Appalachian State's 2009 Season Preview

In search of its fifth-straight Southern Conference title, Appalachian State returns 18 starters from a team that finished 11-3 and went through the always-tough SoCon gauntlet a perfect 8-0. The Mountaineers, which on paper have the makings of being one of the greatest teams assembled in the history of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), will no doubt be fueled by how the 2008 season ended, as the Apps were soundly beaten by eventual national champion Richmond, 33-13.

One of those 18 returning starters just happens to be the defending Walter Payton Award-winning signal-caller Armanti Edwards, who made good on 196-of-306 passes for 2,902 yards, 30 TDs and nine INTs. Edwards, who has a league record 10,783 yards of total offense for his career donning the Black and Gold, was also the team’s leading rusher last fall, compiling 941 yards and 11 TDs on 193 attempts (4.9 YPC). His 41 TD responsibilities last fall were also an all-time league standard.

A rushing attack that averaged well over 200 yards per game for the third-straight season (241.0 YPG.) will again be the calling card for the Appalachian offense, as the top three rushers return, which doesn’t include returning starting tailback Devon Moore, who suffered a broken ankle in the third game of the 2008 campaign. Moore was effective as the team’s reserve running back a couple of years ago, and was able to complete that particular campaign, with 459 yards and seven TDs on 95 attempts, averaging 4.8 YPC.

Robert Welton (95 att., 544 yds.,11TDs and 5.7 YPC.) adds power to the backfield and is useful in short-yardage situations, while Devin Radford (75 att., 540 yds., four TDs and 6.9 YPC.) will act as the big-play threat for the Mountaineers coming out of the backfield. The surprise of the season on the offensive side of the ball in the backfield might be redshirt freshman Rod Chisolm.

Three starters return along an offensive line that helped the Mountaineers rank in the top 10 nationally in total offense (464.0 YPG), rushing offense (229.3 YPG.),passing efficiency (165.84) and scoring offense (37.3 PPG.). Leading the list of returnees on the offensive line for the ‘09 season is left guard Mario Acitelli, who’s expected to challenge for All-America honors this fall. Daniel Kilgore and Brett Irvin, who also garnered all-league honors last season, return to complete the starting trio. Expected to complete the starting five in the offensive trenches are Orrye Frye and Brett Irvin at center.

The Mountaineers will also have a litany of options of wide receiver, with multiple big-play threats to call upon. The best of the bunch is 6-foot-5 Brian Quick (23 rec., 496 yds., 7 TDs, 21.6 YPR.), but CoCo Hillary (56 rec., 735 yds., 5 TDs, 13.1 YPR.) and All-American tight end Ben Jorden (29 rec., 506 yds., 6 TDs, 17.4 YPR.) can’t be overlooked by any stretch of the imagination.

A player that end up being a breakout player for the Black and Gold at the wide receiver position this fall could be Tavaris Washington, who’s expected to see the most-significant action of his career this fall. Matt Cline (19 rec., 264 yds., 2 TDs, 13.9 YPR.) has exceptional hands and is one of the fastest players on the team. He’s a threat in the running game as well, and could even be utilized in the ‘wildcat’ formation.

Perhaps the bigger story for the Mountaineers entering the ‘09 season is the fact they return nine starters on the defensive side of the football, with the defensive line sporting nine players that have a legitimate chance at starting along any front in the FCS. The Mountaineers will be bolstered by the return of starter Tony Robertson at bookend, after he was forced to take a medical redshirt after a season-ending shoulder injury against James Madison last season. Robertson was a key factor on ASU’s last championship-winning squad, contributing 15.5 tackles-for-loss and 5.5 sacks en route to garnering honorable mention All-America (The Sports Network) and second-team All-SoCon accolades in ‘07.

Lanston Tanyi (52 tackles, 7.0 TFLs, 6.0 sacks, 9 QB hurries), an All-SoCon freshman team honoree, did an outstanding job of holding down Robertson’s vacated stead along the defensive line last fall. Set to join Robertson as a starter at one of the bookend positions this fall will be reigning first-team All-SoCon selection Jabari Fletcher (49 tackles, 12.5 TFLs, 6.0 sacks and 8 QB hurries), who’s a player that began his career as a linebacker, but now finds himself competing for All-America honors as a defensive end. Look for Quavian Lewis (28 tackles, 8.0 TFLs and 3.0 sacks) to be more of a factor in his third season in the program since transferring in from Vanderbilt, as he is fuly recovered from those nagging injuries, which slowed him last season.

Anthony Williams (55 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, 3.0 sacks, 4 QB hurries, 1 FR) and Gordy Witte appear to be the frontrunners to solidify the defensive interior for the Apps. Daniel Finnerty (19 tackles, 4 TFLs), Malcolm Bennett (37 tackles, 1 sack) and Demery Brewer gives ASU the most depth of perhaps any school in the sub-classification.

Not only do two of three starters return at linebacker, but both returning starters are legitimate All-American candidates. Middle linebacker Jacque Roman (130 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, 3.0 sacks, 2 INTs and 4 FRs) was the Coaches selection for SoCon Defensive Player of the Year last season. D.J. Smith (123 tackles, 7.5 TFLs, 2.0 sacks, 5 PBUs, 1 FR), who returns for his junior season, was also cited with first-team all-league plaudits last fall, while also garnering all-freshman accolades as a true frosh two years ago. Replacing a player like Pierre Banks won’t be easy. After all, he was a lynchpin of the Mountaineer defense and most ASU fans will acknowledge that he is the last link to that 2004 team that failed to make the post-season, and a member of a team that came from out of nowhere to win a national tite in ‘05. He will be replaced by an impressive redshirt freshman Justin Lloyd.

During the past four seasons one of the constants and re-curring themes among those SoCon Championship and national title team’s was the limited airspace for opponents to utilize their passing game in, thanks to ASU’s athleticism in the defensive backfield. Three starters return for the ‘09 season, led by Mark LeGree (58 tackles, 3.0 TFLs, 1.0 sack), who’s 10 interceptions set a single-season school-standard and enabled the talented young performer to be named as a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award--the highest honor for a defensive player at the FCS level.

Cortez Gilbert (72 tackles, 11 PBUs) made a name for himself in the ‘07 national title win over Delaware, serving in an emergency starting role for Justin Woazeah on that particular evening, and hasn’t looked back ever since. The opportunistic Gilbert will team up with rising sophomore Ed Gainey (51 tackles, 9 PBUs, 1 FF), who gained his starting job midway through the ‘08 season due to injuries. All Gainey did was go on to garner all-freshman team accolades in his starting role for the Black and Gold last fall. The nickel safety position, which was vacated by started Leonard Love upon graduation, will be occupied by either Dominique McDuffie (10 tackles) or Jared Reine (5 tackles).

The kicking duties will be handled by Jason Vitaris (64-of-69 XP, 8-of-12 FGs, 46-long) again this fall, while the punting responsibilities will fall to freshman Sam Martin. CoCo Hillary (23.4 YPR.), who was one of the league’s most-dangerous kick returners each of the past two seasons, while speedy reserve wide receiver B.J. Frazier (6.3 YPR) will handle the punt return duties.

On paper, the Mountaineers look scary good and look to be in good shape to join Georgia Southern as the only other team to win five-straight Southern Conference titles. The Mountaineers matched Furman’s magical four-straight league crowns in the in the early-mid 1980’s, with their league crown in ‘08. The Mountaineers have the potential to make a Marshall-like-1996 -run this fall. For those who don’t remember, that Marshall team featured Florida transfer Eric Kresser at QB and some guy named Randy Moss at wide receiver, beating its opponents by an average of 17 PPG. en route to a 16-0 mark.