Monday, October 17, 2011
Coach Jerry Moore of Appalachian State ended potential suspense earlier today and named Jamal Jackson as starting quarterback for Saturday’s game against Samford.
Jackson, a 6-foot-3, 205-pound sophomore, made his first start last Saturday in a 49-42 victory over The Citadel. He completed 21 of 27 passes for 234 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Jackson started in place of senior DeAndre Presley, who sat out Saturday’s game with a right shoulder injury. Presley took some snaps at quarterback in practice Monday, but Moore said that he might see time at another position as well.
The demise of Appalachian State’s high-powered offense seemed greatly exaggerated, for one game at least.
The Mountaineers “opened up” the offense Saturday and brought back old times, putting up 49 points in a victory over The Citadel. They totaled a season-high 552 yards, including a season-best 318 rushing.
“We used a lot of motion, and we wanted to see how they (Citadel’s defense) would adjust to that,” Coach Jerry Moore of ASU said. “We gave ourselves more opportunity to run a variety of plays like we used to. In 2005, ’06 and ’07 – even ’04 when we first started the Spread and went no-huddle – we didn’t change many plays. Today we changed a good many plays. We did what they gave us and we created some situations by the movement of people.”
Although the Mountaineers didn’t face as stout of a defense as they had in their previous two games, when Chattanooga and Wofford limited them to a combined total of two offensive touchdowns, they were sharp.
“We needed to show people we could still put points on the board,” said receiver Brian Quick, who tied Bob Agle as ASU’s leader with 25 career touchdown receptions.
The running game was notably effective. Two players, Travaris Cadet and Steven Miller, topped the 100-yard rushing mark. That hadn’t happened the last two seasons.
And sophomore Jamal Jackson was successful in his first start at quarterback. He completed his first 15 passes and finished 21 of 27 for 234 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.
“He ran our offense well,” Moore said. “He watched Trey (Elder, assistant coach) on the sideline and he ran our offense. He executed. I thought a big play in the game was a third down and four play…when we were running clock out. We ran the zone play and he pulled it and kept it and dove up in there for about six yards and got a key first down.”
Moore said after the game that he hadn’t made a decision who will start next Saturday against Samford, whether it will be Jackson or DeAndre Presley.
“Thatt’s up to the coaches,” Jackson said. “I just need to keep preparing myself. DeAndre has been our starter, last year and this year, and if he comes back and is ready to go I’m fine with that. I’ve just got to prepare myself the best I can.”
Quick said of Jackson: “He did a great job. He was ready. But we still have two quarterbacks. We can go either-or.”
ODDS AND ENDS: One of Moore’s biggest issues this week will be getting players healed. He said that his team is as beat up as he’s seen it, particularly on defense, and that a lighter practice week might be in order…. Quick wasn’t the only receiver to tie a record Saturday. Ben Jorden caught his 14th touchdown pass, tying Daniel Bettis for most by a tight end in ASU history…. Sam Martin pinned The Citadel inside the 5-yard line with a punt, marking the seventh time in 24 punts this season that Martin has pinned an opponent inside the 5.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Gorgeous day in Charleston, S.C. It’s sunny and the temperature is at kickoff right at 80 degrees.
Appalachian State is wearing white uniforms at The Citadel for the first time in at least 10 years. The Citadel chose to go with blue jerseys.
Sophomore Jamal Jackson is getting his first start at quarterback for Appalachian State. Senior DeAndre Presley is dressed and available to play.
Junior Dominique McDuffie is starting at free safety in place of freshman Doug Middleton, who injured an ankle in practice this past week but is available to play. Junior Lanston Tanyi is starting at left end in place of freshman James Robinson.
Friday, October 14, 2011
If Appalachian State goes with sophomore Jamal Jackson at quarterback on Saturday against The Citadel, in place of injured senior DeAndre Presley, it will be going with a player whose stock has been rising since the early days of spring practice.
That wasn’t the case a little more than a year ago, when Presley outplayed a young and learning Jackson in the spring of 2010, locked up the starting job and went on to a stellar season.
But this past spring, Jackson more than held his own.
Coach Jerry Moore particularly liked Jackson’s leadership in the spring, and still talks about the toughness Jackson displayed during a scrimmage after he was injured following a touchdown run.
“He’s laying there and they’re checking his ribs, he’s hurt,” Moore said earlier this year. “Our trainers were with Jamal. Two or three minutes later I look up and he’s back in the huddle leading our offense.”
Then Jackson was hit in the ribs again, taking a shot from safety Troy Sanders while attempting a pass.
“It’s just a kill shot,” Moore said. “He’s down, the trainers are with him again. Nine or ten o’clock that night I get a call at home and he’s at the emergency room. He had broken a rib, punctured a lung.”
Moore said that his players rallied around Jackson, an act that Moore said showed respect for Jackson’s leadership and toughness.
“I would guess they were 10 or 15 players out there at the hospital with him,” Moore said. “I feel the same way about him as I do DeAndre. We’ve got two excellent leaders right there.”
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Quarterback DeAndre Presley has resumed practice for Appalachian State, but his status for Saturday’s game against The Citadel remains uncertain.
Presley, who has an injured right shoulder, was limited in practice upon his return on Tuesday but did more in today’s practice session – throwing before and during practice and going through some non-contact drills.
There has been no announcement in regard to the starter for Saturday’s game, whether it will be Presley or sophomore Jamal Jackson.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Coach Jerry Moore hasn’t said that Jamal Jackson will get his first start at quarterback for Appalachian State on Saturday, but it’s looking as if that might be the case.
Presley, who didn’t practice last week and had his arm in a sling after injuring his right shoulder against Wofford, didn’t practice today either. He was on the sidelines in a t-shirt and shorts.
“He’s got a bruised shoulder,” Moore said.
Moore said that he is skeptical if Presley will be able to practice Tuesday, and wasn’t sure what his status will be later in the week.
“The thing about him is that he’s got 2½ years of experience, and the rest he’s gotten might be pretty good for him, really,” Moore said. “If the role was reversed and he didn’t have much experience it would be a different deal. If he says Thursday or Friday, ‘I can go,’ I’d be good with that.”
But Moore said if Presley plays, he will return to practice in some form – even if only to take some snaps.
If he isn’t cleared to practice, the Mountaineers will go with Jackson. If Presley is back, the Mountaineers still might go with Jackson.
“I have a lot of confidence in Jamal,” Moore said. “He had a great spring. He played well against Virginia Tech and he’s played well in other ballgames. He can handle it.”
Jackson, a 6-3, 205-pound sophomore from Atlanta, has played in three games this season. He has completed 5 of 14 passes for 126 yards and one touchdown, and has throw one interception. Jackson also has 16 carries for 80 rushing yards, and has rushed for a team-leading four touchdowns.
Jackson played in nine games last season. He completed 7 of 14 passes for 144 yards with one touchdown and one interception, and he rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries.
Saturday, October 01, 2011
Appalachian State has an open date next Saturday.
Coach Jerry Moore said that it’s a good time to have one, an extra week to figure out what’s going wrong with his team’s offense and fix it.
The Mountaineers struggled to score for the second straight week in a 28-14 loss to Wofford today.
Just five games into the season, the Mountaineers have had three games in which they’ve scored 14 points or less. The last time they scored 14 or less three times in a season was in 2003, the year before they switched to a Spread offense that has served well in the point-production department.
Something’s not right. Moore said that his team has “no identity” on offense right now, and that the aim during the open week will be to find one.
“The open date is probably coming at a good time because of the way we’re struggling and it’s going to take some time to fix it,” Moore said. “If we were in synch and just lost a ball game that’s one thing, but we just don’t have an identity on offense right now.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve been this way.
“We’ve got enough talent, although we’re young up front… That hurts us somewhat but we’re halfway through the season now, too.”
Today’s loss was a setback in ASU’s quest for an unprecedented seventh-straight Southern Conference title, but not a significant one. It’s still early in that regard.
Of the four perceived front-runners for this year’s title, top-ranked Georgia Southern still has all three top contenders to play – ASU, Chattanooga and Wofford.
ASU has only Georgia Southern to play of the four, and that game is in Boone.
Chattanooga will play at Georgia Southern next Saturday and close the season at home against Wofford, which will play Georgia Southern and at Chattanooga on the last two weeks of the regular season.
“The last time we got beat by Wofford (in 2007) we went on and won a national championship,” Moore said. “Now whether these guys, and coaches, have the stuff for that or not we’ll find out.
“The positive side is that we’ve just got one loss in this league and most everybody knows it’s hard to go through this league undefeated. It’s very rare. And sometimes we play better with our back to the wall. That’s what I’m banking on. Sometimes we coach better, sometimes we play better.”
Cornerback Ed Gainey and linebacker Lanston Tanyi, both of whom sat out ASU’s last two games for an unspecified violation of team rules, had their suspensions lifted Friday and returned to play yesterday. Neither had practiced this past week but both participated in a Friday walk-through.
Four true freshmen started for the Mountaineers yesterday on defense, including first-time starter Brandon McGowan at middle linebacker.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
It’s kind of like stating the obvious, but Appalachian State will need some offensive production on Saturday against Wofford.
The Mountaineers didn’t get a single point from their offense last Saturday, but were rescued by the defense in a 14-12 victory over Chattanooga.
The last time ASU won a game without scoring an offensive point? Probably never. Complete records date to 1965, and such a dubious feat has yet to be recorded.
“I don’t think we’ve ever gone without scoring in the first half,” said quarterback DeAndre Presley, whose frustrations were further compounded in the second half. The Mountaineers wound up 5 of 14 on third-down conversions and perhaps the most striking statistic for what has been such a prolific offense was an 0-for-1 in red-zone opportunities.
Chances are, the Mountaineers’ offense will do much better against Wofford than it did against a strong Chattanooga defense. The Mountaineers have scored 43, 44, 70 and 31 points in their last four meetings with the Terriers.
But on the flip side, chances are that the Mountaineers’ defense won’t be able to shut down the Terriers as it did Chattanooga. The pass-oriented Mocs were vulnerable to ASU’s constant pressure. The blitz won’t be a weapon against the running Terriers. Focused assignments will be, and, for a defense with four freshman starters that has yet to see a triple-option attack this season, it will be more of a challenge.
One interesting stat, however: the Mountaineers did well last season against the SoCon’s triple-option teams. They held Georgia Southern, The Citadel and Wofford to less than 200 yards rushing, well below those teams’ average.
For Wofford, which likes ball control and zero mistakes, it won’t be able to lose four fumbles as it did in last season’s 43-13 loss to the Mountaineers. And the Terriers will need to improve upon the uncharacteristic 83 yards in penalties it has racked up this season.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Jeremy Kimbrough, a junior linebacker coming off perhaps the best performance of his Appalachian State career, will not get to play in Saturday’s game against Wofford.
Kimbrough, in accordance to an NCAA rule, was ejected from last Saturday’s game against Chattanooga as result of two unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties. And because of a Southern Conference rule, in which an ejection mandates automatic suspension for the next game, Kimbrough will have to sit out the Wofford game.
Both personal fouls were for “excessive celebration,” the first after Kimbrough returned an interception 46 yards for a touchdown with 13:38 left, and the second after ASU sealed a 14-12 victory with 31 seconds left on an interception by Doug Middleton.
Kimbrough won two national FCS defensive player of the week awards with his performance against Chattanooga.
He had a career-best 11 tackles, two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and two pass breakups. He also had a quarterback hurry, and the timely and critical interception return for a touchdown.
Freshman Brandon McGowan is expected to start in place of Kimbrough.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Cornerback Ed Gainey and linebacker Lanston Tanyi of Appalachian State will play in Saturday’s game against Chattanooga, Coach Jerry Moore said today. Neither played in last Saturday’s game against Savannah State after being suspended by Moore for a violation of team rules.
Freshman Doug Middleton is expected to get his first start Saturday. He will replace Patrick Blalock, who has a thigh injury, at free safety.
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