NOVEMBER 26, 2009 ISSUE
Mountaineers and Bulldogs Tangle in Playoffs Once Again
The S.C. State Bulldogs are coming back to Boone for another first round playoff game, but that doesn’t mean they are the same team as last year.
Sure, they won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference again, have the same standout backfield and similar defensive schemes, but that doesn’t mean the same result is a given.
ASU hosts the seventh-ranked Bulldogs, who are 10-1, at noon on Saturday, November 28, at Kidd Brewer Stadium in the first round of the FCS playoffs, which will be televised on ESPNU. The winner of this game will face the winner of Saturday’s Elon-Richmond game next week in the national quarterfinals.
“They’re a lot like last year. What they’re doing is a lot like last year. They have a lot of players back from last year,” coach Jerry Moore said. “I think they’re probably like us, they’re a little bit better of a football team than they were last year.”
“We’re looking at it as a completely different team,” right tackler Orry Frye said. “They’re 10-1 and they’re thinking that they deserved a home game, so that’s going to motivate them.”
S.C. State football coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough told the Orangeburg Times and Democrat that he was surprised his team didn’t receive a home playoff game.
The Bulldogs are coming off a second unblemished MEAC season and have won a record 19 straight conference games. They won 10 games for just the sixth time in school history and have one more victory than the Mountaineers (who have won nine straight since back-to-back losses to open the season).
“The fact that we’re going there may not be a bad thing,” Pough told his local newspaper. “There’s some familiarity about the whole situation, and if you’re going to get it done, you may as well start with the best.”
The Mountaineers, ranked No. 5, will have a few days to look at game films from this season but will surely take a peak at what happened when the teams faced off last season in the opening round.
S.C. State actually led twice in the first half last season, but the Mountaineers came back and eventually took control late. ASU scored 13 unanswered points in the final 7:21 en route to a 37-21 win. Quarterback Armanti Edwards threw for a school-record 433 yards to help the Mountaineers win.
Edwards didn’t play in last week’s win against Western Carolina, but Moore said he is expected to be back on the field against the Bulldogs.
“Last year we passed the ball on them real well. I think we’ll do some of the same things we did last year in the passing game,” tailback Devon Moore said. “We just came off a big running game last week (with 255 rushing yards against Western Carolina). We should probably try to run it too.”
While the Mountaineers have a stellar backfield tandem of Moore and Edwards, the Bulldogs will counter with quarterback Malcolm Long and tailback Will Ford.
Last week, Ford became the MEAC’s all-time leading rusher. He has run for 1,010 yards this season and eight touchdowns.
“He’s an awfully good back,” coach Moore said. “We had a lot of respect for him last year. They use him well. Their offense is similar to ours. He’s a guy who can pop one on you at any time.”
Long has thrown for 2,313 yards and 20 touchdowns. He is the first S.C. State player to throw for more than 2,000 yards in a season and he’s completed 191 of 288 attempts this year.
“He’s a playmaker and has a great arm,” Moore said. “They do a god job of protecting him. He’s a big guy, but he does a good job of running the football.”
Three Mountaineers Up for National Awards
The Sports Network announced finalists for national football awards this week, and three Mountaineers are in the running.
Quarterback Armanti Edwards is a finalist for the Walter Payton Award, the award for the nation’s top FCS player that Edwards won last season. Edwards is trying to become the first player to win back-to-back Payton Awards in its 23-year history.
Defensive back Mark LeGree is a finalist for the Buck Buchanan, the award for the top FCS defensive player. LeGree finished third in the voting last year as a sophomore and is trying to become the first Mountaineer to win the award since Dexter Coakley won the award in 1995 and ‘96.
Coach Jerry Moore is a finalist for the Eddie Robinson Award, the award for the top FCS coach. Moore, the 2006 winner of the award, is trying to become the first coach to win two Robinson Awards in its 23-year history.
The awards are voted on this week by NCAA Division I FCS media and sports information directors and will be announced by The Sports Network at its annual FCS Awards Presentation on December 17 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Mountaineers Receive Season-Ending Honors
Several Mountaineer football players have garnered season-ending honors from the Southern Conference.
Quarterback Armanti Edwards was named the league's Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight season, offensive tackle Mario Acitelli received the conference's Jacobs Blocking Award as the top offensive lineman and coach Jerry Moore won his seventh Coach of the Year Award.
Moore shared the honor with Chattanooga’s Russ Huesman. UTC’s Josh Beard was named the SoCon’s Defensive Player of the Year while Western Carolina running back Michael Johnson garnered Freshman of the Year accolades.
The Mountaineers, which won the conference title, had a league-high 15 all-conference selections, including nine first-team honorees.
Joining Edwards and Acitelli on the first-team offense are running back Devon Moore and tight end Ben Jorden. On the first-team defense are end Jabari Fletcher, linebackers D.J. Smith and Jacque Roman and defensive backs Mark LeGree and Cortez Gilbert.
ASU is represented on the second-team by center Brett Irvin, defensive tackle Malcolm Bennett, cornerback Ed Gainey, place kicker Jason Vitaris and CoCo Hillary, who received second-team recognition at both wide receiver and return specialist.
Linebackers Michael Frazier and Justin Lloyd and punter Sam Martin were named to the SoCon’s all-freshman team.
The conference’s coaches selected the honors.
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