Tuesday, October 20, 2009

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.”

Monday, October 19, 2009

Wofford Notes

Perhaps as big of a play as any in Appalachian State’s 44-34 victory over Wofford on Saturday was a gutsy call that resulted in a touchdown with no time left in the first half.

The Mountaineers, trailing by two touchdowns, lined up for an all-or-nothing play from the 3-yard line with 4.7 seconds left in the half.

“There was no debate, we were going for it,” quarterback Armanti Edwards said, when asked if a field goal was an option.

The call was a quarterback draw. Edwards took the snap, took off but appeared the he might be dropped short when linebacker SeQuan Stanley wrapped Edwards’ legs at the 1-yard line. But Edwards stretched and reached the ball to the goal line for a touchdown.

“It was very big because we knew we weren’t getting the ball coming out after the half, they were getting it,” Edwards said.

Wofford, which scored on five of their first seven possessions, did indeed drive for a touchdown on the first series of the second half.

“We needed a touchdown right there before the half,” Edwards said.

Trail mix:

After Edwards, who was sacked a rare three times, failed to get rid of the ball and was dropped for a 22-yard loss, Jason Vitaris nailed a career-long 49-yard field goal to cut Wofford’s lead to four points at the start of the fourth quarter. Vitaris is 5 of 6 on attempts of 40 yards or longer this season.

Sam Martin boomed a 74-yard punt in the fourth quarter, which tied for the fourth-longest punt in ASU history.

CoCo Hillary just missed a 100-yard day, and probably should have gotten it. A catch for a would-be gain of 20 yards was ruled incomplete, but no replay review is available for regular-season FCS games.

“I’ve got text messages on my phone right now (from friends watching on television), saying it was a catch,” Hillary said after the game. He wound up with six catches for 96 yards.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Fancher at Home With the Vols

It’s not exactly the way Houston Fancher envisioned it at the end of last season, before he was fired as coach at Appalachian State, but he’s still involved in basketball.

Fancher is back in his home state, taking up the invitation of Coach Bruce Pearl and working as a graduate assistant for the Tennessee Vols.

“I know where everything’s at in Knoxville,” said Fancher, who grew up in Newport, Tenn., as a Vols fan. He is a former assistant at Vanderbilt and Maryville, and has a bachelor’s degree from Middle Tennessee State and master’s from Lincoln Memorial. He’s back living closer to his elderly mother, and his wife’s family, and he hasn’t lost his sense of humor.

“I’m in a place where my accent doesn’t matter. Everybody speaks like I do here.”

Fancher said that he’s adjusting to the fact that he’s not a head coach this season.

“For me, re-charging isn’t about resting,” Fancher said. “It’s about getting back involved again. I needed something to re-invest my time in. I was at work at 5:30 this morning.

“I’m limited to what I can do, which is fine, but I’m doing all I can do. I’m enjoying observing, offering input and taking inventory of what I’ve done the last 20 years as a coach. It keeps me in the mix, and be on the lookout for that next opportunity.”

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

LeGree and Turnovers

Mark LeGree set a school record and led the nation with 10 interceptions last season.

So far this year, LeGree, a junior safety, has been victim of a shutout. He doesn’t have a single interception through five games.

“I’m making plays, but I just haven’t had many opportunities,” LeGree said. “It is a little frustrating, but I won’t let it get to me.

“I know the 10 interception thing won’t happen again. I’m just trying to make the most out of what opportunities I do get and not worry about the number.”

LeGree knows that last year’s incredible number was probably a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence, but a few would be nice.

“I’m still waiting,” LeGree said.

There’s still time. In fact, seven of LeGree’s 10 interceptions last season came in a five-game span, from games six through 10.

As a team, the Mountaineers haven’t been on the receiving end of many turnovers this season. They have four interceptions and zero fumble recoveries through five games.

“I think it’s more of a coincidental thing,” LeGree said. “You just can’t always get the turnovers. Maybe if we tackle better, we’ll get more fumbles, but a lot of it is just how well the other team is protecting the ball.”

Coach Jerry Moore of the Mountaineers said: “I think it’s just the way things have unfolded for us. We had two or three pretty tough ballgames against teams that don’t turn the ball over very often. I think if either East Carolina or McNeese had turned the ball over a couple of times, we’d probably have won those ballgames. But we just haven’t created turnovers and people just haven’t turned it over, haven’t made very many mistakes.”

Neither have the Mountaineers. They turned the ball over just twice in their first four games, before being hindered by two turnovers last Saturday against N.C. Central.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Williams and Edwards

Richie Williams, who led Appalachian State to its first NCAA Football Championship Subdivision national title in 2005 and who played four seasons in the Canadian Football League, is lending his athletic ability and exploring a new career possibility in stock-car racing.

Williams, part of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, has been a jack man on a pit crew for four events, most recently for driver Max Papis in a NASCAR truck series race at Las Vegas and for driver Joey Coulter in an ARCA race at Kansas City.

He said it keeps him on his toes.

“It’s intense,” Williams said. “Last week, as a matter of fact, out in Vegas I almost got hit.”

Just like when he was a quarterback?

“Not really,” Williams said. “I’ll take a defensive lineman over a truck any day.”

Williams took a backseat to Armanti Edwards as ASU’s career leader in passing yards last Saturday.

Edwards passed for 327 against The Citadel and surpassed Williams at the top of the Mountaineers’ all-time list. Edwards now has 7,857 yards passing.

Williams, who is serving as a special assistant at ASU, basically in a mentor’s role, was on hand Saturday to see Edwards break his record, and accepted some good-natured ribbing afterward.

“It’s all good,” Williams said.

Edwards said that he and Williams have become good friends.

“We talk all the time,” Edwards said. “We talk about quarterback stuff, football, everything.”

Edwards leads the FCS in completion percentage this season, having completed 60 of 82 passes (73.2 percent).

He gained much notice last week for a 16-yard completion against Samford, after scrambling, eluding tackle attempts, fumbling, recovering and finally completing a pass to Cedric Baker while being tackled.

The bizarre play got a lot of television time, ranking as the No. 2 play of the weekend on ESPN behind Brett Favre’s last-second, game-winning touchdown pass against the San Francisco 49ers.

Edwards was glad it was among the top plays.

“I think about how close it could have been to a blooper,” he said.

Monday, October 05, 2009

From the Right Side

All ended well for kicker Jason Vitaris, who nailed a 29-yard field in overtime Saturday to lift Appalachian State to a 30-27 victory over The Citadel.

But until Vitaris made good on attempts of 30 and 29 yards in the late stages of that game, he was subject of a strange statistical line.

After missing a 25-yard attempt in the second quarter, Vitaris was just 1 of 4 on attempts of less than 40 yards this season. After he made a 44-yarder in the third quarter, he improved to a perfect 3 for 3 in tries beyond 40 yards.

Vitaris said that it has to do more with geography than distance. He said that he is struggling to make short-range kicks from the right side of the field.

“I’ve still got a lot of work to do,” said Vitaris, a junior from Seneca, S.C. “I know I’ve got the leg for the long ones, it’s more about accuracy. From longer range, it’s more straight on. Short range, I’ve got to whip it a little bit from the right side. I’m hitting it solid, it’s just going straight.”

Vitaris said that he’s confident from straight on and left of center, it’s just that kicks closer to the right hash mark seem to be a tougher angle for him.

“I’ll work with the holder a little bit, maybe getting him to lean it a little bit because that kind of gives it a little natural hook on it,” he said. “But we’ll work a lot more on it in practice this week and get better on it.”

The pressure of kicks with a game on the line, as was the case Saturday, isn’t a problem.

“I’m a coach’s son, so I dealt with a lot of pressure growing up,” Vitaris said. “People would tell me I was just on the team because I was his son. I had to prove a lot of people wrong so that helped me deal with pressure.”

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Corey Hall

Corey Hall was as pleased as anyone to see Appalachian State win its first national championship in 2005.

Hall, a former all-America defensive back who was inducted into ASU’s athletics hall of fame last Saturday, came close to a shot at a national title in 2000.

“I guess you could say we were literally a couple inches away from playing for a national championship,” Hall said.

On a snowy, 28-degree day in December of 2000 at Missoula, Montana, the Mountaineers’ chance at a first national title ended.

Jimmy Farris caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Drew Miller to give the Montana Grizzlies a 19-16 victory over the Mountaineers in the NCAA Division I-AA semifinals.

Hall was defending on the play.

“I think about it every now and then,” Hall said. “(Farris) ran a fade route and I had good position on him. I won’t make any excuses, but it was slippery, and I guess when I went up to defend the pass it just barely skimmed right over my hand. The guy just made a great catch.”

Hall and Farris both wound up in the NFL. Hall was drafted in the seventh round by the Atlanta Falcons and played three games in 2001. He now works with his brothers Joey and Kendrick, both former ASU players, for his father’s concrete contracting business near Atlanta.

He was on hand when ASU beat Northern Iowa for the national title in 2005.

“That was huge,” Hall said. “When I came here, Appalachian already had a winning tradition and I wanted to contribute to that. We got pretty close to making it all the way. To see the same coaches that were here when I was here actually win the national championship felt really good.

“I saw a lot of the former guys there, and we all felt part of it. It was great to see them take it to the next level.”

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Tyson Patterson

Tyson Patterson says he eats more selectively now, but still enjoys his gummy bears. Perhaps it’s to build up energy for another round of tourism by basketball.

Patterson, who was inducted into Appalachian State’s athletics hall of fame last Saturday, is a self-professed globetrotter.

Since finishing as the Mountaineers’ all-time leader in assists in 2000, Patterson has traveled to Belgium, Switzerland, Iceland, France, Finland and Mexico to play professional basketball.

He plans to head back to Mexico in the next few days for his 10th pro season.

“I want to play until the wheels fall off,” Patterson said.

“I just love to go see different countries and play basketball. It’s just like I dreamed as a little kid, wake up and go play basketball.”

Patterson, a native of Winston-Salem and former star at East Forsyth, will be remembered most as a point guard who led the Mountaineers to an NCAA Tournament appearance in 2000.

Coach Buzz Peterson also remembers him for his “high energy” eating habits.

“The thing that used to drive me crazy about him was that we’d have a pre-game meal and he wouldn’t eat anything except a chocolate chip cookie,” Peterson said. “That’s all he wanted.

“It was all chocolate chip cookies or gummy bears with him. He wouldn’t eat a regular meal. It used to concern me but he never ran out of energy at the end of games. He was fine.”

Tomorrow: Corey Hall.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Mark Royals

Ask Mark Royals about perseverance.

He knows about it.

It took Royals five years to make an NFL roster. Once there, he endured continual trades and releases and punted for six different teams. By the time he retired in 2003, he had played 15 years.

The key to such longevity?

“I feel like I outworked everybody on the planet,” Royals said.

Royals, among inductees into Appalachian State’s athletics hall of fame last Saturday, began dreaming about playing professional football at age 8 and took a step toward that goal after graduating from a class of 90 from Mathews High School in Virginia and landing a scholarship at ASU, where he punted from 1983 through 1985.

He made it to camp as a free agent after finishing at ASU, and was a fill-in punter for single games with the Philadelphia Eagles and St. Louis Cardinals in 1987, but didn’t stick until he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1990.

“I got cut four years in a row,” Royals said. “My fifth year of trying I made it in Tampa.”

Once there, he didn’t let go – punting for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers again, Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars.

“I felt like if I worked hard enough and trained hard enough it would work out,” Royals said. “I didn’t feel pressured to do anything more than what I trained myself to do. I felt like I would either be good enough or I wouldn’t. For 15 years, it was good enough.”

Royals led the NFL in punting with a 45.9 average in 1997, and wound up with a 42.1 career average.

“There are so many obstacles,” Royals said. “I look at myself growing up in a small town in Virginia and achieving something like that was a childhood dream but you never really think it will happen. A lot of things have to go right, but you keep at it if you want it.”

Tomorrow: Tyson Patterson

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Takeaways

None of Appalachian’s three opponents have even fumbled this season, much less lost a fumble.

Coach Jerry Moore of the Mountaineers was pleased with his team’s defensive performance against Samford yesterday, but would like to see more turnovers created.

The Mountaineers typically do, but don’t have a forced fumble to date. They do have four interceptions (two against East Carolina and one each against McNeese State and Samford).

More notes from the Samford game: Moore was pleased with the punting of freshman Sam Martin, who kept the Bulldogs pinned in much of the day. Martin had five punts downed inside the 20-yard line…. Backup quarterback Travaris Cadet saw some time at receiver. The Mountaineers want Cadet on the field, and Moore said the hope to use him some in a non-quarterback situation.