ASU wins, but gives up a lot of yards
There are probably mixed feelings around Appalachian State’s football camp today.
What was euphoric in yesterday’s stunning fourth-quarter comeback from three touchdowns behind to beat Chattanooga could be tempered by the fact that the Mountaineers gave up 492 yards, including 340 and three touchdowns passing by quarterback B.J. Coleman of the Mocs.
The Mountaineers were fortunate to come away with a win. They can’t be too pleased about giving up many big-yardage plays and a lot of points.
And, frankly, the Mountaineers needed help to recover from a 35-14 deficit early in the fourth quarter. But, although Chattanooga fumbles were essential in allowing ASU back in striking distance, Coach Jerry Moore said that it was his team that created its own good fortune.
“We had some really hard hits that knocked loose the football,” Moore said, crediting what were some pivotal defensive plays in the late stages.
Otherwise, it was not a good day on defense for the Mountaineers.
ASU’s secondary struggled to keep Chattanooga receivers in front of them, and coverage busts and a missed tackle of two were costly.
“There were some communication problems, and some things we just didn’t do as well as we normally might,” Moore said. “Our defense didn’t play as well as I thought we might. But last year we went to East Carolina and I thought our defense would lead us but we go down there and don’t play very good the first half. This game was a lot like that.
“We’ve just got to get some things worked out. There is a chance that I should have pulled off of them (in preseason practice), that we might have been tired. In 29 days, 27 of them were go-getters. We worked hard and I had hoped that their legs weren’t gone. In the middle of the second quarter, I worried about that, if we worked too hard and didn’t have any juice in our legs.”
Postgame notes:
CoCo Hillary, a senior receiver for ASU, served the first game of a two-game suspension related to a driving under the influence charge in South Carolina last March.
Lanston Tanyi, a junior defensive end who led the Mountaineers with 7.5 sacks last season, could be miss the entire season as result of a toe injury that bothered him for much of preseason camp.
“We don’t know for sure what we’re going to do, but he’s probably going to have surgery,” Moore said.
ASU’s top three in tackles yesterday were all first-time starters. Middle linebacker Jeremy Kimbrough had eight tackles, cornerback Troy Sanders and strong-side linebacker Justin Wray had seven each. All are sophomores.
Travaris Cadet had a good day returning kickoffs. His first three returns went for 27, 31 and 22 yards.
Yesterday’s crowd of 15,235 was the second largest for a Chattanooga football game at Finley Stadium.