Six Games That Will Decide The SoCon Race In 2010

The 2010 football season opens with a bang, as Appalachian State travels to Chattanooga for a blockbuster league encounter.

The Mountaineers are normally heavy favorites against the Mocs, however, the tide might be turning in the Scenic City, as Russ Huesman transformed the Chattanooga football program, with his return to a program, where he served as a star defensive back from 1978-81.

ASU has been used to ending its season at Finley Stadium, winning three-straight national titles in the facility from 2005-07, however, the Mountaineers are too familiar with sinking their teeth into conference competition right off the bat.

In fact, the 2010 season-opener against the Mocs will mark the first time the Black and Gold has opened the campaign against a league opponent was in 1991, when the Mountaineers upended the 14th-ranked Thundering Herd, 14-3, inside the friendly confines of Kidd Brewer Stadium.

The season-opening league win was certainly a good omen for the Apps, who went on to claim the league title that season.

Appalachian State and Chattanooga have met 33 previous times, with the Mountaineers holding a commanding 23-10 all-time advantage, which includes a 34-21 victory in Boone last fall. In fact, the last time the Mountaineers fell in defeat to the Mocs was in Chattanooga in what was the highest scoring game in league history, with the Mocs claiming a 59-56 win over ASU in a Halloween weekend clash back in 2004.

The Mountaineers hope that they don’t revisit that horror with their season-opening contest at Finley Stadium, but know they will be facing an opponent that certainly has the ability to encite fear in its visiting opponents for the first time in quite a while.

The Mocs are coming off a 6-5 season in Huesman’s inaugural campaign, including posting one of the turnaround stories in all of FCS football in 2009. After all, this was a Chattanooga that had finished 1-11 in 2008, without posting a victory over a Division I opponent.

Huesman now will have 18 starters returning from that squad, including all five offensive linemen and the starting signal-caller, to perhaps help the Mocs be a real factor in the league race this fall.

Minutes prior to kickoff at Finley Stadium, visiting opponents had been accustomed to entering the stadium to a crowd about one-fourth the size of the facility’s capacity. That’s not the case anymore, however, as the Mocs have joined the league’s football fever, as all of UTC’s home games ranked in the Top 17 of the school’s all-time attended games.

The largest crowd was 14,002, which ranked third in school history, which showed up for the season-opener on a Thursday night, when the Mocs faced Glenville State. The Mocs went 4-1 at home last season, which included an impressive 38-9 win over then ninth-ranked Wofford.

The Mocs return a quarterback, in B.J. Coleman, that is good enough to lead them to a league title in 2010. The University of Tennessee transfer became just the seventh quarterback in school history to throw for over 2,000 yards (2,348 yds.) and first since Cedric Stevens completed the rare feat back in 2004. Coleman will again be one of the league's best passers, but won’t have his favorite receiver of ‘09 to throw to, Blue Cooper, who has graduated.

The most impressive improvement for the Mocs in 2009 was on defense, going from the league’s ninth-ranked defense to its third ranked unit last season. The Mocs will be without the ‘09 league defensive player of the year, defensive end Josh Beard, who has graduated, but will have eight starters returning, led by defensive backs Buster Skrine (45 tackles, 2.0 TFLs, two interceptions) and Jordan Tippitt (60 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, two interceptions, two sacks), who will anchor one of the top secondary’s in the SoCon in 2010.

But, as good as Chattanooga will be, it will have to prove it belongs as a contender and belongs to be considered in the same caliber of the Appalachian State's and Elon’s of the league race and to do that, they’ll need to send shockwaves through the league ranks with an upset win over the Mountaineers.

Until that happens, even facing the prospects of breaking in a new quarterback, the Mountaineers, who return 17 starters for the 2010 season, enter the contest as solid favorites. A loss here for ASU could prove costly, but its likely ASU’s toughest road league game in 2010.

Samford at Elon (October 2nd)

One of the more interesting early-season clashes will be between the Elon Phoenix and the Samford Bulldogs, as the two best two defenses figure to clash in another low-scoring affair in 2010.

Samford will likely find out plenty about its prospects of challenging for a league crown and first playoff spot since 1996 when it travels to face an Elon team coming off a 9-3 record and a second-place finish in league play last fall.

However, this is not the same Elon team that won a league crown last fall, as the Phoenix lose some significant pieces on both sides of the football, with the graduation of wide receiver the SoCon and FCS’ all-time leading receiver, Terrell Hudgins on offense, while All-American defensive end Andre Campbell has exercised his eligibility.

Elon will have Scott Riddle returning at quarterback and he turned in one of his best performances of the season against the Bulldogs last fall, finishing the day connecting on 27-of-41 passes for 278 yards and a touchdowns in the 27-7 win in the regular-season finale at Seibert Stadium in Birmingham.

Samford hopes to play the way it did last time it visited Rhodes Stadium two years ago in it first season as a league member, dropping a heartbreaking 23-17 decision to the eighth-ranked Phoenix.

In that game a couple of years ago and in it’s inaugural game as a league member, Samford stunned the Top 10 Phoenix by tying the game, 17-17, in the third quarter. However, Samford was was out-scored 6-0 over the final 20 minutes to drop its first game in league history.

With 16 starters returning, this game become vitally important to Samford to compete for a league title and a playoff appearance, as the Bulldogs open league play against five-time defending champion Appalachian State a week prior to this matchup.

The Bulldogs will have should have a chance to break through and be a factor in the league race this fall, returning an All-American on both sides of the ball, in running back Chris Evans on offense, while middle linebacker Bryce Smith returns on defense. Evans is looking to become only two running backs in Southern Conference history to rush for 1,000 yards in all four seasons as running back.

Last season, however, Evans and the Samford offense had trouble finding any daylight against the Phoenix defense, as Elon limited the Samford offense to just 220 yards of total offense, including holding Evans to 99 yards, which was six yards under his rushing average. Evans, already the school’s all-time leading rusher, enters the season having rushed for 3,469 yards for his career.

Both Elon and Samford have been the best the league has had to offer over the past two campaigns, with the Phoenix leading the league in total defense (248.3 YPG), while the Bulldogs ranked second (284.5 YPG) in that exact same category.

Elon returns six starters on its defense, while Samford welcomes the return of nine regulars. The matchup will feature two of the league’s best linebackers, in Samford’s Smith (team-leading 102 tackles) and Elon’s Joshua Williams (89 tackles).

One thing's for sure, whoever wins this contest, will have a good shot at competing for a playoff spot and possibly a league crown. If Samford loses to Appalachian State a week prior to this, the Oct. 2 meeting with the Phoenix becomes a must-win situation.

Should Elon be able to win in a tough environment at Georgia Southern a week prior, the game against Samford offers the Phoenix a chance to get off to a fast 2-0 start in league play heading into a tough stretch in its 2010 schedule. Also, Elon has an Oct. 9 date at Appalachian State, making this game even more crucial.

Elon at Appalachian State (October 9th)

This is the one everyone seems to be salivating over once again, as Elon travels to Boone looking to get some revenge after last season’s 27-10 loss to the Mountaineers in the de facto Southern Conference title game at Rhodes Stadium.

It will be Scott Riddle’s final chance to get a victory over Appalachian State in his career as Elon's starting quarterback, while Appalachian State has a chance to keep its streak intact against the Phoenix, having not dropped a game to Elon since 1964 (28-7 at Conrad Stadium).

The Mountaineers enter this matchup, having won 14-straight games against the Phoenix. The two schools will be meeting for the 39th time, with ASU holding a commanding 28-9-1 series edge.

The Mountaineers were able dominate the Phoenix in last year’s game, thanks in large part to their opportunistic secondary and some careless passes by Riddle. ASU took a 21-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter, all points coming as a result of three Riddle intercepions, and the Mountaineers never looked back in getting the two-score victory.

It was also a big afternoon for the Appalachian State defense, which held a potent Elon offense to only 270 yards, including rendering the Phoenix ground attack basically non-existent, yielding just 58 yards on 28 rushes to its Old North State arch-rivals.

The dynamics of this matchup are perhaps changed a little bit by the fact that the Mountaineers won’t have Armanti Edwards, who carved up a talented Elon defense in the first half of last season’s game, prior to leaving the game with a knee injury suffered on a hit late in the first half.

One of the more impressive aspects of ASU’s defensive performance in last fall’s win over Elon was its performance against Walter Payton Award candidate Terrell Hudgins, holding the record-breaking wideout to just ten receptions for 127 yards, with much of that yardage coming after the game had already been decided.

Elon didn’t get on the scoreboard until late in the fourth quarter, when freshman wide receiver Aaron Mellette hauled in a 12-yard scoring reception from Riddle.

Despite Elon’s improvement each season since 2006 under Lembo, only one of the matchups between the Phoenix and Mountaineers has been decided by less than double digits, with ASU hanging on to get a hard-fought 24-16 win two years ago at "The Rock."

The average margin of victory for ASU since the Phoenix joined the league in 2003 has been just under 24 PPG. The Mountaineers were able to display a balanced offensive effort in last year’s victory, rolling up 486 yards (281 passing, 205 rushing) on a defense that ranked tops in the nation coming into the league title-deciding clash.

ASU receivers Matt Cline (eight receptions, 104 yds.) and Brian Quick (six receptions, 99 yds.) were able to find pockets in an Elon secondary that had been air-tight through the first nine games of the campaign.

Though this game might not have the appeal it did last November, it’s still a game that will go a long way in deciding whether the Mountaineers can win a sixth-straight league crown or not.

These two schools just plain don’t like each other and a rivalry gaining notoriety nationally. We’ll know a lot about both teams after this game and which one is a contender or a pretender. If Elon had Hudgins in this one and playing at Kidd Brewer Stadium, the prospects of Elon’s first win over ASU as a league member likely won’t be 2010.

ASU will have Chattanooga, Samford and Elon out of the way, and depending on how they end that tough three-game gauntlet, could be well on its way to another league title, with only one real challenge remaining in league play.

Elon will still have games remaining against Furman (November 13th) and at Chattanooga (October 30th) before it can gauge its post-season and league title prospects.

Furman at Appalachian State (October 30th)

Over the past couple of seasons, this game has lost a little bit of its luster with Furman being a little down and all, however, this again should be a game that means a lot in the Southern Conference race.

Furman is expected to be a team that is right in the mix for a Southern Conference title this fall, as 13 starters return from last season’s 6-5 squad. Under ninth-year head coach Bobby Lamb, Furman has lost eight of its last nine to the Mountaineers, including a 52-27 setback last season in Greenville.

Furman hasn’t claimed a win in Boone since the 1996 season, as the Paladins were able to claim a 20-14 win on that occassion. The Paladins and Mountaineers will be meeting for the 41st time this fall, with the Paladins clinging to a 21-16-3 all-time advantage. The Paladins’ lone win during Bobby Lamb’s stint as head coach came in 2005, as the Paladins were able to get a 34-31 win in Greenville.

When looking back at memorable league games that shaped league races from the past, who could forget the 2002 meeting between these two that went down to the wire, with ASU pulling out a win on an impropable two-conversion return for a score after an apparent game-winning score by the Paladins.

Last season, the Armanti Edwards-led ASU offense crushed the Paladin league-worst defensive unit, as the Black and Gold rolled up 554 yards of total output, while the ASU defense held the normally-potent Furman offense to 350 yards of total offense in the win.

The reason many have pegged the Paladins for such success this fall is an offense that is expected to be one of the league’s best this fall, along with a much-improved defense.

Expected to lead that offense this fall will be UCLA transfer Chris Forcier, who saw a bit of action against the Mountaineers last season.

In some mop-up duty, it was clear that Forcier might be the player that could add some fire back to a rivalry that has struggled to find that next level over the past few years, as a result of Furman’s struggles.

During Forcier’s mop-up action against Appalachian State last season, he rushed six times for 41 yards, including a 25-yard scoring run.

Some questions still remain about Forcier throwing the football, as he only showed that he had tremendous speed last fall, but he is expected to be the starter and that means if he is a good passer, he has a chance to be one of the more versatile quarterbacks in the SoCon next fall.

One of the other offensive players that stood out against ASU in the rain-soaked Halloween meeting last fall is senior wide receiver Adam Mims, who returns as one the league’s top pass-catchers for the 2010 season. Mims finished the 2009 campaign with 74 receptions for 878 yards and four touchdowns (11.9 YPR). One of those four TD catches was a 72-yard (longest career reception) scoring catch against ASU last fall.

Furman fielded the worst defense in its program’s storied tradition (431.3 YPG) last season and had one of the nation’s worst pass defenses (257.7 YPG). Most of that was due to youth and with pressure mounting on Lamb, some changes were also made in the defensive coaching staff.

The Paladins return the league’s best linebacker, in Kadarron Anderson (122 tackles in ‘09) and he’ll be joined by another all-league candidate, Chris Wiley (71 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, two sacks), entering the 2010 season. The secondary will be anchored by cornerback Ryan Steed, who led the team with four interceptions last fall.

Despite Furman’s struggles since 2006, this rivalry has been that has gone down to the final moments year-in and year-out. In 2008, Furman took a trip to Boone and nearly came away with a victory over the heavily-favored Mountaineers, dropping a 26-14 contest to ASU.

In that meeting, Furman was able out-gain the Mountaineers, 354-319, in total yardage, however, two turnovers inside the red zone proved too costly for Furman to overcome. Last season was the first time in a decade that consecutive meetings between the two rivals has been decided by 10 or more points.

This game will be huge in the grand scheme of the SoCon race in 2010, and if things fall right, it could signal the top two teams in the league next fall. This will be Appalachian State’s last real challenge in 2010 and after this game, it should be relatively smooth sailing for ASU. But this game won’t be easy, resembling some of those games in the early 2000’s, but Furman knows all to well how tough it can be at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

For Furman, this game is important, as it has road games against Appalachian State and Elon (Nov. 13) in 2010, likely needing to split those two road games to have any real chance at a league title.

Furman will also know a lot about its future playoff aspirations after the showdown with the Mountaineers, having already played at Samford (Oct. 16) and Chattanooga (Oct. 23). A loss to one of those two will determine whether Furman is playing for its playoff life or a league title when it visits the High Country for "Black Saturday" in late October.

Elon at Chattanooga (October 30th)

As you can already see, SoCon football on Oct. 30 will decide plenty in the 2010 league race. Just five years ago, this was a game between league cellar-dwellers, whereas now the contest is one between teams competing for a league title.

Elon throttled Chattanooga, 45-10, last season at Rhodes Stadium and this is a series that hasn’t seen an encounted between the two decided by single digits since the 2006 meeting was a 20-17 win by the Phoenix.

The Mocs enter this season’s encounter between the two looking for their first win over Elon since a 10-7 win in 2007. This season’s clash will mark eighth all-time meeting between the two, with Elon holding a 5-2 series edge, after the Mocs claimed two out the first meetings between the two after the Phoenix joined the SoCon as an official member in 2003.

The significance of this matchup is huge for both schools, as Chattanooga hopes to not only challenge for a league title, but also what would be only its second playoff appearance in school history, with the Mocs’ only other appearance coming a mere 26 years ago.

The Mocs have a tough road prior to their Oct. 30th date with games early on in the non-conference at Jacksonville State (Sept. 11) before returning home for a clash against another Ohio Valley Conference power, in Eastern Kentucky.

In conference play, the Mocs have the obvious tasty league matchup at home against Appalachian State to opne the campaign, before facing tough league road clashes at Western Carolina (Sept. 25) and Furman (Oct. 23) prior to facing the Phoenix. With the league expected to be a much tighter race this fall and with much parody, this has the potential to be a playoff or conference title "elimination game."

Elon has thoroughly dominated this series since 2007, winning every game by double-digits, with the closes of those games being a 10-point decision (38-28) in 2007.

In last season’s meeting between the two, it appeared Chattanooga would offer some formidable opposition early, as Joel Bradord stepped n front of a Scott Riddle pass on the opening play of the game and returned it into Elon territory to set up a Craig Camay field goal that gave the Mocs a 3-0 lead.

After that, however, the Elon defense allowed nothing and the Phoenix would score 38 unanswered points to take a 38-3 lead early in the third quarter, before Chattanooga’s Blue Cooper would haul in an 8-yard scoring pass from B.J. Coleman to end the scoring drought.

Riddle finished the day, completing 13-of-18 passes for 196 yards, with three touchdowns and an interception. He helped lead a Phoenix offense that gained 388 yards against one of the league’s better defenses. Meanwhile, Elon’s defense put the clamps down of the UTC offense, holding it to just 261 yards on the day. Terrell Hudgins was held in check by UTC’s secondary than most anyone last fall, but still managed to finish the day with six catches for 74 yards and three scoring receptions.

This should be one of the better matchups of the conference season and it’s a good bet that Chattanooga and Elon will still be at least strong contenders for the post-season at this point of the campaign. I would also expect Chattanooga to upset either Appalachian State or Elon this fall, playing both at what should be a packed Finley Stadium.

Furman at Elon (Nov. 13)

The final insallment of this five-game series that will have a huge impact on how the Southern Conference race shapes up this fall is when Furman visits Elon for an important late-season clash in a game that will likely decided a playoff spot, while eliminating the hopes of another.

Last season, Furman and Elon locked horns in an epic SoCon clash in Greenville, with the Phoenix emerging from Paladin Stadium with a 19-12, come-from-behind win over Furman. Elon comes into this season’s battle having claimed two-straight victories over the Paladins, soundly defeating the Paladins (31-10) at Rhodes Stadium two years ago. In total, the Paladins and Phoenix will be meeting for the 14th time, with the Paladins holding a commanding 10-3 advantage.

One player Furman will thankfully not have to worry about is wide receiver Terrell Hudgins, who seemingly always had a huge, record-setting game when facing the Paladins. In last season’s 19-12 win in Greenville, Hudgins caught 16 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown last fall.

He set a Paladin Stadium record for receiving yards (207) in a 52-49 loss for the Phoenix back in 2007. Senior quarterback Scott Riddle will have Hofstra transfer receiver Christian Dennis, along with returning targets Lance Camp (45 rec., 585 yds., 13.0 YPR in '09) and Sean Jeffcoat (27 rec., 366 yds., 3 touchdowns, 13.6 YPR in '09).

Riddle has had his share of good performances against Furman, including completing 35-of-48 passes for 374 yards, with a touchdown and an interception in last season’s 19-12 win. Riddle put up some big numbers against the Paladins in 2007, setting a Southern Conference single-game passing record, as he completed 38-of-52 passes for 534 yards, with three touchdowns and three interceptions.

The record-setting quarterback will look to finish out his career with a 3-1 mark as a starter against the Paladins. In two of three games against the Paladins, Riddle has been responsible for the season standard for passing yardage yielded by the Paladin defense. Last season’s 374 yards were the most passing yards given up by a Furman pass defense that ranked worst in the league (257.7 YPG).

Furman’s offense had to work for everything it gained against the Phoenix last season, but was efficient in the seven-point setback to the Phoenix. The Paladins rolled up 307 yards of total offense, but had trouble finding any sort of opening on the ground against Elon's nationally ranked defense, as the Paladins were held to just 88 yards on 27 rushes on the afternoon in the loss to the Phoenix.

In fact, Furman has been held to less than 100 yards on the ground in its last two meetings with the Phoenix, both losses, as Elon was able to limit the Furman ground game to 72 yards in the 2008 meeting. Paladin signal-caller Jordan Sorrells did find some success through the air for Furman last fall, connecting on 21-of-41 passes for 219 yards.

One of the players that really started to come into his own as a Paladin last season was wide receiver Sedderik Cunningham. Cunningham made a clutch, 39-yard catch late to set up a Furman go-ahead score and finished the day with 78 yards receiving on three grabs.

From that point, Cunningham went on to have a solid sophomore campaign and finished the season as the team’s third-leading receiver, with 27 receptions for 327 yards and a touchdowns (12.1 YPR).

Though it might not have shown up statistically, in a season in which Furman’s defense struggled, it probably played its best game of the 2009 season. Furman surrendered a total of 423 yards, but only gave up 12 points (last Elon touchdown came as a result of botched lateral on kick return) and posted its best performance of the season against the run, holding Elon to only 49 yards on the ground. This came on the heels of a 2008 meeting which saw the Paladins give up 231 yards on the ground to Elon in a 31-10 loss at Rhodes Stadium.

Much will be on the line when these two teams meet in mid-November and could very well determine a playoff spot. Furman will likely enter the contest with a loss to South Carolina and at least one conference loss (most likely Appalachian State) and another possible loss that could come on the road to Samford (Oct. 16) or at home to Chattanooga (Oct. 23).

Meanwhile, Elon will likely have a loss to Duke and maybe Richmond in the non-conference, while will likely have at least one loss in league play, as the Phoenix have to travel to both Appalachian State (Oct. 9) and Chattanooga (Oct. 30).

If you're a SoCon Football fan, these six games are "must-see" games for the upcoming campaign. You'll learn things like whether or not the Mountaineers can finish their third-consecutive season unbeaten in league play, or if Chattanooga will qualify for its their second post-season appearance in school history.