Here we go with Week 7:

Georgia Southern (4-3, 3-1 T3) @ #8 Appalachian State (4-2, 3-0 T1)
10/24/09

Time: 3pm

TV: SportSouth
Stadium: Kidd Brewer Stadium
Surface: FieldTurf

Capacity: 21,650
Jeff Sagarin Rankings:
ASU:     54.65
GSU:    55.28

Home advantage: 3.50 points

Appalachian is favored by the Sagarin rankings by 3 points (rounded).

Series: Appalachian leads 11-10-1
Last Meeting: Appalachian 37, Georgia Southern 36, October 18, 2008

There is not one opponent that brings out the best in an Appalachian game day like the Black Saturday opponent. On Saturday, Georgia Southern pays a visit to Boone in a game where college football clichés are abundant. Throw out the records in this one. There is no love lost between these two fan bases. There are not many on either side that will admit that they enjoy the presence of the other. About as far as compliments go, each will say that the other has a great game day atmosphere. From the tailgating to the tradition rich programs, that’s about all they will say. More times than not, this game has had some dramatic finishes blended in with very few outright blow outs. Georgia Southern fans will never forget 2003, when Appalachian broke a four game losing streak in the series that ended with a wild celebration outside of Kidd Brewer Stadium. Appalachian fans will never forget the embarrassment of 2004, a big win in Statesboro for the Eagles. And in just the last three years, Appalachian has snared two tough games in Statesboro, one in overtime, the other a one point victory, and Southern snapped Appalachian’s thirty game home winning streak the last time they paid a visit to the High Country. I am sure another amazing chapter will be written this weekend between these two hated rivals on Black Saturday.

Georgia Southern, for a few years now, has not been the same program that it was during the 1990’s. It started going down hill during the 2005 season. Mike Sewak took a 4-2 team to Boone to play Appalachian, who was 3-2. Both teams could ill-afford a loss for it would put them in danger of making the playoffs, especially since both teams had one conference loss. Southern was averaging 37 points a game and had scored 45 or more in the three previous games. Appalachian had just lost a nail biter to Furman. Appalachian dominated Southern in a 24-7 win and Appalachian went on to lose to only more team the rest of the season. Southern went on to win the rest of its games before being exposed in the first round of the playoffs to Texas State by a score of 50-35. Sewak was fired and Georgia Southern football has not been the same since. Chris Hatcher is trying to turn things in Statesboro, but the Eagles have not made the playoffs during his tenure. In fact, Southern has not won a playoff game since 2002.

Chris Hatcher has brought in his famous “Hatch Attack” offense which is much different than what we are used to seeing from Georgia Southern. It is a spread based system that utilizes some principles of the West Coast offense. Don’t get me wrong though, they will run if you let them. Adam Urbano has 104 carries for 528 yards on the year, but 32 carries and 153 yards came last week against Chattanooga. Urbano also scored two of his five touchdowns against the Mocs. Lee Chapple has taken over at quarterback and fits into Chris Hatcher’s offense just fine. Chapple is one of the more accurate quarterbacks in the conference completing 65.8% of his passes. However, his nine interceptions and twenty three sacks are a cause for concern. Either Southern receivers can’t get open or their offensive line is weak. Seeing that Chapple is only averaging just a shade over five yards a pass makes one think it is a little of both. All of Southern’s starting wide receivers are freshman. The Eagles have also started three different players at left tackle, which is a right-handed quarterback’s blind side, and plan to start three sophomores on the offensive line this week.

Appalachian has continued to have some of the same problems hold them back all season long. The Mountaineers have struggled to score in the first quarter. The Mountaineers have only scored 17 first quarter points all season, while giving up 51 points to their opponents. This has been the trend in every game this season. They Apps have made and attempted more field goals in 2009, (11-15) then they did in all of 2008 (8-12). Their red zone efficiency has also declined from 2008 where they scored touchdowns on 77% of red zone drives compared to 63% in 2009. Defensively, they have given up way too many big plays. Wofford scored three touchdown on plays that went over sixty yards. As the second half started in Spartanburg last week, Appalachian had only forced four turnovers on defense. In the second half, Appalachian picked two passes off and recovered two Terrier fumbles.

I feel that second half might be the turning point for Appalachian this year. Wofford scored on its first possession of the second half, after receiving the kickoff, then Appalachian shut them down for the rest of the game. The emotion was back. The offense clicked as Armanti Edwards absolutely shredded the Wofford secondary for a second straight year. Last year, Brian Quick caught three touchdown passes against Wofford. He added two more on Saturday. Mark Legree intercepted three passes last year against Wofford and collected another two on Saturday. The Mountaineers scored 24 unanswered points and turned what appeared to be a sure loss into a comfortable win.

Every football team has its ups and downs. At this level of football, no team can play their best for 11 straight weeks. It takes time to develop chemistry, even if some of the pieces to the puzzle are the same as they were a year before. Both Georgia Southern and Appalachian have hit the midway point of the 2009 season and hope to add to their victory total this week. Southern has their backs against the wall. They are one loss from being all but eliminated from postseason play. Does Georgia Southern know how to become mentally prepared for this game? They are starting exactly two seniors on the offensive side of the ball, and they are both lineman. Defensively, they are starting four seniors. This inexperienced team has shown itself throughout the course of the season. Southern has not lost two games in a row, but neither have they won two in a row. They have alternated wins and losses all season. Last week they won at home. Southern is also 1-3 on the road this season, with the win coming against Wofford. They have only averaged 14.5 points on the road this season. Each time the Eagles have scored 20 or more points this year, they followed it the next week by scoring two touchdowns or less. Southern scored 30 points last week against Chattanooga at home. All the trends point to a lowly offensive performance this weekend and a loss for the Eagles. Appalachian, on the other hand, started slow this year and didn’t take advantage of opportunities in the opening games. Since then, they have won four straight ball games, including two gut checking road conference wins. The offense is continuing to gel and the defense might just be getting their act together. The biggest point of the game this weekend will happen in the second quarter. This season, Southern has been outscored by a touchdown a game in that quarter, while Appalachian has outscored their opponents by four points. Appalachian has also held their opponents to 10 points per game in the second half. If Appalachian can overcome their sluggish starts and jump on the Eagles early, this game could become ugly. The defense must also contribute. They must disturb the rhythm of Lee Chapple by getting in his face early and forcing him to rush his passes. Southern will have to try and limit Appalachian on offense as the Mountaineers have scored 100 points on Southern the last three years. I think the Mountaineers are stronger across the board and are more experienced and I think that will lead them to a victory. However, I would not expect a big score here as both teams have combined for 97 penalties this season for 881 yards(ASU 47-441, GSU 50-440).

The First Pick:

Gnatsboro                 24

Mountaineers           35

Here we go with Week 9:

#1 Appalachian State (8-0, 6-0 1^st) @ Georgia Southern (4-4, 2-3 T4^th)   

Time: 2:00pm

TV: None
Stadium: Paulson Stadium
Surface: Natural Grass

Capacity: 18,000
Jeff Sagarin Ratings:
ASU: 70.11
GSU: 58.51

Home advantage: 3.03 points

Appalachian is favored by the Sagarin ratings by 8 ½   points (rounded).

Series: Appalachian leads 13-11-1
Last Meeting: Appalachian 52, Georgia Southern 16, October 24, 2009

The road to rebuilding the Georgia Southern program took an odd U turn this past offseason. The Eagles decided the only way they could move forward, was to take three steps back, by bringing back the triple option offense. The glory days of Georgia Southern football was established by slot backs, fullbacks and athletic quarterbacks. During their run, Georgia Southern and their accomplishments were admired by the rest of what was then called I-AA football. In the last decade, the face of southern football has moved from the Georgia plains to the Appalachian Mountains. The Mountaineers are now the team that reloads and rarely finds time to rebuild. Georgia Southern is hoping that an outdated offense can take them back to the promised land.

Most critics knew that a return to the triple option for Georgia Southern could mean trouble for the rest of the Southern Conference, although it could take some time. Earlier this season, it appeared that the Eagles had caught on faster than many had hoped. The Eagles played Navy very tough before losing 13-7, and proceeded to knock off then #11 Elon in a dominating performance to move to 3-1 overall. That start was followed by tough losses to Wofford and Chattanooga. In both games, Southern had leads in the second half, but did not have enough defense to win. Since then, the Eagles have played two lackluster games offensively and have also been hurt by the injuries. The Citadel turned the ball over to Southern nine times, but the Eagles only managed a 20-0 win. Last weekend, the Eagles lost to Samford for the third straight season. Quarterback Jaybo Shaw was hurt in the Citadel game early, and played in relief in the Samford game.

The triple option is about as interesting as watching paint dry. The idea is to lull a defense to sleep, and then bust a big play for twenty or thirty yards. Just when you think you have it stopped, a pitch goes to the outside slot back that was in motion, while your linebackers are looking for the football in the fullbacks gut. It all starts with option one, which is the quarterback. Jaybo Shaw is a transfer from Georgia Tech, who conveniently played under former Southern coach Paul Johnson. Current Southern head coach Jeff Monken has been an assistant coach under Paul Johnson since 1997, at Georgia Southern, Navy, and then Georgia Tech. It does not take a genius to connect those dots. Regardless, Shaw is the key for Southern. In the past two games, Southern has been held well below their average in total offense, as Shaw recovers from injury. Despite missing the majority of two games, Shaw has more carries than any other Eagle player, with 88 for 141 yards and has scored seven touchdowns. Even though freshman quarterback Jerick McKinnon may be more exciting as a runner, his passing game leaves a lot to be desired. For that reason alone, Shaw is the key for Southern. His status for this weekend is uncertain, but was healthy enough to play against Samford in the second half, where he ran six times for negative four yards, and completed three of nine passes for thirty-five yards and an interception.

The Mountaineer offense continues to steamroll opponents. The third ranked scoring offense in the country at 39.1 points per game is led by DeAndre Presley, who is ranked eighth nationally in total offense per game at 288 yards. Presley has done it on the ground and in the air, averaging 80 yards on the ground with 10 rushing touchdowns, and 208 yards passing with 15 touchdowns. Presley threw his first interception of the season last week and completed his fewest passes (13) for the fewest yards (137) of the season since the North Carolina Central game, where passing the ball was not exactly necessary. Presley will need to be on his usual game this weekend to keep the Southern defense honest and keep the Paulson Stadium crowd out of the game.

Travaris Cadet had one of his best games of the season running the ball last week against Furman. Cadet has 72 carries on the season, and 24 of them came against Furman last week for 108 yards and three touchdowns. It was his third career 100 yard game, the previous two coming against North Carolina Central (149) this year, and Georgia Southern (131) last year. Cadet is the Mountaineers X-factor. Any time he has the ball, he is a threat to make special things happen. Cadet has 486 yards rushing, 154 receiving, and 580 punt and kick return yards and six touchdowns.

Traveling to Statesboro has never been an easy task for Appalachian football teams. Even in the most recent trips in 2006 and 2008, when Appalachian was the defending national champions, one game went to two overtimes, and the other was decided by a single point. It is a different kind of rivalry between these two schools. The Western Carolina series has the jug, the Furman series was known for close games, but the Southern rivalry is rooted in hate. It is the reason that Georgia Southern continues to schedule Appalachian for its homecoming, because they want to have as many fans attending as possible. In the modern era, this series has also included the 1987 playoff game that Appalachian won 19-0. Appalachian also defeated Southern in 1999 17-16 when the Eagles were #1. Southern got their playoff payback by sweeping the Mountaineers in 2001, once in Boone, and then in Statesboro. Southern scored its most points in the series in 2004 with a 54-7 victory, and Appalachian returned the beating last year in Boone, with a 52-16 win. Each game in this series, the other has been trying to get revenge from a previous outcome it seems. This year will be no different. Appalachian will look to extend its conference winning streak, and no other team would love to spoil that more than Georgia Southern. The Eagles will need to do what they do best. They must control the football, and sustain drives. Last weekend, Southern had 11 drives end in less than six plays, and they only gained 110 yards on those drives. There were three instances of three downs and a punt. The Eagles went 11 drives between scores. That will not cut it against Appalachian, who have scored at least five times in some fashion in every game this season. The Mountaineer defense must be up to the task, by playing assignment football, and cannot afford to miss tackles. Southern is a team, when forced to pass, becomes very predictable, and has given up two sacks a game this season. If Appalachian can force the Eagles into long yardage situations on second down, they will be successful. Southern only converts about 40% of their third downs, which is fifth in the conference. On offense the Mountaineers must make the Eagles chase them. I think Presley will have opportunities in the secondary and make the Eagles pay. I expect a hard fought game, but ending in favor of the Mountaineers as the game wears on.

The First Pick:

Gumroot Gus              27

Mountaineers              35

Here we go with Week 8:

#1 Georgia Southern (7-0, 5-0 1st) @ #5 Appalachian State (5-2, 3-1 T2)        

Time: 3pm

TV: SoCon Sports Network

Live Video: GoASU TV & ESPN3  

Kidd Brewer Stadium         

Surface: FieldTurf

Capacity: 23,150 


Jeff Sagarin Ratings: 


ASU: 67.23

GSU: 72.65

Home: 3.14 points

Georgia Southern is favored by the Sagarin ratings by 2 ½ points (rounded).

Series: Appalachian leads 13-12-1

Last Meeting: Georgia Southern 21, Appalachian 14 OT, November 6, 2010, Statesboro, GA

WXAPP’s Boone Gameday Weather Trends:

Early AM – Snow Flurry or two, Lower 30’s

Noon: Partly Sunny, Lower 40’s

Kickoff: Partly Cloudy, Mid 40’s

End of Game: Party Cloudy, Lower 40s

Breezy for the day, a bit of bite from the winds and cold  

            Imagine every cliché that comes to mind and it certainly applies to the Georgia Southern and Appalachian football series. In the nineteen games played in the SoCon era for both schools, only three have been decided by more than three scores. Ten wins for Georgia Southern and nine for Appalachian. The only games decided by more than three scores, Georgia Southern’s win in 2004, and Appalachian’s wins in 2005 and 2009. Black Saturday has not been bigger than this since the reincarnation of the “Black Saturday” game in 2002. Appalachian is 8-1 in those games, with the lone loss, to unranked Georgia Southern in 2007. Six times, Appalachian’s Black Saturday opponent has been ranked, with the Mountaineers winning them all. For the first time since the original Black Saturday game in 2002, both teams are ranked in the top five in the country, and for the first time ever, the opponent is the top ranked team in the country. On top of it all, the winner is in the drivers seat for the conference championship and the coveted automatic berth to the playoffs that comes with it. Rarely does a regular season game mean so much on the national scene. It just does not get much bigger than this Black Saturday.  

            What a difference a year has made for Georgia Southern. Before last years game in Statesboro, the Eagles were coming off of a loss to Samford, sitting at 4-4, and their playoff lives hung in the balance against #1 Appalachian. They could not afford a loss if they wanted to play football in December. They were squarely on the playoff bubble, even on Selection Sunday, when they were chosen to host a first round game. They have been on a tear ever since. Last year they averaged 260 yards rushing a game and were ranked as the 63^rd best offense after the season was over. Fast forward to 2011, and the Southern triple option appears to be back to its old form of the 1990’s. Now averaging 369 yards a game on the ground, and throwing the ball with better consistency, the Eagles are now the 2^nd ranked offense in the country, along with being the top scoring offense in the country at 44.6 points per game.

            It takes more than just one guy to rack up all those yards and points. Southern might be back, but they are not Adrian Peterson back as of yet. However the guy that plays the same position that Peterson did, Robert Brown, is making a good impersonation of the former All-American. Brown plays the B-back position, which in the triple option offense lines up about three to four yards behind the quarterback and begins the play similar to an old school fullback, with his hand usually on the ground at the snap. Brown is the Eagles leading rusher at 98 yards a game and has scored five touchdowns. Brown has hit the century mark three times season, but only has 17 carries for 84 yards in his last two games. Brown carried 20 times for 61 yards and a touchdown last year against Appalachian. Southern’s second leading rusher is actually backup quarterback Jerick McKinnon who has appeared in all but one game for the Eagles, toting the ball 48 times for 382 yards and seven touchdowns. JJ Wilcox is leading A-back for the Eagles, with 37 carries for 355 yards and four rushing touchdowns. Wilcox also has four receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown.

            For a second week in a row, the Mountaineer offense put on another show offensively. The Mountaineers racked up another 500 yard performance that was well balanced with 290 yards in the passing game and 229 yards on the ground. Travaris Cadet was a workhorse against Samford with 139 yards and two touchdowns and was also dynamic in the return game averaging 26.3 yards per kick return and 14.5 yards per punt return. Jamal Jackson was also impressive for the second consecutive weekend. Jackson completed nineteen of his thirty passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns and a very fluky interception. Jackson also ran well with seven carries for forty yards and another touchdown. Jackson hit six different receivers with four players catching at least three passes. Tony Washington caught six passes for seventy-eight yards, including an acrobatic forty-one yard touchdown pass in the third quarter. Brian Quick added four catches for a hundred yards and sixty-nine yard catch-and-run touchdown at the end of the first half. Despite the turnovers the two teams traded in the first quarter, it was the most complete game the Mountaineers have played all season.

            Appalachian’s defense will have to perform as well against the triple option as it did last year against Southern. The Eagles entered last years game averaging right at 250 yards a game and the Mountaineers held them in check, to the tune of 195 yards rushing. A lot of those rushing yards came from Jaybo Shaw, who probably reads the defense as good as any Eagle quarterback ever has. Shaw ran 23 times for 86 yards last year, but the more interesting part of his game was how much he threw the ball. The statistics might not be flashy, (9/21, 106 yards 1 INT) but it kept the Appalachian defense guessing just enough. In his career, Shaw has thrown for more yards in games than he did against Appalachian last year, but he still has yet to attempt or complete as many passes as he did in the 2010 game. Last year, Shaw averaged 9.3 pass attempts per game, and this year he is also averaging right at nine attempts per contest. It will be interesting to see how Appalachian reacts to the Southern gameplan, especially what kind of defensive fronts the Mountaineers will show the Eagles.

            Georgia Southern’s defense has been impressive on paper, and in my feelings, it is just that. It’s all on paper. Yes, the Eagle defense is only giving up 101 yards rushing a game which is best in the conference, and 13^th best in the country, but they have not really played many teams that I would say, prefers to run the ball. Of their seven opponents, five ranked 57^th or worse in rushing yards per game. The other opponents are Furman who ranks 29^th in rushing and Samford who ranks 42^nd on the ground. A perfect example: Samford’s Fabian Truss. The Georgia Southern and Samford game was not decided until the second half. Truss ran 21 times for 74 yards, averaging 3.5 a carry. At that time, we thought Samford was a running team, but it is obvious they are getting the ball moved in their air this season. Truss against Appalachian: 16 carries 65 yards, averaging 4.1 a carry. Both fairly even examples. Now here is the good part. Georgia Southern could not contain Chattanooga in the second half at home when BJ Coleman went down with an injury. Moc QB Terrell Robinson sliced and diced the Eagle defense for 114 yards and three touchdowns, most of that coming in the second half. When mixing in the zone read play, that Appalachian employs, running backs Marquis Green and JJ Jackson were gashing the Southern defensive front. Both Green and Jackson averaged over 5 yards and carry for the game. This is where Appalachian will hurt Georgia Southern. Against The Citadel and Samford, Appalachian has dominated time of possession and has shown the ability this season to really milk the clock in the fourth quarter and preserve victories. If the Mountaineers can continue to be effective on offense, by possessing the ball like they have the last two weeks, it will tire out this Georgia Southern defense. Another stat I like for the Mountaineers this weekend is that this is only the third time the Eagles have hit the road this season. They have been racking up points at home, 48 a game to be exact. On the road, they average 12 fewer points. In their previous two road games, at Samford, and at Elon, there were 15,909 fans at both games combined. The Rock will probably double that this weekend. Last thing: the high/low temperature when Southern played at Elon four weeks ago: 62/46. The Eagles will be lucky to see 46 degrees on Saturday.

The First Pick:

The Stink                     34                   

Mountaineers              37