ASU Furman postgame notes
Appalachian State’s 20-10 loss to Furman today didn’t end its chances of an unprecedented seventh straight Southern Conference championship, but it significantly damaged them.
Georgia Southern, which barely survived The Citadel’s upset bid today, can wrap up a SoCon title with a victory at Wofford on Saturday.
There is still a possibility of a multiple-team tie for first place, however, which would give ASU a share of the title.
Wofford (5-1) would need to beat Georgia Southern (6-1) and lose its final regular-season game at Chattanooga. In that situation, ASU (4-2) could tie if it closes with wins over Western Carolina and Elon. Furman (5-2) could also tie if it beats Elon.
Coach Jerry Moore of ASU said that his team, which was hindered by turnovers in the early stages against Furman and fell behind 20-0, was “down and hurting” after its comeback bid fell short.
“They’ve got a lot invested,” Moore said. “I told them, I was pretty blunt about it, that our chances of tying for a conference championship are probably not very realistic. But we’ll find out how resilient we are and I think we’ve got a good football team.”
ASU ran 83 plays – 32 more than Furman – and led in total yardage 399-365. The Mountaineers also led in possession time by 12:30, moved the ball relatively well and wound up 12 of 18 on third-down conversions.
But the Mountaineers hurt themselves with four turnovers, and seldom cashed in when they were in scoring position. They scored just once in their first five trips inside Furman’s 25-yard line.
The Paladins, who were penalty free, limited the Mountaineers in terms of big plays but came up with a few timely big gainers of their own.
Although big-play receiver Brian Quick was limited, two ASU receivers had career days. Andrew Peacock caught eight passes for 79 yards. Tony Washington caught seven for 59 yards.
Quick did move within eight yards of ASU’s all-time receiving yards record of 3,124 held by Rick Beasley, who played from 1978 through ’80.
Former quarterback DeAndre Presley saw time at both wide receiver and on kick and punt returns. Presley had two receptions, and returned a kickoff 40 yards.
Travaris Cadet was a workhorse for the Mountaineers. He had 24 carries for 63 rushing yards, caught six passes for 60 yards and returned a kickoff for 28 yards.