Tag Archives: 2008

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian @ James Madison 9/20/2008

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Here we go with Week 3:

#1 Appalachian State @ #5 James Madison
9/20/08

Time: 7pm

TV: CN8
Stadium: Bridgeforth Stadium
Surface: Field Turf
Capacity: 15,500
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     68.16
JMU:    62.79
Home advantage: 2.87 points
ASU is favored by the Sagarin rankings by 2 ½  points (rounded).

Series: ASU leads 12-3
Last Meeting: ASU 28, JMU 27 Nov 17th, 2007; 1st round FCS Playoffs

 

Now the fun really starts. For Appalachian, the “scrimmages” are over. For James Madison, their shot at revenge is finally in sight. This weekend may bring about the most anticipated game in modern FCS history. It has certainly been anticipated by Dukes followers. Since the exit from the playoffs, every James Madison fan, player, coach, and water boy has had this date circled. The excuses are plenty. They shouldn’t have lost, if games were played on paper. They gave it away, if by “gave it away” you mean, they lost the lead. Does it really matter how it happened? It only matters that it did, which leads us to this weekend. Duke fans thought they should have won the National Championship. Appalachian fans knew, when Pierre Banks fell on “The Fumble: Part 2”, that their team wanted it more. (“The Fumble: Part 1” starred Jason Hunter and Ingle Martin.) That is the reason they play the game. The game is played by everyone on the field, not just the quarterbacks or running backs or wide receivers. Who is going to step up this Saturday and make a play that will not be forgotten?

 

In the Jacksonville game, Appalachian went up against a team and program they had never played before. This weekend will be the exact opposite. James Madison and Appalachian State are very familiar with one another. Coaches Mickey Matthews and Jerry Moore have known each other for the better part of their lives. The schools will have played each other three times in the last three seasons. Armanti Edwards was discovered against James Madison, and this will be the first team in his career that he will have played three times.

 

Senior quarterback Rodney Landers is the key to the JMU offense. He is a terrific spread quarterback that has plenty of speed and will finish plays off by lowering his head and punishing opposing defenses. He is responsible for 57% of the James Madison total offense and has improved his passing, completing 65% of his attempts for a total of 300 yards on the season and has only thrown one interception. Landers has carried the ball more than any other Madison back this season and leads the team with 7.4 yards per carry and has scored four touchdowns on the ground.

James Madison’s back and receivers are equally as talented as their quarterback. Griff Yancey has carried for 171 yards and is averaging 6.1 yards per tote. Eugene Holloman, despite missing the UMass game to injury, has carried for 143 yards and has averaged 5.3 yards per carry. Punt returner Scotty McGee will be someone the Mountaineer special teams will have to keep an eye on. McGee leads the CAA in punt returns at 17.1 yards per clip and kick returns at 29 yards per return. McGee returned one punt for 38 yards and a touchdown against North Carolina Central and has a long return on the season of 49 yards.

 

Appalachian fans are still curious as to what kind of team the Mountaineers will put on the field. The first two games sure felt like exhibitions against two teams on the opposite ends of the college football spectrum. The offense has looked somewhat bland and very run oriented. The passing game was not impressive in the win over Jacksonville. Some seem to think that ASU isn’t showing their hand. I don’t think it was so much that, as it was just trying a few different things on offense and giving younger guys some very valuable playing time. Injuries cannot be predicted and it gives those players some confidence when they have to step on the field and be counted on in pressure situations. James Madison is putting everything into this game, making it their season almost. Appalachian needs to play with a similar type of urgency. The season wont be over, but this game this weekend is the true test and battle of the best teams in FCS football.

 

Appalachian will certainly feature a mixture of Devon Moore and Robert Welton. Moore had 94 yards on nine carries against Jacksonville and Welton carried for a career high 161 yards on ten carries while scoring three touchdowns. Armanti Edwards added 77 yards on eight carries and will certainly be a factor in the game. Depending on how much JMU focuses on stopping Edwards will determine how the ASU game plan will play out. Edwards will have to be successful through the air, for the offense to put points on the board. If Edwards is only able to complete 41% of his passes like he has thus far, it will be a long day for the Mountaineers. A lot of the passing game woes have fallen on the wide receivers. Several players will have to step up in order to keep the chains  moving and keep James Madison off the field.

 

The advantage I see in this game for Appalachian is when the defense is on the field. James Madison was able to put 52 points on the board against a very good Massachusetts team. The Appalachian defense has speed at every position. Where there isn’t speed there is sure tackling and spot on assignments. Playing Rodney Landers is very much like defending the old Georgia Southern triple option and the wing-whatever you want to call it down at Wofford. JMU will be at a disadvantage every time Landers lines up under center.  Landers in the shotgun is very dangerous because he can turn the corner with such ease and gather so much momentum and fall forward while dragging tacklers. On the other hand, I feel as if the ASU offense is going to come out of its shell on Saturday. I don’t envision many three and outs and when ASU has the ball they will be deliberate. JMU played a pass heavy team last week and allowed close to 300 yards passing in the second half. Granted, UMass was behind and needed to pass, but JMU could not seem to get a good pass rush going. Liam Coen isn’t exactly a scrambling quarterback. If the ASU offensive line can protect and give Armanti time to throw, receivers will get open or Armanti will have time to make magic happen when he decides run.

 

Night games always bring out the best in college football. The players have had all day to rest and wait to get all of their adrenaline flowing for what will be a great game. The fans will have had plenty of time in the parking lots getting ready as well. The atmosphere will be electric. However, Appalachian players have played in big games. Over the past few years, the Mountaineers have played their best when the lights have been brightest. The James Madison following has hyped this game to no end. It really says something about desperation when fans start chanting to play a team that isn’t in their conference. It will be interesting to see if JMU can press pass the anxiety of the last nine months. Appalachian fans alike, just want as much to show the game last year was a fluke. Their team should have played better too. This game will certainly have playoff implications. The selection committee will look back to this game and the winner, as long they are playoff eligible, will be given serious consideration for home playoff games. Alas, there is lots of football to be played and it will start on Saturday night in Harrisonburg. The coin toss will mean so much in this game. If you are Appalachian, as the away team, you want to receive the ball and get down the field and score. If you are James Madison, you might want to do the same thing, to send the message and get your crowd into the game early. An opening drive defensive stop will also do the trick for the Dukes. Field position will be extremely critical. For both teams, even if they don’t score on their first drive, it will important to at least move the ball for 30 or 40 yards in order to “flip the field”. Play calling is much more conservative if a team is inside their own 20 yard line. Turnovers played a big part last November and will likely be equally as important. James Madison capitalized on an early ASU fumble and then a key fourth down stop by the ASU defense completed the comeback. If I am JMU, I am worried about being a little over prepared. Their coaching staff has admittedly looked at ASU tape all summer long. Jerry Moore and his teams look at games one at a time. It may come back to haunt them. This game has all the makings of a classic, and finally, JMU gets Appalachian in their house. Who is going to step up this Saturday and make a play that will not be forgotten?

 

The First Pick:

Mickey the Mouth          30
Moore of the Same        34

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian @ Georgia Southern 10/18/2008

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Here we go with Week 7:

#2 Appalachian State (4-2, 2-0 T2) @ Georgia Southern (3-3,1-2 T5)
10/18/08

Time: 3pm

TV: SportSouth
Stadium: Paulson Stadium
Surface: Natural Grass

Capacity: 18,000
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     63.83
GSU:    56.52
Home advantage: 2.78 points
ASU is favored by the Sagarin rankings by 4 ½  points (rounded).

Series: Series tied 11-11-1
Last Meeting: GSU 38 ASU 35, October 10th 2007

 

Rivalries are what college athletics are all about. There are teams you play within the conference every year, but its those couple of schools, for whatever reason, that have always stuck out through the years. If you want one, look no further than Georgia Southern and Appalachian State football. The series is dead even. Its has back and forth that way for a couple of years now. Sometimes things happen during a rivalry that makes it extra special each time the series is renewed. Eagle fans will never forget the goalpost incident of 2003 after ASU snapped a four game Southern win streak. Georgia Southern returned the favor in 2007 by dancing on the ASU field after a three point win over the two-time defending champions. That is what makes it all so fun. Traditionally this game is always a fight for conference and playoff positioning. Rarely does one team have three losses heading into this game. It would not matter though. If these teams were winless, the intensity would still be the same. Something about these schools on the gridiron, always brings out the best in each team.

 

Every year it seems, when you talk about the Georgia Southern football team, the conversation always starts with the quarterback position. Over the years, the Eagles have had some great athletes lining under center. Greg Hill, JR Revere, Jayson Foster are a few that have given plenty of defensive coordinators nightmares over the years. The Georgia Southern record book is littered with their names. Antonio Henton is another Eagle quarterback that will try to match the numbers of his predecessors. Henton, a transfer from Ohio State, is one of the first true dual threat quarterbacks that Southern has had in a few years. Henton is a good passer with a strong arm and is equally as dangerous on the ground. He is very similar to James Madison‘s Rodney Landers, who he outweighs by 15 pounds. Henton has scored 13 total touchdowns on the year is Southern’s leading rusher at 58 yards per game. Henton completes right at 57% of his passes and his only downfall is the six interceptions he has thrown in six games.  Four of those interceptions have come in the last three games against conference opponents Chattanooga, Wofford and Elon.

 

I will repeat myself, Henton is leading rusher for the Eagles at 58 yards per game. When is the last time you could say that about a Georgia Southern football team. As a team, Southern is averaging only 155 yards on the ground. Gone are the days of 400 yard rushing games week in and out. The Eagles are also getting outrun by their opponents by over 30 yards per game. The Eagles have been allowing 454 yards a game on defense, last in the conference. At 30 points a game, the Southern defense is ranked eighth in the conference. They have also given up more first downs (24 per game) than any other team in the conference. No wonder Southern isn’t running the ball like they used to. Give credit to the “Hatch Attack” offense, but you also have to give credit to the Southern defense for not stopping opposing offenses.

 

Just when Mountaineer fans thought the offense had been corrected, along came Samford, easily the most underrated team in the conference. Two first quarter fumbles puts the Apps in an early hole that they eventually recovered from. Samford was able to deliberately run their offense. They were trying to burn clock and run trick plays from the kickoff. Once it was all said and done, Armanti Edwards emerged once again as the conference offensive player of the week after throwing for 307 yards and adding another 63 yards on the ground in a four touchdown effort. Edwards has thrown seven touchdown passes compared to zero interceptions, including a sparkling 77% completion percentage in the last two games. In his two career games against the Eagles, Edwards has averaged 180 yards rushing and 194 yards passing per game.

 

The Appalachian defense woke up just in time against Samford. Samford was close to adding to their lead when Cortez Gilbert blocked a field goal attempt that kept the deficit at seven points. The offense scored on the next series. The Mountaineers held the Samford offense to only 16 yards in the second quarter. The Samford offense converted their first four  third down conversions in the opening quarter. After that, Samford converted only 4 for 15 for the rest of the game. The defense also held the Samford rushing attack to 4.1 yards per carry, and only allowed 376 total yards on 78 plays(4.8 yards per play). Leading the defense was sophomore linebacker DJ Smith who tallied 12 solo tackles which was enough to win the defensive player of the week in the conference.

 

This game will be a high scoring affair without any question. Although Appalachian appears to have a better defense, nothing can make up for the second straight week on a long trip, coupled with the Statesboro heat. Although the forecasters are not calling for temperatures like we have seen in the past, the heat is still an issue in south Georgia. Also, both Appalachian and Georgia Southern are last in the league in time of possession. For Appalachian its all about the quick strike offense. For Georgia Southern, although their defense cant seem to get anyone off the field, they still average 33 points per game. Another key will be the fact the both Appalachian and Southern are two of the league’s most penalized teams in the league. That means lots of clock stoppages and more chances for offensive plays. Also, Georgia Southern is also one of the worst teams in the league in a category I like to call the pass protection ratio. It is not completely scientific, but work with me. Southern quarterbacks have been sacked 14 times and have thrown 7 interceptions compared to 188 attempted passes, for a percentage of 11.1%, which represents the chance that a Southern quarterback will be intercepted or sacked on each passing attempt. (Wofford leads at 1.8%, while Chattanooga is last at 15.9%). Basically, more interceptions leads to more changes of possessions which leads to more clock stoppages. Throw in the fact this game will be televised and you are looking at a very good chance that this game may take three and half hours to complete. The better conditioned team may win. Both of these teams are also filled with youth, although I suspect that Appalachian has more experience in key positions to pull out a victory. Appalachian is only 3-8 all time in Statesboro and have never won two in a row in Paulson Stadium. I feel that streak will be broken this weekend.

The First Pick:

 

Mullets                         34

Beards                         41

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian vs. Elon 11/15/2008

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Here we go with Week 11:

#11 Elon (8-2,6-1 2nd) @ #2 Appalachian State (8-2, 6-0 1st)
11/15/08

Time: 3:30pm

TV: None
Stadium: Kidd Brewer Stadium
Surface: FieldTurf

Capacity: 20,150
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     71.42
EU:    62.79
Home advantage: 2.52 points
ASU is favored by the Sagarin rankings by 11  points (rounded).

Series: ASU leads 26-9-1
Last Meeting: ASU 49, Elon 32; September 29th 2007

 

This is the time of the year that coaches and players have worked so hard for. For both Elon and Appalachian, this game will play a major factor into determining a conference champion. Elon needs some help, but it all starts with a victory over Appalachian. For the Mountaineers, they can wrap up at least a share of the conference title with a win. Both teams are most likely in the playoffs at this point and their resumes can only be made stronger by playing one another. Elon may not feel as comfortable with their playoff positioning as Appalachian. The Phoenix suffered a tough loss to Wofford and cannot afford another beating to highly ranked opponent. Elon’s other loss on the season came at the hands of Richmond, another potential playoff team. No doubt about it, Elon has been tested this season and this weekend, all will find out if all of the hard work will come to fruition as the play in best game day atmosphere in the Southern Conference.

 

Everyone has been waiting for Elon to return to its past glory days from the NAIA. When Elon hired Pete Lembo, people knew the Elon was making a commitment to football. Lembo landed some good recruits on the offensive side of the ball and that has helped mold Elon into the premier passing team in the league. Quarterback Scott Riddle has drawn comparisons to Brett Favre, they way he throws the football with an almost reckless abandon. Riddle leads the league with 247 passing yards per game and has thrown 22 touchdown passes despite 14 interceptions. It helps that Riddle has one of the best receivers in the conference in Terrell Hudgins, who has had an All-SoCon type of season with 76 catches for 1043 yards and 9 touchdowns.

 

Generally when you see team like Elon, who has such a prolific passing game that scores a lot of points, you find a team that is trying to cover up for their defense. That is not the case for Elon. The Phoenix defense is ranked 2nd in total defense, only allowing 315 yards per game. Elon has also only given up 20.6 points per game on defense, which is also good for 2nd in the league. In fact Elon is ranked second in pass efficiency defense and pass defense as well. Where Elon is not so good on defense is turnovers. Elon has only forced 18 turnovers on the season, good for 6th best in the Southern Conference. The teams below them in forced turnovers are Chattanooga, Georgia Southern and The Citadel. Those teams have a combined total of four conference wins. Another glaring statistic is the Elon’s red zone defense, or lack thereof. No team in the league waves opposing offenses into the end zone better than Elon. The Phoenix give up a score 88% of time opponents reach the red zone. The teams ranked directly ahead of Elon in red zone defense are Chattanooga, Georgia Southern, and The Citadel, with those same four conference wins.

The Mountaineers left their home away from home with another lopsided victory over the Chattanooga Mocs. Appalachian has now won 5 games in 4 years in Finley Stadium. It was the running game that propelled the Mountaineers to victory. Three Mountaineers rang up over 100 yards on the ground: Armanti Edwards, DeAndre Pressley and Cedric Baker. The running attack will also play a very important role this weekend if the Apps want to get one step closer to a conference title. Keeping Elon off the field will be very important. You do no want Scott Riddle to get in a groove and one way to avoid that is by running the football. In the previous two games against Elon, Appalachian has rushed for an average of 315 yards per contest while scoring 47 points per game.

 

Appalachian’s defense has been overlooked for most of the season. Although not having the lofty rankings in certain categories that teams like Elon and Samford have, they have consistently been one of the toughest defenses to score on. The passing game while Elon’s offense is on the field will be entertaining to watch. You will have Elon’s talented receivers against best secondary in the conference. Appalachian is fifth in the nation in interceptions and Mark Legree leads the subdivision with a total of eight picks. In its last three games, Appalachian has only allowed 15 points per game. Appalachian also leads the conference in third down defense, fourth down defense and red zone defense. Appalachian has also forced ten more turnovers than their opponents. Simply put, when a play needs to be made, the Mountaineer defense is there every time.

 

Some folks wrote Elon off after the loss to Wofford. Mainly because the Wofford win set up a huge battle for first place on Halloween night against Appalachian. Elon quietly defeated Western Carolina and suddenly, there is another battle for first place in Boone, just two weeks removed from the last game. Over the past few years, there has been one constant about Appalachian football. When there is a big game to be played, the Mountaineers always show up big. Against Wofford, Elon could not stand up to the pressure of playing a big game. Elon also struggled early in the season against Richmond and escaped a narrow win at Georgia Southern. Basically, they have won all of the games that they were supposed to. To be considered a great team, you have to win a couple of those games against the likes of Richmond or Wofford. Elon is 4-0 on the road this year, with wins against Stony Brook, Georgia Southern, The Citadel and Chattanooga. Against Stony Brook and Chattanooga, there were less than 5,000 fans on hand in both of those games, and they won both games by double digits. The Georgia Southern(17,049) game and The Citadel(12,582) game were the two largest crowds that Elon has played in front of this year. Those games were won by 2 and 4 points respectively. What will happen when the Phoenix run into 30,000 crazy Appalachian fans in the regular season home finale on Senior Day? The weather also looks to favor the Mountaineers. The coolest kickoff time for Elon this year was 64 degrees when they played at Chattanooga. The fearless forecasters are calling for temperatures around 40 degrees with wind and the chance of light precipitation. More important then the crowd size and the weather conditions, Elon may have to weather a storm of a different kind. The last time Elon saw Armanti Edwards on the field was for his first SoCon game of his career in 2006. Edwards did not play Elon in 2007, while recovering from a shoulder injury. You cannot duplicate on a scout team what Armanti Edwards can do on the field. Beyond stingy defenses and high scoring offenses, something must break. Although Scott Riddle is a great passer, he can get a little pass happy considering his 14 interceptions. Edwards has as many touchdown passes as Riddle, with 135 fewer attempts and only two interceptions. Quarterback play will either win or lose this game. For Elon to be successful, Riddle has to play well and pass the ball consistently. On the other hand, Appalachian’s Edwards can beat teams with his arm and his legs. I think Elon is too one dimensional and their strength is going up against the strength of the ASU defense. The Apps will prevail and capture their fourth straight conference title.

 

The First Pick:

 

The Riddle             35

The Answer            49

Appalachian State Football: Appalachian @ Chattanooga 11/8/2008

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Here we go with Week 10:

#2 Appalachian State (7-2, 5-0 1st) @ Chattanooga (1-8, 0-5 9th)
11/8/08

Time: 2pm

TV: None
Stadium: Finley Stadium
Surface: FieldTurf

Capacity: 20,668
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     71.77
UTC:    35.42
Home advantage: 2.79 points
ASU is favored by the Sagarin rankings by 33 ½  points (rounded).

Series: ASU leads 21-10
Last Meeting: ASU 37, UTC 17; November 17th 2007

 

The Mountaineers have survived the so called gauntlet of their schedule by defeating Georgia Southern, Furman and Wofford in consecutive weeks and find themselves in a very familiar situation. Appalachian controls its own destiny for the rest of the regular season. As long as the Mountaineers continue the winning ways, a fourth straight conference championship is on the horizon. Standing in their way is a very emotionally defeated Chattanooga football team, who has suffered from a difficult schedule and the announcement that their head coach will not be returning next season. This scenario is very scary for a team that has just played its most complete game of the season. Appalachian could be in for a wake up call. In 2006, Appalachian was just starting to hit their stride when they blitzed the Mocs on the way to a 56-21 victory. However, Mountaineer fans will never forget what happened the last time they Mountaineers and Mocs played in an election year. Records were broken left and right when the Mocs stunned Appalachian in an offensive shootout, 59-56. Will Appalachian guard against a letdown on Saturday afternoon, or can the Mocs do the unthinkable and go win one for the coach?

 

As previously mentioned, Chattanooga was given a tough task of facing two of the most prestigious college football programs in the country in Oklahoma and Florida State. After sandwiching a win over Division II Cumberland between the losses to Oklahoma and Florida State, the Mocs suddenly faced a different Jacksonville State team than they imagined, as Ryan Perrilloux had transferred in from Louisiana State. After another loss, the Mocs faced the “App State Gauntlet” in Furman, Georgia Southern and Wofford and suffered heavy defeats from all three of those opponents. Followed by those losses was another blowout loss to Elon and a very disappointing loss to Western Carolina, who snapped their conference losing streak at 20 games. It seems Chattanooga never had a chance in the 2008 season.

 

Chattanooga’s problems are pretty obvious. All season, they have had trouble scoring, and stopping other teams from scoring. The Mocs are being outscored by an averaged of 26 points pre game. Their defense is last in the conference in total yards and their offense is in the same predicament. In fact they are last or next to last in 18 statistical categories. Part of the issues have surfaced due to inconsistent quarterback play. Three players have logged time on the field for the Mocs. Only Jare Gualt has played in all nine games. Gualt has lead the Mocs with 665 yards passing with four touchdowns and four interceptions. Sloan Allison, son of head coach Rodney, has thrown for 243 yards. Allison has zero touchdown passes and seven interceptions in only 67 attempts. Tony Pastore has been the most efficient option for the Mocs with 456 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions. Pastore averages a decent 7.72 yards per attempt. All told, Moc quarterbacks have eight touchdown passes and 15 interceptions on the season. Their favorite target has been Clint Woods who has 40 catches for 430 yards and two touchdowns. The running game has been led by Erroll Wynn (56 ypg) and Shaun Kermah (24 ypg).

Against the Terriers, the Mountaineers took a page out of the Mike Ayers playbook and forced five turnovers and gave none away in what turned into a blowout win for Appalachian. The game was tightly contested until Mark Legree picked off the first of his three interceptions in the first quarter that eventually gave the Mountaineers a two touchdown margin. Wofford had trouble containing the Appalachian passing game. Armanti Edwards threw for 367 yards and five touchdowns, all to freshman. Receiver Brian Quick was the beneficiary of three touchdowns and tight end Ben Jorden caught two first quarter touchdown passes as well.

 

Besides the three interceptions by Mark Legree, the rest of the Mountaineer defense only allowed Wofford to convert 36% on their third down conversions and allowed no fourth down conversions. Despite giving Wofford all the yardage they wanted in the running game, it was the first half turnovers that really made the difference. By the time the dust had settled in the first half, the Mountaineers had built a 42-14 halftime lead that was too big for the Terriers to overcome.

 

Last week, all the chips were stacked against Wofford, which favored Appalachian. The previous week, Wofford had put 55 points on the board against Elon in a very intense game. The same happened for the Mountaineers last week. In a very similar situation, the Mountaineers responded with 70 points, while Wofford could only muster 24 points. The same could happen to Appalachian against Chattanooga. It is highly unlikely the Mountaineers will put up another high number against the Mocs. Although, I would never bet against this offense to do it, it is just not going to happen. The difference is, Appalachian is not playing a terrific defense in Chattanooga. A game like Appalachian and Chattanooga has now been labeled in the college football world as a “trap game”. Appalachian played a high profile opponent last week and will come off of that high and play a team that appears to be a significantly lesser challenge, right before playing another big game against Elon. If the Mountaineers travel to Chattanooga thinking they are going to roll over the Mocs, they are mistaken. The Chattanooga players will like to send their lame duck coach off into the sunset with a victory before the season is over. There is no bigger giant on their schedule besides Appalachian State. However, Jerry Moore will have his players prepared and focused. You simply cannot take a week off in the Southern Conference and Moore has learned that lesson all too well with past teams. The Mountaineers have not lost a conference road game in November since that fateful night in Cullowhee in 2004 and I do not see it happening this week.

The First Pick:

 

Thomas the Train            10

Train Wreckers                42