App State Off to 0-2 Start For The First Time Since '03

 

 

 

For the first time since 2003, Appalachian State will begin a football season 0-2, after dropping a heartbreaking, 40-35, decision to No. 16 McNeese State Saturday afternoon in front of a capacity crowd of 27,914 at Kidd Brewer Stadium. That season, the Mountaineers failed to make a post-season appearance after opening with road losses to Hawaii and Eastern Kentucky on the road, but did rebound manage a 7-4 finish.

The Mountaineers streak of eight-consecutive home opening victories came to a halt, with the last time the Black and Gold dropped a game a game to open the season at The Rock, was back in 2000, when the Apps opened the season with 34-28 decision to former Southand Conference power Troy State.

The Cowboys were able to steal the rare win in the Mountaineers’ home opener by virtue of a 18-yard field goal from Josh Lewis with only four seconds remaining to give the Cowboys a 38-35 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, the Mountaineers proceeded to lateral the ball several times, before the ball was bobbled by Travaris Cadet and fallen on in the end zone, which resulted in a safety and provided the final margin, at 40-35.

McNeese State’s game-winning drive was a response to a six-play, 62-yard drive that resulted in a two-yard TD run by sophomore running back Cedric Baker, with 2:05 remaining in the contest, tying the contest at 35 apiece.

McNeese State was able to drive 79 yards in 10 plays, taking just 2:01 off the clock to set up Lewis’ game-winning 18-yarder. The biggest play in the game-deciding drive came when the Cowboys faced a fourth-and-seven play from the ASU 41-yard line. After a timeout, McNeese State head coach Matt Viator made a gutsy decision to go for the first down, and the decision was a golden one for the Cowboys, as Fourroux dumped the ball off to Pendland and he did the rest by gaining 12 yards and keeping the late-game drive alive.

The Cowboys got off to a quick start in the contest, doing most of their damage early in the first half through the air. After both teams were forced to punt on their opening possessions, McNeese State got things going on their second possession of the afternoon. Using a nice mix of short-range passes and running plays, featuring Pendland rushing the ball out of the spread, the Cowboys moved the ball 65 yards in nine plays, capped by a 24-yard dash by Pendland to give McNeese State a 7-0 lead with 6:30 remaining in the opening quarter of play. The Cowboys put up an impressive 161 yards in the opening quarter, with 107 of those yards coming through the air.

After moving the ball into the red zone on the ensuing drive, the Mountaineers’ drive stalled and forced Jason Vitaris into a 22-yard field goal attempt, which he knocked off the left upright to keep the Mountaineers scoreless.

Appalachian State finally found paydirt with 5:16 remaining in the half, when Devon Moore found the painted area from 12 yard out, to cap a seven-play, 53-yard drive that tied the game, 7-7.

The Cowboys response was swift, as again the McNeese State offense rode the shouders of its All-American tandem of Fourroux and Pendland on the offensive side of the ball. Pendland capped the drive with his second score of the day, this time hauling in a nine-yard pass from Fourroux, culminating a six-play, 56-yard drive with only 2:21 remaining in the opening half of play.

Appalachian State had a chance to put points on the board and go to the locker room tied with the Cowboys, however, Brian Quick dropped a beautifully thrown pass by Armanti Edwards after rolling to his left and throwing back to the right, but Quick couldn’t corral the ball on the way down. Then, after the Mountaineers had advanced well within the McNeese zone, Quick caught a bullett from Edwards, but in an effort to try and stretch the ball over the plane of the end zone, Quick was stripped of the ball and McNeese State recovered the football in the end zone for a touchback to end any chance for even three points before the halftime break.

The fireworks really picked up in the second half of play, with the Mountaineers opening the second half of play with an impressive drive to tie the game once again. It took the Mountaineers a little over three minutes to slice through the McNeese State defense, driving 77 yards in eight plays to tie the game, 14-14, on an eight-yard scamper by Edwards.

But just as the Cowboys had done in the first half, they offered a speedy response and managed to keep Appalachian State from assuming complete momentum in the contest, by putting together another impressive drive. After mixing the pass and run well again to keep the Black and Gold defense off-balance, the Cowboys got the ball in the hands of their playmaker Pendland once again-this time on a 31-yard pass out of the backfield.

McNeese State did a tremendous job of getting the ball in the hands of Pendland in a variety of different ways, and got the ball to him in areas in which he had open space to run into. The 31-yard TD connection from Fourroux concluded a four-play, 46-yard drive that took just 1:36 off the clock and gave the Cowboys a 21-14 lead.

The see-saw affair continued, as the Mountaineers kept pace with the high-octane Southland Conference juggernaut, comprising an eight-play, 76-yard drive that was capped with Edwards’ second touchdown run of the afternoon, this time a 20-yard scoring jaunt with 6:31 to go in the third, knotting the score for the third time, at 21-21.

McNeese would continue the back-and-forth theme of the third quarter, mounting yet another impressive drive, using some plays in the passing game that stretched the Mountaineers secondary. Fourroux’s senior leadership came in handy once again, as he never let the Cowboys lose momentum in the contest. If the Cowboys were going to pull off the unthinkable, they were going to have to out-score the Mountaineers and hope to get a few lucky breaks in front of a largely partisan crowd at The Rock Saturday afternoon.

He led the Cowboys on another impressive drive, tossing his third touchdown of the afternoon to someone with a last name other than Penland, finding big 6-3, 230-pound tight end Corday Clark on a five-yard scoring connection, giving the Cowboys a 27-21 lead, however, Lewis missed a crucial extra point, leaving the door open for the Mountaineers to take the lead.

If the Mountaineers were ever going to seize momentum in the contest, this crucial mistake by Lewis could have been the perfect starting point. It seemingly looked as if the Mountaineers would take advantage of what looked to be a rather large mishap on its next offensive possession. Appalachian State put together a five-play, 78-yard drive that took just 1:53 off the clock and was capped off by a 20-yard run by senior wide receiver Matt Cline, tying the score, at 27-27. Amazingly, Vitaris’ extra point conversion gave the Black and Gold their first lead (28-27) of the ‘09 season, coming with 1:20 remaining in the third quarter of the second game.

The game seemed to turn even more in favor of the Mountaineers, as the Cowboys made their first and only mistake of the afternoon, when Fourroux pass intended for Immanuel Friddle was intercepted by a breaking Ed Gainey to give the Mountaineer offense the football right back in McNeese State territory early in the final period. However, the McNeese State defense would come up their only sack of the afternoon, when Edwards was blindsided by junior defensive end Josh Ellison. That would take the Mountaineers out of field goal range and Mountaineers were forced to call on Sam Martin to punt the ball back to the Cowboys.

The Cowboys regained possession of the football with 12:35 remaining in the game and deep in their own territory, starting what would prove to be the game’s most monumental possession at their own five. After three-straight running plays by Pendland and Fourroux garnered the Cowboys a first down at the 16, Fourroux then proceeded to meticulously pick apart the Mountaineer secondary.

After a couple of Fourroux completions to Pendland that totaled 15 yards and got the Cowboys out of the shadows of their own goalposts, Fourroux made one of his biggest plays of the night in the passing game, connecting with his top returning receiver from a year ago, Friddle, on a crucial third-and-nine play for 19 yards and a first down to keep the drive alive.

Two plays later at the ASU 44, put his stamp on the drive with another big run, gashing a weary Mountaineer defense for a 29-yard gain, advancing the ball into the red zone to the ASU 15. From there, the Cowboys would get to the six-yard line, before being stalled by the Appalachian defense, and being forced to face a fourth-and-one.After a timeout, Fourroux rushed for two yards to set up a first-and-goal. Two plays later, Fourroux would find the end zone for the first and only time on the day, with a two-yard plunge to cap an impressive 16-play, 95-yard drive that took 7:55 off the clock, making the score 33-28.

The Cowboys then decided to try the two-point conversion and would find the end zone once again on a two-yard run by Pendland, making the lead a touchdown once again, at 35-28.

The game wasn’t over, however, as the reigning Walter Payton Award winner Edwards showed why he is not only one of the top players in FCS football, but also one of the top performers in all of Division I college football. He orchestrated a six-play, 62-yard drive that set up Baker’s game-tying score.

In Edwards’ first game back after the unfortunate lawnmower accident he suffered during the off-season, just prior to fall camp, he turned in a solid performance, totaling 298 yards of total offense. Edwards was able to connect on 19-of-25 throws for 235 yards, while rushing for 72 yards and a couple of TDs.

Devon Moore was the top ground-gainer for the Mountaineers, amassing a career-high 155 yards and a TD on 23 carries. Matt Cline was the leading receiving option for the Apps, as he hauled in five passes for 74 yards and had a 20-yard TD run.

However, the afternoon belonged to Pendland and the McNeese State offense, which managed to out-pace the potent Mountaineer offensive arsenal, out-gaining the Black and Gold, 522-493. Pendland was simply amazing, putting forth one of the single-most impressive efforts of any visiting offensive player ever in the confines of Kidd Brewer Stadium, totaling 248 all-purpose yards (127 rushing yards, 121 receiving yards) and had a hand in three (two receiving, one rushing of the Cowboys’ scores on the day.

Not to be overshadowed was the play of senior signal-caller Derrick Fourroux, who connected on 25-of-34 passing for 341 yards, three TDs and an interception. Fourroux also rushed for 44 yards and a TD to account for a total of 385 yards of total offense and four TD responsibilities.

The Mountaineers have now lost two games in a row for the first time since ending the 1999 campaign with a home playoff loss to Florida A&M (44-29), and following that up with a home-opening loss to Troy State (34-28) to open the 2000 season. The Mountaineers have only started the season 0-2 once and managed to make the FCS post-season, accomplishing that rare feat in 1991. After opening the season with back-to-back losses to NC State (35-10) and Wake Forest (10-7), the Mountaineers managed win seven of their final nine games to finish 7-4 and tie for second in the league standings. The 40 points yielded by the Apps on their home turf was the most points the Mountaineers have conceded at Kidd Brewer Stadium since surrendering 44 points in an FCS playoff loss to Florida A&M in 1999.

 

The 522 yards are the most yards the Mountaineers have given up to an opponent inside the friendly confines since Appalachian State yielded 507 yards in a 29-23 FCS semifinal win over Furman in 2005. The Mountaineers have an off week before opening SoCon play on Sept. 26 at home against Samford.