Monthly Archives: January 2012

Appalachian State Basketball: Appalachian @ Wofford 1/19/2012

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The road trip to Wofford would be interesting one the Mountaineers. After playing at home against an arch rival, they travelled to Spartanburg to play in the high school gym that Benjamin Johnson Arena. All kidding aside, Wofford is another team that prefers a slower pace. Wofford has represented the Southern Conference in the NCAA tournament the last two seasons, but finally lost a lot of their starters who were important in those runs. I was feeling very confident about the Mountaineers after the close loss to Davidson and the Mountaineers had been consistent in covering those high single digit spreads of late.

Wofford blistered the nets all night long, shooting 54% for the game, and 63% in the second half. Andre Williamson had a big game with 20 points and 9 rebounds, but Omar Carter and Jamal Trice combined to shoot 4 of 16 from the floor without a three pointer. Wofford walked away with a 12 point win and Appalachian’s streak of covers was over. I also fell to 7-5 on the season.

Appalachian State Basketball: Appalachian vs. Davidson 1/14/2012

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In what is always a highly anticipated game, Davidson made the trek up the mountain to face Appalachian on a Saturday afternoon. Davidson and Appalachian always play a very physical game when playing each other. Davidson had an unblemished league record and had been blowing opponents out in their three previous conference games. The Wildcats had defeated UNCG by 29, Georgia Southern by 22 and Western Carolina by 21. Considering that, I was thinking that the oddsmakers would favor Davidson by 6-7 points. When the line posted that morning I was excited to see a spread that favored Davidson by 8.5 As close as these two teams play historically, I jumped all over the Mountaineers again.

Davidson was in control the entire game until the Mountaineers took the their first lead of the game at 70-69 with just under 5 minutes to play. Davidson then went on a 10-0 run highlighted by the play of De’Mon Brooks who scored seven of the points in that run. With 2:20 to play Davidson was up 79-70 and the Appalachian short streak of covering spreads was in jeopardy. Omar Carter and Jamal Trice both hit late three to bring the margin to four points for the visiting Wildcats. Appalachian played a tough game and proved to the league that Davidson is beatable, and once again, covered for the fourth straight game. My record improved to 7-4

Appalachian State Basketball: Appalachian vs. Furman 1/12/2012

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With the longest road trips of the season out of the way, Appalachian returned to the Holmes Dome for the week to face the Furman Paladins for an ESPN3 broadcast. Appalachian and Furman appeared to be very evenly matched teams. Furman is another team that is tough to play, as they prefer a slower pace. Furman is a team that can beat anyone on any night depending on their shooting. Furman had just been blasted five days earlier at by Charleston at home by 23 points. Appalachian was favored by 3 points and I felt this was another nice easy play to pick the Mountaineers to cover. If the Mountaineers were going to beat Furman, they were going to do it by more than 3 points.

Appalachian came out of the gates slowly, falling behind by as many 10 points in the first half, but eventually rallied to take a double digit lead in the second half. Once again, Appalachian allowed a team to close late in the game, but a key turnover by Furman and the ensuing victory dunk by Jamal Trice gave the Mountaineers enough points to prevail. Appalachian won 56-50 and once again, were able to cover. It was the third straight cover for the Mountaineers, and my season record improved to 6-4.

Appalachian State Basketball: Appalachian @ Chattanooga 1/7/2012

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Appalachian put themselves in a good spot on the road to jump to a decent start in league play. The win at Samford was hard fought against a team that can be tough to defened. The Mountaineers were spotted 7.5 points on the road and I felt this was a good play again to pick the Apps. Chattanooga had an excellent record at home and had just come off a come from behind overtime game against Western Carolina a couple night before. I was thinking the Apps could easily win this game depending on their shooting.

Appalachian lef throughtout the game and had a double digit lead late in the second half. The Mountaineers went cold, and allowed the Mocs to tie the game late. Omar Carter had a chance to win the game with the clock winding down, but took an ill-advised shot that created a runout game winning layup for the Mocs. It was a devastating loss, but the Mountaineers did cover the spread. My record on the season improved to 5-4.

Appalachian State Basketball: Appalachian vs. Western Carolina 1/21/2012

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On a rainy winter day in Boone, the Mountaineers will host their rivals, the Western Carolina Catamounts in a key SoCon North Division game. Currently only one game separates first and sixth. Western is currently tied for first with Elon at 3-3, while Appalachian is tied for third in a three way tie with Chattanooga, who they lost to 2 weeks ago on the road, and UNCG who they defeated at home earlier this season. Appalachian has a good record against the spread this year at 8-4 while Western is 6-9. The Catamounts are only 4-8 on the road this season straight up. The spread stands at -3.5 for the Mountaineers. In this rivalry game, I expect homecourt to be a huge advantage for Appalachian. Western is only 1-4 in their last 5 games ATS. The Catamounts have not covered as a road underdog since their win against Bradley on Decenmber 20th. I will take the Mountaineers.

 

Appalachian did their job in covering the spread again. The 12 point home win was highlighted by a 30-36 performance at the free throw line. The work done at the charity stripe won the game. I am now 8-5 this season in lined Mountaineer games.

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian vs. Western Carolina 11/10/2007

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Here we go with Week 11:

Western Carolina (1-8) @ #7 Appalachian State (7-2)
11/10/07

Time: 3:30pm

TV: ESPNU Tape Delay

Kidd Brewer Stadium

Surface: FieldTurf
Capacity: 16,650

Jeff Sagarin ratings:

ASU:     71.77

WCU:    44.85

Home advantage: 2.47 points

ASU is favored to win by 29 points

Series: ASU leads 52-18-1

Last Meeting: ASU 31, WCU 9

 

Finally in the mountains of Boone, NC, the weather has turned cooler and it will feel like football weather for the first this year, just in time for The Battle for the Old Mountain Jug which will be renewed for the 72nd time. Seems like each time the weather turns brisker, the race for the Southern Conference crown heats up. There is still a chance that four teams can lay claim to the title of 2007 Southern Conference Football Champions. One of those teams is Appalachian State. Since falling to Georgia Southern, ASU went a perfect 2-0 in its toughest road stretch of the season and in doing so jumped right back into the conference race. Western Carolina has been out of it since the season started. Their lone win was against Presbyterian and since have had five straight losses, all to conference opponents. We all know the cliché though: “Throw out the records when these teams play”. It still rings true, because this is more than just another team trying to knock off the two time defending national champions. These are teams that are trying to beat each other for bragging rights. They are trying to beat each other to tell their grandchildren that they won. They are trying to beat each other, because after its over, both teams want the same thing. When the game is over, they want the Old Mountain Jug.

 

Western has been preparing for the Appalachian game for a long time. It will have been over two weeks since Western last played, when they had a thrilling second half comeback fall short against Wofford. Western was down by 34 points at halftime and everything that could go wrong did for the Catamounts on that Thursday night. Before that game, Western was 6-0 all time on Thursday night games. Western scored 41 second half points before losing 47-44. Western shower serious signs of life in that game. It was as if they forgot they were playing another team. They ran circles around the Terrier defense. Western quarterbacks accounted for five touchdown passes and no interceptions.

 

The quarterback I fear the most from Western’s stable is Adam Hearns. Why do I fear Adam Hearns? It is the same reason every defense in the nation fears Armanti Edwards. Hearns has a tremendous ability to use his feet in the pocket in order to convert first downs. If you look at his numbers, he has gained 346 yards on the ground. He has lost 162 of those yards due to sacks though. He had a 4 game stretch before the Wofford game where he lost all but one of those yards. Take away yards lost due to sacks, and the guy is averaging 4.5 yards per carry. Against Wofford, Hearns was very efficient with 10 carries for 53 yards. Against Elon, Hearns threw for a career high 310 yards with three touchdowns. Todd Spitzer has been very consistent while filling in for Hearns. Spitzer has completed 58% of his passes for 1021 yards and seven touchdowns. Spitzer’s three interceptions all came in one game against Eastern Kentucky. When Spitzer is in the game, he is not running, chances are that he’ll be in there to throw. It does not matter who is in a quarterback for the Catamounts. Both quarterbacks will throw the ball to Eddie Cohen who averages 6 catches a game for 107 yards receiving.

 

Appalachian showed against the Citadel that they are still the team to beat. ASU ran up 439 yards rushing the ball showing the team speed can be unmatched in the Southern Conference. Armanti Edwards showed he is still the most dangerous quarterback in the division with his school record 291 yards rushing and four total touchdowns. Edwards became just the sixth Mountaineer to accumulate over 5,000 yards for a career in just his 20th career game. Edwards also became ASU’s leading rusher by a quarterback for a career. It would be scary to think about what Edwards would have been able to accomplish this year if he was healthy. Oh yeah, he is just a sophomore.

 

Defensively for the Mountaineers they were lead by true freshman DJ Smith, who highly resembles Mountaineer Hall of Famer Dexter Coakley. Smith carried the Apps with a team high 13 solo tackles which also included an interception return for a touchdown and half of a sack. Quietly, the Mountaineer defense has been coming around the last couple weeks and they lead the conference in points allowed. In the third quarter against The Citadel, the Bulldogs drove into Mountaineer territory 3 times, ran 30 plays,  and only came away with 10 points.

Western Carolina has certainly had their struggles and part of those struggles can be blamed on a very young defense. Western has allowed every team that has beaten them to score at least 38 points. Western is giving up nearly 41.5 points per game and that is not going to get it done anywhere. Western gives up 217 yards rushing a game and 423 yards total, which puts them 98th best defense in the country.

 

This game still scares me despite how both teams seasons have gone. Some have mentioned how this game reminds them of the 0-10 VMI team that beat ASU in overtime in Kidd Brewer Stadium. I think this is totally different though. This Western team probably played their best football while making their comeback against Wofford. ASU is arguably playing its best football of the season right now after being beat up for most of the season. It does make a difference when a team is unhealthy, but eventually someone has to play. Although ASU has been worn down in the earlier parts of the season, I see something similar to a rebirth. I think it happened in the fourth quarter of the Georgia Southern game. I don’t know what it was, but whatever it was, it worked. ASU’s offense is looking darn near close to the offense that blasted every team in their way during the 2006 playoffs. As for the defense, Jerry Moore would say that it’s the tenth game of the year, you are not freshman anymore. I think ASU needs to play with their foot stuck to the accelerator. I am not asking for them to run up the score like some have suggested, but more importantly, play for sixty minutes. Western has shown that they are not going to give up and they certainly will not have any quit in them with the Old Mountain Jug on the line. Western’s coaches may have their jobs on the line this week. In Cullowhee, nothing screams job security like beating Appalachian State. Western has nothing to lose. Their season is almost over, and like most years, they will be at home for Thanksgiving. In Cullowhee, the turkey tastes ten times better when you have beaten Appalachian State. I’ve never eaten turkey in Cullowhee, but I think everyone follows me here. Western can’t stop the run and I have a feeling ASU knows how to run the football a little bit. In his career, Kevin Richardson has run for 198 yards and 3 touchdowns in two games against Western Carolina. Richardson is only 242 yards away from John Settle’s record. That total is high, but its not out of reach this weekend against the nation’s 107th ranked rushing defense.

The First Pick:

Yosef’s Jug                       45

Cherokee Boy’s Club         25

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian vs. Northern Arizona 9/15/2007

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Here we go with Week 3:

Northern Arizona @ Appalachian State
9/15/07

Time: 3:30pm

TV: None
Kidd Brewer Stadium
Surface: FieldTurf
Capacity: 16,650
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     73.37
LR:    53.81
Home advantage: 2.93 points
ASU is favored to win by 32.5 points

Series: first meeting
Last Meeting: n/a

 

Finally, the celebration is over. No more thinking about what has happened in the past. Sure, media folks will continue to talk about the biggest upset in college football until the end of the season. Luckily, most of the TV cameras have left Boone for the time being and are fixated on Ann Arbor. That is perfectly fine with me. Appalachian State is getting ready for a Northern Arizona team that plans on breaking a couple streaks that the Mountaineers own. Not if Jerry Moore and company have anything to do with it. Winning 28 straight home games is something to be proud of, as is owning the nation’s longest active win streak, which is 16 games. Yeah, those Lumberjacks from the left coast will travel right around 1800 miles and play a football game about 3,000 feet below their home stadium. Does anyone else think they might be a little wore out by the time the game starts? Either way, this week will be the first true test for both teams as they try to find out where they stand in the FCS.

 

Northern Arizona will come to Boone with pretty high hopes. They will also be carrying the conference banner in hopes of trying to regain some clout the Big Sky lost when they sent their second best team last year to Kidd Brewer Stadium in the second round of the playoffs. ASU was able to defeat Montana State in that game, 38-17. Last year, Northern Arizona lost to Montana State in Flagstaff by a touchdown 39-32. The Lumberjacks finished the 2006 season at 6-5, with losses coming to I-A’s Utah and Arizona State. The other three losses came to playoff participants Montana, Montana State and a team many considered to be the last one out of the playoff’s, Portland State.

 

Northern Arizona will start Lance Kriesien at quarterback. Before this season, Kriesien had only attempted 12 passes in his college career. This season, Kriesien has completed 38 of his 65 attempts for 375 yards and 2 touchdowns. Kriesien also punted 3 times against Arizona in the 45-24 setback. Kriesen has completed 18 of his 38 completions to Payton Award candidate Alex Watson. On four occasions last season, Alex Watson caught 12 passes or more in a game. Make no mistake, they like to get the ball in his hands. Watson finished last season with 82 catches for 1,017 yards and 15 touchdowns.

 

 

The Mountaineers showed on Saturday afternoon that they were not going to have a hangover from the win at Michigan. Trey Elder led the attack as the Mountaineers scored 21 first quarter points and never looked back. Elder threw for 210 yards and 4 touchdowns while running for another 90 yards and another touchdown. Kevin Richardson gained 21 yards on the day, inching closer to John Settle’s record, which is only 845 yards away. Dexter Jackson hauled in two more touchdowns to up his total to 4 touchdowns on the season. All in all, Jackson has 5 catches, all but one going for a touchdown. That’s a pretty good ratio. On the eight scoring drives, the longest was for 3:23, while two “drives” took less than 10 seconds of the clock. Way to give the defense some rest.

 

The biggest question facing the Apps this week is the status of quarterback Armanti Edwards. I understand Edwards being a little dinged up after the Michigan game and his services were needed for Lenoir Rhyne. If Armanti rests this week, it is going to get people a little worried around the High Country. How hurt is Armanti Edwards? I don’t want this team to fall behind in the first half and then say, oh well we need to put in Armanti and it be too late in the game to get any chemistry. Regardless, if Armanti puts himself at danger by playing this weekend, I don’t want him to play. I think Trey Elder can lead this team to victory. Northern Arizona runs a very rare defense in college. The Lumberjacks will line up in the 3-4 defense. It will be crucial for the ASU offensive line to play as one unit. Big holes can be opened up when there are only three defensive lineman. I think the combination of Kevin Richardson and Devon Moore are shifty enough to make the NAU linebackers miss. Saturday will be the day the ASU ground attack comes alive. If ASU has to throw the ball, NAU has already intercepted five passes this season and will be looking to add to their totals. On the other side, Alex Watson, meet Jerome Touchstone and safety help from Corey Lynch. No matter the situation, NAU will throw the ball at Watson. If ASU can get a little penetration on the passer and force a rushed throw, look for Corey Lynch to come swooping in. NAU will come out slinging the ball either way. The ASU secondary must be on guard for anything. Watson has been known to run a reverse and throw an option pass in the past. Surely NAU will pull out all the stops to knock off the nation’s number one team. ASU must be ready for anything.

The First Pick:

Armanti?                        41
Not quite Big Sky              16

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian vs. Lenoir Rhyne 9/8/2007

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Here we go with Week 2:

Lenoir-Rhyne @ Appalachian State
9/8/07

Time: 3:30pm

TV: None
Kidd Brewer Stadium
Surface: FieldTurf
Capacity: 16,650
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     78.33
LR:    n/a
Home advantage: 2.93 points

Series: ASU leads 21-20-4
Last Meeting: 10-16-1982, ASU 49 LR 0

 

Something happened at Michigan Stadium on September 1, 2007, that will not be forgotten by Michigan or Appalachian State fans for all of eternity. Our Appalachian State Mountaineers rose to the occasion and knocked off college football’s winningest program in their “Big House”. For one afternoon, the Mountaineers gave every small school hopes that one day they may be given the same opportunity. Was it the biggest upset in the history of college football? In all of sports? Those questions are left to be answered by the historians. One thing I do know, it had never happened before. For right now, it will be the biggest upset of all time. For right now, everyone across the college football world is a Mountaineer, (save for Mark May and Kirk Herbstreit). Appalachian didn’t win the game because the Wolverines folded. The game was not won because of some fluke. The Michigan kicker did not kick the ball into the back of his linemen. Corey Lynch showed why he will go down in Mountaineer lore as the best safety in school history. Corey Lynch used every last ounce of energy and turned back the Michigan attack in the final seconds, by blocking a field goal that made 100,000 people get real quiet. Coach Moore said it best. “What we did was so special you have to take some time to enjoy it and allow the players to cherish it….. They’ve earned the right to enjoy what they’ve done.”

 

The Lenoir Rhyne Bears will make its first appearance in Boone this weekend since 1982. That day did not end well for the Bears and that is probably part of the reason we have not seen them since then. Lenoir Rhyne is coached by former Duke head coach, Fred Goldsmith, who is in his first season with Bears. Lenoir Rhyne had a pretty tough go of it last week as they fell to Virginia Union, 28-13. James Pone was the lone bright spot for the Bears are he carried 23 times for 123 yards and one touchdown. Lenoir Rhyne’s combination of Justin Sanders, Dennis Hickman and Daniel Anderson combined to complete 5 passes for 45 yards and two interceptions. Neither quarterback attempted more than 7 passes. The Bear defense allowed Virginia Union to average 6.3 yards per play on offense and gave up 247 passing yards.

Last week, the Mountaineers played nearly flawless. There were a couple miss tackles, but you expect that in the first game. The penalties were kept in check for the most part. ASU had 4 false starts in the first half, but none in the second half. Armanti Edwards completed nearly 65% of his passes and didn’t throw the ball but 23 times. Four receivers caught at least three passes. Even when the interceptions were thrown, they were not poorly thrown passes. Both passes were picked off by Michigan defenders that had to dive to make the catch and there were no returns. ASU moved the defensive line of Michigan all over the field, enough for 160 yards rushing and 10 rushing first downs. Kevin Richardson was not flashy because Michigan didn’t want Richardson to beat them. Richardson gained 88 yards on the day, inching closer to John Settle’s record, which is only 866 yards away.

 

Linebacker Pierre Banks made plays left and right against the Michigan offense. Banks led the team with 12 total tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack and one fumble recovery. Corey Lynch also made a play or two for the Mountaineers while recording 11 tackles. The play of Leonard Love may have won him a starting job as he grabbed an huge interception while Michigan was driving. Love finished with 8 tackles on the day.

 

Lenoir Rhyne is most likely, in trouble. Unlike last Saturday, Michigan was heavily favored to win, but I thought there were some things that ASU could do that could keep them in the ballgame. One of those things was give the ball to Armanti Edwards and let him do what he does best. Another thing was to keep the Michigan defense guessing. We did just enough of that to stay in the game, and then some. On the other hand, I am not quite sure of what Lenoir Rhyne will be able to do to ASU that will give them a chance to win the game. Sure there are things they can do, but I don’t think they have the players to do it. First off, Fred Goldsmith needs to do what Charlie Weiss needs to do. Pick a quarterback and stick with him. A young quarterback has to have growing pains in order to be successful and learn. The Bears are not going to win many football games if they continue to play musical chairs at the quarterback position. They can run the ball 50 times a game and be successful, but they are not going to be able to do that against Appalachian and win the game. Seems like we are repeating the same words from last week, but the shoe is on the other foot. Appalachian is quicker and more skilled at every position. Lenoir Rhyne alumni have been forward to this game all summer. Like last week was ASU’s big game, it’s the season for Lenoir Rhyne. Beating Appalachian would be a bigger upset than what ASU was just able to accomplish in Ann Arbor. This game should give a lot of the ASU players good playing time. Trey Elder will be in sometime in the second quarter and Hunter Stewart will get plenty of reps as well. The Apps should roll before playing a huge FCS game against Northern Arizona next week

 

The First Pick:

Wolverine Killers     52
Yogi Bear               6

 

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian vs. Georgia Southern 10/20/2007

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Here we go with Week 8:

Georgia Southern (4-2) @ #5 Appalachian State (5-1)
10/20/07

Time: 3:30pm

TV: MASN
Kidd Brewer Stadium
Surface: Field Turf
Capacity: 16,650
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     70.22
GSU:    51.07
Home advantage: 2.93 points
ASU is favored to win by 22  points

Series: ASU leads 10-9-1

Last Meeting: ASU 27, GSU 20 20T

 

Finally, after nearly two months of football, Appalachian State will host a conference game when the Georgia Southern Eagles come to Kidd Brewer Stadium this weekend. Another thing that has taken forever to get here is the next game. It was nice to have a week off, and I am sure the players enjoyed it very much. However, when I woke up last Saturday morning, I knew something wasn’t right. The sun was up. I was raring to go. I even considered packing up the truck with the tailgating supplies, just because it felt right. When the weekend arrives in a couple days, everything will be packed just like always, waiting for another Black Saturday.

 

The easy games are over. The conference schedule is in full swing as the Mountaineers will close the season with five league games. Georgia Southern is the first test for ASU coming off the bye week. Southern is coming off a crushing overtime loss to the Elon Phoenix. Southern has bitten by the injury bug, and I am sure they are looking forward to another 7+ hour bus ride up to North Carolina. ASU on the other hand is well rested and is about as healthy as they have been all season long. When asked about the status of Armanti Edwards, Jerry Moore kind of said that he expected #14 to start against the Eagles.

 

Georgia Southern seems to be getting back to old team we all used to know. The Eagles lead the nation in rushing at 351 yards a game and are scoring 41.5 points a game on the season. Most of the offense comes from the skills of Jayson Foster. Foster is fourth in the nation with nearly 160 yards rushing per contest, and has scored 15 touchdowns. However, in the last 3 games, Foster has been held to less than 100 yards rushing in each contest and has only scored one touchdown in each of those games. Georgia Southern is so beat up by injuries that it is allowing teams to focus more on Foster. In his two games against ASU, Foster has carried 24 times for 101 yards. Lamar Lewis, Chris Teal and Mike Hamilton will carry the load when Foster hands it off. All three carried for at least 70 yards against Elon.

Whether it is Armanti Edwards or Trey Elder who starts for the Mountaineers this Saturday, one thing is for certain: The Apps are going to be scoring. Southern is outscoring ASU on a per game basis, but Southern also had two overtime games this year, and Western Georgia isn’t exactly Michigan. The Apps offense is a little more balanced than their opponent on Saturday. ASU is running the ball for 201 yards a game and passing for another 220 yards. By spreading the ball around, ASU avoids having one guy get all the numbers. Kevin Richardson has averaged a steady 72 yards a game on the ground, and is only 522 yards away from the ASU all time record. Hans Batichon is catching 4 passes a game for a 63 yard average. Trey Elder leads the conference in passing efficiency as he has tossed for 921 yards and 8 touchdowns while completing 66 percent of his passes.

 

I fully expect Georgia Southern to ride the coat tails of Jayson Foster. At some point, a coach has to realize that when you give a kid a chance to make a play on every down, eventually he going to take enough hits that he becomes ineffective. I think Chris Hatcher has done a great job so far this season, but before too long, the Eagles are going to have to mix it up a bit. I am hoping this isn’t the weekend they plan that. Unlike the past two seasons, ASU has been coming out of the gates kind of slow. The second quarter is actually when ASU has scored 40% of its points, while holding the opposition to 13 total points in the second stanza. If Georgia Southern sets the tempo early with some big plays by forcing the ASU defense to run backwards, we could be in for a shoot out.

 

On the other hand, ASU leads the Southern Conference in passing efficiency while Georgia Southern allows over 250 yards a game through the air. It is pretty easy to figure that ASU will test the Southern secondary. In the spread offense, ASU has always passed in order to set up the run, which provides a perfectly balanced offense. If ASU is successful in the passing game, look for ASU to run away early and coast to an big victory.

 

The fact remains, Georgia Southern is coming to Boone and they expect to win. Georgia Southern has a fan base that expects success and that enthusiasm runs throughout the players. The Eagles will want to end the string of home victories for ASU. Also fresh on their mind is the heart wrenching loss they suffered last year in Statesboro. Appalachian must also remember that they are still playing Georgia Southern. The seniors on the ASU team remember the beating they took in 2004 when Southern won 54-7. Bad losses are on the minds of both of these teams in the past and this year. The two losses Southern suffered this year were in overtime and they can only imagine what could have been. ASU played a bad game against Wofford and you think about it, this game is only a couple plays away from pitting two undefeated teams. Forget the records though. Its plain and simple this weekend. These two teams are going to get after each other on every down. I expect Southern to play like its their last game. The hard part for Southern is that they are beat up, while ASU is as ready to go as they been since the first week. ASU will work off some rust in the first few drives, but they should be excited to play. Black Saturday always bring out the best in the ASU fan base. The Apps should get a victory this week, but its wont be easy to contain Jayson Foster.

The First Pick:

Black Out           34

Beagles              24

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian @ Furman 10/27/2007

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Here we go with Week :

#10 Appalachian State (5-2) @ Furman (3-4)
10/27/07

Time: 3:00pm

TV: SportSouth
Paladin Stadium
Surface: Natural grass
Capacity: 16,000
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     69.91
FU:    51.81
Home advantage: 2.08 points
ASU is favored to win by 16  points

Series: Fu leads 21-13-3

Last Meeting: ASU 40, FU 7

 

When the season started everyone was looking at Furman and Appalachian State, thinking they would decide this weekend who would be the conference champion. Who would have ever seen this one coming. Instead of deciding first place, these two will fight it out being tied for 6th place in the Southern Conference. It has been a good long time since a Furman and Appalachian game was almost meaningless. Don’t tell that to Furman. They still remember the beating they took last year in Boone. The game last year was an anomaly compared to how these games have played out in the past. Furman head coach Bobby Lamb is on the hot seat and part of the problem is that he has had trouble beating Appalachian State. Appalachian probably cannot afford a loss to Furman if they want to have any chance at home games in the playoffs. Don’t go telling me this game has no meaning.

 

To say that Furman has had an up a down season is an understatement. After beating Presbyterian in the opening week, Furman suffered consecutive losses to Hofstra, Clemson and Wofford. Since the loss to Wofford, Furman has won two out of the last three, with wins over Coastal Carolina and Chattanooga last week. Two weeks ago, Furman lost to The Citadel in overtime 54-51.

 

Appalachian fans have been wondering since 2004: When is Jerome Felton going to graduate? Well, this is the year Felton graduates along with fellow tailback Cedric Gipson, who have been running hard through Appalachian lines for 4 years now. Although it seems like Felton has been around forever, his stats against the Mountaineers are not as gaudy as some may believe. Felton has carried the ball at least one time, in every game that he has played in his career except three. Two of those games were against Appalachian, in 2004 and 2006. Against Appalachian in 2005, where the two schools met twice, Felton carried 36 times for 177 yards on the ground with two touchdowns. In the case of Cedric Gipson: 40 carries for 176 yards and two touchdowns in 4 career games against ASU.

In 2007, Felton is taking the lion’s share of carries for the Furman offense. Felton’s 100 carries this year is over double the carries that second leading rusher Gipson (48) has received. On the season, Felton has 376 yards and 5 touchdowns while Gipson has 220 yards and one touchdown. Also getting touches for the Paladins are Stephone LaFrance with 42 carries for 192 yards and Mike Brown, 27 rushes for 155 yards.

Renaldo Gray and Jordan Sorrells have split time at quarterback this season for Furman. Sorrells has not seen much playing time since the Wofford game and has only thrown 4 passes in the last month. Gray had a great day against The Citadel when he threw for 289 yards and 3 touchdowns and also ran the ball 12 times for 76 yards and a touchdown. Gray’s favorite target on the season is receiver Patrick Sprague, who also had a field day against The Citadel. Sprague caught 9 passes for 238 yards and 3 touchdowns against the Bulldogs. On the season, Sprague has 37 catches for 580 yards and 5 touchdowns.

 

Say what you want to about the reason Appalachian fell to Georgia Southern, but one thing is certain: It was not pretty. Gone are the days in college football where 35 points will be more than enough to win a football game. Everywhere across the nation, scoring is up, and part of that is due to backing up the kickoffs to the 30 yard line. Touchbacks are way down and when you give good speedy athletes chances to make plays, they will. With the shorter kicks, offenses have shorter fields to work with, thus more points. Sure, I would like to think that scoring in the 30’s is plenty, but those days in college football are gone.

It can be argued that the play of one particular athlete on a field can cause a team to lose, but certainly not win. Some critics say that Armanti Edwards’ arm is not quite there yet. It showed with two very untimely interceptions, with one being returned for a touchdown. But it also can be said that some athletes take games into their own and single-handedly beat teams. Jayson Foster was the example of that to the ASU defense. However, without Armanti Edwards rushing for a school record 220 yards, what chances would ASU have had at all against Georgia Southern? In a comparison, when Armanti Edwards has run the ball the most in his short career, its been when his completion percentage has been lower. Edwards had 29 carries against GSU and connected on 10 of 21 passes (47%). Last year against GSU, Edwards ran 26 times and was 11 for 21(52%) throwing the ball. Against Coastal Carolina in the playoffs, 19 carries for Edwards, 14 for 28 passing. See where I am going with this?

It is also true that the Apps’ young defensive needs to grow up in a hurry. It is not going to happen overnight though. There will be growing pains, but as a fan you can only hope the worst is behind you. It is obvious what kind of running team the Mountaineers have struggled with. The misdirection option that Wofford and Georgia Southern run are hard for anyone to stop, especially a young defensive line. Furman and Michigan prefer the isolation runs between the tackles and the occasional stretch run to the sideline. ASU contained the Michigan run when it was needed. Furman has some quick players, but has nowhere near the overall speed of the likes of Michigan or Georgia Southern. It is pretty obvious that Jerome Felton will get his share of carries up the middle and Cedric Gipson will dot the “I” and get the option plays to the outside. This Furman team will make you play assignment defense more so than any other opponent on the schedule. What I feel the Mountaineers need to do is use all the talent on the field. Put the ball in the hands of the players who can make plays. That means all the players. This might be the week that ASU breaks out the two-headed quarterback. I feel as if Trey Elder and Armanti Edwards will get their chances this week against Furman. This way both players are fresh and whichever has it going on this week will most likely get the snaps. Defensively, I am not asking for ASU to shut down the Furman offense, but to contain it. I like ASU sending a message this week that they are not finished with the season. Before this season, Furman was the last FCS team to defeat ASU, which has only won three games all time in Greenville. I think ASU will be alright this week, but Furman will give it what they got. Look for ASU to air it out often in this game and work the running game in as needed. Another key in this game will be turnovers. Both teams are turning the ball over more than they are taking it away. Last year in Boone, it was a turnover that broke the game wide open. Wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case on Saturday.

 

The First Pick:

Big Bad Yosef       35

White Horsemen   21