have Samford. Appy's D is horrible.

[asu3peat]

"...think the long bus ride, lack of big time game atmosphere, injuries, and looking ahead to Wofford..."

I feel pretty much the SAMe way. Think ASU will have to force several turnovers and capitalize on them in order to pull this one out. Steal a page from GSU and force Samford to be one dimensional. Unfortunately, App's pass defense ranks last in the conference. xdontknowx

[gsu2583]

I live in Tuscaloosa, and if it weren't for being glued to the computer watching Wofford v GSU, I would totally go and see this game!

[woffordgrad94]

"...think the long bus ride, lack of big time game atmosphere, injuries, and looking ahead to Wofford..."

I feel pretty much the SAMe way. Think ASU will have to force several turnovers and capitalize on them in order to pull this one out. Steal a page from GSU and force Samford to be one dimensional. Unfortunately, App's pass defense ranks last in the conference. xdontknowx

Wow, someone defends the pass worse than Wofford? Only because of that Lincoln game. Just being honest.

[mountaineer in Cane Land]

well, Apps pass defense stats should start to improve, we pretty much play running teams the rest of the way.....pass defense improves, run defense stats go down.

[Apphole]

As Saturday approaches, I'm starting to get more and more confident about this game. Lil Sammy had a hard fought win against a decent Furple team at the beginning of the season and a big win against a declining Citadel team last week. Then they have a pretty one-sided loss to a GaSo team that's still trying to find answers on offense and wins against division 2 teams West Alabama, Gardner Webb and Western. All-in-all, it's not as impressive a resume as a 5-1 record alone would usually suggest.

Losing Deuce is a tough loss, especially since we've gone through, what?, 4 bandit LBs now? Jesus. Anyways, that doesn't mean we have a god awful defense now. I expect for the ASU D to continue the trend of the past few years: Dominate great offenses, and come out flat and suck against mediocre and bad offenses. Hot and cold. After their terrible performance against Citadel, we came out and shut down a pretty good O in Coastal. After last game, I expect to see a little more fire from the D against Sammy.

Our offense has been steadily improving as the season goes on. I think we could get back to a 2007 level offense by playoff time. There's no way Sammy will keep us under 400 yards. No team has done it so far, even in two loses.

I think the Apps win by 10.

[ASUMountaineer]

Seibert Stadium seats 6,700. The all time attendance record dates back to 1994 when Samford faced off against Steve McNair and Alcorn State. The attendance was 11,189.

This week: Dogs win 31-17

I don't make predictions for ASU games, but I'd be surprised if Samford wins by two touchdowns. I'd also be surprised if ASU won by two touchdowns. I think these teams are very close to each other.

[mountaineer in Cane Land]

injuries are a great equalizer, no disrespect to Samford, but at the beginning of the year, with the talent on defense we had, I would have predicted we would win this game by 14-17 points, now I have Samford as the favorite, some young players better step up their games, or it could be a long rest of the season.

[asucrutch23]

FWIW, App is currently favored by 3.5 at 5dimes. Of course, we've lost as the favorite (-6 vs. The Citadel) and won as the underdog (+4 at Chattanooga) so far this season, so who knows. xdontknowx

[GlassOnion]

I'd rather play the triple O again than a passing team with a good OL. App leads the Socon in tackles for loss because teams still think they can beat App to the edge, and that aint happening. That is, unless you can beat us with the pass first. Lott has really come on at the CB position though, Im confident in 3 of the 4 DBs, as long as they dont have to cover for 30 seconds while the QB decides what he want to do.

[asucrutch23]

I'd rather play the triple O again than a passing team with a good OL. App leads the Socon in tackles for loss because teams still think they can beat App to the edge, and that aint happening. That is, unless you can beat us with the pass first. Lott has really come on at the CB position though, Im confident in 3 of the 4 DBs, as long as they dont have to cover for 30 seconds while the QB decides what he want to do.

Completely agree on Lott. We are giving up 43.5 points per game :( when he is not on the field, but only 20.25 points per game when he plays. I realize one of those that he missed was an FBS, but I think we really could have used him in the Citadel game.


As to the 2nd part of the bolded sentence, I think I know the DB you are NOT confident in... xsmhx

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

The Beverly Hillbillies: 42
Samford and Son: 31

Samford will get their points but there is no way they can stop JJ and that App. offense.

[GlassOnion]

As to the 2nd part of the bolded sentence, I think I know the DB you are NOT confident in... xsmhx

Ahh, yes. I'd say that the majority of App fans have probably picked that up by now watching the games. The coaches must know, Its even been cited by opposing coaches in pre-game shows as a matchup they wanted to exploit. If we had been able to keep just one of either Blackmon or Middleton from getting injured at CB, and been able to keep Lott at FS, I feel our D would have been very good, despite the other losses. With more confidence in the back 4, we'd be more able to bring pressure to the opposing QB, but alas its not to be. At this point I'd be playing Krah just to get Lott back at FS. Its worth a try.

[asumike83]

At this point I'd be playing Krah just to get Lott back at FS. Its worth a try.

Or Rodger Walker, he has good starting experience too.

[GlassOnion]

Or Rodger Walker, he has good starting experience too.

Right. Or Rodger Walker.

I think he's still in limited action due to the illness he's recovering from though. Those kind of issues tend to take alot of time to work themselves out, if ever they do work back out 100%.

[asumike83]

Right. Or Rodger Walker.

I think he's still in limited action due to the illness he's recovering from though. Those kind of issues tend to take alot of time to work themselves out, if ever they do work back out 100%.

Very true. I'd just like to see ANY move made to get someone else in at free safety. He is a liability, gets torched on a weekly basis. xbangx

[asucrutch23]

Very true. I'd just like to see ANY move made to get someone else in at free safety. He is a liability, gets torched on a weekly basis. xbangx

Glad to know I'm not the only one. It's a weekly topic at our tailgate despite the guy being from our hometown. Don't understand what the coaches are watching...

[GlassOnion]

Very true. I'd just like to see ANY move made to get someone else in at free safety. He is a liability, gets torched on a weekly basis. xbangx

I agree. But, I have my doubts on a fix. This kind of reminds me of the Jared Reine situation of 2009. Earlier this morning I thought it was Blaylock, but I went back and found out it was Reine. Same type of situation, both hardworkers, good guys, but limited ability. Reine started for a bunch of games, and got burned big time, over and over, and threw off the entire DB. Crazy thing is, McDuffie was the #2, and sitting on the bench. Now we dont have that obvious a replacement.

[asumike83]

Glad to know I'm not the only one. It's a daily topic at our tailgate despite the guy being from our hometown. Don't understand what the coaches are watching...

I typically trust the coaches to make the right call but I just cannot imagine there is not a better option in our secondary. There was talk of Henry Barnes getting his shot at FS but really have not seen much of him. I have to assume that Barnes really struggles in practice, because the coaches must see Blalock targeted successfully by every team we play.

[asucrutch23]

I agree. But, I have my doubts on a fix. This kind of reminds me of the Jared Reine situation of 2009. Earlier this morning I thought it was Blaylock, but I went back and found out it was Reine. Same type of situation, both hardworkers, good guys, but limited ability. Reine started for a bunch of games, and got burned big time, over and over, and threw off the entire DB. Crazy thing is, McDuffie was the #2, and sitting on the bench. Now we dont have that obvious a replacement.

It's funny you say that. We had the exact same conversations about #25 that we do now about #34...

[GlassOnion]

I typically trust the coaches to make the right call but I just cannot imagine there is not a better option in our secondary. There was talk of Henry Barnes getting his shot at FS but really have not seen much of him. I have to assume that Barnes really struggles in practice, because the coaches must see Blalock targeted successfully by every team we play.

I may be wrong, I hope I am, but I vaguely remember something about Barnes being injured. I thought I heard that once, like 2 weeks ago, but I havent heard anything else about it, so Im not sure if Im mistaken or not.

[GlassOnion]

It's funny you say that. We had the exact same conversations about #25 that we do now about #34...

Yeah, I think the coaches have a soft spot for these guys. I remember JM saying something about some problems and stress in Reines home life, and that he actually came back from summer break like 30+ lbs lighter than when he left. They had to work out an extra meal plan and everything to get him back into playing condition. I dont think they wanted to bench him and put anymore stress on him.

[asumike83]

I may be wrong, I hope I am, but I vaguely remember something about Barnes being injured. I thought I heard that once, like 2 weeks ago, but I havent heard anything else about it, so Im not sure if Im mistaken or not.

Not that our depth chart has been all that reliable to this point but he is still listed on the 2-deep behind Blalock. He got 3 tackles against Coastal, did not accumulate any stats last week but is listed in the participation chart so it looks like he may have gotten some special team reps. Although, if he is dealing with any kind of nagging injury then he probably would not be a candidate to start. I haven't heard anything about him being banged up but we've had so many guys go down that it's possible I just lost it in the shuffle.

[blueballs]

My head tells me that this one will come down to turnovers and points off turnovers.

My gut tells me that this will be a hard fought game that App wins with multiple fourth quarter scores.

[GlassOnion]

Not that our depth chart has been all that reliable to this point but he is still listed on the 2-deep behind Blalock. He got 3 tackles against Coastal, did not accumulate any stats last week but is listed in the participation chart so it looks like he may have gotten some special team reps. Although, if he is dealing with any kind of nagging injury then he probably would not be a candidate to start. I haven't heard anything about him being banged up but we've had so many guys go down that it's possible I just lost it in the shuffle.

Yeah, I just pulled up the updated depth chart, surprised he's still #2. Another thing of note, Jamal Ware is backing up 2 LB positions, MLB and the Bandit. Where in the world did McGowan go? Is he in the doghouse or what. I hope he doesnt transfer out of agitation.

[GlassOnion]

My head tells me that this one will come down to turnovers and points off turnovers.

My gut tells me that this will be a hard fought game that App wins with multiple fourth quarter scores.

I hope youre right. We have been tending toward late game heroics since the Chatty game. Well, at least getting better from the 1st snap to the last anyway. Satterfield has done a GREAT job grinding out long drives, even though I think we're geared and have the horses for quick scoring. He's really helping the defense keeping them off the field so long. IWe certainly missed that cohesion b/w the O and D in recent years.

[Ivytalk]

Sam"don't call me Stan"ford by a FG.