No it is not worth it …

We don’t get rings for beating ECU!

Absolutely, positively not. Keep Edwards on the sidelines until McNeese State comes to Boone.

If he’s ready play him, we play to win EVERY game

We will get more respect for beating ECU than winning a Southern Conference Championship. Play Him!!!

If it comes down to not starting AE…that doesn’t mean we are not playing to win EVERY game. I am a huge Armanti fan but I am an even bigger Appalachian fan. We can win games without AE…I plan on watching wins without him for many years to come (that doesn’t mean I wont miss watching the most exciting player I have ever seen put on an Appalachian uniform). But if he doesn’t play, the Appalachian Football Team will still take the field with plans to win against a very strong opponent in Greenville and i will be there cheering for whoever is on the field. Keep AE healthy so we can all experience an amazing senior year performance. if all involved thinks he can play without risk of re-injury…lets see him take the field against the “big boys”!

Amen, Geoff. But if he isn’t at least 90 – 95 percent, it makes no sense to risk further injury, particularly in the least meaningful game on our schedule and particularly since we have one proven backup and one seemingly capable backup. Backups. Plural.

Exactly. if we had a shallow bench with “scrubs” as backups in the QB position, I could see people pushing harder to start AE before he was ready. We have some capable kids looking for a chance to prove themselves. Why not play a completely healthy player with tons of talent than an injured phenom with a lingering risk of re-injury in a game that is not going to have any effect on our season. again, not saying that if we dont play AE then we should just assume a loss. thats not how our team works. AE wants to be healthy this year just as much as we want him to be. I would love to see him play, but if its not the right decision, I would rather see him play all season and watch him coach in our irrelevant game.

I posted 4-6 weeks ago…regarding AE’s supposed DUI…it’s not a bad thing if AE sits out. We have nothing to lose at ECU. Sure, we have a lot to gain, but beating ECU doesn’t accomplish our goals (#1 – SoCon Championship, #2 – National Championship).

The McNeese St game is WAY more important to us than ECU. That game will truly measure our talent again another great DI-AA team.

DP has a yr under his belt…and it getting the reps in practice. Start DP, have Travaris at #2 and keep AE on the sideline resting. If he can play against McNeese St, great. If not, rest him ’til the Samford game. That will give him almost 2 months to be 100% healthy and ready for the SoCon.

We won’t see AE until the conference opener against Samford. Write it down, take a picture!!!

Podiatrist means foot doctor.

Other than that guy, raise your hand if you’ve seen Armanti Edwards’ bare foot in the past month.

If you did not raise your hand, you have no idea when he will be ready to play football.

I’m all about getting AE healthy, even if that means coming back after the open week.
But, let’s be clear about this. There is no more important SINGLE game on our schedule than ECU. What it would do for recruiting both through local and national coverage cannot be over estimated. As with UM, we would have more national magazine articles(probably not covers) and Sport Center stories. It would also catapult us in the playoff picture.(we lost twice in conference after Michigan) With that said, I can’t buy into this being the “least meaningful game on the schedule.” Again, I believe it is the SINGLE most important game. Collectively, the SOCON schedule is the most important, no doubt. After all this, from the sound of the slow pace of recovery, I think you sit AE until the open week. Start him practicing that week. It would give him three more full weeks to heal and two full weeks to get ready for what should be a fairly light game. He should be up to full speed and even without the usual dings that come with the grind, for conference play. JMO!

Thanks Webster!

It’s my professional opinion…agree or disagree…(and to finish my Chris Tucker quote)…I don’t giva f–k.

Why you getting so defensive Podiatrist?

Clayton said, “OTHER THAN THAT GUY, raise your hand if you’ve seen Armanti Edwards’ bare foot in the past month.”

Did clayton fire me?

If he’s still got bleeding (at least that what has been reported) then there’s no way he will play next weekend, which is fine with me.

I’d rather him him healthy when we start league play at 100%.

He gives us the best shot at ECU, but it’s still a long shot even with him in the lineup.

Does APP State have a team physician ??

Is there an injury report system in FCS football
like the NFL that the coaches must file ?

AE doesn’t need rest…? He needs to rest his foot
but he needs the Reps..? So how does he get both…?

Who makes the call…Medical Saff..Coaching Staff..or the player…?

Assuming AE does not play. Would be a big stage for #2 or 3 to step up and show some skills. One thing that I know will happen. Going to be a lot of ASU FANS AT THE GAME READY TO GO!!!!
This is regardless who starts at QB

We should put DP and Cadet in the backfield at the same time! Maybe that will add up to effect AE has on opponents. But seriously though, beating ECU would help continue to do a lot for the program. ECU is right outside of top 25 status right now and is ranked in some publications, so it would be a big win. I just hope we take a hard nosed agressive approach to the game and we’ll be okay.

I’d take a win over ECU rather than a forth championship right now. It would be even sweeter if we could beat them with a back-up quarterback. Seriously, a win over ECU would not only help with regional recruiting, but would also shut-up a lot of in-state naysayers. That would make me more happy than a fourth national championship.

And I’d take a win over Florida next year over winning a national championship.

after the Richmond game, i trust the coaching staff will do whatever needs to be done regarding Armanti and his injury.

Presley…..’nuff said.

If the doctor clears him then play him. Anybody who says differently is a Naysayer.

deja vu…. Is it just me or is this a similar situation to the one we had 4 seasons ago in the NC game?

If it doesn’t or didn’t or don’t matter if AE plays or starts against ECU, then why is the countdown clock still there, or having a “name the game” contest, or all of these posts being put up about AE’s status? I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m ready to see them play at full strength! DP is ready now probably, and I’m not doubting his abilities, but he’s still the future of the team, AE is NOW!

i would love to beat ECU, but in all likelihood we need AE to do that. If it’s a choice between beating ECU and NC, give me the NC.

From what I have heard Cadet is playing as good or better than Pressley in practice. Cadet is getting just as many reps as Pressley. Armanti should play if at all possible. Stitches in foot is not something that would get reinjured by playing to early. It is just a bad cut, not a broken bone. I agree with previous posts that ECU is the most important game on the schedule. I would also trade NC for a win at ECU. We have proven we are the best in FCS. Time to think bigger!

well word on the street is Armanti was at practice this morning, so this whole discussion may be moot.

Dan, hopefully that word is bond!

That above Joe is not the original Joe..

This is the original Joe that Naysayer loves to hate..

Armanti should not play unless he is at 95% with very limited chance of him getting re-injured… A national championship is better than one win

A win at Florida versus a championship? Maybe a good trade. A win at ECU versus a championship? Not remotely in the same realm. Florida is much more highly respected now than was Michigan when we won in Ann Arbor, and Michigan then was more highly respected than ECU will ever be. In-state bragging rights would be nice, but not enough to trade away a championship, and not enough to translate into the kind of national exposure that came with beating Michigan. I’d bet a majority of the players and coaches would think the same way. ECU and C-USA prestige is a long, long way from that of Michigan and the Big 10.

Joe, glad you clarified–I didn’t think the Joe imposter post sounded like you.

They’ll have to chain AE to the sideline to keep him from playing at ECU.

I get why its cool to beat ECU. We all have friends, family, and coworkers that went there, so bragging rights are important.

But, this is a sport, not a talking match, so we should want the championship more. Don’t worry about the S— talking, you have clayton on your side.

anybody else still think it’s odd seeing cadet in the no. 7? i still see richie..

thoughts on retiring 7 at some point?

i want to beat ECU so a certain random poster will shut their freaking mouth.

What did I say dan?

haha – if only it were you this time clayton.

parking lot….I think we should get #7 and #47 hung somewhere in near future. Most colleges still allow the use of the numbers though even when they are “retired”.

Sorry, didn’t know that regular “Joe” had such a great reputation for smart posts. Didn’t mean to make people think that I was him. Dan, if I am considered the “random poster” then I agree that Armanti playing and an ECU win would shut me up as I would not have anything to complain about. Most posters on this board think to “small time” for me. I want to move up to FBS as soon as moratorium is lifted. I am tired of hearing people say “Sit Armanti and get him ready for McNeese State” That makes alot of sense…

Oh, dear Lord, not the talk about moving up to FBS talk again.

Speaking of retired jerseys … We could have an honor system where we honor jerseys … that way players could still use the number and know who has worn that one before … not only would we get to honor the player but the player currently wearing the number gets to honor the player as well …

Joe Imposter – it’s not you. it’s one of our friends from the eastern part of the state.

At least one. Maybe two. Maybe more. Though a couple of recent Pirate interlopers have been reasonably civil.

Does anyone know if we actually have a “process” (time out of school, etc.) for deciding which jerseys to retire?

IF we move to FBS some day (and I remain unconvinced that we should), I hope we do it after winning the ‘09, ‘10, ‘11, and ‘12 national championships, just so GaSou will no longer have the record at six. Doesn’t the moratorium run through 2011 or 2012?

DRM, i believe the moratorium is through 2012. To everyone who wants to go 1-A I ask if 05-07 was more enjoyable for app fans than it was for Marshall fans. Sure they go to low-tier bowls quazi-consistently, big whoop. If we move up, we will never have a shot at a national title, especially not every year like we do now.

I couldn’t agree more, Dan. The same question could be posed to our other former SoCon friends down in Greenville, NC.

former is the keyword

Lets get one thing clear right off the bat. The majority of ECU fans have a Ton of respect for App and anyone with any degree of football intelligence knows App can win this game. I remember watching one of our away games at a sports bar in Raleigh with several hundred ECU fans, and after our game we switched to the App=Mich game and we were all pulling for you. This game should be very competitive and I hope all who make the trip to Greenville enjoy themselves. Ficklen is a great football environment. Anyway, ignore some of our idiot fans, unfortunately we all have them, abd enjoy your trip to Greenville. Hope we have a good, competitive and injury free game.\

GO PIRATES!!!!!

JMO but as a Pirate I am glad to be on the FBS boat. While FCS has a better Nat’l Championship scheme, ECU still gets more notoriety/recruits/tv time (4 ESPN games this year) in FBS. Besides hopefully the BCS will be coming down eventually and some adoption of FCS championship will be enacted. I think App. has come a long way and would gladly see them join the big leagues come expansion time.

The SoCon freaking sucks. A win over ECU does more for recruiting, national exposure, and increasing our chances of going BCS, than a conference championship and a ring combined. I say we go balls out and whip some pirate ass!!

What’s so great about being a bcs school? I really don’t understand the allure of it. Every year, some school’s fans gripe and complain about how they were left out of the national championship game and there’s tons of second guessing because of the broken system they have. At least in the FCS the only team that ever complains about being excluded from the title game depsite a playoff system is JMU. Bowl games are entertaining, but have little meaning to anyone outside of the 2 teams fan bases, although I would love to play in the Mieneke Car Care bowl as much as anyone (please read the sarcasm dripping off that statement).

Personally, I like not having to fight 90k plus other people to get to the game. Not to mention what a horrid experience that would be on top of a mountain! We still get good exposure and an added benefit of being FCS is that it’s still relatively cheap to get season tickets. If we were to move up to BCS I seriously doubt the added cost wouldn’t be passed on to ticket holders.

If you are a fan of the game, you should want to aspire to play at the highest level, not against private, 2,000 enrollment schools. We are underachieving if we stay in the SoCon and everyone knows that. I’d rather see us lose more games as it forces to get better and it would be fun to take road trips to bigger stadiums in fun cities.

The better question is how much intersection will Patrick Pinkney of ECU throw.
By the way Edwards will start. Do not worry. He is a senior and plays injuried a lot anyway. This game matters a lot. App St need to beat ECU.
Remember ECU, App St wins and the GOLDPOSTS come down. I will get the App St fan a choice. (1) throw the GOLDPOST on the main Campus. (2) Have a truck ready is drive the GOLDPOST to Boone and March in around App St.

^previous post…/sigh…shakes head.

The highest level is the NFL.

agrees with andrew…posters should have to pass a breathalizer before posting

I serious doubt we have enough fans there to take the goalpost down. We would get our butts kicked if we tried to do that anyway.

If our D-Line can play well, Pinkney will be forced to pass, which is good for us. ECU’s kicking game is a disaster so if we can play good D, we have a shot to win this one.

The question is…do we want Armanti to start? We cannot afford for him to be out of rhythm or not 90%+ or he will throw INTs.

midwest, I say sit AE unless he’s completely recovered and can get a full week of practice in next week. I have no doubts he knows the offense and can run like the wind, but he hasn’t played since the UR game and needs to get his timing down with the WR’s.

I believe our “pro start AE at 90%” fanbase thinks ECU is a bunch of nice guys who won’t try and go after his foot on purpose. It’s very easy to stomp on a hand or FOOT when there’s a pile.

As much as I’d like to see him play, and for ASU to beat the Pirates, I feel the risk is to great. The goals of this football team, according to Coach Moore, is to win the SoCon and then the National Title.

I’m no doctor (but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night), I’d say McNeese St. at the earliest, Samford at the latest.

If money is not 100% we should sit him … Play Cadet or Pressley … or both!

I do not think AE will play if he is not 100%.

I say put Cadet and Pressley on the field at the same time!

Can’t you just tape that foot up? Come on AE.

Midwest, probably the most consistent voice on this site in favor of moving to FBS, raises a point that is central to the FCS versus FBS discussion–he says we should aspire to play at the highest level. It seems that to some, principally the pro-FBS camp, there are only two relevant levels (Clayton’s NFL observation aside)–FBS and FCS. In reality, there are divisions within levels, and those divisions are much more clearly defined and institutionalized in FBS. In tier-one FBS, there are the six BCS conferences, from which major bowl participants are usually selected and from which at least one and often both national championship contenders are chosen. Then there’s tier-two FBS–the other five FBS conferences, including ECU’s C-USA, which vie for such prestigious post-season appearances as the Meineke Car Care Bowl Dan mentions.

Thanks to the BCS conferences, FBS is almost like the English Premier League relegation process, except that the five “junior” FBS conferences have been permanently relegated–under the present system, they have no chance of moving up to tier-one FBS status. If (or when) we move to FBS (which involves a lot more than just our football program, remember), we will be joining one of these junior varsity leagues (or a newly formed such conference, perhaps), certainly not one of the truly big-time leagues. One can argue that is still a step up, and that argument can be defended on the basis of more scholarships, perhaps a bit more TV exposure, enhanced alumni and fan self-image in some cases, etc. But until and unless BCS is reformed to allow the ECUs and Marshalls of the FBS world a real chance of competing for a national title, one can argue just as legitimately that what we would give up to move up is more than what we gain.

As to private schools and small enrollments that always seem to bother Midwest, I’ll repeat facts I’ve previously mentioned, using C-USA for comparison to SoCon: C-USA has four private schools, SoCon has four (I’m ignoring Davidson here, since we’re discussing football and Davidson doesn’t compete in the SoCon for football). Two of SoCon’s private institutions (Furman and Wofford) are smaller than all four of C-USA’s; Tulsa and Rice are almost identical in size to Samford and Elon, with Tulsa having the smallest enrollment of these four and Elon the largest–all four are between 4,000 and 6,000 (based on 2007 statistics). Finally, based on Sagarin’s season-ending rankings for 2008 – 2009, Tulsa and Rice ranked 1 and 2 in C-USA (Tulane and SMU, C-USA’s larger private schools, were 11 and 12); in the SoCon, the four private schools ranked second through fifth, behind only ASU. I think it is obvious that quality of competition is not directly affected by the size or public/private affiliation of a particular school. Now, quality of rivalry? That may be another matter, simply because larger schools, which are generally public, usually have more alums and fans than do private schools. Unless the private involved is Notre Dame, that is.

I still think the odds on an AE start are long (not insurmountable, mind you, but long). With 10 days left, gotta wonder if he will have taken enough snaps to be game ready.

Good points DRM – I would add that the ACC has 2 small private schools, one that is competitive and one that is, well, duke. Miami is also private, but has a larger enrollment. The whole argument against private institutions is really moot.

Overall, I think the question comes down to if you would rather be the biggest fish in a smaller pond (remmember, there are still 2 other divisions below us) or a really small fish in the biggest pond. Peronally I like winning games too much to sacrafice the 5 or 6 years it would take us to acclimate to BCS level, keeping in mind that as DRM points out, contending for a national title there will be almost impossible.

BOOM!!! WHAT NOW MIDWEST??!!

It is truly just a matter of opinion. DRM’s points above are valid. I for one am of the mindset that I would much rather Appalachian State go to a small bowl game in FBS than win a NC in FCS. Each NC that we have won has had worse TV ratings than the lowest rated bowl game of that year. Maybe we will never be a “Florida”, but I would much rather be an “ECU” or “Marshall” or even a “Western Kentucky” than an “Elon”!

Indeed. On that–” . . . just a matter of opinion”–surely we all can agree, regardless of which side of the FCS – FBS discussion we favor, or whether we prefer FCS national championships or small bowl games. I’d say that summarizes the discussion very well, Joe Imposter.

Except for the comparison to Elon…

Yeah, there was that . . .

I think another point is the programs continued ability to contend at the present level. I some times think that some app fans including myself until last season think that we just by showing up are guaranteed to be in the playoffs. What happens after we miss the playoffs to years in a row or go out in the first round. I think this arguement will disappear. I just hope if we go through some tough seasons that the great support that the program has been receiving does not disappear.

Lots of us remember plenty of years when we didn’t contend or even compete for that matter. And it will happen again…just the ebb and flow of sports, especially college football where recruiting is, by its very nature, uneven. Plus big time college sports invite corruption. At least in our present status, the athletes can be students and even mow their own grass, though we might want to rethink that. BTW, has the name of the landlord who required AE and Quick to mow grass surfaced yet? He could be the ASU version of Steve Bartman. (anyone? anyone?)

I would like to know what landlord is that cheap they make you cut the grass.

Lots of people have to cut grass at rental houses.

I was trying to remember someone having to do it when I was in Boone. I realize that it happens I just couldnt remember any college kids having to do it.

My junior year gf lived in a house off campus and had to cut the grass, or well, i guess her roommates did… or me… or one of the other sig. others there…

it seems like i remember reading somewhere that they volunteered to cut the grass. can’t remember where. read so many articles about the injury!

Okay … if we do move up chances are we will not be winning national championships for a few years. However, if we just want to stay where we can win national championships in all of our sports … lets move down to DII or DIII so our bball team can win every year too.

The big fish in a little pond vs little fish in big pond arguement goes both ways …

Just saying …

I think we will move up regardless of what our fans want … when that happens I dunno …

GO APPS!

asu7, we don’t need to move down in basketball, don’t know if you’ve heard but Buzz is back! We’ll be winning Socon titles and hanging Sweet 16 banners in no time!

Exactly, Dan. In fact, the only thing more likely than ASU (or ECU or Marshall) EVER winning a national championship at the FBS level is that Holmes Center will someday house a Sweet 16 banner.

Neither is going to happen (unless we steal the banner from Davidson’s 2007-08 season, that is).

I’m sure we could even get a few of the ones from Chapel Hill loaned out to us voluntarily – they seem to have plenty.

That’s why we rehired Buzz–now I get it! If we can’t win ‘em, borrow ‘em!