Welcome To the FBS: An Appalachian State Dynasty (NCAA 2014)

[orlegend0208]

App State Wins Exciting Opening Game

Appalachian State Mountaineers at Louisville Cardinals
Sep 2, 2016	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Appalachian State Mountaineers (1-0)	17	0	7	14	38
Louisville Cardinals (0-1)	0	10	10	6	26

Team Stats Comparison
	APP	LOU
Total Offense	549	439
Rushing Yards	273	51
Passing Yards	276	388
First Downs	23	15
Punt Return Yards	12	17
Kick Return Yards	69	59
Total Yards	630	515
Turnovers	3	1
3rd Down Converstion	7-14 (50%)	6-16 (37%)
4th Down Conversion	0-0 (0%)	2-2 (100%)
2-Point Conversion	0-0 (0%)	0-1 (0%)
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	7-3-1 (57%)	5-2-2 (80%)
Penalties
Posession Time	17:28	10:32

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		APP	LOU
6:45	(APP) TD: M. Cox, 63 yard run	7	0
3:43	(APP) FG: C. Lawrence, 27 yard FG	10	0
0:00	(APP) TD: G. Jefferson, 20 yard pass from T. Lamb	17	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		APP	LOU
4:03	(LOU) TD: M. Carter, 8 yard pass from W. Gardner	17	7
0:00	(LOU) FG: J. Prince, 19 yard FG	17	10
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		APP	LOU
6:15	(LOU) TD: J. Simmons, 72 yard pass from W. Gardner	17	17
4:13	(APP) TD: S. Joyce, 8 yard pass from T. Lamb	24	17
1:48	(LOU) FG: J. Prince, 36 yard FG	24	20
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		APP	LOU
5:54	(APP) TD: M. Cox, 2 yard run	31	20
2:43	(LOU) TD: J. Simmons, 12 yard pass from W. Gardner (2-Pt failed)	31	26
0:46	(APP) TD: R. Williams, 28 yard run	38	26

Great win for the Mountaineers! They were able to hold on for the win thanks to a HUGE 1st quarter!

On the very first offensive play of the year for the Mountaineers, they ran a triple option to the right for Marcus Cox. Louisville brought a safety blitz and you can guess what happened next. NO ONE was near Taylor Lamb or Marcus Cox. But, Lamb tossed it back to Cox who ran 63 yards for the TD. Louisville got 2 first downs then was forced to punt and App State took advantage as Junior K Cory Lawrence nailed a 27 yard FG. Louisville was forced to punt yet again! Then, as time expired in the first quarter Lamb hit True Freshman WR Garrett Jefferson over the middle on a post route for the 20 yard TD. Jefferson ended with 6 catches and 88 receiving yards with 1 TD. A very good game for the true freshman in his debut!

The 2nd quarter was owned by the Cardinals. It sort of took a while, but Louisville finally got on the board when Louisville QB Will Gardner threw an 8 yard TD pass to make the score 17-7. Louisville then sacked Taylor Lamb and forced a fumble, and took advantage of that. As time expired Louisville made a 19 yard FG. So, going into halftime, Appalachian State was winning 17-10.

The third quarter started much like the first quarter did. On 3rd and 10, Louisville QB Will Gardner hit Simmons as he got behind the defense and outran the Appalachian State secondary and scored for a 72 yard TD. And just like that, the game was tied at 17. But, Appalachian State responded as Taylor Lamb threw a slant over the middle to Steve Joyce who was wide open thanks to what seemed to be the Engage Eight blitz. Louisville then responded right back with a 36 yard field goal to make the score 24-20 going into the 4th quarter.

But, with just a little more than a minute gone in the 4th quarter, Marcus Cox took the handoff and went right up the middle for the TD to make the score 31-20. The next score didn't come until Louisville forced yet another fumble and capitalized on the turnover. Louisville QB Will Gardner hooked up with Simmons for the 2nd time but they failed the 2-point conversion! Appalachian State recovered the onside kick and to put the cherry on top, Redshirt Freshman HB Ricardo Williams took the triple option pitch, made a man miss and took off untouched for the 28 yard TD to really put the game away.

[orlegend0208]

Week 4 Preview

NCAA Football Rankings - Coaches Poll - Updated: Sep 12, 2016
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	1	Michigan (35)	1	0	1499
2	3	Georgia (22)	3	0	1404
3	4	USC (2)	2	0	1328
4	5	UCLA (1)	2	0	1278
5	6	Miami (1)	2	0	1190
6	8	Texas	1	0	1076
7	9	Ohio State	2	0	1021
8	10	Michigan State	2	0	967
9	12	Florida	2	0	879
10	13	West Virginia	2	0	829
11	14	Georgia Tech	2	0	766
12	17	Florida State	1	0	742
13	7	Texas A&M	1	1	723
14	16	Clemson	1	0	673
15	20	LSU	1	1	606
16	11	Virginia Tech	1	1	580
17	19	Ole Miss	2	0	543
18	2	Alabama	1	1	482
19	15	Stanford	1	1	479
20	21	Penn State	2	0	463
21	22	Maryland	2	0	437
22	23	Georgia Southern	1	0	400
23	24	Nebraska	2	0	354
24	--	Oklahoma	1	0	287
25	--	Oregon	2	0	131

Matchup Preview | September 12, 2016
	@
Appalachian State Mountaineers (1-0, 1-0 Away)		Massachusetts Minutemen (1-1, 1-0 Home)
Offensive Stats Comparison 38.0 (#28) Points Per Game 32.0 (#55) 549.0 (#4) Total Offensive Yards 417.5 (#60) 273.0 (#12) Rushing Yards 191.0 (#61) 276.0 (#19) Passing Yards 226.5 (#56) Defensive Stats Comparison 349.0 (#96) Total Yards Allowed 418.5 (#83) 51.0 (#1) Rushing Yards Allowed 187.0 (#78) 388.0 (#125) Passing Yards Allowed 231.5 (#82) Game Notes Kirk Herbsreit predict Appalachian State will win.

[orlegend0208]

Mountaineers Score 58 At UMass in Easy Win

Appalachian State Mountaineers at Massachusetts Minutemen
Sep 17, 2016	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Appalachian State Mountaineers (2-0)	14	21	13	10	58
Massachusetts Minutemen (1-2)	0	14	7	7	28

Team Stats Comparison
	APP	MASS
Total Offense	598	326
Rushing Yards	195	109
Passing Yards	403	217
First Downs	28	20
Punt Return Yards	27	0
Kick Return Yards	137	223
Total Yards	762	549
Turnovers	1	1
3rd Down Converstion	5-8 (62%)	4-11 (36%)
4th Down Conversion	0-0 (0%)	0-0 (0%)
2-Point Conversion	0-0 (0%)	0-0 (0%)
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	6-3-3 (100%)	3-2-0 (66%)
Penalties
Posession Time	17:47	11:13

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		APP	MASS
5:09	(APP) TD: M. Cox, 6 yard run	7	0
2:04	(APP) TD: V. Lawrence, 3 yard pass from T. Lamb	14	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		APP	MASS
6:19	(APP) TD: M. Cox, 14 yard pass from T. Lamb	21	0
4:58	(APP) TD: A. Gray, returned INT 89 yards	28	0
3:19	(MASS) TD: L. Edwards, 21 yard pass from T. Stafford	28	7
2:01	(APP) TD: S. McElfresh, 25 yard pass from T. Lamb	35	7
0:13	(MASS) TD: S. Harris, 36 yard pass from T. Stafford	35	14
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		APP	MASS
5:42	(APP) FG: C.Lawrence, 34 yard FG	38	14
3:10	(APP) FG: C. Lawrence, 23 yard FG	41	14
1:58	(MASS) TD: L. Woodley, 5 yard run	41	21
0:08	(APP) TD: C. Alexander, 10 yard run	48	21
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		APP	MASS
4:42	(APP) FG: C. Lawrence, 25 yard FG	51	21
2:58	(APP) TD: D. Blanco, 10 yard pass from O. Campbell	58	21
1:40	(MASS) TD: T. Clement, 5 yard run	58	28

The Mountaineers got off to a very fast start. Their opening possession resulted in a 6 yard TD run by Marcus Cox. The Mountaineers defense forced a 3 and out on UMass's first possession. Taylor Lamb led the Mountaineers down the field and capped off the drive with a 3 yard TD pass to fellow Senior TE Vincent Lawrence. But, on that drive Freshman WR Garrett Jefferson caught a pass on a curl route and was hit hard... Jefferson suffered a foot fracture and will miss the remainder of the season. That is a HUGE blow to this Mountaineers offense, and we'll see if some of the younger guys can step up.

The Mountaineers scored first in the 2nd quarter. Taylor Lamb dropped back to pass and was pressured. He then dumped the ball off to Marcus Cox who was wide open, Cox made one defender miss, then dove into the endzone for the 14 yard score. Massachusetts finally got a rhythm going on offense. They marched the ball all the way down the field when SS Alex Gray jumped the route and picked the ball off. He ran 89 yard for the Mountaineer TD for their first pick six of the season. The score was 28-0 Appalachian State. UMass FINALLY scored on their next possession on a 21 yard TD pass on a post route over the middle of the field. Stafford got the pass off just before Nathaniel Norwood hit him hard and this would happen a lot to Stafford in this game. The Mountaineers responded with another TD. This time, Taylor Lamb hitting Senior WR Simms McElfresh on a 25 yard TD pass to put the Mountaineers up 35-7. But, right before the half ended, Harris got behind the Secondary and Stafford put the pass right on the money for the 36 yard TD pass. Going into halftime, the score was 35-14.

To start the half off Appalachian State scored first as they made two FG's to make the game 41-14. UMass finally answered back with a 5 yard run to make the score 41-21. But, with 0:08 left backup HB Cedric Alexander scored on a triple option pitch going to the left and he went untouched. So, at the end of the 3rd quarter the score was 49-21 App State.

The Appalachian State defense forced a 3 and out and the Mountaineers capitalized by kicking yet another FG, this time from 25 yards out. UMass went for it on 4th down and the pass was batted away by Carl Underwood. App State then marched right down the field and scored on a 10 yard pass from Backup Redshirt Freshman Omar Campbell, to True Freshman Receiver Drew Blanco. Blanco will really need to step up if Appalachian State wants to improve on their 9-4 record from last year. But, to end the game UMass scored one last TD with 1:40 left in the game and that would be the last points of the game as App State wins easily 58-28.

[orlegend0208]

Week 5 Preview

NCAA Football Rankings - Coaches Poll - Updated: Sep 19, 2016
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	1	Michigan (33)	2	0	1497
2	2	Georgia (26)	4	0	1436
3	4	UCLA (1)	3	0	1356
4	5	Miami (1)	3	0	1294
5	13	Texas A&M	2	1	1025
6	11	Georgia Tech	3	0	1000
7	3	USC	2	1	921
8	6	Texas	1	1	878
9	14	Clemson	2	0	863
10	17	Ole Miss	3	0	692
11	16	Virginia Tech	1	1	692
12	10	West Virginia	2	1	672
13	8	Michigan State	2	1	660
14	21	Maryland	3	0	613
15	18	Alabama	2	1	605
16	7	Ohio State	2	1	594
17	--	Houston	2	0	581
18	19	Stanford	2	1	551
19	20	Penn State	3	0	550
20	9	Florida	2	1	548
21	12	Florida State	1	1	447
22	23	Nebraska	2	0	372
23	--	California	3	0	372
24	24	Oklahoma	2	0	333
25	25	Oregon	3	0	262

Matchup Preview *|* September 24, 2016
	@
Appalachian State Mountaineers (2-0, 2-0 Away)		Georgia Southern Eagles (1-1, 0-1 Home)
Offensive Stats Comparison 48.0 (#3) Points Per Game 32.0 (#52) 573.5 (#1) Total Offensive Yards 441.5 (#36) 234.0 (#19) Rushing Yards 210.5 (#39) 339.5 (#6) Passing Yards 231.0 (#46) Defensive Stats Comparison 382.5 (#66) Total Yards Allowed 271.5 (#6) 80.0 (#2) Rushing Yards Allowed 183.5 (#80) 302.5 (#118) Passing Yards Allowed 88.0 (#1) Game Notes Kirk Herbstreit predicts Georgia Southern will win.

[orlegend0208]

Mountaineers Win a Nailbiter!

Appalachian State Mountaineers at Georgia Southern Eagles
Sep 24, 2016	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
Appalachian State Mountaineers (3-0)	7	10	7	0	24
Georgia Southern Eagles (1-2)	0	7	7	7	21

Team Stats Comparison
	APP	GASO
Total Offense	308	295
Rushing Yards	223	167
Passing Yards	85	128
First Downs	22	20
Punt Return Yards	24	3
Kick Return Yards	84	119
Total Yards	416	417
Turnovers	1	1
3rd Down Converstion	6-14 (42%)	7-12 (58%)
4th Down Conversion	2-2 (100%)	0-1 (0%)
2-Point Conversion	0-0 (0%)	0-0 (0%)
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	5-3-1 (80%)	3-3-0 (100%)
Penalties
Posession Time	15:27	13:13

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		APP	GASO
2:21	(APP) TD: K. Larson, 2 yard pass from T. Lamb	7	0
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		APP	GASO
5:22	(APP) TD: T. Lamb, 5 yard run	14	0
2:37	(GASO) TD: P. Alston, 17 yard pass from E. Avery	14	7
0:05	(APP) FG: C. Lawrence, 25 yard FG	17	7
THIRD QUARTER SCORING		APP	GASO
5:48	(GASO) TD: E. Avery, 1 yard run	17	14
1:31	(APP) TD: O. Campbell, 4 yard run	24	14
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		APP	GASO
4:43	(GASO) TD: A. Burton, 7 yard pass from E. Avery	24	21

There wasn't much action in the 1st quarter. We learned early on that Appalachian State would not be able to throw the ball, because Taylor Lamb was off all game. The only score came on a 2 yard slant pass from Taylor Lamb to Kevin Larson and that made the score 7-0 Appalachian State. But, on Georgia Southern's first possession Carl Underwood went down with an injury... It was later announced he had a broken elbow and will miss the remainder of the season. So, now the Mountaineers will play the rest of the year without their best CB and one of their top WR's..

In the 2nd quarter, things started to pick up a bit. Georgia Southern was forced to punt, and Appalachian State took advantage and scored a TD on a 5 yard read option run by Taylor Lamb to put the Mountaineers up 14-0. The Eagles responded with their first TD on a 17 yard pass to Alston who was WIDE open over the middle, with a little over 2 and a half minutes left in the half. Then, the Mountaineers got a couple big runs by HB Marcus Cox and Appalachian State K Cory Lawrence made a 25 yard field goal with 5 seconds left in the half. So, at halftime, the Mountaineers were winning 17-7.

In the 3rd quarter the Mountaineers dodged a near disaster. Taylor Lamb kept the triple option pitch and got leveled by a Georgia Southern LB. Lamb was diagnosed with a mild concussion and would miss the rest of the game. So, backup Redshirt Freshman QB Omar Campbell would get his first college playing time.... In a close conference game between 2 teams who have a legitimate shot of winning the Sun Belt Conference Championship. No pressure :P . But, Georgia Southern would score on their opening possession with a 1 yard run right up the middle. That would make the game 17-14. Appalachian State was forced to punt. And on Georgia Southern's next possession Senior CB Dante Blackmon picked off the pass and gave the Mountaineers great field position. Freshman QB Omar Campbell capped off a good drive by keeping the read option and going untouched into the endzone from 4 yards out. That would prove to be enough for the Mountaineers.

Georgia Southern scored the only TD of the 4th quarter on a 7 yard TD pass to make the score 24-21. But, with 31 seconds left in the game, on a 4th and 8 the Eagles couldn't convert as the pass was batted away by Senior FS Doug Middleton and the Mountaineers prevailed.

[orlegend0208]

Week 6 Preview

NCAA Football Rankings - Coaches Poll - Updated: Sep 26, 2016
RK	LW	TEAM (VOTES)	W	L	POINTS
1	1	Michigan (41)	3	0	1505
2	3	UCLA (20)	4	0	1358
3	4	Miami	4	0	1296
4	5	Texas A&M	3	1	1206
5	6	Georgia Tech	4	0	1194
6	7	USC	3	1	1091
7	8	Texas	2	1	1026
8	9	Clemson	3	0	1007
9	11	Virginia Tech	2	1	867
10	15	Alabama	3	1	825
11	12	West Virginia	2	1	817
12	13	Michigan State	3	1	776
13	16	Ohio State	3	1	649
14	10	Ole Miss	3	1	625
15	17	Houston	3	0	614
16	2	Georgia	4	1	571
17	18	Stanford	3	1	549
18	19	Penn State	3	0	528
19	22	Nebraska	3	0	508
20	20	Florida	3	1	468
21	21	Florida State	2	1	434
22	14	Maryland	3	1	405
23	23	California	4	0	375
24	24	Oklahoma	3	0	338
25	--	Tennessee	4	0	188

Sun Belt Conference Standings - Updated: Sep 26, 2016
TEAM	REC	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STRK
Appalachian State	3-0	1.000	1-0	120	75	W3
South Alabama	4-0	1.000	1-0	142	63	W4
Troy	3-1	0.750	2-0	144	104	W2
UL Lafayette	3-0	1.000	0-0	139	61	W3
Texas State	3-0	1.000	0-0	84	67	W3
New Mexico State	2-2	0.500	0-2	93	116	L1
Arkansas State	1-2	0.330	0-0	83	89	W1
Georgia Southern	1-2	0.330	0-1	85	52	L2
Idaho	1-3	0.250	0-1	80	146	L2
UL Monroe	0-3	0.000	0-0	44	114	L3
Georgia State	0-4	0.000	0-0	69	144	L4

Matchup Preview *|* October 1, 2016
	@
Rice Owls (4-0, 2-0 Away)		Appalachian State Mountaineers (3-0, 0-0 Home)
Offensive Stats Comparison 32.3 (#50) Points Per Game 40.0 (#15) 426.8 (#47) Total Offensive Yards 485.0 (#11) 216.8 (#31) Rushing Yards 230.3 (#21) 210.0 (#71) Passing Yards 254.7 (#29) Defensive Stats Comparison 325.8 (#18) Total Yards Allowed 353.3 (#35) 172.8 (#67) Rushing Yards Allowed 109.0 (#3) 153.0 (#10) Passing Yards Allowed 244.3 (#91) Game Notes Kirk Herbstreit predicts Appalachian State will win.

10 Recruits On Official Visit For Rice Game

Rice Game Visitors Recruiting -
NAME	POS	CLASS	HOMETOWN	HT	WT	CALIBER
Jarrod Moore	#21 DE	HS	Zapata, TX	6'2	263
Clint Atkins	#73 DE	HS	Charlottesville, VA	6'2	242
Joel Sampson	#82 OLB	HS	Goldsboro, NC	6'7	240
Scott Coles	#47 DT	HS	Fort Benning South, GA	6'2	298
Evan Gates	#30 TE	HS	Russellville, AR	6'0	260
Derek Torres	#84 OLB	HS	West Orange, NJ	6'4	229
Dennis Washington	#47 TE	HS	Rome, GA	6'4	242
Ralph Gibson	#115 HB	HS	Conway, SC	5'10	183
Brandon Russ	#76 T	HS	Lawrenceville, GA	6'6	327
Lance Robinson	#126 T	HS	Elizabeth City, NC	6'2	313

[kswgrad2012]

I looked at this for the first time today, and it's a good thing I did. Can't believe I didn't pay this attention before.

Good work with App State. Surprised to see the team improve so much so quickly. Having top recruiting classes helps. Lotta work to do though, I'll be looking to see what happens.

[orlegend0208]

Quote: Originally Posted by kswgrad2012

I looked at this for the first time today, and it's a good thing I did. Can't believe I didn't pay this attention before. Good work with App State. Surprised to see the team improve so much so quickly. Having top recruiting classes helps. Lotta work to do though, I'll be looking to see what happens.

I appreciate the comment and I'm glad you're enjoying it!

I'm with you on being surprised to see the team improve so quickly. The first couple recruiting classes were alright, but I think I can end up pulling a pretty awesome recruiting class this year... We will see though :P

And when you say "you got a lot of work to do though", that is 110% the truth. If I don't recruit some more O-Lineman and linebackers this year my depth at those 2 positions are going to be absolutely horrible in about 2 years when John Law and Keenan Gilchrist graduate.