App State was the real deal against Montana. Big plays on offense. HUGE plays on defense. Some standout performances. A nail-biting conclusion. And dude …. proof positive. It was golden!
Good guys win, 35-27.
DON’T WORRY, SPECIAL TEAMS – 22-yard line
Yeah, Montana racked up some yardage (483), but consider their starting line. The average starting point of a Griz possession was the 22-yard line. For the entire game, only two started past the 30 (at the 33 and 38). Five drives started behind the 15. Montana scored four TDs, but they needed drives of 75, 75, 70 and 87 yards to get them. No other drive lasted more than 47 yards.
BE HAPPY, SPECIAL TEAMS – BOOM!
Hit of the game, if not the season so far, belongs to Henry Barnes. The 6-2 freshman just LEV-uled poor Chase Naccarato after he was foolish enough to run a kickoff out of the endzone. He managed to advance a little over 10 yards before Barnes brought the pain and knocked the ball loose. Bobo Beathard with an assist. Matt Watson got the fumble. Four plays later, TD! BOOM!
DON’T WORRY, DEFENSE – 44% third-down completion rate
Hell’s bells! It often seemed Montana could do no wrong on third down. It advanced on six of its first seven third downs (the third was intercepted). A 3rd-and-16 went for 68 yards; a 3rd-and-14 went for 38. But they only converted two the rest of the game. (The Griz did convert twice on 4th, both on final drive.)
BE HAPPY, DEFENSE – Three INTs
And each one was a work of art. Demetrius McCray snagged two, the first (which set up App’s second TD) and the last (which ended the game). Patrick Blalock got the other, killing Montana’s second-to-last possession. While Montana’s QB did nail some big gains on occasion, the App State corners had hands of own.
DON’T WORRY, OFFENSE – 417 yards
It wasn’t shock and awe, but the App State O just kept pounding. Jamal Jackson was efficient with his arm, completing 24 of 34 passes with zero INTs and two TDs. And Steven Miller got better as the game went on, ending with 91 yards on 27 carries (3.4 average). He ran the ball four consecutive times to score App’s final TD, going for 5, 15, 12 and finally 2 yards to endzone.
BE HAPPY, OFFENSE – 4th and 1, GO FOR IT! … THRICE!
It’s the mojo. Gotta be the mojo. Seven plays into the Mountaineers’ first drive, they faced a 4th-and-1. Last year, that’s a punt. This year? Jackson runs for five and another Mountaineer ….. first down! Early in the fourth another 4th and 1, this time on Montana’s 26. And Jackson *just* gets it! First down. Another try that failed was for a loss, but seeing the offensive confidence was Satter-ific.
HERE’S A FEW MORE NOTES WE WROTE.
- Griz Dan Moore often got his Peyton Hillis on. He ran for 93 yards, and did so soaringly. (Dude!) His 87-yard power run was a perfect response to an App State blitz, catching a short pass behind most of the D and just .. wow … He can play.
- Another photographic highlight in a day of many – Jackson getting his Quickness on! Jackson also had his ninth straight 200-yard passing game (he finished with 260), extending a school record.
- Final count on turnovers. App State forced four: three INTs and a fumble. Montana? Nuttin’.
- Graham Fisher, the country kid, won a mean game of hot potato. Jackson had a pass go foul, bounce off a couple bodies, and end up in the 285-pound lineman’s hands. He advanced it 13 yards. Sadly, he negated most of that with a holding penalty on the next play, but it’s forgiven. What a catch!
- Our attendance over/under was 31,000. The official count, 30,856. That was without a packed hillside, while the student section was incomprehensibly sardined. Our only crowd complaint? We didn’t get an “APP!” … “STATE!” chant until two minutes to go in the third. The tiny visitor crowd got its well audible “Mon-tan-uh!” ..”Grizz-lees!” .. on well before the home crowd did its thing. (Shout out to the three drop dead gorgeous former cheerleaders who were alone in yelling “APP!” in the first half, with no love reciprocated).
BLEG. According to the twitters, App State made SportsCenters top plays, at No. 6. Anybody got link to video?
OH, AND ABOUT THAT ATTENDANCE. lol – “Attendances: UNC at Wake, 29,526. Montana at Appalachian State, 30,856.”
app wins, ga southern loses! great day
After being in Greenville last weekend, the Boone weather – and all that entails – was an absolute gift. Regarding the game, I was absolutely impressed. There's work yet to do, but the vibe is terrific. Tremendous effort on both sides of the ball, taking risks, keeping the hammer down, and being creative brought a smile to my face. Also, kudos to the fans. It was so rewarding not to see the usual third quarter exodus down the hill. I realize it was a tight game, but that alone made my day.
Another PLUS. Nice having the band where they needed to be!!! First time I have heard them in a while!!!!
Dan Moore was a flippin BEAST!
Awesome game, rock was rockin,lost my voice…
Wow what a great day yesterday!!! Georgia Southern lost, App State beat Montana and for the most part looked great doing it and I got engaged at no better place than the rock! Much respect to Montana, their program, and their fans.
Great day to be a mountaineer! Solid day by Jackson with accurate passsing and good decisions pretty much the entire game (save for the slide short of the first down marker)! Miller ran hard and stayed strong throughout. The scoring drive with him carrying the load in the fourth quarter was a thing of beauty! Our receiving core is pretty dang amazing so far! So wanted to close out the game with a couple of first downs when we got it back around four minutes to go but it surely did add to the drama! Montana is a good team with a freshman q.b that plays with the maturity of a senior and a "bowling ball" for a running back in Moore. Gosh what an athlete. Glad we won the turnover battle and how bout those special teams stepping up! Game ball to Sam Martin for his performance playing hurt! Congrats to Montana team and fans for representing with class and for our ASU Mountaineer Team And Faithful on a victory well deserved!!!!
This was so much fun. Beating Montana was everything I hoped it would be. I loved our offensive game plan…except the last drive.
Its great to be a mountaineer today! Very good game a much needed hard fought win. For the order time in a while we can enter conference play having said that our team has been adequately tested.
John03, congratulations
I tells ya, this defense is not like any we've seen lately with an "A" on their hats. These guys attack every play, and trust the next guy to do his job. Notice how many plays for negative yardage the Grizz had? That's due to the aggressive style of play that always brings an extra man to he ball. Now we will get burned by that on occasion as we did on a few plays last night, but we'll also get more turnovers (as we did last night). This team is beginning to look and feel like the 2005 edition.
Any truth to the report that Graham Fisher will legally change his last name to CincoCinco?
The catch and run by fisher was awesome, as a former lineman I loved seeing that. Good awareness and he took off immediately.
Also, nay can you now give JJ some credit for winning a big game? He played well, he played hurt and he showed great leadership. It's one game but it's what you have been calling for since last season.
Great game to watch. I'm less enthusiastic than appfan about the D. Montana converted two long fourth downs on their final drive. But the secondary/corner play was a most pleasant surprise. I thought JJ played well, but he was erratic for two quarters. Maybe I expect too much of him. Story of the game, since Montana won nearly every statistic, was turnovers. We also cut down on penalties to a MERE 42 yards. I don't like our tendency to give up big plays, but it was a good win against a good FCS team. Great crowd too though lots of fans left while the game was very much in doubt. I'm slowly becoming a Troy Sanders fan.
Oh yeah Dan Moore? 250 yards total O. Those are Armanti-like numbers. Reminded me of Breitensten. Sigh. How I'd love to see us recruit a big back.
Loved the band in the endzone, but somebody's gonna have to let the new director know use of purple flags at ASU is a huge no-no!
We have scored on ever turnover but the last tow interceptions and we were just killing the clock at that point. I think that is a great sign. Our best teams took advantage of turnovers.
The game is on ESPN3 replay.
Steve Miller's last three runs on the scoring drive were awesome.
great game…..lost voice in first qtr….saw a steady exodus of people beginning at halftime…why even come….one girl got her foot ran over by some fool who was leaving the stadium lot 45 minutes before kickoff…can't wait to come back Friday to Boone…weather calling for partly cloudy and hi off 76
Well, no, the APP! STATE! chants occurred all game
Dan Moore was a beast last night, he was almost unstoppable once he was given the ball…reminds me a lot of Devon Moore…I really miss that guy.
A good game overall, Montana is a classy group both on the field and in the stands.
Everyone:
What did we say….as the o-line goes, so does the team. Good performance in the first game…better one in the second. Very pleasant surprise.
Don't look now….but since Ga. Southern already has a loss, this season is really shaping up well. Excellent home schedule…with all arrows pointing to the game in Statesboro. Hokey as it sounds, if the team will simply take it a week at a time we may have something here…..
Great game. Great atmosphere. Glad to see us pull it out. I liked our secondary play – 3 INTs. However they need to work on getting off their blocks better. I thought Montana's WR's did a good job of tying up our corners on running plays. Also I'd rather have a 3rd down and 4 rather than a 3rd down and 1. Starting a running play 5 yards deep in the backfield without a power back on short yardage just doesn't get it done.
The thing I like about having The Band in the endzone is that every one can hear them there and they don't have to deal with a lot of people that aren't band.
I enjoyed the game. This is the best I have felt about this team in a long time. I think the last few years has helped to level out our fan base to not expect us to win every game and cry whem we don't or even when we don't win like people think we should. It makes us more thankful of every win and the football front porch that is Appalachian State.
We should see them in the playoffs, I hope it is the Championship Game. That would be sweet.
This week we will see how things might be, because in the SoCon any team can beat any team regardless of record.
Surprised no one has mentioned this yet (especially Appnaysayer) but, to me, one of the most telling stats of the game is this:
0 – number of unsportsmanlike/excessive celebration penalties
There is a dramatically different chemistry this year among the coaches and players – it is refreshing and energizing.
The new o-line coach, Dwayne Ledford, is doing an incredible job. Not just because of the young players but considering the dissension that existed on that unit last year he has clearly unified that group. I had the chance to interact with him over the summer and was blown away by his enthusiasm and sincerity. It was obvious how genuinely grateful he is to be at App State.
Tough to complain about beating a good team, especially when we didn't make many big mistakes.
Better on turnovers, time of possession, and penalties.
Our big plays came on defense and special teams. Hope to see bigger plays on offense, but expect those to come in the next few weeks.
I agree with everything you said Clayton except for the comment about the offense. I consider TD passes of 32 yards and 25 yards pretty big plays. JJ played a fantastic game and the running game came on strong late in the game after a rough first half. Great win by the boys! Can't wait to get up there Saturday to watch us teach El Cid a leason. Go App!
Our biggest tests will be Wofford, Georgia Southern, and when we make the playoffs, the CAA. In recent memory, the CAA has simply had our number. I'm looking forward to how we match up against them this year.
Appfantoo, I think you can add Justin Stepp, Chris Foster, Mark Ivey, Cardwell and others to that list of enthusiastic, genuine coaches…at least that's the vibe I've gotten.
It looks like the SoCon is going to be tough this year and may get several teams in the playoffs. Maybe even more than the CAA.
How does everyone feel about The Citadel game? We seem to have their number most years – funny how they seem to play Georgia Southern so tough and actually won this past weekend. That should take some wind out of GSU's sails! The Eagles have an open date this weekend and then face Elon in Burlington.
Also, does it help us to face three triple options teams in our conference…or are The Citadel, Wofford, and Georgia Southern so different that it doesn't matter?
MongolGuru
September 9, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Any truth to the report that Graham Fisher will legally change his last name to CincoCinco?
I don't care who you are …that is just damn funny right there!
I think we took what the D gave us and that was over 400 yards and 5 touch downs. I went back and watched the game on ESPN3. We had plenty of downfield plays in the 30 yard range. We burned them early.
I was screaming for more short passes, but the dedication to the run paid off on the final drive. Miller was right. They got tired.
I hope we don't show up tired to Cid. These have been two hard games.
The Cid game is probalby a good game to sit Lott for the final suspension. We won't need the corners much.
I say we just forgive Price. It can't be that bad.