PirateIllustrated.com - Game 1 Opponent Preview: Appalachian State

August 26, 2012

Mark Lindsay
PirateIllustrated.com Publisher

GREENVILLE, N.C. - With the season opener coming up this Saturday against Appalachian State, East Carolina hopes to get the season started off right. Beating the Mountaineers is never an easy task.

The Mountaineers, jumped from No.11 at the end of last season to 5th nationally in the preseason NCAA Division I FCS coaches poll. They play five of their next seven games at home after the ECU game including a big matchup against No. 10 preseason pick Montana State on September 8th, and have a reputation for solid football. They have won three FCS national titles with the last one coming in 2007. ASU is coming off of an 8-4 season in 2011 after losing to Maine in Boone, 34-12 in the NCAA Division 1 playoffs.

Head coach Jerry Moore spent five years at Texas Tech before coming to Appalachian State much like many on the ECU staff and is in his 24th season in Boone. He is one of only 18 coaches to ever win 200 games at one NCAA Division I institution, joining legends such as Eddie Robinson, Bobby Bowden, Tom Osborne, Bear Bryant and Woody Hayes. With 234 wins, Jerry Moore stands only behind Bob Ford of Albany University who won 255 games in his career.

The Mountaineers have seven new assistant coaches, including former Pirate Dwayne Ledford handling the offensive line, but the return of Ron Satterfield as the offensive coordinator gives the team a lot of spark as he was the main cog behind much of ASU's success for ten years.

Appalachian returns 16 starters (five offense, eight defense, three specialists) from last year's squad that finished 8-4.

6-3, 208 pound junior quarterback Jamal Jackson will handle the offense for the Mountaineers and is a savvy competitor who is capable of throwing up some big numbers. Jackson connected on 161 of 262 passes last season after taking over in midseason, with eight touchdowns connecting on 61.5 percent of his passes for 2001 yards and 15 touchdowns and 200.1 yards per game though the air.

Jackson is the first sophomore in Appalachian State program history to pass for 2,000 yards in a season and set a school record by amassing at least 250 yards of total offense in seven-straight contests.

The Mountaineers have two returning starters in wide receivers in Andrew Peacock and Tony Washington. The junior duo have big shoes to fill in replacine two-time all-American and second-round NFL Draft pick Brian Quick. The two have combined to start 24 games and catching 80 passes for 919 yards and five touchdowns in 2011.

6-5, 210 pound redshirt freshman receiver Sean Price stood out the most during spring drills. He has drawn comparisons to Quick for his size, speed, leaping ability and terrific hands. Senior Jonathan Shively and redshirt freshmen Bobo Beathard and Simms McElfresh are also in the mix for significant playing time at receiver this season.

With running back Travaris Cadet gone, ASU has other options to go to in senior Rod Chisholm at 5-9, 201 pounds who is the starter at running back, beating out Steven Miller a 5-9, 180 pounder who began camp as the projected starter.

Drew Bailey will start at tight end. He and Zac Backer will have to pick up where Ben Jordan left off after four years. And Josh Anding a 6-5, 250 pound junior transfer could be in the mix as well.

Defensively, ASU returns nine starters and three of the nation's best FCS linebackers in seniors Jeremy Kimbrough, Brandon Grier and John Rizor. Kimbrough, one of two returning All-Americans on the Appalachian defense and led the Mountaineers with 105 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and four sacks from his middle linebacker position last year. Grier made 97 stops, including 10.5 behind the line of scrimmage. Ronald Blair and Deuce Robinson both started as freshmen last year combining for 56 tackles, 15 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, five quarterback hurries and a pair of forced fumbles.

Appalachian State lost two-year starter Dan Wylie at nose guard along with Chris Aiken are gone as is Gordy Witte, Jr., but redshirt freshmen Thomas Bronson and Stephen Burns are up to the task of replacing them.

The punter is Sam Martin, a 6-1, 205 pound senior who averaged 40.9 per kick and the placekicker is junior Drew Steward who connected on 8 of 10 field goals with his longest being 44 yards while hitting 17 of 19 extra points.

Doug Middleton is the one to watch as a return specialist for the Mountaineers both on punts and kickoffs replacing the graduated Travaris Cadet. Middleton returned an interception 97 yards for a touchdown from his cornerback position against North Carolina A&T last season.

As a team, Appalachian State, who won six Southern Conference titles between 2005 and 2010, rushed for 155.8 yards per contest while giving up 149.4 defensively on the ground last year. The Mountaineers averaged 390 yards per gamer in total offense while yielding 353. ASU scored 344 points last season while giving up 286. They were strongest in the second quarter where they scored 116 of their points in 2011.

Only Boise State has won more football games since 2005 in all of college football than Appalachian State with 81 wins to ASU's 79. The Mountaineers are 19-11 all-time against East Carolina and lost the last meeting between the two in-state teams in Greenville 29-24 in 2009.

Appalachian State Depth Chart

OFFENSE

LEFT TACKLE
74 KENDALL LAMM (6-6, 280, So.)
79 Alex Coulthard (6-6, 310, So.)

LEFT GUARD
63 SHAQ COUNTS (6-2, 295, Fr.)
65 Tucker Lee (6-2, 320, So.)

CENTER
55 GRAHAM FISHER (6-2, 285, So.)
77 Alex Acey (5-10, 268, So.)

RIGHT GUARD
67 IAN BARNARD (6-4, 277, Jr.)
61 Jamie Collmar (6-2, 280, Fr.)

RIGHT TACKLE
72 REGAN DUFORT (6-6, 315, Jr.)
64 Will Corbin (6-6, 311, So.)

TIGHT END
44 DREW BAILEY (6-4, 250, So.)
89 Josh Anding (6-5, 250, Jr.)

WIDE RECEIVER (X)
14 SEAN PRICE (6-5, 210, Fr.)
7 Malachi Jones (6-1, 180, Fr.)

WIDE RECEIVER (Y)
15 TONY WASHINGTON (5-10, 200, Jr.)
81 Bobo Beathard (5-10, 191, Fr.)

WIDE RECEIVER (M)
11 ANDREW PEACOCK (5-10, 190, Jr.)
6 Tacoi Sumler (5-9, 173, Fr.)

WIDE RECEIVER (Z)
83 SIMMS McELFRESH (5-10, 173, Fr.)
21 John Sullivan (6-0, 190, Fr.)

QUARTERBACK
12 JAMAL JACKSON (6-3, 208, Jr.)
17 Kameron Bryant (6-2, 210, Fr.)

RUNNING BACK
8 ROD CHISHOLM (5-9, 201, Sr.)
3 Steven Miller (5-9, 180, Sr.)

DEFENSE

END
92 DAVANTE HARRIS (6-6, 285, Fr.)
8+ Greg Milhouse (6-3, 275, Fr.)

NOSE TACKLE
56 THOMAS BRONSON (6-3, 275, Fr.)
99 Stephen Burns (6-2, 280, Fr.)

END
49 RONALD BLAIR (6-4, 271, So.)
46 Adam Scott (6-2, 240, Jr.)
or 41 Tashion Singleton (6-3, 245, Fr.)

BANDIT
2 DEUCE ROBINSON (6-5, 246, So.)
13 Greg Hall (6-3, 235, Fr.)

MIDDLE LINEBACKER (MIKE)
33 JEREMY KIMBROUGH (5-11, 240, Sr.)
35 John Law (6-0, 225, Fr.)

WEAKSIDE LINEBACKER (WILL)
24 BRANDON GRIER (6-2, 232, Sr.)
45 Karl Anderson (5-10, 210, Jr.)

STAR
26 JOEL ROSS (5-10, 178, So.)
17 Chris Shaffer (6-3, 198, Fr.)

STRONG SAFETY
9 TROY SANDERS (6-0, 214, Sr.)
43 Drew Davies (6-0, 205, Fr.)
or 25 Alex Gray (6-3, 210, Fr.)

FREE SAFETY
5 JAMILL LOTT (6-1, 195, Jr.)
34 Patrick Blalock (6-0, 200, Jr.)
or 20 Henry Barnes (6-2, 202, Fr.)

LEFT CORNERBACK
21 DOUG MIDDLETON (6-1, 198, So.)
29 Aaron Krah (5-11, 175, Fr.)

RIGHT CORNERBACK
10 DEMETRIUS McCRAY (6-0, 185, Sr.)
4 Rodger Walker (5-10, 174, Jr.)

SPECIAL TEAMS

PLACE KICKER
40 DREW STEWART (6-1, 175, Jr.)
27 Sam Martin (6-1, 205, Sr.)

KICKOFFS
27 SAM MARTIN (6-1, 205, Sr.)
86 Mark Powell (6-3, 199, So.)

PUNTER
27 SAM MARTIN (6-1, 205, Sr.)
86 Mark Powell (6-3, 199, So.)

LONG SNAPPER
53 BRETT HEIMRICH (6-4, 285, So.)
HOLDER
16 LOGAN HALLOCK (5-11, 185, Fr.)
or 27 SAM MARTIN (6-1, 205, Sr.)

KICKOFF RETURNER
21 DOUG MIDDLETON (6-1, 198, So.)
15 TONY WASHINGTON (5-10, 200, Jr.)
6 Tacoi Sumler (5-9, 173, Fr.)

KICKOFF RETURNER
21 DOUG MIDDLETON (6-1, 198, So.)
6 Tacoi Sumler (5-9, 173, Fr.)

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