Recruiting Forum: Official Appalachian State Pre-Game/Game Thread

#1

nicksjuzunk

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#1
Tennessee opens the season on a Thursday night this season, so I thought I would release the annual recruiting forum pre-game/game thread a bit early, as a bonus.

Appalachian State makes the windy drive through the Smokey Mountains next week, where 102,455 fans... and an exceptionally hungry Volunteer team will be waiting. Most Vol fans know little about Appalachian State, but some fear them on name alone. On September 2nd, 2007, a very talented Appalachian State team, who was still not yet an FBS program, knocked off #5 Michigan in what was probably the biggest upset in college football history. Michigan proved to be hugely overrated, and long tenured coach Lloyd Carr "retired" that season. If you have a couple of hours to kill, the game is below.

[YOUTUBE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec9POE2eQdI[/YOUTUBE]

The good news for Vol fans, is that those players are long gone, yesterday's memories don't win today's games, and the Tennessee Volunteers are legit. How do the Mountaineers stack up? They are talented, but we are Tennessee. It feels extremely satisfying to be able to finally say that again.

Keys to Victory:

1. Pound their Ground(game): Appy State lives on the run, and they have talented players carrying the pigskin. Last season, they ranked 6th in the nation in rushing. RB Marcus Cox rushed for 1,423 yards. The next 5 leading rushers also all return, and they have a QB who can take off in Taylor Lamb. Running QB's for mid-level conference teams have not fared very well against TN recently so it should not be too much of a hassle. Fortunately for Vol fans, the defensive line has all-time talent potential, and I wouldn't expect the Appy State offense to be able to do much. Expect them to rush 45+ times, and if Tennessee can keep their YPC under 4.5, there won't be much to worry about.

2. No Air: Although Appy State is primarily a running team, they lost 3 of their top 4 receivers last year, including Simms McElfresh. Yes, you read that right... Simms McElfresh. One does not simply replace a name like that, so you have to assume the passing game will struggle on the loss of his name alone, and the Vols get to see what a Shoop led defensive backfield looks like. It should be something special.

3. Keep it clean: On offense, the Vols will try to keep their jerseys clean. Look for Tennessee to use their speed on offense to create space for playmakers, and less grinding between the tackles. There will be enough time for that in SEC play. The fewer hits Dobbs, Hurd, and Kamara accumulate, the better.

4. Peaking OL: It's time for the Tennessee OL to peak. Two years ago, they were absolutely awful. Last season, they showed great improvement, but Dobbs mobility also made a lot of would-be sacks into highlight fodder. This year, they have the experience and talent to step up in a major way. Appy State has a stout defense, (11th nationally in 2015) and a knack for getting in the backfield and causing some disruption. Honestly, they would probably be better off sitting back. Never let our QB go full Dobbs.

5. Youth Movement:
They hype has been huge for this recruiting class. A lot of the guys have made a big impression in fall camp, and they should get opportunities to play in the 4th quarter. It's not necessarily just the true freshmen. Vol fans are eager to see if Dormady continues to look as good as he has in mop up duty. Taylor will finally get some playing time at DE, and John Kelly should get plenty of opportunities as Butch gets conservative in the second half.

6. WR Boom: Tennessee has been in a dark place with WR production since Dooley was fired. It's time for Josh Malone to put up the numbers that his apparent talent warrants. Preston Williams is now 100% and ready to terrorize defenses, and new combers Brandon Johnson and Tyler Byrd need to step into the fray and prove their worth as well. This is a great game for the new guys to get the jitters out, and for the older guys to step up big time.

Prediction:
Tennessee mirrors Clemson in similar ways this year. Last season, Appalachian State lost to Clemson 41-10. That team was probably a little bit better than this current squad, and I would look for a similar result. Appalachian State scored their 10 in the second half as Clemson took their foot off of the gas, and that is a classic Butch tactic. He doesn't embarrass clearly overmatched opponents and will go conservative on offense, but Shoop will be looking for the 0, if he can get it.

TN 41
App 10
 
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#2
#2
Oh man! It's finally here!!!
giphy.gif
 
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#7
#7
Let me take the time to rewrite the OP's thesis:

Keys to Victory:
Show up

Prediction:
Appy State will disband the program after the beatdown
 
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#8
#8
2. No Air: Although Appy State is primarily a running team, they lost 3 of their top 4 receivers last year, including Simms McElfresh. Yes, you read that right... Simms McElfresh. One does not simply replace a name like that, so you have to assume the passing game will struggle on the loss of his name alone, and the Vols get to see what a Shoop led defensive backfield looks like. It should be something special.[/B]

Don't forget they also lost Bobo Beathard.

Seriously, dude, nice write-up. Better than most of the articles written by the so-called professionals, IMO.
 
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#11
#11
Appy State has a stout defense, (11th nationally in 2015) and a knack for getting in the backfield and causing some disruption. Honestly, they would probably be better off sitting back. Never let our QB go full Dobbs.

Great contribution thai guy!

A minor difference of opinion: I'm thinking Appy's D will play to its strength and go all out to penetrate and disrupt. There's nothing for them to lose and plenty to gain. However many years ago it was, slaying giants is their heritage and they'll lay claim to anything they've got facing 102,000.

Knowing an opening win is not likely, their D-coordinator will want them to establish their identity now for the rest of the season. So I don't think they'll hold back. Besides (Dobbs notwithstanding), if there's a game when Tennessee's offense is susceptible and shouldn't quite be clicking, it's the first game.

So we shouldn't be surprised if it's a low-scoring first half, maybe 6 to 0 or 10 to 3, with Appy's penetration producing some TFLs and forcing some three-and-outs. We'll break some long runs against their gambles, but we may not get 'em to the end zone.

I don't know if Appy gets their penetration off of stunts or blitzes. If they blitz a lot, that may keep our freshman receivers on the bench. Debord will want Dobbs to have receivers he trusts are reading what he's reading and adjusting routes accordingly.

Hope I'm wrong, but this could be one of those first halves where we dominate in every statistical category with little to show for it on the scoreboard. In the end though, I'll guess we hold Appy to 3 and score 31 -- 37 if Medley's perfect on the day.

(But only 28 if A.Medley starts pronging goal posts again!)
 
#15
#15
Pretty sure their offense wasn't the problem that day....their defense was getting gashed that whole day by Armani Edwards.

Pretty much...if you score 32, you should usually win, unless your defense gives up 34.

That's similar to Bray and our offense scoring 30+ per game, but Sal's defense having an open door policy to our end zone...good times :-(
 
#16
#16
50-10....the good guys. We will score points with the defense. I am fired up. I may try and make it to that game. Hotel booked for Alabama. Trying to make Florida happen. Haven't felt like this in years. It's TIME
 
#18
#18
Nick, you lost 2 east TN cred points by putting an "e" in Smoky. Other than that, spot on, ole chap.
 
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#19
#19
Original Poster has a pretty good strategy in place. I think like one poster said though App State will be aggressive on defense & pack it in to stop the running game. We will be forced to take shots down the field.

We've got the WR's to do that in Preston Williams, Josh Malone, Josh Smith, & Tyler Byrd. I say we'll have at least 2 big plays in the passing game. One for a TD & one for a big gainer. Each will probably be to a different WR too.

App State will not let both Hurd & Kamara get 100+ yards. I think one will but not the other. Dobbs might get close to 100 yards himself by called runs & also getting out of tackles & running. I think he will throw for around 300 yards to a slew combination of WR's, TE's, & RB's.

Our defense will be tough to handle. App State will try to run the ball on us no doubt. What scares/concerns me is their really good QB in Lamb. He's capable not only of taking off & running but throwing the ball downfield as well.

However, with our secondary good luck to him with very little WR experience returning. I think he'll get popped quite a few times by JRM & Kirkland trying to run the ball himself on either called or broken plays. I think it will take us 1 quarter to figure out their scheme or what they want to do. This will result in us probably giving up two field goals to them & App State scoring 6 in the 1st quarter.

After that, it will be slim pickens on offense for the the rest of the way. We might allow them to score late in the 4th with our 2nd & 3rd string guys playing but that's about it. We just have to good of a defense to let this team score too many points. That's unless we have broken coverages on both running & passing plays. I don't see that happening with our experience coming back for 2016 on defense.

I say both Barnett & Kongbo will have at least 1 sack apiece. I also think Kirkland & JRM get in on the sack party as well. Don't think anybody from the secondary will get sacks because of the running ability of Lamb causing the DB's probably not to blitz much at all. I know Shoop likes to blitz but I think in this game it will be with our LB's.

They don't have anybody at WR that scares us so it will be one on one mostly. Our safeties will play some man but probably more zone to keep a watch on Lamb. There will probably be a spy placed on Lamb but I have no idea who Shoop will use to do that. Possible JRM.

I think both Malone & Preston Williams will have big games for us in the passing game. They will both be close to double-digit receptions. I also think Kamara catches his share out of the backfield too. Ethan Wolf & Croom will combine to catch ~8-10 balls as well. It will be decently close at halftime. I'll say around 17-6.

It will be just about ALL UT the 2nd half. We will wear them down. I say we rush for at least 200 yards. Combine that with Dobbs throwing for ~300 yards & that means around 500 total yards of offense.

I also think Evan Berry will have one good KR. Not for a TD but around a 40-50 yard return. Sutton will have the same in the PR game. Around a 30-40 yard return. We will have the dominate numbers in stats. I think we hold them to a total of under 300 yards of offense.

Possibly even under 250 yards. Most of their yards will come via the ground. I bet they don't get close to 100 yards passing. I'll say somewhere in the range of 75 yards. What does this add up to you'll say? Well, not a complete & utter blowout in my opinion but a solid win. My prediction is:

Vols 38
App State 13
 
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#25
#25
This is the last week without college football for a few months...boom! 👊🏻👊🏻👊🏻
 

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