Hummm... "closer than we expect"? Who is we? MAT, anything can happen in a game with an oblong ball... but if you watch App State play football... and I'm sure you have... they don't mess around. They play a style (coaching) of football that I have wanted Hud to adapt in year two moving forward with UL. It requires a different recruiting approach, different coaching approach... and a level of competitiveness that is unknown to us.
I have always wanted us to be competitive against well coached programs. If Hud does something radically different tomorrow night... I want us to win this game. If Hud does what Hud does... and we kind of keep it close... I'll consider it a failure. I do not want a close game that gives Hud the false sense that he's onto something. He is not even close to being "onto something".
What may keep this game "closer than we expect" is Hud eating clock by running every single down. He's praying for turnovers and Eli making something out of nothing. Just watch. That is not my idea of "keeping is close" with a good program. But that is what you will see tomorrow night. At the first sign of an errant pass... watch all of our tentacles retract... and the turtle will ball up and try to push the shell toward the goal posts... Hud style.