Georgia State falls to St. Francis

[Skjellyfetti]

Not the Division I Saint Francis.

The NAIA one.



Georgia State now 0-2 vs. NAIA teams

Georgia State’s football team suffered perhaps the worst loss in a season filled with disappointing results.

St. Francis, a NAIA school with an enrollment of a little more than 3,000, defeated the Panthers, an FCS (formerly Division I-AA) school with an enrollment of more than 30,000, 30-27 in overtime Saturday at the Georgia Dome. After kicking the 30-yard game-winning field goal, the Saints’ Sean Murray did a little soft-shoe dance on the Panthers’ grave as his teammates ran toward their sideline.

“There aren’t any words for that,” Curry said. “Except to say, for one more embarrassing fourth-quarter performance we apologize to the Georgia State community.”

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[ODUsmitty]

Have you ever seen a business open that has no realistic chance of success?

Georgia State is like opening a British-style pub in the middle of Dublin. Or like opening a Jewish deli in Tehran. Or like opening a soul food restaurant on the UR campus. All epic fails.

Georgia State. Lowering the RPI of every opponent in every sport, one NAIA loss at a time.......

[Skjellyfetti]

I gotta admit, I didn't appreciate ODU's successful start as much as I should have. Watching Georgia State flounder around made me realize what a remarkable job y'all have done

[ODUsmitty]

AnalJelly-

Big difference. ODU has long had a solid fanbase and is happy to be in the CAA.

GSU has illusions of grandeur promulgated by the 6.93 fans that seriously root for them.

[ODUalum11]

And I think next year it will only continue to go downhill as they join the CAA....

[Pwns]

I gotta admit, I didn't appreciate ODU's successful start as much as I should have. Watching Georgia State flounder around made me realize what a remarkable job y'all have done

Georgia State isn't sucking because it's hard to do well when you first start up. Coastal and South Florida both had strong starts when they started in the FCS. State sucks because they went for a coach with name-recognition instead of one who could win. Curry's career is defined by one 9-win season at Tech (which included an impressive 24-17 win over a Western Carolina team that would finish 4-6-1) and one BCS bowl loss at Alabama. Curry's a classy guy, but not a coach.

[UD1Hens]

I don't want them in the CAA. That's embarrassing. Bill Curry is not the answer for building an FCS program. He has had 3 good seasons (most recently in the late 1980s) and does not know a thing about building a program. I understand what they did, hire a big name, have him get talent based on said name, compete right away, then move up to the FBS level asap. Problem is, no one wants to play football in a 10% filled NFL stadium. While ODU is now the watermark for FCS start-ups I didn't expect success like that right away. However they are in for a rude awakening next season. The conference will not be as down and it will get ugly.

[∞∞∞]

...However they are in for a rude awakening next season. The conference will not be as down and it will get ugly.

Really, this rhetoric again? Oh well.

[TribeFanInNC]

And I think next year it will only continue to go downhill as they join the CAA....

Downhill? They just lost to an NAIA squad. How much lower can they go?

[ODUalum11]

I understand what they did, hire a big name, have him get talent based on said name, compete right away, then move up to the FBS level asap.

I said it over on monarchnation, who cares about a move to the FBS when you can't even beat NAIA teams. I thought for sure they'd beat St. Francis yesterday but after that loss I'm not even sure they'll beat West Alabama (D-2) next week and I think it's a safe bet they won't even beat Campbell either...Campbell isn't a household name yet as they just started football back in '08 but they have a pretty decent team this year. I believe they're 6-3....

Also they like to believe playing in a NFL stadium helps their recruiting, I believe it actually hurts their recruiting. Recruits attend their games and they see games where a stadium is maybe roughly only 25% full, at best...I believe the Georgia Dome's capacity is about 80,000? I think they are getting roughly 10-15,000 per game? So not even 25% capacity. I ask every poster here on this board would you rather play in a NFL stadium that's probably only gonna be 25% capacity for games or would you rather play at places like Montana, ODU, App State, Delaware where games are close to, if not sold out and have a much better atmosphere? oh yeah, and have a much MUCH better fanbase.

Also they like to compare themselves to USF which is understandable for two reasons 1) both were start-ups at one point, 2) both play their home games at NFL stadiums but how is USF doing this year, how did they do last year? Not very good in a mediocre Big East conference. Also in a time of realignment do you hear USF's name being thrown around at all? NO. You see Pitt and Syracuse going to the ACC, West Virginia to the Big 12 and rumors of UConn, Rutgers to the ACC and Louisville's name is thrown out there as well but where is USF left in all of this? I believe and I have this assumption that if they make a move to the FBS it will be to the Sunbelt.

Also considering the success of their other athletic programs, I like to believe that hurts their chances of being invited to a high profile conference. Also what gives the lesserGSU fans a reason to believe a move to the FBS is possible? Has the Athletic Administration and School Administration give any reason to believe that? I know UTSA is moving to the WAC in a couple years and I believe Charlotte has sort of stated the same thing that at some point they will like to move up to the FBS. Also with them being in a market that includes the Atlanta Falcons and Georgia Tech and Georgia which conference would like to invite them anyway?

[∞∞∞]

I think Georgia State actually has the talent to compete. They've been recruiting really well down there and they're also one of the biggest teams I've seen ODU play, but it hasn't translated onto the field this season. Right now they're just a bunch of individual talents that can't play as a team, but they definitely have the parts to succeed. If Curry can get GSU's act together and adjust his coaching a bit, I think they might win a couple in the CAA. Their players are CAA caliber, but the team isn't yet.

[Monarch Nation]

While ODU is now the watermark for FCS start-ups I didn't expect success like that right away. However they are in for a rude awakening next season. The conference will not be as down and it will get ugly.

I'd like to address this.

We've heard before the season that this was a good year to 'get our feet wet' in the CAA because it wasn't as strong as it has been in the past. However, while the CAA will be tougher next year, what is to say that ODU won't get better and tougher as well? Don't think we've reached the apex of football skill, there are still numerous things we do (or don't do) that needs to be addressed before we can compete with the top of FCS, which is our goal.

I heard two years ago that some established powers (not admins, but fans) in the CAA didn't want ODU and GaState in because we would water down the league. Valid point, and we have made every effort that if the league is watered down ODU was not the cause.

I don't expect every year in the CAA to be like this one; only a fool would think that. But don't expect us to be clueless next year or any year thereafter. We understand how tough this league can be, even though up until now we have been on the outside looking in.

I'm not saying that we are going to dominate the CAA every year, but we will be ready to compete. That was the advantage of hiring a longtime CAA assistant as a head coach over a coach with name recognition and little else. We are in the CAA to win games, not to try to use it as a stepping stone to a 'higher' lever.

[DJnVa]

IWhile ODU is now the watermark for FCS start-ups I didn't expect success like that right away. However they are in for a rude awakening next season. The conference will not be as down and it will get ugly.

Explain this. Somehow, all the other CAA teams will improve but ODU won't? You know our QB is a true freshman, or top 3 RBs are 2 freshman and a sophomore, our most explosive player (Antonio Vaughn) is a freshman, our top TD guy at WR is a freshman, etc?

How are guys currently on other CAA rosters, that ODU beat this season, somehow going to pass ODU next year? Did they all out-recruit ODU this year?

[ODUalum11]

IWhile ODU is now the watermark for FCS start-ups I didn't expect success like that right away. However they are in for a rude awakening next season. The conference will not be as down and it will get ugly.

Explain this. Somehow, all the other CAA teams will improve but ODU won't? You know our QB is a true freshman, or top 3 RBs are 2 freshman and a sophomore, our most explosive player (Antonio Vaughn) is a freshman, our top TD guy at WR is a freshman, etc?

How are guys currently on other CAA rosters, that ODU beat this season, somehow going to pass ODU next year? Did they all out-recruit ODU this year?

I agree, I also think our secondary will only improve as well since we are VERY young at that position as well. We will also have Craig Wilkins back at Linebacker who IMO is gonna be without a doubt All-CAA next year. We'll be a little thin at defensive line but I have confidence in our younger d-linemen. The fact is that our offense shouldn't miss a step next year since we pretty much return all of our skill players.

[SumItUp]

IWhile ODU is now the watermark for FCS start-ups I didn't expect success like that right away. However Georgia State is in for a rude awakening next season. The conference will not be as down and it will get ugly.

Explain this. Somehow, all the other CAA teams will improve but ODU won't? You know our QB is a true freshman, or top 3 RBs are 2 freshman and a sophomore, our most explosive player (Antonio Vaughn) is a freshman, our top TD guy at WR is a freshman, etc?

How are guys currently on other CAA rosters, that ODU beat this season, somehow going to pass ODU next year? Did they all out-recruit ODU this year?

You are not reading UD1Hens entire quote in context. I fixed it for you.

[ODUalum11]

Explain this. Somehow, all the other CAA teams will improve but ODU won't? You know our QB is a true freshman, or top 3 RBs are 2 freshman and a sophomore, our most explosive player (Antonio Vaughn) is a freshman, our top TD guy at WR is a freshman, etc?

How are guys currently on other CAA rosters, that ODU beat this season, somehow going to pass ODU next year? Did they all out-recruit ODU this year?

You are not reading UD1Hens entire quote in context. I fixed it for you.

That's what I thought he originally meant...talking about Georgia State but after reading that post a few more times it was really not clear who he was talking about specifically.

[JoshuaTU]

The down year talk gets old so fast... its failing to give credit to these schools that have better teams now that "the big boys" use to count as a win every year. ODU, Towson and Maine have increased their level of play but the perennial winners of the CAA are unable to face the truth that so they blame a "down year" instead of giving credit to some pretty good coaching and great start at ODU. Also the free wins in Northeastern and Hofstra are gone from the schedule as well so thats cutting into certain schools ability to get playoff eligible. The playoffs should give us a clear picture of whether these schools are pretenders or serious contenders. If a CAA team makes it deep into the playoffs it should put to bed some of the down year rhetoric. Let us all look forward to GSU joining the conference, looks like it might make be a nice padding the record game if they continue their level of play from this year.

[UD1Hens]

Sorry for not being clear. After re-reading my post I could understand the mix-up. In regards to the rude awakening I was talking about Georgia St. Obviously I've had a ton of positives to say about ODU. The conference will be improved net year, so will ODU. Georgia State will be in for the rude awakening, they are lightyears behind ODU and the rest of the CAA

[UD1Hens]

The playoffs should give us a clear picture of whether these schools are pretenders or serious contenders. If a CAA team makes it deep into the playoffs it should put to bed some of the down year rhetoric.

I couldn't agree more TU. Each year you could pretty much pencil in 4 CAA first round/Quarterfinals wins, 2 CAA teams in the semis and 1 in the finals. Right now I believe the playoff teams are Maine, UNH, Towson, and ODU. 3 of the 4 will be pretty new to the playoffs and UNH has a long history of losing in the quarterfinals. Like you said, if a couple CAA teams make a run to the semis then the "down year for the CAA" chatter will be put to bed. I'm interested to see how the above teams handle the pressures of Playoff football. I wish UD had a dog in the fight but we $hit the bed vs UMass and URI.

[ODUfanRazor]

While ODU is now the watermark for FCS start-ups I didn't expect success like that right away. However they are in for a rude awakening next season. The conference will not be as down and it will get ugly.

Ga State is terrible......can we just go ahead and hold a league wide vote to keep them out next year? lol

[ODUalum11]

Trip thinks they can possibly lose to West Alabama this week as well, if thats the case (losing to a NAIA school, then a D-2 school) then they are in for a world of trouble.

[SpeedkingATL]

Someone needs to set up a "cage match" between Western Carolina of the SoCon and GaState of the CAA to help boost the overall ranking of the winning conference and to assure an FCS victory for one of those 2 schools.

[tampajag]

Trip thinks they can possibly lose to West Alabama this week as well, if thats the case (losing to a NAIA school, then a D-2 school) then they are in for a world of trouble.

West Alabama is by no means an easy game, they're pretty good this season. Just lost to #1 Delta St by 2 points.

[∞∞∞]

FWIW, Massey has Georgia State rated as #267 and West Alabama rated #232. To put that in perspective, the St. Francis team GSU just lost to is #292. If his computers are correct, UWA should at least give GSU a game.

[Monarch Nation]

FWIW, Massey has Georgia State rated as #267 and West Alabama rated #232. To put that in perspective, the St. Francis team GSU just lost to is #292. If his computers are correct, UWA should at least give GSU a game.

Wouldn't surprise me if UWA gave them a loss.