Appalachian State Mountaineers Close Out 2009 Regular Season With Battle For Jug

Having wrapped up its fifth-straight SoCon title, Appalachian State still has some hardware on the line this weekend—or rather some hardware to protect—as the Mountaineers face off with western North Carolina mountain rival Western Carolina in the annual battle for the Old Mountain Jug.

Saturday’s meeting between the Mountaineers and the Catamounts will mark the 75th installment of the bitter rivalry between the two schools that began back in 1932. The Mountaineers have been dominant in the series between the two schools, especially over the last two-plus decades, as the Black and Gold have won 22 of the last 24 meetings between the two, including going 18-2 under the direction of legendary head coach Jerry Moore.

Coming into Saturday’s rivalry game with the Mountaineers, the Catamounts are playing some of their best football down the stretch, although their record doesn’t reflect such. Western has continued to improve on both sides of the ball as the season has progressed, and coming into Saturday’s contest, the Catamounts will bring an improving offense to The Rock.

Western currently ranks last in the nine member league in scoring offense (14.1 PPG.) and rushing offense (84.1 YPG.), but the Catamounts can be a dangerous passing team.

Entering Saturday’s affair, WCU is averaging 162.4 YPG. through the air, which is eighth in the league in passing offense. In total, the Purple and Gold average just 246.5 YPG., ranking ninth in the league in total offensive output. However, the Catamounts have seen a steady progression, both in the running and passing games over the past three weeks.

Leading that Western Carolina offensive unit this season has been sophomore signal-caller Zach Jaynes. The redshirt sophomore from Canton, N.C., has had some struggles in his second season as a starter, but he continues to improve, and is positioning himself to be one of the best passing quarterbacks in the league heading into the 2010 season.

Jaynes has had some problems throwing the ball to opponents this season, but is one of a select few quarterbacks in the league that can improvise on a broken play and make something out of nothing. So far this season, Jaynes has been strong for the Catamounts, completing 158 of 271 passes for 1,624 yards, eight TDs and nine interceptions.

Jaynes’ favorite target in the passing game in ‘09 has been junior wide receiver Marquel Pittman. The 6-3, 190-pound junior from Maxton, N.C. has quietly become one of the top receivers in the league and is one of the top offensive weapons for the Catamounts.

Pittman has good size and above-average speed, and will offer a challenge to the Appalachian State secondary, in the way of physical size, for the second-straight week. So far this season, Pittman has hauled in 48 receptions for 607 yards and five TDs (12.6 YPR.).

Joining Pittman as a viable threat through the air for the Catamounts entering Saturday’s showdown for the Mountain Jug is D.J McLendon, who’s a speedy, sure-handed wideout for the Catamounts. The 6-0, 175-pound wide receiver has been one of the deep options for Western in ‘09. So far this season, McLendon has hauled in 24 passes for 225 yards (9.5 YPR.).

Rounding out the true receiving options for the Catamounts coming into Saturday’s rivalry contest is true freshman wide receiver Jacoby Mitchell. The 6-0, 185-pound freshman from Decatur, GA., is another extremely fast, capable wideout for the Purple and Gold. Mitchell has seen action in all 10 games this season, catching 18 passes for 146 yards (8.1 YPR.) in ‘09.

The starting tight end for the Catamounts is redshirt sophomore Chris Everett. The 6'4," 225-pound native of Greensboro, N.C., is a big, physical option in the passing game. So far in ‘09, Everett has hauled in seven passes for 111 yards (15.9 YPR.) and has a team-leading three TD catches.

The running game has been tag-teamed by the duo of Michael Johnson and Dion Wilson. The leader has been Johnson, who’s the more physical of the two running backs, and enters the matchup with the Mountaineers as WCU’s leading rusher and one of its leading receivers.

Johnson has a good combination of speed and power coming out of the backfield. He comes into Saturday’s contest, having rushed for 463 yards and three TDs on 126 attempts (3.7 YPC.). As a receiving threat, Johnson has caught 24 passes for 137 yards (5.7 YPR.).

Wilson is another strong, powerful back that possesses good speed to go along with that strength. Wilson has seen his numbers gradually improve as the season has progressed and comes into Saturday’s contest as the team’s second-leading rusher. In nine games so far this season, Wilson has rushed for 179 yards and a team-leading five rushing TDs on 40 rush attempts (4.4 YPC.). As a receiving option, Wilson has also been able to haul in 11 passes for 127 yards (11.5 YPR.).

One of the areas in which the Catamounts struggled the most early on during the ‘09 season was the offensive line. Anchoring the somewhat inexperienced unit this season for WCU have been center Victor Aquilina and left guard Steven Ray.

Aquilina has been an established starter along the WCU offensive front since transferring in from Palomar College prior to the 2008 season.

Ray is another player that has seen action as a starter along the offensive front for the better part of the last two seasons. Ray is a big, physical performer and is a player that could find himself on one of the All-SoCon teams at season’s end.

One other veteran that has made his presence felt along the Catamount offensive line over the past two seasons is junior left tackle Matt Winter. He is another player that could find himself on one of the All-SoCon teams at season’s end and is probably the best combination of power, technique and overall athleticism along the WCU offensive line coming into the regular-season finale.

Rounding out the starters along the offensive line for the Catamounts are a couple of talented freshmen, in redshirt freshman Nathan Postelle at right tackle and redshirt freshman Teddy Rhoney at the right guard spot. Both Postelle and Rhoney enter Saturday’s contest having started all 10 previous games for the Purple and Gold this fall.

Like their counterparts on the offensive side of the football, the Catamount defense has seen improvement with each week during the 2009 season. The fruits of that improvement were noticeable in last week’s performance at Eastern Kentucky, as Western held the Colonels to a meager seven points in the road victory.

The leader of this Western Carolina defense this season has been senior linebacker Adrian McLeod. He enters Saturday’s contest as the league’s leading tackler and will most assuredly garner some attention on one of the All-America team ballots at the conclusion of the ‘09 season.

McLeod is a good athlete and an extremely physical player. In total this season, McLeod has 126 tackles (12.6 TPG.), eight tackles-for-loss, 1.5 sacks, one forced fumble and a blocked kick.

Joining McLeod at linebacker for the Catamounts are outside linebacker Chris Collins and Ricky Schwarz. Both are good compliments to McCleod, and the trio probably comprises the strength of the Western Carolina defense entering Saturday’s contest.

Collins was a player that made the transition from the defensive backfield to linebacker during the offseason. Collins came into the ‘09 season as an All-SoCon candidate and ranked second on the team with 92 tackles last fall. Collins is one of the best athletes on the defensive side of the football. This season, Collins enters the season finale as the team’s second-leading tackler, with 99 tackles, a team-leading 11.5 tackles-for-loss, four sacks and two forced fumbles.

Schwarz rounds out the starters at linebacker or the Catamounts, serving as the middle linebacker for the Purple and Gold. Schwarz is one of the hardest workers on the WCU defense and has had a solid season in his first as a starter.

In total this fall, Schwarz has recorded 59 tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss and three pass break-ups.

The most-experienced unit on the Catamount defense is the defensive front. Anchoring the defensive line for Western this season has been the defensive tackle duo of Gene Singletary at the nose tackle position and Justin Collins at defensive tackle.

Singletary is one of the league’s best nose tackles and has been a staple of the Catamount defensive line for the better part of three seasons, after originally being recruited to the program as an offensive lineman. Singletary has good size and quickness and enters Saturday’s contest with 24 tackles, nine tackles-for-loss and half-a-sack.

Collins has been another stalwart along the defensive line over the past two seasons. Collins was a highly sought after recruit, originally being snagged by the Big Ten’s Iowa Hawkeyes before coming to WCU by way of Kilgore Junior College.So far during his final campaign in the Purple and Gold, Collins has tallied 15 tackles and half-a-sack.

Set to start at the respective defensive end positions for the Catamounts are sophomore Trey Selby and redshirt junior C.J. Johnson. Selby saw plenty of action as a reserve in his freshman season (nine games, four starts) and has been solid in his first season as a starter along the WCU defensive front. In 10 games this season, Selby has 17 tackles, two tackles-for-loss and half-a-sack.

Johnson has seen action in nine games in ‘09, mostly as a reserve, but has drawn the attention of the coaching staff over the past few weeks and will garner the start at one of the defensive end positions on Saturday. Johnson possesses a good combination of quickness and power, entering Saturday’s contest. with 13 tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and a fumble recovery.

The one area that has struggled for a large part of the 2009 season is the Catamounts’ defensive backfield. Western Carolina enters Saturday’s contest with the Mountaineers, having picked off just two passes on the campaign.

The lynchpins of that defensive backfield this fall have been cornerback Antoine George and free safety Mitchell Bell. George has picked off one of those two passes for the WCU defense this season, with that crucial interception coming last Saturday in the Catamounts’ win at Eastern Kentucky, setting up one of the two Western scores that came as a result of Colonel turnovers.

George might be the best athlete in the WCU secondary, in terms of overall speed, quickness, and athleticism. In ‘09, George has compiled 63 tackles, 1.5 tackles-for-loss, four pass break-ups, a forced fumble, a blocked kick and an interception.

Bell entered the season as an All-SoCon candidate and has turned in a solid season through 10 games this fall. The Warner Robbins, GA., native was named preseason First-Team All-SoCon by Phil Steele’s College Football Preview. Bell is known as one of the surest tackler’s on the defensive side of the football for the Catamounts and he enters Saturday’s contest, having amassed 53 tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss and an interception.

The bandit safety position for WCU will be occupied by junior Abram Scott. He has had a strong season in the defensive backfield, which is his first season as a starter. Scott is a hard-hitting safety, that has the ability to drop in pass coverage as well as come up and make plays against the run. Scott enters Saturday’s contest with 54 tackles, seven tackles-for-loss and a fumble recovery.

Rounding out the starters on the defensive side of the football for Western will be field cornerback Robert Peele. He transferred into the Western Carolina football program from the University of California after the 2007 season. Peele has excellent speed and coverage skills. Coming into the regular-season finale, Peele has recorded 36 tackles, six pass break-ups and a fumble recovery.