Season wrap up with Jerry Moore
Appalachian State’s football season ended Saturday with a 24-17 loss to Montana in the semifinals of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
Here are responses to 10 questions posed to Coach Jerry Moore of the Mountaineers in an interview today:
1. How is Brian Quick handling the drop of the last-play pass, which after watching on replay wasn’t the easiest ball to catch?
“Even at that, you expect him to make that play. I didn’t really get much of a chance to talk to him. That locker room was so somber…. We had penalties that were just as bad as the drop, because they took us out of position to score. I think he’s alright. It bothered him earlier in the game when he dropped a ball on the scoreboard end. We had plays that we generally make.”
2. What did you like best about this year’s team?
“I liked the way they came together after starting off 0-2, in a situation we could possibly have been 2-0. But we’re 0-2 and they responded. We go to The Citadel and win that overtime game there and I think the fact that we just continually got a little bit better as the season progressed was important. I think that’s a mark of a good football team. We just had the misfortune of making too many mistakes in the Montana game. The penalties were huge.”
3. How could this team have been better?
“I think early-on I would liked to have seen us be better on defense. During a two-a-days it was hard to move the ball against the defense. I really put a confidence and trust in our defense and we got to East Carolina and don’t play very well the first half, either side of the ball but particularly defense. We didn’t play very well on defense against McNeese and that really became a concern. But we got a little bit better and better and played well on defense, and particularly at Richmond. We played pretty well at Montana except for containing that running back. He’s a good player and he had a premier day against us.”
4. Any reason the tight end wasn’t as involved in the offense as he was last year?
“Ben (Jorden) stayed hurt a lot. He had a lot of nagging injuries. He was never completely healthy, not like he was as a freshman. (Moore said that sophomore Jordan Gary, who moved from tight end to defensive end late in the season, will probably remain at defensive end.) He’ll be a really good defensive player.”
5. What happened with Robert Welton, who didn’t play much at running back, and Quavian Lewis, who many thought would be a factor at defensive end?
“(Welton) asked for a release. I don’t know for sure where he’s going to go, but he’s planning to transfer. Quavian could never get well. His knee was always aggravating him. Quavian was a great get and he could have helped us but he was so frustrated with that knee he could never get comfortable with it. After we played two or three games, we talked and decided he should just focus on school and getting his degree.”
6. Do you think Armanti Edwards will play in the NFL?
“I really do. I don’t remember the scout’s name, but he’s the one who did the workup on Drew Brees when he was at Purdue, and he says Armanti is just like him, that he’s the same size and everybody worried about the size (of Brees). I think the scouts now realize what a quick delivery Armanti has. He’s smart and he throws in the right places. He’s got a strong arm and I don’t think anybody is going to question his toughness. They’re more and more inclined to be in his corner right now, as a quarterback.”
7. Who will be the quarterback next season?
“I think that will be determined in the spring. One of our big decisions is what we do with (Travaris) Cadet? He and I will have a sit-down talk, and by that I mean I want to know what his feelings are. Of course Jamal Jackson is a guy we had the luxury of red-shirting. Now do you keep him and Cadet competing against each other, or do you split them up (leaving Cadet at receiver). We’re not going to know that until winter workouts start and we get into spring ball.”
8. Of the players you red-shirted this year, are there players among those that will significantly factor into things next season?
“I think there are several. To begin with, (Tony) Washington from High Point. We didn’t play against a receiver this year that was better than him. And there’s (Andrew) Peacock, we ran him as a scout-team running back. I don’t think we played against a back better than him this year. I know we didn’t play any with more speed than he’s got.”
9. You already have at least six commitments for next year, and it’s unusual for you to get commitments before the season is over. Why has that been different this year, and what are your recruiting needs and how many players do you expect to sign?
“I think the fact that we’ve won the way we have and the facilities and the excitement we have on game days are the main reasons. (Moore said there wasn’t a designed plan to get commitments earlier this year). It just happened…. We’re looking for mostly linemen. (Overall) I’d say we’ll sign between 10 to 15 guys.”
10. Are you looking forward to next season?
“It would be fine with me if we started up this afternoon. I think people will enjoy seeing whichever guy is at quarterback, and we have a lot of these guys back next year (nine starters on offense, seven on defense).”