Moore on his 200th victory at ASU
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.