Appalachian State

Two days ago, Dan Wolken tweeted: 

App State is good. Scott Satterfield hired Jimmy Sexton this year. Someone is going to hire Scott Satterfield. https://t.co/aoUV5rvopk

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) October 10, 2018

I disagree. Appalachian State is an excellent football team, as we saw on Tuesday night when they played Arkansas State.  Using the using the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model that is detailed here, let's take a look at the Appalachian State football team in the FBS during head coach Scott Scatterfield's tenure as head coach.

2014
The Mountaineers finished their first regular season in the FBS at 7-5 overall.  Appalachian State played against a "much easier" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS; meaning that their SOS was greater than two standard deviations higher than the average SOS for the "league".  The Mountaineers best regular season game was a victory (37-32) over #50 ranked Arkansas State and their worst loss was to FCS Liberty by a score of (48-55).  Overall, the Mountaineers had the #34 ranked team with the #55 ranked offense and the #25 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2015
Appalachian State finished the regular season overall at 10-2 (bowl eligible) and defeated #74 ranked Ohio (31-29) in their first bowl game to finish overall 11-2.  Appalachian State played against an "easier" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS.  The Mountaineers best game again was their victory over #25 ranked Georgia Southern (31-13) and their worst loss was to #77 ranked Arkansas State (27-40).  Mountaineers had the #1 ranked team in total production; yes the model stated that this was the best team in all of the FBS!!  The Mountaineers had the #17 ranked offense and the #7 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2016
At the end of the regular season the Mountaineers were 9-3 (and were bowl eligible) and defeated  #19 ranked Toledo (31-28) to finish 10-3 overall, while playing against an "average" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS.  The Mountaineers best win was over #22 ranked Old Dominion (31-7) and their worst loss was to #65 ranked Tennessee by a score of (13-20).  Appalachian State had the #17 ranked team in total production with the #53 ranked offense and the #10 ranked defense from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

2017
The Mountaineers were 8-4 (and bowl eligible) again defeating #39 ranked Toledo in their post-season bowl game, while playing against an "easier" strength of schedule (SOS) as compared to the "league" average SOS.  The Mountaineers best win was over #65 ranked New Mexico State (45-31) and their worst loss was to #107 ranked Louisiana-Monroe by a score of (45-52).  Appalachian State had the #14 ranked team in total production with the #29 ranked offense and the #12 ranked defense  from the Complex Invasion College Football Production Model.

Finally:

App State belongs in the top 25. This is the best team they’ve ever had. Defense hasn’t given up double digit points since the Penn State OT loss.

— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) October 10, 2018

I agree! They are currently #20 at the end of last week:  NCAA FBS Week #6 Top 25 Productive Teams.  This is an excellent football team.