 |
Peter Larkins | chief photographer
EKU quarterback Josh Greco (15) gets caught by ASU defensive tackles Omarr
Byrom (95) and Joe Suiter (56) during Saturday's game. |
Kentucky fried Colonels: Mountaineers dominate Eastern Kentucky
by Brad Norman
Senior Staff Writer
Unlike Appalachian State University, the Eastern Kentucky
University Colonels had the advantage of going through a week of practice
without dealing with all of the rain and high winds brought on by Hurricane
Frances.
But on Saturday at Kidd Brewer Stadium, they ran into a
hurricane of another kind: Hurricane Appalachian.
The Mountaineers swept through the Colonels, racking up
492 yards of total offense while limiting Eastern Kentucky to 293 en
route to a 49-21 victory in front of 12,353 fans.
“[We] played like giants,” head coach Jerry
Moore said after the game. “Boy was I proud of those kids today.
You wouldn’t even think that we were the same football team [as
last week].”
While the no-huddle offense was anemic in last week’s
defeat at Wyoming University, it was explosive Saturday.
Quarterback Richie Williams connected on 23 of 29 passes
[80 percent] for 319 yards and four touchdowns, all going to different
receivers.
Williams also led the team in rushing with 90 yards, giving
him 409 total yards on the day, just seven shy of the all-time Appalachian
record.
“We performed as a unit on offense,” Williams
said. “We practiced real hard all week and it just all came together.
The offensive line played a lot better and it gave me more time to sit
back and survey the defense.”
 |
Peter Larkins | Chief Photographer
DaVon Fowlkes looks up for a pass. |
Although the Mountaineer offense put up 49 points, they
did not score until deep into the second quarter when Williams hit tight
end Daniel Bettis from five yards out.
The Mountaineers scored once more before the half with
Williams finding receiver Victor Chavis all alone in the end zone for
a 46 yard score.
“It was a comeback-and-go route. I ran it, and when
I looked back [EKU cornerback James Gaines] was holding his ankle,” a
grinning Chavis said. “I was going to put my hands up [to signal
touchdown] before I even caught it.”
The Colonels responded and red-shirt freshman Josh Greco,
who replaced senior Matt Guice in the second quarter, led the team on
a 71-yard scoring drive in the final 34 seconds to knot the score before
halftime.
But the Mountaineers came out of halftime energized and
rang up two consecutive touchdowns within five minutes.
They later added a Kevin Richardson nine-yard touchdown
run to score 21 unanswered points in the third quarter.
Williams put an exclamation point on his performance when
he hit DaVon Fowlkes with a 45-yard touchdown bomb with five minutes
left to play.
 |
John Bethune | The Appalachian
DaVon Fowlkes jumps for a pass during saturday's game. Fowlkes caught 11
passes for 171 yards and a touchdown. |
Fowlkes, coming off a career-best performance against Wyoming,
had an even better game against EKU. He caught 11 passes for 171 yards
and a touchdown.
“Today there wasn’t really anybody on top of
me like I thought there would be,” Fowlkes said. “They came
with a lot of blitzes off my side so we ran a lot of short routes to
that side.”
ASU also amassed 173 total rushing yards, contrary to the
mere 30 it got last week.
“I think our linemen really tried to step up today,” Moore
said. “I think they were embarrassed about what happened last week.
I know [Offensive line coach Shawn Elliot] has been on them all week
and they responded well.”
Defensively, Appalachian State may have found the new faces
of their defense.
Junior Joe Suiter, a defensive tackle, and sophomore defensive
end Marques Murrell are both full-time starters for the first time in
their playing career.
Both pressured the quarterback and stuffed the running attack throughout the
entire game.
Suiter finished with seven tackles, 3.5 of them for a loss,
one forced fumble and a sack. Murrell finished with four tackles, 1.5
of them for a loss, a deflected punt and a sack.
Sophomore linebacker William Mayfield led the team in tackles
with nine, and senior Jerelle Carter contributed six.
“The coaches worked us harder this week and we went
back to fundamentals,” Suiter said. “We went back to tackling
drills and we were ready to go.”
The only dark spot on the game happened with under a minute
left.
Safety Corey Lynch, who had a forced fumble and an interception,
was injured while returning a punt.
“That’s probably the damper on everything and
it doesn’t look very good,” Moore said.
“It’s just one of those [freak things] that
could have happened at any time. The best guess right now as to the injury
is a dislocated elbow.”
While the game was not so exciting that fans rushed the
field, Moore said it was one of the most satisfying wins of his career.
“It wasn’t a tear-down the goalpost game [for
the fans], but for me it was,” Moore said.
“I would have torn them down if they hadn’t
put those new [hinges] on them.”
 |
Peter larkins | Chief Photographer
Corey Lynch suffered a dislocated elbow during a punt return in the final
minute of saturday's game versus eastern kentucky. |
Lynch dislocates elbow in closing
minute of game
by Hugh Kellenberger
Associate Editor
Muffled under the yelling of the Mountaineer faithful counting
down the clock to victory over the Eastern Kentucky Colonels 49-21 were
the exasperated screams of star safety Corey Lynch.
With 30 seconds left to play Lynch ran out to return the
EKU punt and returned it seven yards to his own 45-yard line before falling
down in pain.
“This has put a damper on everything,” head
coach Jerry Moore said.
He said after the game that Lynch had suffered a dislocated
elbow. He could be back in four weeks, Moore said, but the team is planning
to place him on the shelf for the rest of the season and apply for a
medical redshirt.
“He’ll have three more years to play,” Moore
said. “It’s just one of those freak things.”
Moore said that he was unaware Lynch was on the field until
he already was.
“Somebody said he was just supposed to catch it,” Moore
said. “Well, he’s not going to just catch it. You don’t
flip that switch on a guy like him, say ‘OK now you’re passive.’ He’s
going to probably turn that sucker into a touchdown. He’s just
a great player.”
Moore said he was unaware who put Lynch out there, but
that “it did not matter.”
Wide receiver Brandon Turner is listed on the depth chart
as the second punt returner behind Davon Fowlkes.
When Mountaineers Fowlkes, Richie Williams, Joe Suitor
and Victor Chavis heard the news in the post-game press conference, all
four seemed dismayed and upset.
“That’s tough,” Williams said.
Lynch, a sophomore, had an interception and forced a fumble
on a vicious hit to Colonel receiver Allen Evans. He also had five tackles
on the day.
“[The injury is] a big letdown because Corey brings
experience to the secondary, especially after his big season last year.
He really would have helped us out this season,” Suitor said.
After Lynch’s interception in the first quarter,
EKU quarterbacks Matt Guice and Josh Greco appeared to divert their attention
away from Lynch’s half of the field.
“Coach Beathard, our offensive coordinator, said
the safety was doing a great job looking at my eyes,” Greco said.
Lynch led the team in interceptions last season as a true
freshman and was second in voting this summer for preseason Southern
Conference Defensive Player of the Year to Furman linebacker Mike Killian.
He was the only ASU preseason selection to the All-SoCon
first team defense.
One of Appalachian’s strengths coming into this season was the depth
at the safety positions.
Besides Lynch, fellow sophomore Jeremy Wiggins, six-year
senior Nygel Rogers and Michael King all return.
King was listed behind Lynch on the two-deep depth chart
prior to Saturday.
Suitor mentioned moving Wiggins to free safety. Wiggins started at strong safety
against Wyoming, but came off the bench against EKU.
“Jeremy could play as hard as Corey Lynch did. I
am just saying that’s what I would do; I don’t know what
the coaches will do,” Suitor said.
Wiggins had four tackles, a recovered fumble and a pass
break-up Saturday.
Lynch will likely be missed most for his intangibles. Coach Moore said in The
Appalachian Football Preview 2004 that Lynch is “a leader in his
own way on defense.”
On the Monday practice following the 53-7 loss to Wyoming,
every player lined up for sprints at the end of the day. The coaches
told the team to go ahead and take their shoulder pads off. Lynch kept
his on.
The team ran back and forth at least ten times; Lynch finished
in the top five each time.
TO TOP
|
