First Half, Second Half
So, is Appalachian State a terrible first-half team or great second-half team?
It appears the Mountaineers are both.
They’ve trailed after the first quarter in five of their six games. They have trailed at halftime four times, but have come back to win two of those and nearly did in the other two.
With a break or two, the Mountaineers could be 6-0. But, they also seem fortunate they’re not 2-4.
Quarterback Armanti Edwards called the tendency to fall behind early a “bad trend.”
“But, I guess we’re getting used to it,” Edwards said. “We know what we need to do coming out the second half.”
Whether falling behind early is more of a problematic issue than finishing strong is a significant asset is a matter of perspective.
“It is a concern, but it also shows how strong we are that we can come back and win those tough games,” safety Mark LeGree said.
Receiver Brian Quick said: “We definitely know how to face adversity.”
Jabari Fletcher, a defensive end, said the Mountaineers are forfeiting stature as a dominant team as result of sluggish starts. Receiver CoCo Hillary said he hopes that changes, but added, “just as long as we have that ‘W’ when time runs out, that’s all that matters.”
It’s good for the Mountaineers that games don’t end at halftime. They’ve been outscored 95-85 in the first half. They’re winning the second half 120-63.
Coach Jerry Moore said that a few 21-0 leads would be nice.
“But we’re going to catch everybody’s best shot, there’s no question about that,” Moore said after Saturday’s game at Wofford, in which his team fell behind by two touchdowns before coming back and winning and improving to 4-2 overall and 3-0 in the Southern Conference.
“We can go talk to these guys every day about it – and we had a great week of preparation. We had not practiced any better any time this year than we did last week. But we go out and we can’t even make a play. So, where do you go? What do you look for?
“We have to do a lot of evaluating, take a hard look at some things we are doing and who we’re doing it with. We’re not ready to stick the fork in somebody, I don’t mean that. But maybe we’ve got to do a little better job teaching. Maybe they’ve got to do a little better job listening.”