NOVEMBER 12, 2009 ISSUE
SoCon Showdown
ASU Looking To Win Fifth Straight Conference Title
Despite the three football national championships that ASU has won this decade, the goal isn’t for another. At least not initially.
A Southern Conference championship is the first title that the Mountaineers want to win.
They’ll have that chance at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 14, at Elon University, as the Phoenix and Mountaineers battle for the crown and the league’s automatic bid to the postseason tournament. The game will air live on SportSouth.
“The Southern Conference title has always been our goal. That’s never changed,” ASU coach Jerry Moore said. “We have seldom talked to our team about a national championship. It’s not like it’s a taboo thing, but we try to be realistic about it.”
“It’s as big as it gets playing for the SoCon championship,” offensive lineman Pat Mills said. “That’s what we set out to do. It’s our goal. From Day 1 in the summer time we’re talking about winning championships and it starts with the Southern Conference championship.”
If the past is any indication, the Mountaineers have the best chance to win the conference crown. They’ve won the title the past four seasons, including a shared title with Wofford in 2007.
This is Elon’s seventh year in the conference, and the Phoenix have had recent success within the conference, including a third-place finish last season.
“We knew that Elon was going to have a good team,” ASU defensive tackle Anthony Williams said. “The past couple of years Elon has been progressing. This year was their year to have a pretty good squad.”
Elon coach Pete Lembo had hoped a game like this would come for the Phoenix when he took over the program four years ago.
“It’s exciting for the league to have such a high profile game, and it’s exciting for us to be a part of it,” he said. “When we got here the goal was to build a program that could compete for championships. A secondary part of the goal was to reestablish pride in the football program and build a program that everyone in the Burlington community could get excited about. I think we are slowly doing that.”
The Phoenix are winning with an offense that would be tops in the league if it weren’t for the Mountaineers. Elon averages 35 points, second in the conference to ASU’s 38.6 points and is second behind ASU in total offense (491.8 average yards compared to 455.8).
Quarterback Scott Riddle averages 282.9 passing yards per game and has thrown 20 touchdowns compared to four interceptions.
The Mountaineer defensive line knows that it has to get pressure on Riddle to disrupt his rhythm.
“I’ve got to get the pass rush going, baby,” Williams said. “I’ve got to get back there. I’ve got to get back there and talk to Scottie.”
For the Mountaineers to win another title, the talk better be accompanied with a spine-tingling tackle.
Riddle’s top target is Terrell Hudgins, who last week had his 24th 100-yard receiving game, breaking the FCS record held by Hall of Famer Jerry Rice.
“I think if you break Jerry Rice’s record, you’re pretty good. He’s a great player,” Moore said. “He’s got a world of talent. He’s a guy that you have to deal with, that’s all there is to it.”
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