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| Is this the year for ASU? |
Allie Woods
Sports Beat |
Josh Brown | Cheif Photographer |
The Appalachian
State University football program opened practice Aug. 12 with the
excitement and ambition that a new season always brings. This year,
however, the expectations are a little higher due to a preseason
No. 2 ranking by the Sports Network.
ASU plays in the Southern Conference, which has
proven to be a very strong conference over the past few years. The
SoCon has placed three teams in the playoffs each of the last three
seasons and five out of the last seven. SoCon for Georgia Southern
University won the championship in 1999 and 2000 and Furman University
was runner up in 2001. |
This year, Appalachian
wants to be the team in the championship. Far-fetched or should
everyone else envy our title?
First, Appalachian has to play in the Southern
Conference. Last season ASU finished third in the conference with
the only two loses coming from the top two teams, Furman and Georgia
Southern.
This year these two teams could be in the rebuilding
process. Georgia Southern lost All-American running back Adrian
Peterson and all-SoCon quarterback J.R. Revere to graduation. Also,
head coach Paul Johnson left for Vanderbilt University, providing
yet another obstacle for the team to overcome.
Furman has much of the same situation. All-American
running back Louis Ivory graduated and head coach Bobby Johnson
moved on to be head coach at Navy.
Here at Appalachian, there are no such problems.
Head coach Jerry Moore is still around and will probably break the
record this season for most victories in I-AA history.
Our quarterback Joe Burchette is still here but
has recently come up with a back injury, which has already forced
him to the sidelines for one game and could keep him there for as
many as two more.
For the time, ASU will look to red shirt freshman
Richie Williams to call the shots. While the two quarterbacks have
very contrasting styles, they can both be effective.
At running back, Jerry Beard is set to be the
workhorse. After sharing the starting position for the last two
years, the job will be his to lose.
On the defensive side of the ball, ASU lost All-Americans
Justin Seaverns and Ryan Watson, but All-American Josh Jeffries
and All-SoCon K.T. Stovall are returning to the team.
The injury bug has already bitten Appalachian
early, starting with wide receiver Sterling Hayward, who is lost
for the season with a shoulder injury.
In addition to Burchette, tight end Jason LeMay
also missed the first game against Marshall University with a knee
injury.
Defensive back Jonathan Lyle has a sore ankle,
but it should not cause him to miss any time.
Fortunately for the Mountaineers, the first big
date to circle on the calendar will not come until Oct. 12 when
Furman comes to Boone. As the preseason favorite, however, everyone
is gunning for ASU. This means that ASU will have to play their
“A” game to get where they want to be: advancing in the
playoffs.
For Appalachian to be competitive this season
many things need to go their way, but most of all they need to be
healthy. No game this week helped wipe away the injury bug but everyone
needs to recover and stay that way for the Mountaineers to make
a serious run deep into the playoffs. |
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