|
ASU
adds W. Virginia Tech to docket
ASU
adds Division II opponent for
Nov. 17 home game to replace Troy St.
Chris
Boyce - Sports Beat
Appalachian
State University Department of Athletics agreed to a one-time contract
with West Virginia Tech University that adds a Nov. 17 home football game
to the 2001 schedule.
The announcement follows weeks of speculation about if, when, and whom
the Mountaineers might play if time was allowed for an additional game.
The scheduling comes several weeks after the NCAA decided to move back
its NCAA Division I-AA playoffs by one week, with the playoffs beginning
Dec. 1 and the championship game commencing Dec. 21.
The extra week allows for teams to make up games missed Sept. 15, which
were cancelled due to a national mourning period following the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks.
Appalachian State athletic director Roachel Laney was pleased with the
meeting, stating it was Appalachian State’s original goal after the
extension of the NCAA playoffs to add a Nov. 17 home game and keep the
Saturday before the playoffs as a bye week.
“This [an extra home game] works well for us,” said Laney. “It’s
good for the fans and good for the community.”
Scheduling a home game was a tough task because of the Mountaineers’
desire to “preserve [Nov. 24 as] a bye week before the playoffs,”
said Appalachian State head football coach Jerry Moore.
It had appeared there would be no extra game, causing the Mountaineers
to have back-to-back bye before the December playoffs, as late as the
Oct. 13 game against Georgia Southern University.
Appalachian State contacted nearly 50 schools in the weeks leading up
to the West Virginia Tech agreement, but Laney said none of the teams
contacted were interested in playing the Mountaineers.
West Virginia Tech’s name first surfaced last week after a staff
member found the university on the Internet requesting to add a game on
the very same weekend the Mountaineers wanted to play.
Laney received the official contract Monday at 3:30 p.m.
The West Virginia Tech Golden Bears (4-3, 3-1 in conference) play in the
West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WVIAC) and are currently
tied for first in NCAA Division II at 3-1.
W. Va. Tech became an attractive opponent because of its competition against
Tennessee Tech and McNeese State University, both Division I-AA schools.
The Golden Bears suffered blowout losses to both this season, losing 44-3
to Tennessee Tech on Sept. 22. and 51-9 McNeese State the following weekend.
Mike Sprinston, who led the team to a 5-6 record overall and a 3-4 record
in the WVIAC in 2000, coaches the Golden Bears.
Laney said the game should be one the Mountaineers can benefit from playing
but did not feel it would be merely a warm-up game.
“It’s one you should win,” said Laney. “We can play
a lot of players and stay fine-tuned, but strange things do happen.”
If Appalachian wins the Nov. 17 game, the team would finish 8-3 overall,
as opposed to 7-3 without the added game. The Mountaineers entered the
playoffs last season with an 8-3 record as the 13th seed, but Moore said
that adding another game was not absolutely necessary to propel Appalachian
State into the playoffs.
A Division II opponent will give the Mountaineers a better chance at finishing
8-3 as opposed to playing a Division I or I-AA team, but Moore said it
was a small factor in the decision. “That was part of it. …
but we want to play good programs.”
Moore said he didn’t have much of a preference on whether or not
to add a game but was pleased to be playing the Golden Bears.
“We’ve got a ballgame to play,” said Moore. “We don’t
know too much about them but what we do know is that they’re a classy
program who do things right.”
Paul
Sherar - Chief Photographer
ASU
quarterback Joe Burchette (16) and the Mountaineers host Chattanooga
Saturday at 2 p.m.
Pressure builds
as Mountaineers make late-season playoff push
Andy
Morris - Sports Beat
It is crunch time for the Appalachian State University
football team, and the Mountaineers cannot afford to buckle under the
pressure.
With three losses, the team must win the remainder of its games to have
a shot at making the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs. But even three wins
might not guarantee a postseason berth.
“After we lost to Furman and Georgia Southern, from that point
on, we knew that there was no margin for error,” said head coach
Jerry Moore. “I was very open with the players and told them, ‘There’s
no guarantee. Don’t think that if we win out the rest of our games,
we’re in.’”
But Moore remains confident of his team’s chances for the rest
of the season. “I think we’re very capable of winning the
rest of our games,” he said. “I’ve said before that this
team can win the national championship. We’ve just got to play
hard and keep climbing up in the rankings. I don’t think there’s
anyone in the top 10 in the nation that has three losses.”
The Mountaineers (4-3 overall, 3-2 Southern Conference) will hope to
build on the goal to reach the playoffs as they host the University
of Tennessee at Chattanooga Mocs (2-4, 1-3) this weekend.
The Mocs cost the Mountaineers a share of the SoCon title last season
with a 30-27 win in Chattanooga. Moc quarterback Chris Sanders shredded
the Appalachian secondary for 371 yards passing and two touchdowns.
But the Chattanooga team the Mountaineers will face on Saturday will
be a different from the one it lost to last year. Sanders has graduated
and sophomore quarterback Chris Spearman, who will lead the Mocs against
the Mountaineers Saturday, has struggled to put points on the board
for UTC this season.
“Chattanooga is a team that has struggled offensively and have
had a lot of injuries and have had to overcome that,” said Moore.
“They’re actually a pretty strong defensive team, but injuries
to offensive positions has kind of depleted them.”
The Mocs are expected to employ a pass-oriented attack as they did last
year against the Mountaineers.
“They’ve gone to a really wide open throwing attack with four
receivers, and they’ll throw the ball a lot,” said Moore.
The Mountaineers were able to end some of their offensive woes last
weekend against Wofford College as Appalachian quarterback Joe Burchette
was 20-25 for 306 yards and three touchdowns to lead the team to 34-23
win.
“I think the offense had an improved effort [against Wofford],
but their defense is not the caliber of Furman or Georgia Southern,”
said Moore. “We got the ball downfield a lot better and the play
of those young receivers made a huge difference in the ball game.”
Appalachian also managed to drastically cut down on penalties that have
burned the Mountaineers time and time again this season.
“We only had two penalties on offense, which were back-to-back,
but we were able to overcome them in the same series,” said Moore.
“If you don’t put yourself in first down and 20 or first-down-and-15,
you’ve got a chance.”
As long as the Mountaineers continue to produce wins, there will be
a possibility of earning a playoff spot.
“I think we’re one of the best I-AA teams in the nation and
the NCAA will take that into consideration. If we win out, we’ll
do what we said we had to do after the Georgia Southern loss,”
said Moore. “We’ll just see how it falls.”
|
 |
 |
