One-time ACC coach of the year Jim Grobe (snicker) appeared on 850 The Buzz earlier this week and was asked, point blank, why he won’t play App State. In short – he’s a wuss. And so is the rest of the state.
It’s too big a game for us, you know, to be honest with you, David. I’m being as honest as I possibly can. I know one time Coach Moore asked me, you know, he had kinda heard that maybe we thought the game had some bad blood to it, you know, that is was maybe some sinister reason for not wanting to play and I said ‘Coach, honesty, I don’t want to get my butt beat by you, you know. And that’s the honest truth.’
There are a lot of programs out there at the championship level that can beat bowl level teams and Wake Forest, you know, we’re playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference (and) there’s no way in the world that I want to play a tough non-league schedule. …
From our stand point here at Wake Forest we’re looking for teams that are really, truly at the bowl subdivision level and teams that are going to be pretty much even with us. Teams that if we play we got a chance to beat.
I think any time you play a team like Appalachian State you’re gonna have an opportunity to be the Michigan that year. … There’s not a team in North Carolina in the bowl subdivision (like ECU, UNC, etc. that wants) to play Appalachian State because you know that there’s a real good chance that they’re going to kick your rear end.
Wow. And to think he was thisclose to being an SEC coach. At least now we know why Virginia Tech is such a powerhouse. To be the best, you have to play the best. To be Wake Forest, just run and hide under the bed. Whimpering optional.
Don't confuse this as being apologetic for Wake Forest or any other bowl subdivision team that is unwilling to schedule (or back out of agreements with) the elite champ subdivision teams. But from the perspective of the teams from BCS conferences – what do they honestly have to gain from playing a team like App? Even beating a dominant, dynasty-running championship subdivision team could never be considered a "quality win" by the majority of pollsters which could ultimately wind up costing a team a shot at a major bowl. Sure any team that thinks they might be championship worthy should take a shot at beating a challenging team that doesn't have nearly the resources that they possess. But years like this year in college football – KU and Hawaii making the BCS with a weak non-conference schedule; LSU getting beat up by playing far and away one of the toughest schedules; Michigan arguably costing their shot at a BCS bowl by losing to App – these things aren't going to convince AD's and Head Coaches that games with these teams offer greater benefit than potential damage. Champ subdivision teams will never get the same benefit of a college basketball "midmajor" in that they won't ever get a chance to establish themselves as a quality opponent. And when schedules are assembled you amass quality opponents and automatic wins. App doesn't fall into either of those categories. You have to admit – if you're a major college football team, you want nothing to do with App. You'll take your chances that your conference schedule alone can put you in the BCS, with a nonconference schedule that won't screw that up.
i was the one who got dave glenn to ask the question
props to the host for having the guts to ask.maybe we can get a game with texas have mack brown pay us back for his job.
Sorry, Dodge. Your arguement doesn't make much sense. Florida played Western Carolina last year, the same year that they won the BCS title bowl game. The last time I checked, WCU wasn't a quality opponent in any sense of the phrase, yet the Gators still went on to win that crystal ball trophy. Face it, Weak is scared of ASU. Grobe knows that he doesn't have the speed on the field to play with the Mountaineers. All this talk of winning the ACC is a joke. That conference won't see good football unless they watch CBS on Saturday afternoons (or they get smoked by LSU).
Those teams don't mind WINNING against an ASU or other FCS team, they just don't want to LOSE to one!