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Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009

Eagles, Mountaineers set for annual showdown

STATESBORO – Jerry Moore has been the head football coach at Appalachian State since 1989, which, coincidentally, was Erk Russell’s final year at Georgia Southern.

Moore never coached against a Russell team, but he has faced the five Eagles coaches since: Tim Stowers, Paul Johnson, Mike Sewak, Brian VanGorder and Chris Hatcher.

Other than offensive philosophy, Moore sees Georgia Southern as the same difficult opponent it was in 1993, when he faced the Eagles for the first time. That was Georgia Southern’s first year in the Southern Conference.

“The biggest contrast is they’re running a different offense,” Moore said. “They were one of the first to run that wishbone or whatever you want to call it. Chris (Hatcher) has brought a different offensive style. They throw the ball more.

“But they’re still Georgia Southern. They have speed, athletes as good as anybody in the conference, and they play hard. None of that has changed.”

The Eagles (4-3, 3-1 Southen Conference) and No. 8 Appalachian (4-2, 3-0) meet in the today’s headline game at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, N.C.

Moore is one of college football and the Southern Conference’s legends. His overall record as a head coach is 209-123-2, which ranks him 20th among all Division I coaches in the history of the game.

With the Mountaineers, he is 181-73 in his 21st season. He is the winningest coach in the history of the conference. Moore was also the offensive coordinator at Nebraska when Johnny Rodgers won the Heisman Trophy.

Appalachian State leads the series 12-11-1 with Moore holding an 8-9 mark against the Eagles. The visiting team has won the past three meetings in the series after the home team had won 12 of the previous 15.

Games are traditionally close between the two. Appalachian State is going for its fourth straight conference title, a stretch in which it also set an FCS record with three straight national championships.

“They’re both good teams,” Moore said of the close games. “That’s what you get when good teams play, what we (coaches) expect and what the fans expect. We’ve both got good football teams.”

Appalachian State won last year’s meeting 37-36, and in his first trip to Boone, Hatcher came home with a 38-35 over a national championship team. Even in Brian VanGorder’s dismal 3-8 season, a Mountaineers team that had won at Michigan had to go to overtime for a 27-20 win.

The Mountaineers have won 15 straight conference games, the last loss coming against Georgia Southern in 2007.

Appalachian State Armatni Edwards is also the leading candidate for this year’s Walter Payton Award, which he won last year, and is coming off a 415-yard passing performance at Wofford in a 44-34 comeback win. That earned him the conference’s offensive player of the week honors.

In three games against Georgia Southern, Edwards has rushed for 517 yards and four touchdowns while throwing for 564 yards and four scores.

In addition to Edwards, the Mountaineers also boast the conference’s leading rusher in junior Devon Moore, who is averaging 111.3 yards per game. They also have four receivers with 20 or more catches. Matt Cline is the leader with 29.

“They’re about the same as they always are,” Hatcher said. “You flip on the tape this year, and they’re like they were last year and like they were the year before. They find ways to win, and that’s what great teams do.”