Question for App. fans

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

Numbber of passing attempts for each game...

LSU - 33
Jacksonville - 16
JMU - 19
Presbyterian - 24
The Citadel - 18
Samford - 29
GSU - 23
Furman - 24
Wofford - 22
UTC - 20
Elon - 18
Western Carolina - 25
ASU - 41
Richmond - 42

So my question is, do you think Coach Moore should have benched Edwards and put in a QB who could have ran the ball? I mean, why try to win being a pass-happy team instead of doing what you won 3 national championships with?

[Touchdown Yosef]

I guess you go with what you are confident in. I think Richmond and SC State's defense played a part in that as well. If they knew we were one dimensional with a running qb it could have allowed them to put 9 or 10 in the box.

I would have liked to have seen Deandre have a few series but AE showed he could do it against SC State and I guess the coaches felt like he gave us the best chance to win even w/out being a real threat to run.

I think those numbers may also have been a bit skewed by the fact we were down so many RB's and that also led to a pass happy team. I just wish we still had Elder for situations like these.

[ERASU2113]

I had heard over the week Armanti was still trying to recover from injuries that caused the coaching staff to not play him against WCU.

After the SC State game, I could tell he wasn't well wnough to be the average Armanti. Friend on the tennis team told me about how he had been in rehab every day for the past couple of weeks.

The only thing is I wasn't sure if DeAndre Pressley was ready to play in that atmosphere. Armanti did it yes, but you have to compare the supporting casts for both teams. I don't know if it would have changed the outcome against UR.

[yosef1969]

My personal opinion is that they should have went with DeAndre after the two early interceptions in the 3rd. But it's easy for me to sit back and second guess those decisions since I'm not held accountable to them.

I suspect the coaching staff still felt that AE gave them the best chance to make the big play. Hard to argue with that viewpoint. AE has come up big in so many instances, they had to be inclined to think he was going to pull another rabbit out the hat.

[phillyAPP]

My personal opinion is that they should have went with DeAndre after the two early interceptions in the 3rd. But it's easy for me to sit back and second guess those decisions since I'm not held accountable to them.

I suspect the coaching staff still felt that AE gave them the best chance to make the big play. Hard to argue with that viewpoint. AE has come up big in so many instances, they had to be inclined to think he was going to pull another rabbit out the hat.


DITTO !!!

I wish it was a video game so we could see how DeAndre would have done.

[theasushow]

call me crazy, but I'm not sure I would bench one of the greatest fcs players of all time. Sure he was throwing picks left and right, but he was what got us there, I feel like it would be a stab in the back to turn on him that quick when he was struggling. You dont see NFL teams like the Colts benching Payton Manning when he is not on the top of his game.

[jonmac]

I don't think it has anything to do with simply benching the best player. It was clear, even in the SCSU game, that AE was not close to 100%. So, yes, I think it would have been OK to try DP for a series or too. It seemed to me that not only was Armanti hurt but he seemed to be shaken emotionally a bit too, because of his performance. And, theasushow, that is the difference between someone like Armanti and Payton Manning. AE is great but he is no Manning. What I mean most by that is that AE NEEDS his legs and they clearly weren't there against UR. But, as has been said, it's easy to say when we're looking back and will not be held accountable.

[theasushow]

I agree, I just felt like the opening post on this thread was leaning more in the direction of "why did ASU abandon the run"? when in reality asu didnt "abandon the run", it was more like "asu COULDNT run". i dont feel like we intentionally abandoned what got us the 3 NC's.

[WVAPPmountaineer]

My answer is no!!! - I have posted this in another thread so my apologies to those who have read this more than once ----

This is my guess regarding not putting DeAndre in late in the game - Again, just a guess, but my guess is they didn't want to take the chance of having a true freshman having a couple of picks that might hurt his confidence during the off-season - UR knew we had to pass and they were dropping into coverage and sending the DL lights out - we were one dimensional and even with DeAndre in, we were using our 6th string RB (WR) so the spread option was out because there was no "option" on the pitch - the great Richmond D would have swarmed DP - Even with all the turnovers I doubt seriously AE will have a confidence drop and his teammates know he gave everything he had - does anyone really want to see the emotional leader of the ream taken out of the last game - Now, conversely, it might have been devastating to DP as a true freshman - he now goes into the off-season with the positive
memories of the great second half he had at Western and so do his teammates -- just my thoughts ----

[ASUMountaineer]

Not a chance I bench Armanti unless he was physically unable to continue. He's a Payton Award finalist with two rings and arguably the best player ever in the 80 years of Appalachian State football. You go with who took you to the dance, and it is Armanti. I was thinking about this this morning. In my opinion, the biggest difference in the offense this year was KRich. We lost some good receivers, but we didn't pass a lot anyways and Quick turned out to be a big play threat. However, we never had that dependable running back. You can say we lost Moore and Welton and Radford were beat up. That's true, but none of them are KRich. To me, in my worthless opinion, that was the difference maker. He opened up the game for Armanti to be Superman.

[FCS_pwns_FBS]

call me crazy, but I'm not sure I would bench one of the greatest fcs players of all time. Sure he was throwing picks left and right, but he was what got us there, I feel like it would be a stab in the back to turn on him that quick when he was struggling. You dont see NFL teams like the Colts benching Payton Manning when he is not on the top of his game.

I probably haven't watched AE in person/on TV nearly as much as you have, but it seems to me it isn't a matter of "being off his game". It's a matter of him not being able to run the system that got you guys where you were this year. IMO if you have a system that utilizes QB mobility then you shouldn't try and win a big game throwing it all over the place. That's certainly the way GSU did things with the QBs in the old option offense. Jayson Foster was a fantastic player, but against you guys in 2005 we had to bench him because he was not 100% for running. The mobility of the QB is more important in our old offense than it is in your current one, but the principle is the same. IMHO, if you guys were throwing 40-45 passes a game all this season instead of 20-25, you'd be lucky to be 5-3 in the SoCon this season. Not trying to take anything from AE, he's a fantastic player and I'm going to miss not bring able to watch him tear things up on ESPN2 in December.

xtwocentsx

[appstate38]

Were we one dimensional... YES!!! Was it all on AE, NO!!! Only because the running backs were banged up as well. Weren't able to run the inside zone plays and the option was a non-factor. Lets face it, No K Rich, no Devon Moore and Welton no at full strength. Running game was a huge factor.

[APPdopted]

I totally agree about the running game. I had been asking people the status of the running backs getting healthy most of the last month and not AE, I knew AE was going to give it all he had regardless, but he was hurt most by not having some solid backs around him. I got kinda scared (even amidst the career passing #s) against SCSU seeing them rely on the pass so much. Passing's great in a spread option attack, but nothing compares to watching a team demoralize a defense with the run. I think DeAndre would have done okay and added a running element, but I give a lot of credit to their D.

The craziest thing to me is Armanti kept us in it a lot longer than the score indicates at 60%, with little to none of his amazing running ability, and probably limited throwing ability due to injuries, plus the slew of mistakes by other players. I guess I still see his greatness in the worst game of his career. But you can't bench him, people may have needed to be honest about his injuries, but you can't bench him.

[Appguy]

I wouldn't doubt that we possibly could have won or at least contended better had we started Pressley. Easy to say in hindsight though. heres my rational -

What made Armanti great earlier in his career was his scrambling ability, he even probably did it more that he should have, which is what pressley does as well. This might have better established the run ant possibly wouldn't have forced the two throws Seth Williiams turned into 14 points and a back breaker.

and I don't really see it as benching the all american star as much as I see it benching a guy who isn't capable of doing what got him where he is, and Richmond knew it, they pinned their ears back and dropped into coverage. Either way, when we only run the ball a total of 11 times, were going to lose.

[theasushow]

unfortuantely i dont think it mattered who was playing qb this past weekend, richmond was on fire, i dont see dp having a big effect on the outcome. i think david jackson summed it up best "well this is one of those games where there wasnt a bad call, or a questionable play or anything like that that really has had a play in the outcome, plain and simple...we just got beat"
i agree.

[ERASU2113]

It comes down to injuries. It's been stated a number of times already.

Armanti was at his very best 80%. He couldn't move and didn't run as much due to possibility of hurting it more. (I assume). Running backs were nonexistent as well. We all miss KRich of course, but replacements have been capable, just injuries depleted them. Radford, Welton, Jackson, etc would have made it easier on AE. You just don't expect to lose so many like that.

Now we can't discredit Richmond. Those guys were animals. Both DEs didn't play last year in the semifinals and you could see they had something to prove. The UR linebacker Patrick Weldon, I believe played the game of his life. I think his 1st game he played in was against ASU last year. Those guys had a fire and payback to ASU. They were by far the better team.

[AshevilleApp2]

To answer your original question, no I wouldn't have replaced Edwards. Even at 75% he was the better player this year. I think Pressley will be a good QB, but needs time to develop. And we do have a history of starting QB's playing hurt and ultimately winning big games.

I agree with other posters that what we lacked this year was a viable running game from anyone not named Edwards. Some of that was due to our RB's getting banged up. But I think a bigger problem was our offensive line not being as strong as in recent years. Improving our line play, really on both sides of the ball, will go a long way in determining how far we go in 2009.

[Black and Gold Express]

So my question is, do you think Coach Moore should have benched Edwards and put in a QB who could have ran the ball? I mean, why try to win being a pass-happy team instead of doing what you won 3 national championships with?

From my living room, I started calling for DeAndre not long into the third quarter. It was clear Armanti was a shell of himself running, and UR had picked up on those quick outside routes and they were becoming less effective. When Pressley did take one snap in the 3rd he faked a handoff to AE and had a nice run, showing the darting nature we are used to seeing from a healthy Edwards, that sealed it for me.

There was a point in that game even in the third where we could have won the game with a run-first look on offense. But they did not make the change and the rest is history. My personal opinion is that it was a mistake to keep him in there though this one time.

[appfan2008]

i feel the reason we threw the ball so much more was obviously injuries to edwards and others but i for one am not going to say we should have put DP in the game... AE is a major reason for where we are and I dont think we should take him out unless he was hurting...

[Black and Gold Express]

i feel the reason we threw the ball so much more was obviously injuries to edwards and others but i for one am not going to say we should have put DP in the game... AE is a major reason for where we are and I dont think we should take him out unless he was hurting...

Not being snarky here, but what in the last two games led you to think he was not hurting?

[CamelCityAppFan]

I don't know that I would have gone to Pressley or not. I do think that it wasn't just AE that seemed banged up and not 100%. Coco didn't have a good game either, and we all know about the running backs situation.

The more I think about it, the more I think that what we saw on Saturday was the cumulative effect of the last couple of seasons. There's been an enormous amount of exposure and pressure-- mental, physical, and emotional. I think this kind of a day was bound to happen, it's a shame it happened in the playoffs. Reminded me of the GaSo game last year, although Armanti very nearly got it done late in that game.

I think the upside is that losing this game takes a lot of pressure off going in to next season, and hopefully the team will loosen up. It will be a fresh start.