Wednesday, September 21, 2011
It didn’t take freshman James Robinson long to provide an example as to how he was able to displace senior Gordy Witte in Appalachian State’s starting lineup at left defensive end.
Robinson made his first start last Saturday night in the Mountaineers’ 41-6 victory over Savannah State, and had back-to-back sacks to end a Savannah State scoring threat early in the second quarter.
In addition to the two sacks, he wound up with another tackle for loss, a quarterback hurry and a forced fumble.
“I had fun,” Robinson said.
Robinson knew all of last week that he would be a starter, a job that he secured with his performance in practice. He is expected to start again Saturday against Chattanooga.
“I just did my part in camp, and I appreciate the coaches having enough trust in me to start this week,” said the 6-5, 235-pound Robinson, from Blythewood, Ga., who joins fellow freshman and right end Ronald Blair on the Mountaineers’ 3-man front.
Coach Jerry Moore of the Mountaineers said: “He’s a kid that’s been getting better all the time in practice. He’s been getting more reps and he got an opportunity.
“He reminds me of Jason Hunter – a tall, slender kid with great mobility and quickness off the ball. He’s a good pass rusher.”
The Mountaineers also introduced a new long snapper Saturday night. Tight end Trevor Sawyer filled in for injured veteran Wilson Fitchett.
“He gives us a much better cover guy,” Moore said of the big and athletic Sawyer (6-6, 225). “I thought Trevor did a good job. That’s one of those things you don’t notice unless there’s a bad snap.”
Cornerback Ed Gainey and linebacker Lanston Tanyi, both held out of the Savannah State game for violation of team rules, are both practicing this week but Coach Jerry Moore said Tuesday that he has yet to make a decision in regard to their playing status for the Chattanooga game.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
The way things started after Jerry Moore arrived at Appalachian State in 1989, he had no reason to think he might win 200 games as the Mountaineers’ coach.
Moore thinks about it occasionally, and tells the story from time to time – about the fact that before his first ASU team took the field, 52 players quit.
“The first two or three months were rough,” Moore said. “They didn’t understand us, and we didn’t exactly understand them.
“I think those guys felt a little bit like they were jilted. They had all been recruited by Sparky (Woods) and his staff. I think if they had stayed here, they probably would have won a national championship. There really were a lot of good players here when we got here.”
As it turned out, that 1989 team, stocked with younger players, wound up making the I-AA playoffs – losing 24-21 at Middle Tennessee State in the first round.
One of the players from that team, linebacker Doug Pelham, was inducted to ASU’s athletics hall of fame last Saturday.
Moore made reference during yesterday’s Southern Conference teleconference that ASU will play East Carolina and Coastal Carolina next season, but, according to athletics department officials at ASU, there is no agreement to play either team although discussions are taking place.
The only non-conference game that ASU currently has in place for 2012 is a home game against Montana.
A primary question for ASU entering this season was its offensive line, where three of five starters were lost. Moore said that the offensive line is probably the most improved area on his team since the beginning of preseason camp.
“We lost two or three players because of injuries and things like that, and (offensive line coach Bob McClain) has been working with a bunch of young players,” Moore said. “He’s bringing them along. We’ve got eight or nine offensive linemen and we need to have another good week of practice and another good ballgame (against Savannah State) because we’re two weeks away from a conference ballgame.”
Georgia Southern moved into the No. 1 spot in the major FCS national polls on Monday, following previously top-ranked Eastern Washington’s 30-17 loss to South Dakota.
Four Southern Conference teams remained ranked in the top 25.
The Eagles are No. 1 in both coaches and media polls; ASU is No. 3 in both; Wofford is No. 8 in the coaches’ poll and No. 9 in the media poll; and Chattanooga is No. 14 in the media poll and No. 17 in the coaches’ poll.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Notes from ASU’s 58-6 victory over N.C. A&T:
It took some digging through records, courtesy of ASU’s sports-information department, but the Mountaineers’ 105-point margin of victory/defeat swing was the most ever in consecutive games.
The Mountaineers lost by 53 points (66-13) to Virginia Tech last Saturday, and won by 52 (58-6) today.
About the only other game-to-game turnaround that comes close to matching that was a bounce back in the 1928 season, which was ASU’s first year of football. The Mountaineers lost 44-0 to Rutherford but followed with a 52-0 victory over Mountain Park.
Doug Middleton’s 97-yard interception return for a touchdown was the fourth-longest in ASU history. There had been three 100-yard interception returns for a touchdown – the last in 1990 by Rico Mack against James Madison.
Phillip Strickland, a senior tight end and special-teams player, became just the fourth player in ASU history to block two punts in a game. Chuck Hill did it twice in 1987, against Liberty and Western Carolina, and Dino Hackett blocked two punts against East Tennessee State in 1985.
Sam Martin’s 51-yard field goal is the seventh-longest in ASU history. Mark Wright was had been the last ASU player to kick a field goal longer than 50 yards, when he booted a school-record 57-yarder in 2000 against Troy State.
Three ASU players – DeAndre Presley, Brian Quick and Cedric Baker Boney – had more than 100 yards in various offensive categories before the third quarter was over, and Travaris Cadet was close with 90 total yards.
Presley had 197 yards passing in less than three quarters, Quick had 113 receiving yards and Baker Boney had 111 yards rushing.
Brian Quick’s second touchdown reception tied him with Rick Beasley for No. 2 on ASU’s all-time list with 23 touchdown catches. Bob Agle holds the record with 25 touchdown catches from 1965 through 1968.
ASU had a crowd of 26,415 for its home opener, which was down a bit as compared to the home openers of the last four seasons.
The Mountaineers drew 28,708 for last year’s home opener against Jacksonville; 27,914 in 2009 against McNeese State; 30,718 in 2008 against Jacksonville; and 28,802 in 2007 against Lenoir-Rhyne.
Thursday, September 08, 2011
D.J. Smith, a rookie linebacker with the Green Bay Packers, is expected to make his NFL debut tonight when the Packers play host to the New Orleans Saints in this season’s opening game.
Smith and guard Daniel Kilgore, a rookie with the San Francisco 49ers, are the latest among former Appalachian State players on NFL rosters.
Other former ASU players who will begin the season with an NFL team are Armanti Edwards of the Carolina Panthers; Jason Hunter of the Denver Broncos and Corey Lynch of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Four former ASU players didn’t make it. Safety Mark Legree, a fifth-round draft pick by the Seattle Seahawks; Marques Murrell, a veteran defensive end with the New England Patriots; Matt Dodge, a punter with the New York Giants; and Jabari Fletcher, a rookie free agent with the Cleveland Browns, all were released during preseason camp.
Former ASU players on NFL rosters:
Armanti Edwards, WR, Carolina Panthers – Edwards will enter his second season in a much better situation, after seldom being used last season. He is a second-team receiver for the Panthers and will return punts. Edwards caught six passes for 76 yards and returned six punts for an average of 10.5 yards in four preseason games.
Jason Hunter, DE, Denver Broncos – Hunter, entering his sixth season in the NFL, is listed as second team at left defensive end. He totaled 10 sacks over the last three seasons for the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions and the Broncos. He had a career-best 61 tackles for the Broncos last season.
Daniel Kilgore, G, San Francisco 49ers – Kilgore, a fifth-round draft pick, is a second-team guard for the 49ers. He could make his debut on Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.
Corey Lynch, S, Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Lynch, entering his fourth season, is the Buccaneers’ second-team strong safety. He totaled a career-high 32 tackles last season for the Bucs and had one interception.
D.J. Smith, LB, Green Bay Packers – Smith tied for the team lead with 19 tackles in the preseason. He had 11 solo tackles, eight assists and chalked up 1.5 sacks. Smith is listed as second-team right inside linebacker.
Wednesday, September 07, 2011
Coach Jerry Moore remembers how it used to be when inclement weather made for challenging practices for his Appalachian State football teams.
The only option to get inside was to take a quarter-mile walk to Varsity Gym.
“The (players) would get wet going down there, and the floor would get wet,” Moore recalled. “I can remember having towels all over the floor to step on so you wouldn’t slip. You don’t get much of a practice in there like that.”
That changed in 2007, with the opening of an indoor practice facility that features artificial turf and is located adjacent to Kidd Brewer Stadium and ASU’s athletics center. Moore said that it has come in handy the last two days, during heavy rain in Boone.
“It’s been invaluable to every outdoor sport,” he said.
Saturday, September 03, 2011
Coach Jerry Moore of Appalachian State said that he sure hopes Virginia Tech will go on and have a great season.
He hopes that his team does as well, but knows it will have to improve significantly from today’s 66-13 trouncing at the hands of the Hokies. It was the Mountaineers’ most one-sided loss since they were beaten 72-14 by Chattanooga in 1978.
“I think we can still be a good football team,” Moore said. “It’s hard to say that when you play like we did today.”
ASU did few things well. The defense was shredded by big plays, the offense struggled to establish any semblance of a consistent running game and four turnovers didn’t help.
The Mountaineers didn’t resemble the team that knocked off Michigan four years ago. And they struggled again in the early stages against an FBS opponent. Since leading Michigan at halftime in 2007, the Mountaineers have been outscored 124-7 in the first half of their last four games against FBS opponents.
For Virginia Tech, it solved a turnover problem that haunted it in last season’s upset loss to James Madison. In that game, the Hokies had three turnovers. JMU didn’t have any. Against ASU, the Hokies didn’t turn the ball over and racked up 518 yards.
The Hokies obviously didn’t take the Mountaineers lightly.
But was it easier than expected?
“I wouldn’t say it was easier, but I guess it definitely seemed that way,” quarterback Logan Thomas of Virginia Tech said.
How good were the Hokies?
“They were along the same lines as Florida,” Moore said, recalling ASU’s 48-10 loss to the Gators last season. “Florida has probably got more team speed, but they didn’t have a back any better than (David Wilson). Virginia Tech made a lot of big plays.”
There were few bright spots for the Mountaineers, but Sam Martin’s punting was one of them. Martin averaged 45 yards on his eight punts, and twice pinned the Hokies at their 3-yard line.
A concern for the Mountaineers entering this season is inexperience on the offensive line. Alex Acey, a freshman walk-on, wound up starting at center against Tech as veteran Orry Frye moved to tackle. Redshirt freshmen Kendall Lamm and Kalan Jones also started for the first time.
“You start three freshman linemen against those guys right there… (Virginia Tech) is going to win most of those battles,” Moore said. “We’ve got to get those guys better, and you can’t get them better watching tapes. You’ve got to throw them in the fire. I think that’s where we are.”
Defensively, the Mountaineers, who debuted their new 3-4 alignment, missed tackles and particularly had a hard time wrapping up Wilson, who rushed for 162 yards and three touchdowns.
“I don’t think it was the 3-4 defense (that was the problem),” Moore said. “The way we played, I don’t think it would have mattered what defense we lined up in.”
Two ASU players – long snapper Wilson Fitchett and offensive lineman Jones – wound up sidelined with ankle injuries, and both will be evaluated this week.
Friday, September 02, 2011
Appalachian State hopes for a better showing against Virginia Tech on Saturday than it had in its last meeting against an FBS opponent – a 48-10 loss to Florida last season.
DeAndre Presley, the Mountaineers’ quarterback, said that he felt his team was restrained because of the timing of the Florida game, which was played at the end of the regular season and just before the start of the FCS playoffs. He said that the Mountaineers played conservatively and didn’t pull out all stops.
“I respect the coaches’ decision, they made a great call and everybody went into the playoffs healthy,” Presley said. But he was disappointed that the Mountaineers didn’t score more. Part of the reason was stalled drives, largely due to first-half penalties. Florida built a 28-0 lead by halftime.
He said he thinks it might be different this time around.
“We’re going to play ball,” Presley said. “We know we have a great chance to beat them and that’s exactly what we’re looking to do.”
Presley on what it will take to put points on the board against Virginia Tech:
“We know they’re an aggressive defense,” Presley said. “We have to make the most of every down. We have to play in front of the sticks, we can’t play behind. We can’t start out second and 12. We have to limit turnovers – no turnovers, really.”
The lack of turnovers was a key for James Madison last season in its upset of the Hokies. The Dukes didn’t have any. The Hokies had three.
Coach Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech has said all week that his team has no reason to take ASU lightly. He described his opponent as a team not only is capable of winning but one that expects to win.
“They are not in the same division as we are (FBS), but they could play in our division,” Beamer said. “They certainly have the capabilities of playing in this division.”
Beamer said that playing a highly-ranked FCS opponent isn’t without risk, and that it’s a game he doesn’t particularly like on the schedule.
“You schedule who you can schedule,” Beamer said. “A lot of times it’s not who you like to schedule, it’s who you can schedule.”
ASU will debut its newly-installed 3-4 defensive alignment on Saturday, but quarterback Logan Thomas of the Hokies said that his team has prepared for both the 3-4 and the 4-3.
“We’re not sure what they’re going to do,” Thomas said. As for the 3-4, he said: “We’ve seen it before, and we’re going to see it again. We’ve studied it ever since we’ve know we had to play them. We know what they can do so we’ll be ready for anything they throw at us.”
With all the talk about ASU’s proposed move to the FBS, Presley said that he is aware that any poor performance this season will result in some added razzing from opposing fans and some outside the program.
“It will happen,” Presley said. “I have no doubt. But it’s not something we worry about.”
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Coach Jerry Moore of Appalachian State hasn’t shown any tape of the 2007 victory over Michigan to inspire players heading into the Virginia Tech game. All the players, along with the rest of the free world, are well aware of that landmark upset, and two current players – Brian Quick and Gordy Witte – actually played in that game and others were part of the 2007 team as redshirt freshmen.
But Moore did show clips of TCU’s victory over Wisconsin in last season’s Rose Bowl. TCU was the first program from a non-BCS conference to play in that storied bowl game since the advent of the BCS.
Moore and staff members have visited TCU on occasion to watch practice, and he likes that program’s approach.
“I felt like our ballgame with Virginia Tech is very much like TCU’s ballgame with Wisconsin,” Moore said. “They were underdogs going in there.”
Coach Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech isn’t treating ASU as underdogs.
He said he doesn’t recall the circumstances of the Mountaineers being added to the Hokies’ schedule. “But whatever it was, it probably seemed like a better idea then than it does this week,” Beamer said. “When you start looking at these guys it doesn’t seem like such a good idea.”
Beamer and Moore are icons of their programs.
Both are in the all-time top 20 in career victories in Division I. Beamer is No. 14 with 240 wins; Moore No. 20 with 226.
They know each other, and have met and talked on occasion.
In fact, Moore said that he and Beamer met once in the late 1980s when Moore was exploring job opportunities before he wound up at ASU and Beamer was in the early stages of building Tech’s program. Moore said he was grateful for the opportunity to talk about a job possibility, but didn’t pursue one. “I didn’t give him a chance to turn me down,” Moore said humbly.
Beamer spoke highly of Moore earlier this week. “I know him fairly well,” he said. “I’ve admired his work quite a bit.
“Coach Moore has done a great job and he’s had a good staff there. They’ve coached them up. He’s done a fantastic job.”
Charlie Cobb, ASU’s athletics director, has said that he views Virginia Tech as a model for ASU’s growing program, and that where Virginia Tech was about 25 years ago could be compared to where ASU is now.
Beamer said that ASU’s aspiration to move to the FBS level is well-founded.
“I think as far as playing at the next level up there’s no question about their ability to do that,” Beamer said. “I don’t know about the conference they could be in and all those things, but as far as their ability to play at the next level up there’s absolutely no question there.”
ASU will debut its newly-installed 3-4 defense against Virginia Tech, although expectations are that the Mountaineers will mix in their traditional 4-3 on occasion this season.
Moore said that the 3-4 is a good fit for his personnel, that the Mountaineers have adequate size to go with a three-man front.
“We’ve never been a very big football team,” Moore said. “We’ve lost a couple of ballgames that when we analyze it afterward we’re just not quite as big…when we played Montana in the semifinals twice and got beat out there, they were bigger up front than we were. We’re not going to sacrifice speed for size. We’ve got three or four guys (among down linemen) right at 300 pounds but they can run like guys we used to have that were 270 or 275 in there.
“We’ve always had a good abundance of linebackers, guys who could play linebacker and defensive end, and one of those positions (the hybrid bandit position in the 3-4) the guy needs to be like Lanston Tanyi, that’s a 255-pound linebacker-defensive end type.”
The Mountaineers’ defensive unit will get an early trial against Virginia Tech’s veteran offensive line.
“I think this will be a great test for us for the rest of the season,” nose tackle Dan Wylie said.
Captains for ASU this season were selected by team members and announced Monday. They are senior offensive lineman Orry Frye, senior quarterback DeAndre Presley, senior receiver Brian Quick, senior nose tackle Chris Aiken, senior bandit Demery Brewer and senior cornerback Ed Gainey.
Virginia Tech will have a new quarterback this season in Logan Thomas, a 6-6, 254-pound sophomore with a strong arm and who wears size-18 shoes.
“Just watching him, I think he’s going to do fine,” Beamer said. “He’s a smart guy, an even-keeled kind of guy. I don’t think a situation is going to be too big for him. I think he knows that he’s got good players around him so he’s just got to manage the game and do what he does and everything will be fine.”
NOTES: The Mountaineers are 0-3 against the Hokies. They lost in Blacksburg 41-32 in 1979, 34-12 in 1981 and 34-0 in 1982…. The Mountaineers are 7-38-1 against FBS teams…. Of the Hokies’ projected defensive starters, only one is a senior. Four are juniors and six are sophomores…. The Hokies will enter the season ranked No. 13 in major FBS polls. The Mountaineers are No. 2 in FBS preseason polls.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Apparently, Michigan wants another crack at Appalachian State.
It was announced today that the programs will meet again, on Aug. 30 of 2014 in Ann Arbor.
The Mountaineers stunned the No. 5 Wolverines 34-32 in 2007, becoming the first FCS program to beat a nationally-ranked FBS opponent.
ASU will get a nice paycheck for the rematch.
It will receive $850,000 if still at the FCS level, and $1 million if it is an FBS member by then.
ASU was previously scheduled to open the 2014 season at McNeese State, and is working to find an alternate date for that game in Lake Charles, La.
Besides Michigan, and this season’s opener at Virginia Tech, the Mountaineers have only one other future game scheduled against an FBS opponent (at Georgia in 2013) although plans are to add a game against an FBS opponent for 2012.
ASU’s future games against non-conference opponents that are currently scheduled are:
2012 – Montana.
2013 (12-game season) – At Georgia, at Montana.
2014 (12-game season) – At Michigan, at McNeese State.
2015 – McNeese State.
Appalachian State’s two-deep chart coming out of preseason camp heading into next week’s preparation for the season-opening game at Virginia Tech doesn’t include many surprises.
Wide receiver Bobo Beathard, one of the freshmen who have been impressive in preseason camp, is a No. 1 at wide receiver.
Bob McClain, ASU’s offensive line coach, says his unit is still a work in progress. Only two starters – Orry Frye and Matt Ruff – return from last year’s team.
Perhaps the biggest development on the offensive line in camp was the switch of senior Orry Frye from tackle to center.
Redshirt freshman Kalan Jones has the top spot for now at right guard, joining fellow redshirt freshman Kendall Lamm as a No. 1 on the offensive line.
Sherman Holt, who was in the running at center, has an injured right hand and has been playing at guard. Dylan Bostick remains sidelined for the time being due to illness, and Regan Dufort is expected to be out another three to five weeks because of a leg injury.
Defensively, freshman Ronald Blair remains at the No. 1 spot at defensive end after making strides in camp toward locking up that spot.
Projected starters on the latest depth chart:
OFFENSE
LT – Kendall Lamm (6-6, 280, R-Fr.)
LG – Kalan Jones (6-4, 285, R-Fr.)
C – Orry Frye (6-2, 280, Sr.)
RG – Matt Ruff (6-3, 270, Sr.)
RT – Xan Thomas (6-2, 285, Sr.)
TE – Ben Jorden (6-2, 250, Sr.)
WR – Tony Washington (5-10, 195, So.)
WR – Andrew Peacock (5-10, 190, So.)
WR – Brian Quick (6-5, 220, Sr.)
WR – Bobo Beathard (5-10, 175, Fr.)
QB – DeAndre Presley (5-11, 180, Sr.)
RB – Travaris Cadet (6-1, 210, Sr.)
DEFENSE
LE – Gordy Witte (6-6, 315, Sr.)
NT – Dan Wylie (6-1, 305, Sr.)
RE – Ronald Blair (6-4, 260, Fr.)
Bandit – Lanston Tanyi (6-2, 250, Jr.)
MLB – Jeremy Kimbrough (5-11, 238, Jr.)
WLB – Brandon Grier (6-2, 230, Jr.)
SLB – John Rizor (6-2, 245, Jr.)
SS – Troy Sanders (6-0, 205, Jr.)
FS – Patrick Blalock (6-0, 200, So.)
LCB – Ed Gainey (5-11, 195, Sr.)
RCB – Demetrius McCray (6-0, 185, Jr.)
Read more on the development of ASU’s offensive line in Saturday’s Winston-Salem Journal.
By Tommy Bowman at 01:49 PM
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