Daily Archives: January 20, 2012

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian vs. Gardner Webb 10/6/2007

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Here we go with Week 6:

Gardner Webb (2-2) @ #5 Appalachian State (4-1)
10/6/07

Time: 2:30pm

TV: None
Kidd Brewer Stadium
Surface: Field Turf
Capacity: 16,650
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     69.13
Elon:    42.54
Home advantage: 2.93 points
ASU is favored to win by 29 ½  points

Series: ASU leads 6-0
Last Meeting: ASU 41, GW 6

 

The wonderful time of the year has finally arrived. The Apps will be back in Boone for the first time in three weeks, and since then, the weather has snapped cooler in the mornings. This time of the year has brought Homecoming, where some fans make their only trip of the year to Boone, with plans of seeing old classmates and get the first look of the changes that have been made to campus since their last visit. The Homecoming games brings a totally different feel to the college football setting. No longer are fans trying to get back into the swing of tailgating, but starting to get back to mid-season tailgating form. Anyone can put some burgers and dogs on the grill, but the real test is trying to bring in some different entrees and beverages. Homecoming is also special at Appalachian because of the values that the campus are built around: Family. Homecoming has become another Parents weekend. It is usually the highest attended game of the year, and this Saturday should be no different. For Appalachian’s opponent, it will be their game of the year. Appalachian State should make it their game of the year because it is the next game on the schedule.

 

This game is most likely the easiest game Appalachian will have for the rest of the season. It is the final non-conference game before the bye week. Luckily, ASU will catch a bye week when it is most needed. ASU is still hurting physically from the effects of the Michigan game, and emotionally from the Wofford game. The Mountaineers need a breather and the cure will be Homecoming and a bye week before facing long time conference rivals in Georgia Southern, Furman and The Citadel in consecutive weeks.

 

The Runnin’ Bulldogs have had an up and down season thus far. They have conveniently won their home games(Jacksonville and Austin Peay), and lost their road games (Mississippi State and Ohio). Gardner Webb has continued to use a two quarterback game plan for the most of the season. Devin Campbell started against ASU last year and finished the game with 96 years passing with three interceptions and three sacks. Sophomore Stan Doolittle did just that against the ASU defense. Doolittle finished the game with two carries for negative seven years, completed zero passes and was sacked once. Doolittle’s best play of the day was a quick punt that went 41 yards and landed inside the ASU 20. This year, both players are competing just under 60% of their passes. Doolittle has thrown two interceptions and Campbell has 4 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Both signal callers prefer throwing to Duvaughn Flagler who has 29 catches for 374 yards and three touchdowns.

 

 

Like I said last week, I could look good by saying that Kevin Richardson and the running game would find their groove against Elon. It just so happened as Richardson went for 158 yards and inched even closer to the ASU all time record. Richardson needs only 602 yards to break John Settle’s record and looks to feast on Gardner Webb again this week. Richardson went for 64 yards and one touchdown against GW last year, as Armanti Edwards stole the show with 101 yards rushing and 195 yards passing and three total touchdowns. Chances are that Trey Elder will lead the Mountaineers as Edwards continues to rest a sore shoulder. Elder ran for 115 yards and three rushing touchdowns to go along with 161 yards passing in the victory over Elon. While Elder has started, it is obvious that his favorite target is Hans Batichon. In the past two games, Batichon has caught 11 passes for 167 yards, which averages to a very clutch 15 yards per catch.

 

Now is my time to sound off a little bit. The ASU defense has been catching some serious grief in the last couple weeks. Most of the problems have come in stopping the running game, which many have blamed for the loss to Wofford. Against Elon, on their Family Day and in front of a Rhodes Stadium record crowd of 13,100, the App defense played much better. Elon came out with all their emotions worn on their sleeve. They sent a statement in the first quarter that said they were not going to go down without giving it their all. ASU survived a missed field goal and 200 yards passing in the fist quarter alone by the Phoenix offense. ASU was trailing in time of possession by 4 minutes going into halftime. In the second half, the running game got going and the defense was able to rest as Elon couldn’t stop the Mountaineers. ASU was able to make up the lost time in first half by running the football and eventually ended the game Beating Elon by five minutes. Do the math. Elon had the ball for just over 11 minutes in the second half. The ASU defense played better by not playing at all. In the fourth quarter, the defense was fresh enough to intercept an errant Elon pass and return it for a touchdown. Whenever the defense can put points on the board, any team stands a good chance to win. My point is, despite giving up rushing yards to Mike Hart, and letting Lance Kriesien run out of the pocket, the App defense was fine. The heat played into the beginning of the Elon game, and basically all of the Wofford game. When the ASU ofdefense starts getting back into form, it will have a direct correlation with the ASU running game controlling the clock and putting points on the board.

When it comes down to it, ASU must control the clock on offense. The Elon defense looked pitiful in the second half last week. It was not because they are a bad unit, but because ASU had set the tempo. ASU carried the ball 62 times for 365 yards rushing. The Mountaineer offense is best when it throws the ball around 20-25 times a game. This week, a young Gardner Webb defense will have trouble containing Elder, Richardson, and Devon Moore(172 yards, 2 touchdowns). It seems as if the Apps wanted to keep Moore a secret until later in the year, but felt the time was now to develop a player who will likely start in the 2008 campaign. Gardner Webb may have some success passing the ball as the game wears on, but it will not be a real factor in the game.  The Mountaineer fans are eager to see their team at home. The Mountaineer team is also ready to get back to friendly confines of Kidd Brewer Stadium. Shouldn’t be a problem rolling in this game, but ASU will make sure they are super sound before they start pulling starters. ASU has an all time record of 32-11-2 in Homecoming games but have won 21 of the last 25 Homecoming games. The trend should continue.

 

The First Pick:

Yosef 007           40

Running Dawgs    7

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian vs. James Madison Playoffs Round 1 11/24/2007

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Here we go with the First Round:

#12 James Madison (8-3) @ #5 Appalachian State (9-2)
11/24/07

Time: Noon

TV: CSS

Kidd Brewer Stadium

Surface: FieldTurf
Capacity: 16,650

Jeff Sagarin ratings:

ASU:     70.62

JMU:    64.92

Home advantage: 2.59 points

ASU is favored to win by 8 points

Series: ASU leads 11-3

Last Meeting: ASU 21, JMU 10

 

The season is finally over for all but 16 teams who have dreams of a National Championship dancing in their heads. For about eight of those teams, the opportunity to win it all is realistic. Two of those eight teams will face off in first round action in Boone, NC. One team is the two-time defending champions who will be playing at home. The other is the last national champion to win it not named Appalachian State. The Mountaineers opponent, James Madison feels as if they were given the shaft again by the NCAA by not being awarded a home playoff game. Some feel that ASU might have received the same sentence by being forced to the road in a possible second round match up with the playoffs’ number two seed in McNeese State. It’s really irrelevant. These two teams will not be thinking about where they should have been come Saturday. It’s the playoffs. It’s put up or shut up time. On Saturday, The Rock will be just as it is every weekend during the season. The Mountaineers will expect to win and James Madison will expect to pull off the upset. One team will play prepared and one will win and the other will be eating leftovers, dreaming of what could have been.

 

The James Madison team that will be taking the field at Kidd Brewer on Saturday is not the same team that Appalachian fans saw at the beginning of the 2006 season. That team was all about running between the tackles and play action passing. The Dukes have now adopted a style of offense that features the quarterback, Rodney Landers, who is questionable for Saturday’s game with a sore ankle. Despite his health, chances are he will probably play if necessary, so the Mountaineers must prepare as if he will. Landers has run for 1194 yards and passed for 1554 yards on the season and has had a hand in 24 touchdowns. In the last two games against Towson and William and Mary, Landers ran for 321 yards on 45 carries. That averages out to 7.1 yards a carry compared to the regular season where he averaged 5.9 yards per carry. However, against playoff teams, Delaware, New Hampshire and Richmond, Landers carried for only 5.4 yards per carry and was held well below is his season average in games against Delaware and Richmond.

 

They one way to stop Landers is get him off the field or force him to pass. In James Madison’s three losses, Landers’ touchdown to interception ratio was 1 to 2. In fact. Landers’ threw all of his four interceptions in the losses to North Carolina, Richmond and Delaware. On the opposite side of the ball, Appalachian is a prefect 19-0 when Corey Lynch incepts a pass. Landers must keep his passes away from Corey Lynch and the rest of the ASU defense if the Dukes are to advance to the second round.

 

The James Madison defense is considered one of the better defenses in all of the country. They have allowed only 21.5 points per contest and don’t allow teams to gain yards on the ground. They have only allowed 8 field goals and 31 touchdowns all season long. If there is a weak part of the JMU defense, its their pass defense, which gives up 205 yards per outing. ASU has shown in a couple games this season that they can throw the ball whenever they please. Madison only has eight interceptions on the season and has allowed teams to convert 63% of their passes.

For Appalachian the offense is similar that it revolves around the production of Armanti Edwards. When the Mountaineers can get to running the ball like they want, they are hard to beat. Although James Madison only allows 120 yards a game against the run, something has to give. I am not sure that James Madison has enough speed to contain the ASU running game as a whole. All season, teams have tried to focus on stopping Kevin Richardson, and if that worked, they were unable to contain Edwards. At the same time, when teams focused on Edwards, that is when Richardson would shine. Both players did their best running last year in the 2006 playoffs, when they blew away teams with their speed and elusiveness.

 

The ASU defense must step up to the plate this week as they face another strong running team. Take away Wofford and Western Carolina, and the rest of the schedule is full of teams that are considered run oriented. The Mountaineers have struggled at times this year with stopping the run, yet rank 10th in the nation in tackles for loss. If the Apps allow a somewhat injured Landers to run wild, it could be a long afternoon.

 

The tone of this game will be set from the very beginning. When I say that, I don’t mean whoever scores first, I mean whoever wins the coin toss. Both teams will likely prefer to take the ball if given the option and that is when either someone will score or get stopped. I think ASU holds the upper hand if they can get on the board first. In the games ASU lost this season, they had to fight back from behind and get out of their offense while doing so. Appalachian is much better team when they play with the lead. James Madison will need to move the ball and keep it out of the hands of the ASU offense early. Against Richmond, James Madison held the ball for only 23 minutes of the game and eventually lost by one point. ASU thrives on the quick score. The majority of ASU’s scoring drives this season have occurred in less than two minutes of possession. Penalties and turnovers are bigger when you play in the playoffs because everyone you play is better and they take advantage of those situations. I think another big factor in this game is field position. Anytime you can pin a team inside of its ten yard line, you force them to scrap half of their playbook. ASU punter Neil Young was able to control the spin on two punts last week to give Chattanooga bad field position. Whether it be Dexter Jackson or CoCo Hillary returning punts, both players have the breakaway speed that has the ability to flip the field on opposing teams. When you talk about field position and punting, the expectations are for a potentially low scoring game. Appalachian has not been held under 30 points all season long and although James Madison is talented defensively, I don’t see why the Mountaineers will not put points on the board. James Madison must make Appalachian play from behind and force the running game, and play mistake free. I think the home field advantage will come into play when it’s over. In 2005, ASU had 6,327 fans for a non-regional opponent in the first round. In 2006, 16,223 fans showed up to watch ASU pummel Coastal Carolina. More ASU fans will pack Kidd Brewer because they have expected to have a game this time of the year. James Madison has not won this year in front of large crowds and the health of their quarterback will certainly be an issue. The Mountaineers should advance to the next round.

The First Pick:

Black and Gold                35

Men don’t wear Purple      26

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian @ Michigan 9/1/2007

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Here we go with Week 1:

Appalachian State @ Michigan
9/1/07

Time: 12pm

TV: Big Ten Network
Michigan Stadium
Surface: FieldTurf
Capacity: 107,501
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     66.40
UM:    88.36
Home advantage: 3.08 points
UM is favored by the Sagarin rankings by 25 points (rounded).

Series: First Meeting
Last Meeting: n/a

 

The summer gets longer every year. Especially when your team is the two-time defending national champions. It gets even longer when you open on the road against a high profile opponent. The 2007 edition of Mountaineer football may play its toughest opponent in program history this weekend when it heads to Michigan’s famous “Big House”, which comes in just a few seats shy of 108,000. In 2005, many of the same players played in front of 93,000 fans down in Baton Rouge. That was a lot of people. Add on another town the size of Boone to Tiger Stadium and you get Michigan Stadium. The way the Mountaineer nation sees it, it’s just that many more people to prove that we have a good football team. This will be the first time that Michigan has played a team that is not in the NCAA’s highest division. That stat alone shows the respect that the Michigan athletic department shows our Mountaineers. Well, that and a small scheduling quirk, but lets not talk about that. Let’s talk about football. It is that time again. Labor Day weekend is finally here, so let’s get down to business.

 

In its history, which dates back to 1878, when Michigan defeated Racine (WI), by the score of one touchdown to none, the Wolverines have an all-time record of 860-284-38. On the other hand, ASU defeated Montana State in last years playoffs to record the schools 500th victory. Michigan has gone to 38 bowl games in their history, including twenty Rose Bowls. Appalachian has seen eight bowl games, shockingly no Rose Bowls. Michigan has 11 national titles, Appalachian, 2. This is a game for the ages, right? Most will not see it that way, but for every fan, coach, player and drummer wearing black and gold, it will be.

 

Of course, we live in the ESPN era of sports. Some of you out there, likely most, have seen a college football preview show or twelve, and we all are aware, that this could be Michigan’s best offense ever. I tend to agree. Chad Henne is your typical pocket passer who has accuracy that can’t be taught. Mike Hart has not fumbled since junior high football. Mario Manningham is about as fast as they come with big soft hands at wide receiver. They have it all, on the offensive side of the ball. The questionable part about Michigan’s team is their defense. The secondary was less than spectacular last season against Southern California in the Rose Bowl. Don’t get me wrong, the Trojans had some pretty good receivers, but they were not going to run past anyone. Michigan must also replace three-quarters of their front line, a unit they gave up the fewest rushing yards in the nation last year. However, defensive captain Shawn Crable leads the linebackers, as he is Michigan’s active leader in tackles for loss(14.5) and sacks (8.5).

 

For the Apps, its almost as easy. Armanti Edwards is the cool as a cucumber sophomore quarterback who became only the 5th player in NCAA history to run for 1,000 yards and pass for 2,000 yards in the same season. Kevin Richardson has been ASU’s leading rusher for two years in a row, amassing over 3,100 yards on nearly 5.5 yards per carry. The offensive line has been solid over the last two years, dominating opposing teams in the trenches. The Mountaineers have arguably the deepest receiving corps in the Championship Subdivision, lead by the speedster Dexter Jackson, including freshman standout CoCo Hillary, and super sophomore Josh Johnson, to go along with veterans James Hill, TJ Courman and Hans Batichon. Last years Mountaineer offense was the most prolific in school history, scoring over 35 points a game.

 

The ASU defense also to plug a few holes on the defensive front, but are anchored by their “back” seven defenders. Cam Speer, Jacques Roman and Pierre Banks are the linebackers that cover sideline to sideline. Free safety Corey Lynch is an absolute ball hawk who needs only 8 interceptions to become the schools all time leader. On the corners, Justin Woazeah and Jerome Touchstone are always in position to cover as they both intercepted two passes last year. Titus Howard will replace Jeremy Wiggins at the strong safety position. The lone returning starter on the defensive front is Gary Tharrington, who thrived on the double teams of Marques Murrell, to the tune of 7.5 sacks. Rotating on the front line will be a combination of LSU transfer Tim Washington, Daniel Finnerty, Anthony Wilson, Anthony Williams, Gordy Witte and freshman Bobby Bozzo.

 

It is going to make than a few bounces of the ball for Appalachian to knock the mighty Wolverines. The mindset for the Mountaineers in this game is to get better with each play. Both teams will likely be a little rusty since it’s the first game of the season. ASU must hope the Big Ten referees are not too flag happy in the opening game. The Mountaineers are going to have to force a couple turnovers, and not give the ball to Michigan in turn, in order to stay with Michigan. The Apps must turn those opportunities into points, and not missed chances. Appalachian will be playing from behind before the kickoff. Each controversial play must go in favor of the Mountaineers. On top of that, Armanti Edwards will have to play like the calm freshman from last year. The ASU receivers will gave to grab every ball thrown their way, and avoid costly drops. Michigan will most likely try to find out how good they are. They will pass the ball just to get some rhythm back. They will also run between the tackles so much it will make the game boring at times. The ASU defense must contain the Wolverines offense, and avoid giving up big plays. Michigan will probably score more points than ASU when the final seconds tick away, but that is not saying that Appalachian will have lost. The experience from this game will pay dividends later in the season at some point. I think ASU has a chance to win this game, unlike most others. A lot of things will have to go the way of the Mountaineers. But when the final bell tolls on Saturday, I will be just as proud to be a Mountaineer as before the game. I hope our offense gives Michigan fits all day long. I hope ASU gets enough pressure on Chad Henne, that it gets him scrambling, and he throws an interception or two. I hope the Apps block a field goal and take it to the house. I just hope none of things happen to Appalachian. Michigan has more horses than Appalachian and they will use them all. ASU will fade in the fourth quarter, but will keep all 108,000 people on the edge of their seats until then. Too much Mike Hart for the young ASU defensive line.

 

 

 

The First Pick:

Black and Gold     16
Maize and Blue     35

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian vs. Richmond SemiFinals 12/7/2007

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Here we go with the Semifinals:

#6 Richmond (11-2) @ #5 Appalachian State (11-2)
12/7/07

Time: 8pm

TV: ESPN2

Kidd Brewer Stadium

Surface: FieldTurf
Capacity: 16,650

Jeff Sagarin ratings:

ASU:     69.71

UR:       70.45

Home advantage: 2.59 points

ASU is favored to win by 2 points

Series: ASU leads 3-2

Last Meeting: Appalachian 20 Richmond 3, 11/28/87

 

In any given game in the first two rounds of the playoffs, when looking at match ups, you can usually depict which team has the edge, whether it be that one team is playing at home, or that one teams strength can match up against another teams weakness. When you get to the semifinals, with four teams remaining, the ability to predict an outcome of a game gets harder. Every team is good now. There is a reason that a team is able to obtain double digit wins and advance through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Appalachian and Richmond are no different. Both teams play really good football. Both teams can get up and down the field and score points and have been able to keep opposing teams out of the end zone. Both teams are fighting for that elusive goal of getting to Chattanooga. Richmond will be seeking its first appearance in the title game, while Appalachian attempts to advance for the third time in as many years. Whoever wins will have earned the right to play for a national championship.

 

Richmond was able to defeat Wofford in Spartanburg last Saturday. That is something the Mountaineers were unable to do when they had the chance in September. That was two and half months ago and the ASU team that took the field on that day is not the same team that it is today. That team may have been accused of inserting Armanti Edwards into the lineup before he was healthy. Edwards was unsuccessful before injuring his shoulder and giving the reins to Trey Elder. That day was also very warm and muggy in Spartanburg, and it definitely took a toll on the Mountaineer defense that was on the field for 35 minutes. The Mountaineer team that will take the field on Friday night may be the healthiest the team has been all season long. Also take into consideration that the game will not be played in Spartanburg in front of 8500 fans. This game will be played at Kidd Brewer Stadium with a crowd of around 20,000 fans expected. Also, the game time temperature will be slightly cooler then what Richmond faced last week in Spartanburg, and nearly 50 degrees cooler then when ASU played Wofford.

The engine that makes the Richmond Spiders go is Tim Hightower. The Spiders leaned on Hightower’s 140 yards a game rushing to win the Colonial Athletic Conference. Hightower has averaged 24 carries a game this year, including 27 carries per contest in the playoffs. A lot of Hightower’s yards came against inferior opponents. Hightower ran for 246 yards against Northeastern and 295 yards against Bucknell. However, Hightower has slowed toward the end of the season only averaging 109 yards in his last four games, and was held to under 90 yards rushing in two of those contests. Averaging over 100 yards rushing a game it still a pretty big deal, but you can see the trend.

 

At quarterback for the Spiders is Eric Ward who has passed for 2,133 yards and 14 touchdowns. Ward is a very adequate passer and is a threat to run as he has gained 397 yards rushing on the season. Although the Spiders throw a lot, he is a big key to their offense. If Ward fails to be successful through the air, the Spiders will become a one dimensional attack. Ward will need to hit his receivers early in the game in order for Richmond to be able to score points.

Another part of Richmond’s game may have solid results is the kick off return team. Justin Rogers is ranked 3rd nationally in kick off returns with 31.4 yards per return. Appalachian struggled with kick return defense against Eastern Washington, allowing 2 long returns, one of which went for a touchdown. A positive for Appalachian this week is that they have had a week to correct its mistakes and probably have worked extremely hard on kickoff coverage in practice.

 

Appalachian arguably played its best defensive game of the season last week. Although special teams allowed Eastern Washington to score three touchdowns, the pressure on the quarterback was an issue all game long. Appalachian never allowed the Eagles to get into a rhythm offensively. When Eastern Washington could manage a drive, it was Corey Lynch that was intercepting a pass and DJ Smith falling on a fumble while the Eagles were in the red zone.

Appalachian ran up a playoff record 529 yards of total offense against Eastern Washington. Devon Moore filled in nicely for Kevin Richardson with 100 yards on the ground. Armanti Edwards continued his hot streak with another 347 yards of total offense and three total touchdowns. ASU has had a two players rush for 100 yards in four of its last six playoff games. Receivers CoCo Hillary (37 yards) and Dexter Jackson (41 yards) stretched the defense for long pass plays that kept the Eastern Washington defense guessing all game long. The Eagles had only allowed 130 yards rushing a game and the Mountaineers exploded for 309 yards on the ground.

 

This game features some of the best rushing teams in the nation. Appalachian will spread you out and find their holes while Richmond will pound you all night long. Richmond will force the run and try to duplicate the game plan that James Madison tried. The best way to keep Appalachian from scoring is having possession of the ball. Appalachian has not been stopped on offense all year long. James Madison is the only team to hold the Mountaineers under 30 points all season. Appalachian will be able to use Kevin Richardson and Devon Moore and make the Richmond defense guess which back is getting the ball. Turnovers are always key in playoff games. Neither Richmond nor Appalachian would be where they are right now without the untimely miscues by opposing teams. The kicking game may also loom large for both teams in a game that is expected to be very close. Richmond has hit 15/22 field goals this season, with two misses last week against Wofford and three misses in their loss to Towson. Appalachian has hit 17/21 field goals and all of those misses were beyond 40 yards. I think Richmond will put up one heck of a fight, just like James Madison did. The reason the Mountaineers will prevail  is because of the leadership of the seniors. These guys know what it takes to win. The experience in the playoffs the last two seasons will be invaluable. Richmond is a very young team and although they will be a force to be reckoned with for the next few years, their time is not right now. Appalachian will be playing in front of a crowd that will be tailgate deprived due to the exam schedule and they will be relentless. I think this game will be decided in the third quarter. Appalachian will score late and force Richmond to pass the ball and they will press the issue and make mistakes. The Mountaineers know the way the way to the Choo Choo. All Aboard!!

 

The First Pick:

Big Bad Mountaineers    38

itsy bitsy spiders           24

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian @ Wofford 9/22/2007

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Here we go with Week 4:

#1 Appalachian State (3-0) @ #13 Wofford (2-1)
9/22/07

Time: 3:00pm

TV: None
Gibbs Stadium
Surface: Natural Grass
Capacity: 13,000
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     73.60
WC:    54.85
Home advantage: 2.93 points
ASU is favored to win by 16 points

Series: ASU leads 14-9
Last Meeting: ASU 14, Wofford 7

 

The Southern Conference schedule is finally upon us. Wofford will have their turn at trying to knock off the nation’s top ranked team. Appalachian will make its second trip on the road this season which looks like it will be the most hostile Wofford crowd that an ASU team has seen. ASU and the Southern Conference have been receiving the “David Beckham” effect. Stadiums are selling out all over the place, just to see the Mountaineers. Wofford has played ASU as tough as anyone the last few years. Wofford coach Mike Ayers is one tough son of a gun and has been licking his chops ever since Wofford gave ASU a scare last year in Boone. Ayers is also Wofford’s winningest coach and currently is the longest tenured coach in the Southern Conference. Josh Collier and Kevious Johnson want their chance to beat ASU just as bad as anyone does in Spartanburg. The only problem is, ASU knows how bad Wofford wants to beat them as well.

 

Wofford was the hottest team in the FCS as the season wound down. The hottest team not to make the playoffs. After losing to Appalachian State, it gave the Terriers their fourth loss of the season. The Terriers rang off five straight wins and wanted to be included in all the playoff talk. One reason they were not selected was their end of year strength of schedule. Their most quality win in those last five games would probably be Elon. I don’t care who you are, if you are trying to sell yourself by saying you beat Elon, Western Carolina, Georgia Southern, Gardner Webb and Chattanooga, you are in a heap of trouble.

 

After resting last week, Jason Collier will likely get the start against the Mountaineers on Saturday. Collier came in for one play in the loss to NC State that was full of turnovers and penalties. Wofford ended the game with 15 flags compared to only 41 in the entire 2006 campaign. Wofford out gained NC State in total yardage and many will tell you that they outplayed the Wolfpack. Maybe the Terriers were looking past NC State. Maybe they were ready to play Appalachian last Saturday. I know one thing, if Wofford has 15 penalties this week, the game should never be in doubt.

 

Wofford has ran 171 rushing plays for 929 yards in three games so far. The interesting stat is they have not had a 100 yard rusher in a game to show for it. Collier ran 19 times against Georgetown and Kevious Johnson ran 11 each against Charleston Southern and NC State. They like to spread the ball around. They won’t give the ball to a guy 25 times a game. Wofford wants to keep opposing defenses guessing. Yeah they will run the ball 57 times a game, but it’s the average of 17 times a game they throw the ball that really makes defensive coordinators scratch their heads. Wofford actually threw for more yards passing then NC State did. Seventy-three offensive plays a game? It’s just silly.

 

On the other side, ASU has been resting their quarterback for some time as well, getting ready for the conference schedule. Armanti Edwards look to return to the huddle for the Mountaineers with fresh legs. Backup Trey Elder played beautifully in two wins, throwing for 426 yards, seven touchdowns and also rushing for 172 yards and another touchdown. Appalachian is very fortunate to have a backup that would start at every other school in the Southern Conference. Also returning this week for the Mountaineers is center Scott Suttle, who sprained a knee in fall camp. This will be first game of the season where the Apps will suit up with all the offensive starters in tact.

 

ASU was given a challenge against Northern Arizona, one that most fans expected. The ASU defense shut down Payton candidate receiver Alex Watson to one catch for negative one yard. Receiver turned quarterback Lance Kriesien took advantage of great secondary coverage by running out of the pocket several times for first downs. Wofford’s Josh Collier will not run as much Kriesien which is a relief to ASU fans.

 

Kevin Richardson took advantage of teams stacking the box to stop the ASU running game by getting out in the open and catching a career high 7 passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns. Trey Elder said it best, “I just dump off a 2-yard pass and then get to watch (Kevin) run down the field and do all the good stuff.” Richardson did add to his rushing totals with 58 yards against NAU. Richardson now has 167 yards on the season, just 787 yards away from John Settle’s all time rushing record.

When it’s time to get in on this Saturday, which team will prevail? In order for Wofford to win, they are going to have to rely on the ground game. Keeping the ball out of the hands of Armanti Edwards and Kevin Richardson will surely help the cause for the Terriers. Wofford must sustain those long drives, you know twelve plays and longer. They must shorten up the game by taking their three or fours yards and liking it. Somebody in the Wofford backfield will have to light it up. Michael Hobbs is the most likely person to do it. Hobbs has breakaway speed that can run around the ASU defense if they are out of position. That is the key for the ASU defense. The front seven must play assignment defense. The onus is all on the defensive line to contain the traps and counters and it falls to the linebackers to stop the options and pitchouts. This is the kind of game where Corey Lynch, Pierre Banks and Jacques Roman end up with near double digit tackles. Offensively for the Mountaineers, They must control the tempo and sustain a couple long drives for themselves. Whoever has the ball in their hands must not make bad decisions with the football. Wofford leads the conference in turnover margin and interceptions. ASU must make Wofford beat them. If ASU does not turn the ball over, there should not be any problems. Wofford is talented enough to turn mistakes into points, but that offense is unlikely to explode for 40 points without some help. Wofford will hang close as long as ASU lets them. If ASU is able to throw the ball early, watch out, it will only make the running game work better in the late stages of the game. Wofford may have a decent team, but they are not quite at the level of Appalachian State.

 

           

The First Pick:

Appalachian Dog Pound  38
Ankle-Biters                         22

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian vs. Wofford 10/31/2008

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Here we go with Week 9:

#3  Wofford (6-1, 4-0 T1) @ #2 Appalachian State (6-2, 4-0 T1)
10/31/08

Time: 8pm

TV: ESPN2
Stadium: Kidd Brewer Stadium
Surface: FieldTurf

Capacity: 20,150
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     68.06
WC:    67.35
Home advantage: 2.68 points
ASU is favored by the Sagarin rankings by 3 ½  points (rounded).

Series: ASU leads 14-10
Last Meeting: Wofford 42, ASU 31; September 22nd, 2007

 

The folks at ESPN could not have hand picked it better. When they decided to broadcast their first regular season game from the FCS ranks, it is pretty obvious they chose Appalachian because of the recent success, and Wofford, for being the first team to beat Appalachian after the much heralded win over Michigan in 2007. It just so happened the game was scheduled the night after Halloween. ESPN offered moving the game to Halloween and putting the game on ESPN2. Who could say no to that? What ESPN didn’t know was how the season was going to play out. Wofford and Appalachian are both undefeated and tied for first in the conference title race. In fact, they are one last minute James Madison come from behind victory away from having a game as the top two ranked teams in the country. I think ESPN will settle for a game between #2 Appalachian and #3 Wofford with the home team having revenge on their minds. People have been looking forward to this game ever since the match up was announced, even before ESPN got into the mix. The excitement was going to be there regardless. It has been twelve years since two teams in the conference have been undefeated and playing each other this late in the season. The loser of this match will have an uphill battle to win the conference and will be forced to run the table to secure a possible home playoff game. To the winner goes the inside track to a conference title and a near lock for one of the top four seeds in the upcoming playoffs. Anyone excited yet?

 

Before the season, most critics felt this would be a rebuilding year for Wofford. The Terriers lost several key seniors, including a quarterback who started the majority of his career. Many did not think that Wofford would be in this position two months ago. Give all the credit to head coach Mike Ayers for making this team believe it had what it took to contend for another championship. Ayers coaches his teams to be extremely disciplined and play together as a team. Evidence to that is the fact that Wofford, although not the least penalized team in the conference, has been penalized for the least amount of yardage this season. Wofford also leads the conference in turnover ratio with an astounding +15 margin. What is more is amazing is that Wofford has only turned the ball over five times on the season.

 

The Wofford offense is led mainly by three seniors. Quarterback Ben Widmyer has thrown for 742 yards and seven touchdowns and has rushed for 475 yards and six touchdowns. In doing so, he has completed a ridiculous 69% of his passes and has led Wofford to being the most efficient passing team in the conference. Tailback Dane Romero is the leading rusher for the Terriers with 518 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. Romero has the lowest rushing average of Wofford rushers with over 30 carries on the season. Wide receiver Andy Strickland has caught 21 passes for 415 yards and five touchdowns. Strickland has caught 38% of the all the completed passes for the Terriers this year.

 

A lot of what Wofford does on offense is considered old school football. The only problem, is that old school football, when executed properly can make defenses look extremely silly. The Terrier playbook is full of misdirection and counters, speed options and reverses. The goal of any defense when playing Wofford is to play assignment football. Stay with your man. Just because your man doesn’t have the football now, chances are good that he might be getting it, especially if you leave him to pursue. That lesson goes for every player on the field. Wofford has seven players with over 25 rushing attempts on the year. Also, ten different receivers have caught passes. They will give the ball to whoever is open and give every player a chance to beat you.

 

For the first time in recent history, Appalachian faced a gimmick defense and was stifled all day long on offense. Armanti Edwards ran for 16 yards on 16 carries, but picked up the slack while completing 16-24 passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns. Edwards has now played five straight games without an interception and his 15:2 touchdown to interception ratio is tops in the conference for passers with over 100 attempts. Devin Radford ran for 90 yards, but 84 came on one run in the second quarter. Brian Quick was also responsible for a 44 yard pass reception, but only had one other catch on the opening drive of the game.

 

The Appalachian defense answered the bell when they were most needed. With the Mountaineer offense struggling, the defense recovered their first three fumbles of the season. Two of the fumbles occurred in the red zone on what looked to be certain Paladin scoring drives. Mark Legree made a nice interception on the sideline on Furman’s opening drive of the second half which also killed any Paladin momentum. The only negative were the adjustments made during the game. Furman struggled to move the chains in the first half and decided to test the Mountaineer rushing defense up the middle. Furman had plenty of success which I am sure the Wofford coaches saw when watching film.

 

There are so many variables when comparing Appalachian and Wofford. Both teams lead the conference in points scored, total offense, rushing offense and passing efficiency, red zone defense and interceptions. Neither team is very consistent when it comes to penalties, kickoff coverage or time of possession. Sounds to the average football fan like this one could be a shootout with the last team with the ball winning. However, there are plenty of variables that someone cannot decipher from statistics. Both teams came off very emotional victories last week. Wofford had no trouble in defeating Elon and ringing up 55 points along the way. Appalachian found victory in defeating a long time rival in a game that was much closer than the final scored indicated. Wofford racked up its second highest point total of the year. On the other hand, Appalachian scored only 26 points, its second lowest amount of points this season. I think this sets up a potential letdown game for Wofford. If the points don’t come as easy, teams tend to get frustrated and try to do too much. Appalachian was guilty of that last week. I also think this sets up an  opportunity for the Mountaineers to have an offensive explosion. Rarely, this late in the season, does Appalachian struggle offensively in consecutive games. Another variable is the big bright lights of ESPN2. Appalachian is a perfect 12-0 on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU. Wofford has not had the chance to prove themselves on national television like Appalachian has. Wofford nearly lost a 37 point halftime lead last year on the road when facing Western Carolina on ESPNU, before holding onto a three point win. The last time the Terriers played in Boone, Armanti Edwards had started just his fifth career college game. Last year, Edwards was not completely healthy after injuring his shoulder in the preseason and against Michigan. Wofford has been lucky to avoid Armanti Edwards at full strength. Wofford has played their last three games in front of a combined total of 23,331 fans. This year Appalachian is averaging 29,150 fans at home games. I think the crowd noise, particularly on Halloween night will be a factor. The picture I have in my mind is the last time ASU played at home on a Friday Night, against Richmond. There were roughly 24,000 fans in attendance, but there was a buzz, a very unique atmosphere that night that might be duplicated on Friday evening. I think all the chips are stacked against Wofford. They certainly have a fine team, that could easily beat Appalachian on any given day, but I have a gut feeling they will find themselves on the short end of the witch’s broomstick.

The First Pick:

Scrappy Pups            42

Happy Apps               49

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian vs. South Carolina State Playoffs Round 1 11/29/2008

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Here we go with The First Round:

#13 South Carolina State @ #2 Appalachian State
11/29/08

Time: Noon

TV: ESPNU
Stadium: Kidd Brewer Stadium
Surface: FieldTurf

Capacity: 20,150
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     73.91
SCSU:    55.86
Home advantage: 2.77 points
ASU is favored by the Sagarin rankings by 21  points (rounded).

Series: ASU leads 1-0
Last Meeting: ASU 24, SCSU 0; November 17, 1984

 

This years Selection Sunday was less suspenseful than the same Sunday evening in 2007 for Appalachian State. Instead of the questions of who and where, the question this past weekend was more along the lines of who? Most Mountaineer fans and playoff experts had it narrowed down to a few teams, depending how much emphasis that the selection committee placed on the economy and geographic proximity. Finally, the draw was the South Carolina State Bulldogs from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The stage is now set. The Mountaineers march into the playoffs will begin like it has the last three seasons, at Kidd Brewer Stadium, where the Mountaineers have won 41 of their last 42 games and twelve in a row.

 

South Carolina State has the chance to surprise the Mountaineers. In 2005, Appalachian faced another unfamiliar foe in Lafayette. The Leopards received the lone bid from the Patriot League and Appalachian was also the second seed. In 2006 and 2007, Appalachian faced Coastal Carolina and James Madison in the first round, teams they had defeated at home in the previous seasons. Lafayette gave Appalachian a good game before falling 34-23. South Carolina State is in the same spot, the lone automatic bid from their conference and once again, Appalachian is the second seed. The difference between Lafayette in 2005 and the 2008 South Carolina State team is speed. South Carolina State has it and Lafayette did not. Also, The Bulldogs run a Multiple Pro I formation, which also has spread tendencies, compared the Lafayette and the offense of days past, the I formation.

 

William Ford is the most dangerous player for SC State. Ford has rushed for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns. Ford has a very quick first step and can sometimes get lost in the backfield considering the size of quarterback Malcolm Long (6-3, 257). Ford is complimented well by backfield mate Travil Jamison who has run for 567 yards and 16 touchdowns. Ford is the smaller, quicker back at 5-11, 185 pounds while Jamison runs for the tough yards at 6-0, 200 pounds.

Malcolm Long has some of the best receivers in the MEAC to throw to. Oliver Young has caught 47 passes for 587 yards and four touchdowns. Phillip Morris has reeled in 35 catches for 547 yards and five touchdowns and NC State transfer Octavius Darby has 26 catches for 450 yards and four touchdowns. In all, five different Bulldogs have four or more touchdowns between the backs and receivers. SC State really likes to spread the ball around and it shows on the stat sheet.

 

Appalachian advanced to the playoffs by running the table in the Southern Conference, posting a perfect 8-0 record. The last time Appalachian had a unblemished league record was in 2006, when they won 14 straight games to close the season. The Mountaineers rested some players against Western Carolina in order to be prepared for the playoffs and they gave other players their chance to shine. DeAndre Presley started his first career game and was awarded as the conference freshman and offensive players of the week. It was the first time in seventeen years that the conference had given two awards to the same player. Presley started in the absence of All-SoCon quarterback Armanti Edwards, who was still recovering from a hip pointer. Edwards expects to start for the Mountaineers against SC State.

 

The difficult task in comparing teams from different conferences is judging the strength of the conference. The MEAC has been a league that has received one bid to the playoffs for several years. The Southern Conference has been a multiple bid conference for as long as I can remember. It seems this year, like most others, the Southern Conference is strong than the MEAC. SC State has some very impressive statistics, especially on the defensive side of the ball. SC State has limited opposing offenses to 248 yards per game. They also limited teams to only 2.6 yards per rushing attempt. They have only given up 23 touchdowns and have shutout their last three opponents. However, I don’t think those numbers could hold up if the Bulldogs had to play the likes of Wofford, Elon and Georgia Southern. Appalachian’s statistics cant hold up to SC State in certain circumstances. However, any team that can hold an arch rival to 72 total yards has to have a good defense. Appalachian has proved each week that they have one of the best red zone defenses and can really go after the football by forcing 25 turnovers.

 

So what does it all add up to? We could be looking a shootout on Saturday. SC State scores right at 30 points a game and Appalachian averages 39.3. The two teams combine for 851 yards of offense a game. But this is different. This is the playoffs. Each possession is important and sometimes, if you are not accustomed to the pressure, players can do overplay. Despite the relative youth, these Appalachian players know what it takes to play in tough games. Appalachian battled back after trailing Western Carolina in the first half. Elon scored late in the second half and took a slim lead before Appalachian rallied. SC State has not had to play a tough game for almost a month now. They have cruised to extremely lopsided victories. How will SC State respond if they get down early? That may be the toughest hurdle for SC State to overcome. If the Bulldogs can stop the Mountaineers in the first quarter, they will become more confident and the longer you let a team hang around, the better they feel about winning. The first quarter is the most important for SC State. The Bulldogs must also avoid penalties. SC State has averaged 7.8 penalties for 72 yards per game this season. That is roughly 9.2 yards per flag. Appalachian will be able to move the ball on SC State, and the Bulldogs don’t need to help the Mountaineers with their field position. I think this will be a very tough game. William Ford is the real deal and Appalachian has struggled with stopping the run between the tackles. SC State must control the clock and keep Appalachian off the field. It will be a difficult thing to do considering SC State has only averaged 27:12 of possession per game. I think this is the game where Appalachian finds success through the air and makes a couple huge defensive plays.

The First Pick:

 

Dog Tired             27

Mount Up              41

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian vs. Richmond Playoffs Round 2 12/6/2008

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Here we go with The Quarterfinals:

#7 Richmond @ #2 Appalachian State
12/6/08

Time: Noon

TV: ESPN Gameplan
Stadium: Kidd Brewer Stadium
Surface: FieldTurf

Capacity: 20,150
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     73.04
UR:    73.01
Home advantage: 2.83 points
ASU is favored by the Sagarin rankings by 3 points (rounded).

Series: ASU leads 4-2
Last Meeting: ASU 55, UR 35; December 7, 2007

 

Win or go home. Survive and advance. Whatever you call, all it takes is having more points than the opponent at the end of sixty minutes. You win to play another day. The next day will be this Saturday. For the first time in Appalachian’s playoff run since 2005, they will play an opponent for a second time. In each of the previous three seasons, Appalachian played 12 different schools in as many playoff games. When the Mountaineers take on Richmond on Saturday, the memories of the last game between these two schools are very vivid. It was a spectacular night and every thing went the right way for the Mountaineers. Appalachian hopes to duplicate that same atmosphere and the results in the round of eight.

 

Richmond was considered a playoff team all year in 2008. They impressed many critics with a very convincing win against Elon on the opening weekend of the season. They followed with a loss to Virginia and win over Towson. That schedule was very similar to Appalachian’s schedule. Appalachian played a tough out of conference game against James Madison, a BCS foe in LSU and an easy game in Jacksonville. The only other losses for Richmond were to playoff teams Villanova and James Madison, who will play this weekend.

 

Looking at statistics, it is easy to see that Richmond has a great defense. The Spiders have only allowed 98 yards per game on ground and 16.2 points per game. The Spiders have only given up 251 yards of offense per game and have only allowed 23 total touchdowns. However, once you start digging and comparing how Richmond did in their two conference losses, you find something different. Against JMU and Villanova, Richmond gave up 32 points per game. They gave up 226 yards to both teams in the running game. They also allowed 362 yards in offense in both games. All statistics were way up from their season averages against teams that were very well matched against Richmond.

In the 2007 game, all of the Mountaineer defensive focus was on stopping future Arizona Cardinal Tim Hightower. This year will be no different as Richmond will use Josh Vaughan, another big running back with NFL potential. Vaughan has run for 1,503 yards and 16 touchdowns. He helps Richmond control the clock as the Spiders averaged 32:40 of possession per game. Most likely, Richmond will try to control the clock, just like they have been all season, and just like every team that has played Appalachian. Quarterback Eric Ward is leader in the huddle. The quarterback has thrown for 2,311 yards, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions. More than Hightower in 2007, Ward impressed me with his ability to know when and when not to scramble out of the pocket. Richmond’s offensive line gave up 23 sacks for 141 yards and even with those yards lost, Ward still managed to gain 270 yards on the ground to go along with six touchdowns.

 

Appalachian got off to a fast start on offense against South Carolina State. Unfortunately the first drive ended with a fumble inside the five yard line, which gave the Bulldogs the chance to score first and force Appalachian to come back from an early deficit. That has been an unwelcome theme for the Mountaineers in the last two games. Appalachian suffered from the turnover bug in its previous game against Western Carolina as well. Against a team like Richmond, turnovers will eventually haunt you. The Mountaineers need to take better care of the ball or else they could find themselves taking a very early exit from the playoffs.

 

Defensively, Appalachian held their own by only giving up 3.8 yards per carry against SC State. They did not allow any points in fourth quarter and only allowed Malcolm Long to complete 17 of 41 pass attempts. That has been the consistent theme for the Mountaineers all year long. Appalachian has only allowed opposing quarterbacks to complete 48% of their passes and has intercepted 19 passes. The run defense has only allowed 4.2 yards per carry as well on the season. The defensive side of the ball has won Appalachian many games and will have to do the same against Richmond. The Appalachian offense will get their points, but the onus will be on the linebackers to contain the scrambling ability of Eric Ward and the running game of Josh Vaughan.

 

It is hard to talk about these two teams and not hark on the last game they played nearly a year ago at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Armanti Edwards created his personal highlight film as he rushed for a record 313 yards on the ground and had a part of seven total touchdowns. This year will be a little bit different for both teams. Appalachian has been a team riddled by injuries and the lack of consistency from the running backs has forced them to become more pass oriented. That was extremely evident as Armanti Edwards threw for a school record 433 yards against SC State. Edwards has thrown for 631 yards and 12 touchdowns more than the 2007 campaign and has run for 650 less yards than the previous year. Richmond will have a totally different team to prepare for. On the other hand, Richmond’s offensive tendencies and philosophies have remained the same. Richmond still wants to control the ball and run first, pass second. The huge difference is that Appalachian’s defense is much stronger than last year’s unit, allowing only 20.2 points per contest and have been stronger in the run defense as well. Vaughan is a bruiser and does not have the breakaway speed that Hightower did. Ward will have to pass to beat the Mountaineers, but that has been a huge hurdle for Mountaineer opponents. The Mountaineers will have Devin Radford back in the lineup and the Spiders will have to respect his game breaking ability. In all, I think the Mountaineers have too many weapons on both sides of the ball and I don’t think this years Richmond team can match up as well as in 2007. The Richmond defensive backs average 5’10” and I would love to see who matches up against the 6’4” Brian Quick. This game may not be easier for the Mountaineers, but I think the margin of victory will be much more convincing than last week.

 

The First Pick:

 

Black Spiders           17

Black Rain                34

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian @ Louisiana State 8/30/2008

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Here we go with Week 1:

Appalachian State @ LSU
8/30/08

Time: 5pm EDT

TV: ESPN
Stadium: Tiger Stadium
Surface: Natural Grass
Capacity: 92,400
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     69.22
LSU:    92.51
Home advantage: 2.87 points
LSU is favored by the Sagarin rankings by 26 points (rounded).

Series: LSU leads 1-0
Last Meeting: LSU 24, ASU 0, November 5, 2005

 

“The summer gets longer every year. Especially when your team is the two-time defending national champions. It gets even longer when you open on the road against a high profile opponent. The 2007 edition of Mountaineer football may play its toughest opponent in program history this weekend when it heads to Michigan’s famous “Big House”, which comes in just a few seats shy of 108,000. In 2005, many of the same players played in front of 93,000 fans down in Baton Rouge. That was a lot of people. Add on another town the size of Boone to Tiger Stadium and you get Michigan Stadium.”

 

That right there is how I started the 2007 campaign. I think its significant, because in the first few sentences, I could have written the same thing, changed a couple words around and nobody would have noticed. The ironic part is the reference to Tiger Stadium. Who would have known we would be kicking off the 2008 campaign against LSU. Would have gone something like this:

 

“The summer gets longer every year. Especially when your team is the three-time defending national champions. It gets even longer when you open on the road against a high profile opponent. The 2008 edition of Mountaineer football may play its toughest opponent in program history this weekend when it heads to Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, aka “Death Valley” , which registered on a seismograph during a game in 1988 against Auburn.”

 

Enough irony and talk for now, it’s time to talk football.

 

 

 

 

 

Louisiana State University has many questions heading into this weekend and some of those questions have nothing to do with football. In the wake of Katrina, officials are taking all precautions with Hurricane Gustav looming as it enters the Gulf Of Mexico. Gustav has already claimed 22 lives in Haiti and that certainly hasn’t helped matters as those in charge are having to make decisions on whether to have a football game or not this weekend. In 2005, ASU was to play LSU on the same Labor Day weekend before the game was rescheduled to later in the season.

 

The other question facing LSU, is who will start at quarterback for the Bayou Bengals. After Les Miles’ decision to let go of the troubled Ryan Perrilloux, it left a huge void in the backfield. Miles then had three unproven quarterbacks in a virtual dead heat going into spring drills. Andrew Hatch and Jarrett Lee were the front runners through fall drills. Lee injured his back a couple weeks ago in practice, which opened the door for Hatch, but Miles has still yet to name a starter as of prediction thread press time. Supposedly Lee’s back issues are not a problem and Miles says there is a good possibility that Hatch, Lee and true freshman Jordan Jefferson will see time under center on Saturday evening.

 

Besides the obvious uncertainty of the quarterback situation, LSU seems to be stacked at all other positions on offense. The running game will be led by a couple of bruisers, Keiland Williams and Charles Scott. Both backs are about 5’11 and tip the scales right around 230 pounds and that will pose a tough task for the Mountaineers defensive line that will be outweighed by nearly 35 pounds per player. Clearing the way will be veterans Ciron Black, Herman Johnson and Brett Helms, who were voted as preseason All-SEC players.

 

Defensively, LSU lost arguably one of its best lineman ever in Glenn Dorsey, but they return another couple of studs who will do their best to slow down the ASU offense. Tyson Jackson and Ricky Jean-Francois are both on the Bednarik watch list for the Best Collegiate Defensive Player. Linebacker Darry Beckwith is also on the Bednarik watch list and looks to be a sure fire first round NFL draft pick as well.

 

For Appalachian the story begins and ends with Armanti Edwards. After the victory over Michigan last year, Edwards started gaining national attention as one of the best spread quarterbacks in college football. It seems though, that all of the best quarterbacks in college football are in an offense the implements some form of the spread offense. Armanti Edwards will surely be the “best” quarterback on the field on Saturday, but Edwards isn’t the only player that makes the Mountaineers tick. Containing Edwards rushing abilities may help LSU win, but there are plenty of other players the Tigers must contain.

 

Appalachian lost a good core of their offensive line to graduation, but stepping in are young players who received invaluable playing time throughout the 2007 season. Brett Irvin is solid at the center position and shouldn’t be fazed by the stadium or crowd noise. His first career start came against Michigan. Daniel Kilgore played tight end at times last year, but has changed his number and has moved to right guard. Brad Coley takes over at left tackle as Mario Acitelli moves back inside to his normal position at left guard, which was vacated by Kerry Brown.

 

Although ASU lost some of its top receivers from 2007, it may be the Mountaineers deepest position on the field. Sophomore CoCo Hillary returns from a season in which he logged total yards in five different positions: quarterback, wide receiver, running back, punt return and  kick return. He may be ASU’s best offensive player not named Edwards. Rounding out the receiving corps is senior T.J. Courman, possession receiver Josh Johnson and redshirt freshman Brian Quick who blocked one of Michigan’s field goal attempts last year.

 

Despite losing all-time leading rusher Kevin Richardson, Appalachian is as deep at running back as it is at wide receiver. Although Devon Moore is the only proven returnee with 459 yards and 7 touchdowns in 2007, backups Robert Whelton and Cedric Baker have been impressive in spring and fall practices and will surely get carries as the season progresses. Virginia Tech transfer Devin Radford is one of the fastest Mountaineers on the field and will certainly get a couple touches against the Tigers.

 

The Appalachian defense lost some key players from 2007 to the tune of the entire secondary and perhaps one of the best defensive backs in school history, Corey Lynch, who was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals. However, the entire line backing corps return including SoCon preseason player of the year Pierre Banks, leading tackler Jacque Roman and D.J. Smith who has been compared to ASU’s best ever linebacker Dexter Coakley. Vanderbilt transfer Quavian Lewis looks to provide a pass rush along with 2007 leading sacker Tony Robertson. Stopping the run will be Georgia Military transfer Malcolm Bennett and All-American Anthony Williams.

 

This is first game in college football history that matches up the defending BCS and FCS champions. LSU is the first two time BCS champion and Appalachian has won three straight titles of its own. In the past 5 years, there have been 10 national titles awarded on the Division I level of football and these two schools own half of them. Talk about a battle of the champions. Both programs get the best athletes available to them. Across the nation, LSU is after the top ten high schools athletes at every position. At Appalachian, they are after what other BCS conferences don’t want. It is not rare to see Mountaineer recruits mention other BCS schools in the same breath as Appalachian in the recruiting circles. This is one reason why this game will be exciting. Both teams have lost important players and the newcomers want to prove they belong, especially in the first game of the season. Surely there will be some rust being the first game of the year. LSU has been noted to have a power running game and nobody blames them with their big running backs and lineman. ASU will use all of their weapons the field in order to keep defenses guessing. LSU is certainly favored in this game, seeing that they are one of the top programs year in and year out, but ASU plays and practices as if they have a chip on their shoulder. Despite the love fest for Armanti Edwards, many sportswriters in the past weeks have come out and said that history will not repeat itself. The win over a Michigan was a fluke. Appalachian’s speed will not be a difference against LSU. I am not here saying the Mountaineers will win by any means, but everyone knows that its not impossible that they could win. LSU will start an unproven quarterback, whoever it is, and that is enough in my mind to feel like this game isn’t as safe for LSU as some college football experts think. Eventually  LSU will have to throw the ball and hit some completions down the field, to keep ASU from stacking the box. ASU’s spread attack will be able to move the ball up and down the field and will score some points. I am guessing at least three touchdowns. I will be surprised if LSU is able to score at will, especially with an untested quarterback. Neither team can afford to give the other a short field. I would not be surprised at all by a shootout. My only question for ASU is the fact that they return only 12 starters from last year. Those 12 guys are playmakers on both sides of the ball, but I think the inexperience in this game may lead to ASU’s demise. ASU’s unbeaten record (12-0) on ESPN is in jeopardy.

The First Pick:

Mike                    31
Yosef                   21

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian vs. Jacksonville 9/6/2008

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Here we go with Week 2:

Jacksonville @ #1 Appalachian State
9/6/08

Time: 3:30pm

TV: None
Stadium: Kidd Brewer Stadium
Surface: Field Turf
Capacity: 20,150
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     71.55
JU:    21.83
Home advantage: 2.87 points
ASU is favored by the Sagarin rankings by 53 points (rounded).

Series: First Meeting
Last Meeting: n/a

 

Home sweet home. That thought crossed my mind as soon as I found out about last week’s game being moved up six hours. I knew the rest of the weekend wouldn’t feel right. At that time I was somewhere in Alabama and all I could think about was how the rest of the weekend was going to be a blur. Not enough sleep, not enough tailgating and certainly not enough down time after the game before getting back on the road again. After running away from Gustav and being lazy on Labor Day, all I wanted to do was get back to normal. Get back home, have a week to prepare for a home game where I knew the weather wouldn’t dim my spirits(fingers crossed, thanks Hannah). After the spanking we received from LSU, hopefully it brought everyone associated with ASU back down to earth a little bit. Cloud Nine finally started falling somewhere in the first quarter where ASU looked like a team that couldn’t do too much right. No complaints here, I was on the cloud with everyone else, but LSU was simply more athletic than Appalachian was and made sure they wouldn’t become the second coming of Michigan.

 

Jacksonville University is somewhat of an unknown to the Mountaineer fan base. The Dolphins have only won 39 games in the existence of the football program, a feat that ASU has easily accomplished in just the last three championship seasons. They will likely start a true freshman quarterback in Josh McGregor, who sparked a dormant offense to 20 second half points in their win over Savannah State. Their best player is probably wide receiver Geavon Tribble who is on pace to break school records in receptions and receiving yards. The leading rusher is Rudell Small who carried for 109 yards on 25 carries. Small was responsible for 68% of the rushing attempts against Savannah State.

 

The Jacksonville defense may be suspect to the running game. Savannah State had four different players with over 30 yards rushing against the Dolphin defense. However, Jacksonville was able to pressure the Savannah quarterbacks into completing only 10 of 28 passes and forcing one interception. The defense also forced 10 three and outs against Savannah State.

 

Jacksonville does appear to have some playmakers on its roster. Eight different receivers caught passes. Their punt return average was over 9 yards per return and their kick return average was also decent at 20 yards per return. Another sign of great athleticism is the fact that the interception was returned for 62 yards. Their 21 fist downs and 31 minutes of possession show that they know how to run their offense. Most likely , they will try and chew off as much clock as possible against Appalachian’s high scoring offense.

 

As previously mentioned, Appalachian struggled mightily against LSU. Both of the LSU lines were dominant. Armanti Edwards didn’t have much time to throw all game long and the Tigers were able to stop the running game before it started. It was only the second time in his career that Edwards attempted over 30 passes in a single game. The 41% completion rate was the worst for any game in his career as well. Defensively, Appalachian couldn’t get a pass rush at all and that made it extremely hard to cover the LSU receivers. LSU also ran for 266 yards on 40 attempts.

 

If there were any bright spots for ASU against LSU, it was the kicking game. Jason Vitaris connected on kicks of 24 and 44 yards and was also good on his only extra point. The punting game was able to keep LSU from breaking any big returns by punting the ball with plenty of hang time in order for the coverage unit to get down the field and contain or force fair catches. When is the last time we talked about the ASU kicking game in a prediction thread? Just goes to show what kind of game it was for Appalachian.

 

Just like last weekend, this game will be a game of first for both schools. For Jacksonville, it will be the first time playing a top ranked team in the FCS and will also be the first game against a member of the Southern Conference. For ASU, it will be the first game in the newly expanded Kidd Brewer Stadium which now seats just over 20,000. Depending on the weather, ASU may have its first home crowd with attendance over 30,000.  ASU has never lost to a team from the Pioneer League and ASU is 17-2 in home openers under Jerry Moore. Jacksonville is touting ASU as its biggest test in school history, so they will be playing with nothing to lose. The Dolphins have a relatively young team at most of the skill positions and none of their players have played in an atmosphere quite like Kidd Brewer Stadium. The Dolphins will need several breaks to go their way in order to win on Saturday. The 53 point spread is the most lopsided spread since I have been writing the prediction thread. Covering it may be difficult, but ASU will certainly want to make sure they are crisp heading into an off week before the much anticipated game against James Madison. Hopefully Armanti Edwards will play no more than the first half and give way to freshman DeAndre Presley. Most likely you will see lots of rushing yards from the ASU offense, and I will predict at least two players with 100 yards rushing in the game. Although anything can happen on a given Saturday, I am praying for the Dolphins that ASU does not take out all of last week’s frustrations out on them.

The First Pick:

Tuna Salad          10
Moonshine           62