Gridiron Dynasty - Rockne DIAA

[joannes3000]

Welcome to Appalachian State, Coach! We are thrilled to have you leading our program and we are sure that you can lead us to great success.

Brooks Potts

President

Appalachian State University

Andre King

Athletic Director

Appalachian State University

[joannes3000]

Offensively we look to be in decent shape. No major defections in our first year with only slight tweaking needed in upcoming seasons.

JR QB Tim Murray should be solid in directing our passing attack for the next two seasons but we will need to build depth behind him.

SR RB Kevin Waters will spearhead our running game, backed by JRs James Allen and James Martin. We will look to RS a RB this season to hopefully have another stud in the wings within 2 seasons.

Our WRs are fast but seem a little sloppy, averaging a 78 in speed but only a 60 in technique. We will be stockpiling sooner than later, also, because we only have 1 SR and 3 JRs on the team currently.

Our TEs are accomplished blockers and good receivers, although we lack a deep threat I like to have. I will try to fill that need next season as we will have two graduating SRs.

The OL looks solid, if not spectacular. The line averages 76 strength, 85 blocking, 62 game instinct, and 64 technique. I would like to have better technique and game instinct but we're in good shape for the time being. We will graduate 3 SRs next season so we will have some holes to fill shortly.

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Defensively we look to be in decent shape as well. Much like with our offense, we have no major losses in year one.

The DL is similar to our OL. It averages 81 strength, 79 tackling, 65 game instinct, and 62 technique. I'd like to have technique averaging closer to 65 or better, but the near 80/80 combo of strength/tackling is solid.

Our LBs look pretty good. The unit averages 65 athleticism, 58 speed, 73 strength, 71 tackling, 60 game instinct, and 55 technique. Speed is the only real concern, as I would like to have that above 60. This is an above average run-stopping group, however, and with better speed would be an above average pass-defending group also.

Our DBs look to be average also. They average 77 speed, 52 hands, 66 game instinct, 76 elusiveness, and 61 technique. The good speed will help mask the average game instinct and technique. We will graduate 3 SRs next season, leaving this a priority position for the next two seasons.

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Our lone kicker should be solid as a kicker but a little weak as a punter. He has good technique (72) for XPs and FGs, but below average strength (63) for punts. We'll try to bring in a stronger kicker next season when our SR graduates.

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My recruiting class is already wrapped up with a solid class of 13 FR ready to report in two days. I will post the class, along with my thoughts as soon as recruit rankings are released.

[joannes3000]

Recruiting went fairly well in our first season at Appalachian State. We picked our spots carefully with recruiting because we didn't have the benefit of any carryover cash. Not only that, but Appalachian State has done no better than 12 wins in it's history, with a 4 year running record of 35-18, no CCs, and one playoff appearance (1st round loss). These factors (cash, team history) will play against us if we get into any protracted battles for recruits.

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QB: this position proved to be difficult, as even some of the mediocre QBs I was watching were getting gobbled up by non-BCS teams. We went for a mix of potential and work ethic instead.

David Barron(NR) has above average potential; average work ethic, stamina and technique; and below average strength and game instinct.

RB: we didn't need a RB with 5 already on the roster, but I wanted to start grooming a potential stud for future seasons. Mission accomplished, as Carpenter will take a RS to get his speed and athleticism up to par.

Bradley Carpenter played LB in HS but should make a nice transition to RB. He has excellent potential; above average elusiveness; average strength and stamina; and below average work ethic, athleticism and speed.

WR: this position seemed a bit thin this season also, and our recruiting suffered a bit because of it. These guys will be backups sooner than later.

Edward Black has above average work ethic and hands; average stamina and potential; and below average athleticism, speed, elusiveness, game instinct and technique.

Alex Snyder has above average stamina; average potential and hands; and below average athleticism, speed, work ethic, game instinct, and technique.

OL: as usual, the top recruits were gobbled up almost exclusively by DIA schools. That said, I think we still did fairly well with George Patterson being one of my top recruits.

George Patterson has phenomenal strength (DIA caliber); excellent potential; average blocking, work ethic and stamina; and below average game instinct.

Aaron Richmond has excellent strength and stamina; above average potential; average work ethic; and below average blocking, game instinct and technique.

DL: like with OL, the top recruits here were pursued by DIA schools. We still managed to land a pretty studly player in Carlos Hughes.

Carols Hughes has above average strength, tackling and game instinct; average potential, stamina and technique; and below average work ethic.

Greg Lopez has above average stamina, tackling and technique; average potential, strength and game instinct; and below average work ethic.

LB: I'm happy with the all-around pair that we signed. LB is always difficult to recruit because there are so many core stats to consider.

John Kramer has excellent speed; above average potential; average work ethic, tackling and game instinct; and below average athleticism, stamina, hands and technique.

Robert Peters has excellent strength and tackling; above average speed; average athleticism, stamina, work ethic and technique; and below average potential and hands.

DB: our DB recruits are all pretty well-rounded also, and I'm happy with who we landed given our limitations. We will RS one and run with only 7 DBs this season to avoid having 4 FR on the roster at one time.

Thomas Cook has above average athleticism and tackling; average speed, elusiveness, work ethic, stamina, technique; and below average hands and potential.

Albert Marshall has above average work ethic; average athleticism, speed, stamina, tackling, game instinct, and technique; and below average potential and elusiveness.

Francis Sanders has above average stamina; average potential, speed, work ethic, game instinct, elusiveness and technique; and below average athleticism and tackling.

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Overall I think we deserve a B grade. Given the circumstances of being at a new school that hasn't been terribly successful in the past, I think we still managed to find and land some quality recruits. The studs of the class are RB Carpenter, OL Patterson, and DLs Hughes and Lopez. I think we could've done better at WR and DB, but those can be addressed in upcoming classes.

[joannes3000]

Our first three games should be a good barometer of how realistic my expectations are for the season - at least matching last season's 11 win total, if not getting to 13 wins. We face a dearth of sim teams (7 total), and only one of them is threatening. Ironically, it's the same team I coach in Leahy - Furman. They had been human-coached for several seasons before becoming a sim team this season, so they don't have the roster deficiencies most sim teams have.

If I can get 6 wins from the group of 7 sim teams, that puts us half way to our goal of 12 wins. The games I'm concerned about are against Austin Peay (solid team), Nicholls State (excellent coach), and Georgia Southern (solid team). We will need to engineer a handful of upsets but I feel like we have enough pieces in place to surprise some teams.

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10/6/07 Columbia

10/7/07 at #14 Austin Peay

10/8/07 #21 Villanova

[joannes3000]

Well, this season has already provided it's share of plot twists in the first three games. Keep in mind my master plan of throwing a RS on that super RB convert we landed during recruiting...

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Our opening game featured the throttling of Columbia. We ran for 367/4 and passed for 297/4. The plot twist? My #1 RB, Kevin Waters, goes down in the 4th quarter of the game after things were well out of reach. He is slated to return after the 16th. That's 10 games lost and he will more than likely not get a medical RS because he will come back with 2 games left to go in the season. 7-56 W

Staggering from the loss of our #1 RB, we proceed to lose our game on the road against Austin Peay. We ran for 38/0 and passed for 222/2. 14-45 L

It was early in the season but it was gut-check time against Villanova. Villanova is as equally talented as Austin Peay, but they had to play in our house. We ran for 94/1 and passed for 281/2. Plot twist number 2: already reeling from losing our #1 RB for the majority of the season, our #2 RB, James Martin goes down 8 minutes into this game. Minor injury? Of course not. Martin won't return until after the 17th, making him eligible for the last game of the regular season. With my luck he won't be granted a medical RS either.

24-27 W

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After losing Kevin Waters, I started to worry a little. He was to be our workhorse this season. His loss was manageable only because we still had 4 capable RBs with good stamina. Losing James Martin hurts, though. We're now down to 3 healthy RBs.

I'm lucky that Adam Sheets, my current #2 RB but only #4 RB with everyone healthy, has great stamina or I would've had to pull the RS off of Bradley Carpenter. My blocking back, Leonard Brown, also has great stamina so we will see how long we can go with a 3 RB rotation. It was evident in the 2nd half of the Villanova game, however, that our running game is going to suffer greatly and we will need to rely much more on passing the ball.

With some crafty game planning and depth chart usage, I should be able to weather the storm until Waters and Martin return. Hopes of a 12 win season are all but out the window now, though. Looking long term, I'd rather have this season end with 10 or 11 wins and maintain the RS on Carpenter so we can make an earnest playoff run when my guys can stay healthy.

The next three games will show how much of a chance we have at the playoffs, with two games to gear up for our game against former ASC (East Texas Baptist!) coach fastec27. We should still be able to hit the 10 win mark, with an outside chance of hitting 11 wins.

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10/9/07 at Norfolk State

10/10/07 James Madison

10/11/07 at Nicholls State

[joannes3000]

Sorry for the lack of updates. I was out of town for a wedding and have been busy catching up with things when I got home. Anyhoo...

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The gut-wrencher against Villanova was followed by a much easier win against Norfolk State. We ran for 250/3 and passed for 491/7. 70-10 W

Against James Madison we showed that our running game still needs to be worried about. We ran for 208/2 and passed for 189/2.

12-31 W

Nicholls State was one game we had circled long before our RB injuries. This game showed that we are a legit playoff team without our top running threats, and quite possibly a darkhorse NC threat with them in tow. We ran for 80/1 and passed for 383/4. 38-28 W

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Our win against Nicholls State on the road has our team amped up. We don't face another human coached team until the 16th, and our #1 RB Kevin Waters will be returning after that game.

Regarding Waters, he will be in no shape to play immediately, and likely won't play until at least the CC or the first round of the playoffs. Our #2 RB James Martin returns after the 17th and will likely be as ineffective. I'm hoping that we can get a medical RS for both players.

Our final test of the regular season will be at Georgia Southern. Assuming we win out, that game will determine who plays in the CC against Nicholls State. So far, Georgia Southern's only conference loss was on the road against Nicholls State, whom we beat on the road. I like my chances against Georgia Southern, but we'll have to see how things play out.

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10/12/07 at Elon

10/13/07 McNeese State

10/14/07 at Furman

[joannes3000]

We took care of Elon by showcasing a potent passing attack that we will continue to rely on as the season progresses. We ran for 153/2 and passed for 490/6.

59-22 W

McNeese provided little competition as our passing game continued to shine. We ran for 137/2 and passed for 366/5. 17-55 W

Furman hung tight in the 1st half, as we were only leading 24-14. We scored the only points of the second half, however. We ran for 139/2 and passed for 391/2.

31-14 W

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At this point all I can say is wow. If you would've told me that we would be 8-1 after losing our top two runners I would've been skeptical. That's where we stand, however. Our lone loss was on the road against the currently #10 ranked team and we are currently ranked #13 going into the final stretch of the regular season. We have also yet to lose a game during in-conference play, which has us vying for a CC bid. The final game of the season will likely determine who gets the CC bid from the east division, as we are in good position to win the remaining games (the same can be said about Georgia Southern) leading up to our showdown against Georgia Southern.

Remember that outside chance of 11 wins? It looks like we will have that sown up shortly and we now have an outside shot of winning 12 games. If we do that and wind up in the CC, we could have my most impressive 13 win regular season ever, given the devastating injuries that we suffered at the beginning of the season.

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10/15/07 at Western Carolina

10/16/07 Citadel

10/17/07 Wofford

10/18/07 at Georgia Southern

[joannes3000]

Western Carolina was peskier than the final score indicates. Two TDs in the 4th made the win look more impressive than it really was. We ran for 191/2 and passed for 363/2. 31-13 W

Citadel is our last human team until the showdown against Georgia Southern. Here's a stat for you - we had 29 first downs and allowed 9. We ran for 225/3 and passed for 266/4.

13-51 W

Wofford made for a good punching bag. We ran for 237/3 and passed for 270/3. 9-48 W

Let's just get straight to the 4th quarter. Georgia Southern scores a TD and gets a 2pt conversion to tie things up with 6 minutes to go. We go 3 and out on our next possession, but force a pick at midfield. 3 plays later, we throw a pick right back, which leads to the game-winning 41 yard FG.

Now you might say that picks happen. You know how many times they 'happened' this season prior to the one that lost me this game? Twice. To date my starting QB has a 44/3 ratio. One of the previous INTs was during our blowout loss against Austin Peay early in the season. The last pick thrown prior to this one? 4 games and over 100 passing attempts ago.

35-38 L

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You know what I forgot? The tie-breaker system when it comes to selecting a CC bid. I thought that my loss to Georgia Southern would eliminate me from the CC because I would lose the head-to-head breaker against them.

I completely forgot that tie-breakers go as follows:

Conference record

Overall record

Head-to-head record

WIS ranking

Our rematch against Nicholls State is set, as they also win a tie-breaker (head-to-head) against Northwestern State. As I mentioned before, I feel good about our chances against Nicholls State. We beat them on the road earlier this season, so playing the game on neutral turf alone will be in our favor.

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10/19/07 #17 Nicholls State

[joannes3000]

The first quarter was absolutely sloppy for both teams. Our opening drive was cut short at the 33 yard line when we went for it on 4th and 2 and came up one yard short. Our defense bailed us out, as we forced a punt. Our next drive didn't fare any better as we threw a pick at midfield. Nicholls drove into our redzone and we got lucky as they missed a chipshot 36 yard FG. We end the quarter charging hard into the redzone.

We open the second quarter by completing the drive at the end of the first quarter for a TD. Our defense comes up huge with a forced fumble and recovery one play later. With the ball at the 39, it took two passing plays to find the endzone for a second time. Our defense stepped up yet again, forcing a punt on the next series, but we were pinned down at our 1 yard line. The first play of the drive was a 29 yard pass and we didn't even sniff a 3rd down on the way to another TD. Our defense forced another punt and we entered halftime with a 21-0 lead.

Nicholls State started the third quarter with a huge TD drive that went 80 yards in 9 1/2 minutes. Our next possession fizzled just past midfield and the quarter ends with us leading 21-7. Nicholls has the ball, however, and I don't feel as easy as I did at halftime.

The fourth quarter started off with a bunch of punting practice. We forced Nicholls to punt just short of midfield and returned the favor as we approached midfield ourselves. Our punt set them at their 3 yard line. Nicholls had to punt at their 23, but a booming 58 yard punt was coupled with a pick on our next possession to give Nicholls the ball at our 36 with 6 minutes to play. Nicholls completed at 10 yard pass to put them at our 8 yard line, but our defense came up with a huge turnover by stripping the ball yet again. The final 3 minutes drained away and we celebrated a CC victory.

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With the regular season now complete, I must say that I'm more than pleased with what we've accomplished to this point. The 12 win plateau that seemed out of reach due to injuries was met. This matches the highest win total ever for Appy State, with the previous 12 win season happening ages ago back in season 3. The CC is the 3rd ever for the school, with the last one coming back in season 15.

For all that we accomplished so far, we got little love when it came time for playoff seedings. Our 12-2 record (3-1 vs top 25 teams), and CC only netted us a #5 seed! We landed in the North bracket which features perennial powerhouses in Princeton (#1 seed), Rhode Island (#3 seed), and Bethune Cookman (#2 seed). To illustrate the strength of the bracket, Rhode Island lost in the NC last season after winning consecutive NCs beforehand.

Our first round opponent is 16th ranked St. Peter's, coached by hypnotoad. Hypnotoad is a veteran coach, having built a 287-144 record in one world. He has a losing record in neutral site games (11-17), however, along with a losing record in playoff games (2-6) and bowl games (5-6). St. Peter's offense is stacked, especially on the ground, but their undoing could very well be on defense. With only 6 DL, you best believe I'm going to run a lot. Those DL average a 62 stamina so they won't break easily, but a steady diet of running should do the trick.

[joannes3000]

Thought I'd post up a quick tidbit regarding our 1st round matchup. Going with the theme of injured RBs, my current #1 RB went down in the first quarter of the game on his first carry. That necessitates me having to bring back Kevin Waters one game ahead of schedule.

The hope of getting medical redshirts for either of my injured RBs is moot at this point because our season is extending into the playoffs. Not only that, but I'd much rather field a competitive team than get an extra year of eligibility for one of my players. I play to win the game.

[joannes3000]

St. Peter's opens the first quarter with the ball and were driving into our redzone when we forced a fumble. We turned around and went on a 7 minute drive that ended in a TD. St. Peter's comes right back with a 5 minute TD drive to tie things up.

We started the second quarter with the ball and what looked like a promising drive was stopped when we threw a pick at midfield. Our defense forced a three and out, although the punt pinned us back at our 1 yard line. With our backs to the endzone, we go three and out ourselves, giving St. Peter's the ball back with a short field. It only took 3 plays for St. Peter's to go 39 yards for the go-ahead TD. Our offense responds with a strong 80 yard TD drive that didn't even require a 3rd down conversion. St Peter's barely crossed midfield on their next drive before punting and the half ended with the score knotted up at 14.

We open the 2nd half with the ball and drove 80 yards to take a 21-14 lead. Facing a 4th and 2 from our 12 yard line, we were unable to stop St. Peter's as they connected on a TD to tie the game right back up. Our next possession ended at midfield again, this time due to a lost fumble. The quarter came to an end with St. Peter's facing 4th and long from our 30.

The final quarter starts with us getting the ball at the 20 after St. Peter's punted away. Our offense sputters at midfield and we have to put the ball right back. Our defense forces a three and out only for our offense to go three and out as well. Our defense forces a second consecutive three and out, giving us the ball at our 24 with 7 minutes to go. Our offense wakes up somewhat, driving all the way down to the opposing 18 yard line before having to settle for a FG. With 2 minutes to go, we kick off with a 24-21 lead. We were lucky to go into OT, as St. Peter's was on our 2 yard line but had to kick a FG with 2 seconds left.

We started on defense and watched St. Peter's march into the endzone in 4 plays. On offense we converted on 3rd and 8, en route to a TD of our own.

We got the ball to start the 2nd OT and connected on a 25 yard pass for a TD. Our defense held up for 5 plays this time before yielding another TD.

St. Peter's started the 3rd OT with the ball and only took 3 plays to score a TD. They also converted for 2 points. Our offense couldn't convert on 3rd and 7, setting up 4th and 7 from the 22. An incomplete pass ended the contest and our season.

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Could we have won the game? Absolutely. We had one more turnover than St. Peter's and also allowed them to go 2-2 on 4th down conversions. On top of that, we had twice as many penalties and yards (4/20 - 2/10). We didn't play sloppy all game long, but clearly there were times that our players broke down a bit and that made all the difference.

Losing yet another RB in the 1st quarter also left us extremely short-handed until halftime when I was able to make adjustments in our depth chart. Until that point, however, my two healthy RBs got fatigued beyond belief and I think that attributed to our 2nd half collapse on offense.

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I can't deny the fact that this 1st round exit is extremely disappointing. We would've likely been bounced in the next round any way, but we couldn't even make it to that point. It will definitely feel like a long time until next season gets here.

[joannes3000]

After delivering the most wins Appalachian State has had in 29 seasons, I put in a random application to the vacated Toledo job. I figured this was as good a time as any to try and make the jump to a non-BCS school because we had just won a CC, made the playoffs, and won 12 games (decent enough). I was pleasantly surprised to be accepted so soon.