Appalachian State Will Have A “Three Deep” Effect At Receiver In 2010

Back in 1998, the Minnesota Vikings drafted former Marshall standout Randy Moss at wide receiver to join Hall-of-Famer Cris Carter and Jake Reed at wide receiver and the trio was nicknamed "three-deep", in reference to their prowess as downfield threats at wide receiver in the ‘98 season. The Vikings were nearly unstoppable, fielding one of the most dominant regular seasons in NFL history, only to be shocked in the NFC Championship by the Atlanta Falcons.

 

Twelve years removed from that outstanding trio for Minnesota, another trio of wideouts worthy of such a monicker are at NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) power Appalachian State. Though the trio does not currently have catchy nickname to define them, CoCo Hillary, Brian Quick and Matt Cline might have ASU’s sports information department scrambling to find one befitting of this trio by mid-season.  All three receivers bring something different to the table for the Mountaineers and the trio is a big reason why the Mountaineers will field the league’s top receiving corps in 2010.

 

The Randy Moss of this group would be Quick, as he presents similar match up problems for opposing defenses that Moss does, with his size, speed and leaping ability.  The 6-5, 210-pound rising junior wide receiver, who was known more for his prowess on the hardwood rather than the gridiron as a prep, actually got his beginning in 2007 against Michigan  by demonstrating his big play ability on special teams.

 

With ASU attempting to preserve their 34-32 lead over No. 5 Michigan, Quick bounced back from dropping the first pass thrown his way, which would of easily resulted in a third-quarter score for the Mountaineers, to block a Jason Gingell field goal attempt late in the fourth quarterin ASU's historic win.

 

From that point, it was clear that ASU had quite an athlete, as Quick soared above the Michigan offensive line that set up the Mountaineers’ game-winning scoring drive. A week later, Quick would have to put his Mountaineer career on hold, after suffering a season-ending back injury against Lenoir Rhyne.

 

With his medical redshirt season behind him, Quick became ASU’s big-play target and displayed his big-play ability in front of a national television audience in a 70-24 rout of Wofford on Halloween night two years ago.

 

The Terriers had no answer for Quick’s size and leaping ability, as he caught four passes for 172 yards and three TDs. That’s a mere average of 43.0 yards-per-reception, which is a school record average for a single game. His three TD grabs covered 58, 50 and 31 yards. Quick enters the 2010 season already well on his way to be a record-breaking wideout for the Apps.

 

To this point in his career, Quick has caught 84 passes for 1,478 yards and 11 TDs. With two year’s to play, already ranking him ninth in school history in receiving yards. He needs to amass 1,646 yards receiving over his final two seasons to surpass the school’s all-time record holder in that category, Rick Beasley, who had an impressive 3,124 yards receiving in his career. Quick’s 11 career TD receptions are tied for seventh on the school’s all-time ledger in that category.

 

With the SoCon’s top all-time receivers Terrell Hudgins and Andre Roberts having graduated and moved on to the NFL, Quick heads into the 2010 season as what many feel is the league’s top big-play threat. He finished the 2010 season with 61 receptions for a team-leading 982 yards, averaging an impressive 16.1 YPR.

 

Quick has a chance to be one of the most dominant and imposing wide receivers in league history before his career is complete and is arguably the best pass-catcher the Mountaineers have had since DaVon Fowlkes (2001-04). The most versatile receiver of this talented, potential dominant trio is CoCo Hillary, who originally came to Appalachian State as a quarterback.

 

Hillary, a 5-10, 190-pound senior, will be hoping to put a knee injury and an off-season DUI charge behind him, as he heads into his final season donning the Black and Gold. Hillary was most noted for his speed early in his career, and after he was asked to make the transition from Armanti Edwards’ understudy at quarterback to starting wide receiver, that aspect of his game has shown up in a variety of ways on special teams and on offense for the Apps.

 

Hillary has also dedicated himself to being a great route runner and he quickly became the most-reliable option for two-time Walter Payton Award winning quarterback Armanti Edwards. He developed a special synergy with Edwards, possessing the ability to break off his route if the play was not there, and gave Edwards a chance to find him the flat.

 

Many remember him doing this exact thing in ASU’s game-winning drive against Michigan on a crucial third-and-long play, which he netted 24 yards to set up the game-winning kick by Julian Rauch.

 

Three weeks later in a loss to Wofford, Hillary provided the first glimpse of his tremendous speed, taking a Terrier kickoff following a TD back for 95 yards and an ASU score. Hillary now enters his final season having caught 110 passes for 1,558 yards and five TDs for his career. Going into his final season, Hillary is tied for fifth in school history in career catches, while ranking seventh in career receiving

yards.

 

Last season, Hillary garnered second-team all-league awards, despite only playing in six games. He finished the ‘09 season by hauling 37 passes for 514 yards and four TDs (13.9 YPR). Hillary is the player that is dangerous in a variety of different ways, including being a threat to throw the ball. It will be interesting to see if Hillary’s injury affects his speed this fall. Hillary is also a threat to rush the football for the Mountaineers in certain formations and he enters the 2010 season with 121 yards on the ground.

 

Hillary has been a clutch performer for the Mountaineers throughout his career, however, as integral a part as Hillary has been, he didn’t enjoy his first 100-yard receiving effort until last season. Hillary enjoyed the top performance of his career in 2009, hauling in seven passes for 104 yards and two scores in a 52-12 romp over Georgia Southern.

 

Matt Cline rounds out this talented "three deep" trio and, though he isn’t comparable in size, Cline is the "Jake Reed" of this trio, acting as reliable, overachieving and underestimated option for ASU. Mountaineer opponents knew that players of Hillary and Quick’s talents could be dangerous, but few expected Cline to be a player that could deliver a stake to the heart. While Quick and Hillary see there yards come in big chunks most of the time, Cline is a player that, little-by-little, exploits opponents’ defensive units.

 

The 5-11, 180-pound senior is actually one of the fastest players on the ASU roster, but he is most cherished for his hands, which are arguably the best on the team. Like Hillary, Cline is a versatile option at wide receiver, serving as a threat as a runner as well as a passer in addition to his abilities catching the football. In 2008, Cline and Hillary were the only two players to record rushing, receiving and return yards for the Black and Gold.

 

No catch proved Cline’s ability to catch the football better than his seven-yard TD reception in the waning seconds of ASU’s dramatic, 35-31, win over defending national champion Richmond in the FCS quarterfinals last fall.

 

The catch proved to be the game-winning points for ASU. The 2009 season was a campaign in which Cline really asserted himself as a legitimate big-play option for ASU, becoming one of Edwards’ favorite targets in the passing attack. Having amassed only 140 receiving yards entering the ‘09 season, Cline went on to haul in a team-leading 85 receptions for 981 yards and a couple of TDs last season.

 

Cline also rushed for 50 yards and a score last fall and enters the 2010 season with 109 catches for 1,121 yards and two TDs for his career. His 85 catches in a single-season were second to only DaVon Fowlkes’ 103 catches in 2004. Cline saved his best career receiving performances for ASU’s two biggest rivals, hauling a career-standard 10 passes in a 52-12 win over "Black Saturday" Georgia Southern and had 122 receiving yards and a scoring reception a week later in a 52-27 win over Furman in Greenville.

 

In total, trio hauled in 183 of the team’s 284 pass receptions last fall, while accounting for 2,427 of the team’s 3,621 receiving yards and 10 of its 16 TD catches. It’s perhaps the most-talented trio to ever start at one time for ASU, at least matching the 2000 unit--which featured Daniel Wilcox, Troy Albea and Rashade Slade, or the 2007 starting contingent, which featured Hillary, Dexter Jackson and Hans Batichon-- but this "three-deep" trio will likely be called into action even more in 2010.

 

The primary reason for such importance and pressure placed upon this unit in relation to the 2000 or the 2007 units, is that the trio of Quick, Hillary and Cline have a brand new starter under center, whereas both the 2000 and ‘07 teams at least entered the season with returning starters at quarterback.

 

The trio in 2000 obviously benefitted with the mid-season insertion of Joe Burchette into the lineup, but the 2010 trio could take plenty of pressure off whoever the starter turns out to be, whether it be Jamal Jackson or DeAndre Presley. It probably really doesn’t matter who’s throwing the football to them this season, if Jackson or Presley can get it anywhere in the vicinity of the one of the three, the ball will be caught--thus exemplifying the "three deep" effect ASU should enjoy this fall.