2021 Week 3 - Elon at Appalachian State

just a little over a decade ago we were planning some highly contested football games against uh elon so it's going to be a big uh exciting day here at the rock sean clark the head coach of apps state coaching his 15th game as the leader of the black and gold for the first time he sees a full complement of fans in his home stadium can you talk a little bit about just what that means for the leader of a program that's matched the consistency of winning to finally see what it all looks like when it looks perfect you know what he's mr consistency and he is appalachian state football you think about this guy he's 46 and 15 as a as a player at appalachian state he's 43 and 10 as a as an assistant coach and head coach you talk about two of the more successful seasons in appalachian history 1995 when they went 12-0 sean clark was a player you fast forward to 2019 david jackson that team went 13-1 sean was the offensive line coach and the co-offensive coordinator so he is appalachian he's been around appalachian for a while he knows the tradition he knows the toughness that it takes to play here he knows the togetherness that it takes he is mr appalachian 11 wins so far guiding this program one of the winningest of all fbs programs over the last five years he'll try to do it on the home field here at kid brewer stadium this afternoon against an old southern conference foe in the phoenix of elab we're back to kid brewer stadium right after this here in boone north carolina today david jackson alongside avery hall we are glad you are with us for the kid brewer stadium opener for appalachian state as they take on again an old rival in the elon phoenix tony triciani the head coach of the phoenix in his third season seven and 12 overall and avery you look at this elon program it's got all the dna of a powerhouse colonial athletic association team i tell you they're big up front even though they're young they've got talent in the backfield on the offensive side they've got a very good quarterback in davis cheek who's been pulling the trigger for them since 2017. they're poised to do very very well in the colonial athletic association one and one start for the phoenix nobody in the nation has played a closer first two games than the phoenix a two-point loss against wofford a one-point win at the very end against campbell last week first pass by davis cheek out on the far sideline to chandler bray boy red shirt freshman at a parnell sweat high school down in pembroke this is an elon program that will recruit the state of north carolina 42 players from the old north state on this roster dj 42 players on this roster but they also have 13 of 22 starters from north carolina and if you look at the appalachian roster we've got seven players from north carolina so they're going to make some hay here in north carolina a little juice down there is what you're saying today second down and six elon on the opening drive of the ball game [Applause] cheek looking for the slant route and the intended target over on the far side is j.r martin that'll bring up third down and short you know that's very productive two two downs for for elon again you you want to make the third down manageable when it comes to play calling and and really what your players can do from a personal perspective hills bells play at the rock on third down staple of this stadium since 2003 going with the run play rights and a first down gain for the phoenix out to the 40-yard line but a big pop on defense by nick ross as appalachian state will try to play that balanced mixed tempo attack of elon's as we talked to offensive coordinator drew fomar he said it was important that davis cheek spread the football out a variety of ways and that includes the run game you know what he says he wants to be able to run the football but obviously we know they're going to throw more than 60 of the time but he this is not a bad start for elon again first down on the first series here they're moving the football right now empty backfield on first down at 10. cheek pressured for the first time he'll take off and slide to about a one-yard loss and that's where the pressure up front of appalachian states big three demetrius taylor jordan earl caleb sperlin they cause havoc up front they cause havoc and you talk about havoc dj you know we were talking with defensive coordinator dale jones uh this week he's clearly said you know we want to do well on third down but we also want to create havoc not with just our linebackers but with our defensive lineman our front three we want tackles for loss and sacks two yard loss and second and 12 the handoff to mckinley witherspoon twists up to the 40-yard line gets those lost yards back it'll bring up third down and about 10 for the phoenix fourth quarter touchdown run for witherspoon last week against campbell another redshirt freshman out of high brighton high school about 30 miles from kid brewer stadium just down the mountain in lenoir you know he was probably wandering around the rock as a youngster back in the day now he's playing here at the stadium trying to prolong this drive for the elon phoenix on third down and nine [Applause] cheek with pressure coming rolls out right and the pass fired into the up state sideline incomplete the intended target jackson parham was about standing in the middle of the bench on the home side so that'll bring up fourth down i tell you what great pass rush by three down lineman and jordan earl caleb sperling and demetrius taylor again didn't have to blitz so you could get everybody in coverage which threw davis cheeked off because he had some of the linebackers walking up as if they were going to blitz but they backed off in coverage good pressure by the front three jeff york the freshman out of pine crest high school down at southern pines one of the latest stars to come out of that storied high school program kicking back to thomas hennigan another north carolinian out of northwest guilford high school in greensboro the super senior awaits at his own 20 as york uncorks it tight spiral in this beautiful high country sky hennigan with an opportunity for a return but he is flat and quick chandler brayboy gets back in coverage for elon specialist on special teams you see the athleticism that brayboy can bring i will tell you too triciani does not mind putting his primary starters on special teams trayvon jones you're going to hear that name a lot he's a cornerback for elon he's on special teams bray boyd he will put those guys because again he feels like if we're going to have a chance against an fbs team we've got to put our best football players on the field doing doing offense and defense as well as special teams davis cheek three of his first four passing on the opening drive yields to chase bryce in appalachian state first down to 10 for the mountaineers off their own 12 after the punt they're from the phoenix and the first carry of the ball game into the hands of cameron peoples up to the 19-yard line pickup of seven i tell you appalachian's gonna attack the middle and force those safeties to come up and then i think obviously they're going to try and go over top but but again appalachian is going to try and impose their will today running the football trying to somewhat get back on track from the miami game second down and three for bryce empty backfield he'll go up top for the first time got a man in stride that's caught sideline route to malik williams in a mountaineer first down i gotta tell you what great job by malik williams again that's your that's your go route on you know it looks like you're going to run a corner route but you're turning into a go route great protection up front great throw by chase but again attacking that middle had those safeties inching up you didn't have a safety behind it malik williams chasing tony washington needs 215 yards entering play today to get into the upstate top 10 and career receiving a 50-yard gain puts app state on the doorstep of the red zone first and ten from the elon 31 david you talk about a 50 yard game in 2020 appalachian had explosive plays over 50 yards i think 22 times people's again on the handoff and the elon front line meets him good good defensive stance there by victorance williams and tristan cox up front for elon tristan's a senior and he's going to lead the troops up front good job getting getting penetration in the backfield by tristan cox 335 set up for billy crocker's elon phoenix defense they have used the take away to their benefit we'll touch more on that later as ab state gears up for second down and nine after the one yard gain for people's another hand off in a left side run people's gobbled up once again tackled from behind by john johnson that'll bring up third down for app state elon is a squad that in the spring season we talked about the fact that that they were not successful i mean we can't say it any other way one in five record but a lot of that was due to injuries some of those younger players in the back end of their defense obviously got some valuable time helping take some of the pressure off the front end as the pass goes out corey sutton tiptoes on the sideline still on his feet fumbles it into the end zone and we have all kinds of chaos on the first attempted pay dirt here at kid brewer stadium i tell you that's one thing that coach coach coach uh clark talked about uh david jackson is taking care of the football and they wanted more explosive plays they wanted you know uh a faster tempo but he also talked about taking care of the football and uh you know we've kind of put the ball on the turf a couple times here in in this series this drive so almost right on cue elon forces the turnover as sutton has it popped out of his hands and into the end zone for a touch back and elon will get possession after app state was knocking on the door of the first points of the day dave going back to what you're talking about elon and and and the poor showing in the spring like you said not only did they have uh injuries within the linebacking court but they had injuries with their offensive line as well as their quarterback so it was a tough spring for them nick velos was credited with the fumble recovery as cheek looks to pass coming out of the turnover and completes up to the 30-yard line on the sideline that's jackson parham again parham third in the colonial in yards 24th in the country he's averaging about 84 yards a game through the first two he is the favorite target of davis cheek in the passing game for the phoenix i tell you they got a nice tent of receivers with uh jackson farm and cortez weeks but until that last play they're going to tackle 15 more yards uh because i think roughing the quarterback if i'm not mistaken but uh good job by davis cheek on that last play standing poc he knew he was going gonna get tagged but he was poised and delivered a nice uh throw on the uh on the deep out and attach good strong arm elon averages about 400 yards a game cheek again a balanced attack here as you look at the first two ball games right under 300 yards passing he's a guy that had some storied success as a freshman sophomore led elon to the playoffs in 2017 and 18. they fell off in 19 during transition obviously 2020 took everybody for a loop but this is a phoenix program that feels like they're right on the cusp of that competitiveness again largely due to the fact that they've got a veteran under center did you know when coach was coach drew fought with the offensive coordinators talking about davis we'll talk about after this play cheek with jalen thomas in the backfield on first down to 10. thomas with his first carry of the day that's not going anywhere scooped up front by t.d roof what a week he had against miami last week avery hulk i tell you what two sacks i mean he was all over the field from his uh outside linebacker position i'm telling you we are stacked appalachian is stacked at the outside linebacker position with brandington brandon harrington and td roof man in that that right side ted roof the former upstate defensive coordinator now an analyst on staff with dabo swinney at clemson coaches just they just move around second down and 10. lots of time there for cheek as he completes the pass across the middle to cortez weeks near first down gain for the phoenix the ball spotted at the 40. gonna be awfully close and they'll give it to elon another movement of the chains for cheek and the phoenix good catch by cortez weeks he's he's been active he had 12 catches this year already and i think had six in that last game when they played campbell but but good job good protection up front by the big offensive lineman this is a young offensive line but they're providing good protection good decision making by cheek cheeks said that he and weeks have a natural chemistry as he tries to hit brayboy on the sideline completed catch and a dive forward up to the 47-yard line near another first down gain for elon as they continue to move the sticks you know one of the things that sticks out about elon offensively avery is their time of possession north of 30 minutes uh according to our conversation with tony triciani that's not necessarily by design that's more by circumstance this isn't a deliberate offense they'll take what they get absolutely you know again he talked clearly around you know the rpo and they call it a multi multiple tempo offense where if the defense is going to give you the run they're going to take the run they give you the pass they'll take the pass underneath brayboy runs into a host of mountaineers on the boundary no gain on second down it'll be third and short but the dj you know when he was coach was talking about that and you go back and look at the statistics you know i i i see what you do not what you say and they really throw the football a lot which it's like they run the football to so that they can set up the pass and they they pass it whether it's the vertical passing grant game or the horizontal they do a good job of passing the football on 39 on third down this year fifth in the colonial ab state the second best sun belt third down defense for two weeks cheek with no pressure lots of time but as the receiver falls and that slips incomplete intended target was bryson daltry he has that catch if he stays on his feet for a first down instead elon forced to punt it away again again that turf monster gets you every time but he tried to cut and cut too quickly again he he he fell to the ground but uh decent throw good protection you know it's trying to spread out the field on that last play they had trips to the to the left side twins to the wide side and again they had to spread out the appalachian defense and almost was successful there jeff york to punt away again to thomas hennigan york's first punt a 47-yarder he's had one blocked this year and that was due to a slow get off by the freshman punter no pressure coming to him as he gets a wobbler away hennigan this time calls fair catch after being slung backward on his last attempt we are scoreless seven minutes to play in the opening quarter here at the rock kid brewer stadium in boone [Music] that state offense ready to roll here at kid brewer stadium seven minutes to go opening quarter no score elon has held the football for six of those opening minutes not a whole lot of offense either way as chase bryce gets a pass off somehow corey sutton open as he turns it loose near midfield to the 42 in a mountaineer first down outstanding decision by chase bryce to go to corey sutton if if you look at that play elon blitz the the safety on that side dj or they call it their bandit and again that takes him out of that zone coverage space over there which led let corey was suddenly wide open so good decision by chase to step up and make that throw first and ten for the mountaineers nearing midfield handoff to nate noel trying to get loose into the secondary and near a first down gain for noel we talk about the embarrassment of riches at running back for ab state you've got cameron peoples averaging 97.5 yards a game he's second or rather the sun belt rushing leader right on his heels the sophomore from miami nate noel second in the sunbelt and rushing just under 90 again opportunity through injury early in his career to establish himself as the next great one in the lineage of running backs in this program and again inside step gets him across midfield and stretches the chains for the black and gold i tell you what that's that horizontal pass game that that appalachian state perfects they obviously appalachia state likes to run the football that's just a a pretty much a pass sweep play you get it out to hennigan out on the perimeter and let his big receivers block for him and again he gets you a first down 121 total yards of offense for bryce in the mountaineers remember ab state fumbled going into the end zone on their first drive of the ball game elon now plus four in the takeaway game play action look bryce looking for the home run ball down the middle of the field williams to the end zone touchdown black and gold outstanding protection up front again great throw we'll we'll break this down i'm sure we'll see a replay of it but again you got your your your slant route really it's it's an inside route crossing the middle of the field again you got your offensive lineman zone blocking to the other side which throws the safety off they they start moving to that side great execution by appalachian's offense touchdown catches for the super senior in back-to-back weeks malik williams on the 47-yard grab from chase bryce p-a-t attempt is up and good from chandler staton malik williams doing the work again post route there by by wales there but it started up front with the zone blocking and again great job of pulling the safeties up out of that zone for that post route to work mountaineers up 7-0 malik williams two catches 97 yards a 50-yarder and another one from 47. gets him into the end zone for the first score of the ball game first score at this rejuvenated kid brewer stadium that's where we find ourselves today upstate and elon have played some big ones in here before back at the out of that 2009 10 11 range they'd put 31 000 in for this game between nationally ranked elon and ab state teams back in their stranglehold of the fcs level in the southern conference and 2013 both went their separate ways app state made their transition up to the fbs elon made the move over to the colonial where they have been a playoff team a couple of times since then i think upstate fans have an appreciation for where elon wants to go and they will recognize this as a team that looks like they've got the pieces to get them exactly and i tell you what uh that that one game in 2010 uh david jackson is still a high attendance record here if you take away the miami game in the wake forest game that would be the highest attended game here at kid brewer stadium so our fans appreciate this this rival or this game with elon elon's moved at 42 yards 603 time of possession play action look nice shoulder fake there and the sideline route caught by jackson parham and he's got a little room to run up the sideline chase from behind finally and zapstate deploys ronald clark in to make the tackle but a first down gain for the phoenix i tell you what the phoenix are doing a better job up front than i anticipated them doing with such a young offensive line and appalachian state having such a you know season uh skilled defensive line but they're doing a good job of slot protection as well as zone protection and really giving davis cheek enough time to throw the football and cheek's been making hay mostly on the short passing game thus far he's 8 of 10 in the air 60 yards though he's got the ability to cork one loose though as he tries to go sideline route again intended for paro and broken up from behind by dante small jackson parham he's uh he slipped a couple times on this turf so he may want to go get a you know a longer turf shoe but longer you know shoot with more the longer turf uh spikes in them uh but uh pretty pretty decent route pretty good protection again up front good throw thomas set back second down at 10. going the opposite way this time after targeting a lot left and now there's a flag on the planes it looks like the phoenix are going to pick up a pass interference call against madison cone then to target cortez weeks over on the elon sideline actually you know that looked like pretty decent coverage uh because the receiver started to trip we'll see if we maybe see a replay but uh there you are calling pass to the friendship number on madison cone but that that actually looked like a decent decent coverage again had his long arm forged quarterback short arm on the receiver that's kind of standard but but again i don't see a replay i'll give the refs a benefit of doubt there aren't you hospitable mckinley witherspoon the setback on first to 10 off the penalty elon near midfield trying to break into mountaineer territory and they'll do so big hit over on the sideline that's ray cobb into the elon receiver that was a well designed play by by elon they they they pulled the left side offensive lineman to the right and threw back to the left and as you know that's eye candy for linebackers and you know when they see those linemen pull they want to go in that direction but they threw back and that'll take a few more people out of the space to to make a play over there six yard pick up second and four pass to the motion man that's wither spoon out of the backfield nice stiff arm there as he's inside the 35 yard line first down phoenix the balance in this offensive attack that we're seeing from drew fomar's crew really bothering ab state on on the i guess the intensity of how to get after the quarterback it seems like every time the apps want to turn up the pressure elon's got the safety valve off to the side i'll tell you what and that's by design and that's why they've been effective and they will be effective in the colonial athletic association and we'll give appalachian a difficult time in this first half until we make adjustments and when i say make adjustments you know what elon's gonna do when you watch tape you know exactly what they're going to do but it's it's kind of you know you get that game speed you kind of get in the flow and it's and get them into the momentum and cadence of the football game with her spoon again with another hard hit on the sideline but leaning right into the contact from demarco jackson mckinley witherspoon the redshirt freshman we touched on the fact that he was from right down the road at high brighton high school had that touchdown late against campbell last week we talked to tony triciani about him said he really runs behind his pants very physical running back and he's bringing that physicality here to the field in the first quarter of action for elon i mean he has 20 rushes for 69 yards and that may not sound like a lot but he does he does a good job when he runs the football and he's able to catch the ball out of the backfield as well first attempt phoenix just outside the red zone trying to even check that second down at five the call but just outside the red zone elon witherspoon slit that time he had an opportunity trey cobb got to him opportunity to go off right guard jabril williams had quite the improvement from week one to week two another redshirt freshman up front for the phoenix out of statesville and if elon's going to have success offensively they're asking young players up front to do the job in the trenches well i will tell you dave those guys up front the young guys kevin burkett jabril williams uh caleb krings they're all freshmen of restaurant freshmen they are answering the call right now because they're doing a good job up front against a very talented appalachian defensive line malik griffin the right side protection back he'll orbit out in motion now as cheek looks for some help after being flushed out of the pocket three jerseys around him somehow he gets that pass away to mckinley witherspoon whose knee was down at the 29-yard line on the reception and that will actually go as a loss of two and force a special team situation for the phoenix they'll bring out skylar davis he's made 13 in a row from inside 40 yards but sits just outside that now this will be what a 46-yarder day 46 yarder for skylar davis two of two from that distance so far this year seven of 13 in his career good snap got plenty a leg on it and puts it through the uprights so skylar davis from 46 yards away puts the elon phoenix on the board an answer from the in-state rival here at kid brewer stadium in boone howard's knob here in boone north carolina with the beautiful north end zone facility at kid brewer stadium in the foreground it is a view unlike any other fans unlike many others you can actually buy those overalls avery hall i don't know if you've got a pair in the closet if they've got a size 4x i'll take it uh and i i i look like some type of bumblebee walking around with with those types of some type of bubble bees but you talk about the north end zone facility that's a 50 million dollar facility that has a barber shop man we had to go to winston-salem to get a haircut when i was here thomas hennigan calls fair catch on the kickoff jalen virgil was kicked away from and you can understand that after another 100-yard kickoff return against miami last week we'll touch more on that as we go throughout the broadcast today the elon phoenix using special teams to their advantage though 46-yard field goal from tyler davis just four yards removed from his career loan a 50 against james madison just a couple of years ago you like the fight in elon and avery they're doing it with time of possession right now 1004-33 so ab state could benefit their defense by having a little bit more methodical drive this time around but and that that favors elon again if you can control the clock and keep this appalachian offense on the sideline and you know uh ta you know again coach coach talked about coach triciana talked about his kids are going to play hard rice with the handoff to peoples and that has stood up right at the line of scrimmage excellent recognition up front by devante chandler the middle linebacker he meets the super senior running back for a loss that's a great play by devonta chandler but i will tell you you know you think about that that play when they walk up to the line chase bryce can run he can change the play when you see eight guys in the box you want to throw the football versus running the run with the rpo and he didn't check out of it bryce has had a good day passing five of his first five make him six for six as he finds virgil on the stutter step to the 25 yard line gets those yards of loss back up state facing a third down at 10 and that this is an area where sean clark wants to see improvement app state was 90th in the country last year and third down and eight or more they have not started their most efficient on third down this year you don't want that to be an achilles heel for a quick strike offense and he was real clear dave he said i want to be 50 or better on third down and you know you look at the left first two ball games he's at a 39 clip they've got to be more effective on third down people shifting in the backfield he'll get the handoff there he goes up the sideline across the 35 first down gain on third and 10. that's a check mark on the clipboard of the mountaineer head coach sean clark he'll he'll take that type of conversion every day all day again but he's got to go to damien daly who's 6-4 295 pounds at that left guard position and anderson hardy uh who's six six two ninety again did a great job of blocking on that side into the first quarter here at the rock seven to three mountaineers leading the elon phoenix in boone you are looking at the family of former head coach of appalachian state the hall of famer jerry moore 215 wins in his tenure as head coach at app state earlier today they unveiled a statue of the former mountaineer leader and national champion out in the jerry moore plaza which is just outside that north end zone facility we showed you just a little bit ago excellent tribute great weekend we'll talk about a few of the stories that were told last night it's part of the dinner to honor coach and his family for all of their accolades here in the black and gold app state trying to get off to a hot start to start this second quarter avery hall the mountaineers left a few opportunities on the board a fumble into the end zone by camp peoples you might see a little bit more spread out score desean davis moves the chains in elon territory as the apps try to get that quick strike offense going again nearing 200 yards for the day you know we talked about making good decisions and and uh actually bryce checked off to a better play again at that particular time they put seven to eight guys in the box so you've got to you know uh go to a uh a passing place a great job of getting it out on the perimeter to desean davis first down to 10 for the mountaineers just beyond midfield virgil on the grab inside and he'll get inside the 45 yard line chase bryce had to be a student of the game that's what frank ponce said about his developing quarterback and avery i think you've got to keep in mind that transfer qb's in don't get that long runway of time to develop with a program you got to come in and hit the ground running it hasn't exactly been easy to do that with covet protocols and just disruption in a normal schedule but bryce still working mechanically as people's gets off to the races he's got the corner to beat over on the sideline tiptoes into the elon boundary at the 28 picks up 15 for him out to your first down good good vision by peoples but but going back to bryce david jackson you know coach coach punch clearly said he didn't just say he had to work on mechanics he said he had to work on mechanics for appalachian's system and what that meant is he he had to kind of virgil trying to try so hard he had to really work on getting his mechanics down uh and and and working on making the right decisions to fit this appalachian rpo and again it takes some time you know there's another guy who's had three different coordinators in three years from from clemson to duke to asu so but but i think you know coach ponce made it made real clear that he's making better decisions and he's doing a much better job managing the offense injured elon phoenix player on the field will take a timeout 13 36 to play in the second four point lead for the mountaineers you probably already knew you could get an auto loan with navy federal credit union but did you know with our fully loaded car buying center you can also get this back to work for ab state leading 7-3 here early second quarter david jackson avery hall with you on this mostly cloudy saturday beautiful conditions here in the high country first time that kid brewer stadium has been filled like this since the sunbelt championship game of 2019 and it was cold that day it wasn't filled like this i can tell you that great to see fans back in the rock as chase bryce tries to give him a little something to work with here on second down to 10. play action look going toward the corner smooth davis there and the pass broken up excellent coverage down the sideline elon's defensive secondary again got that uh benefit of the spring to get some age and they're playing like a veteran group here this afternoon playing very well again good you know use the sideline as that second defender to kind of take it here a little chase drops back he's he's he was focused on the receiver here running this corner out but again just good uh job right there breaking up up the play there by number 24. dylan tucker the freshman out of vance high school in charlotte brings up third down and 10 now for ab state trying to get the corner people still fighting still on his feet a load to bring down the super senior into the sideline inside the 30-yard line to pick up of a couple it'll be decision time here for sean clark and he'll send out the field goal unit chandler staton on for the try he is a perfect three of three on the year 75 nearly his career average up in the top three of the app state annals as far as kick accuracy from 43 yards good snap good leg and he got it staton from 43 and up state extends their lead to 10-3 over the elon phoenix here at kid brewer stadium there is no get off my lawn decree here at kid brewer stadium today that hill end zone seating area packed to the gills more than 30 thousand plus here to see app state build a 10-3 lead over elon early second quarter field goal from chandler staton officially goes down as a 44 yarder he was just a couple of blades of the turf removed from the 33. so a 44 yarder for chandler state to get those points back and avery up states offense 221 yards chase bryce 8 of 10 in the passing game 179 and a touchdown but elon doing some good things in the front seven to bother app state's progression especially in the long passing game you know what like coach bill crocker the defensive coordinator he communicated that you know he said we're going to play hard we're going to try and create havoc up front we want appalachian to earn it we want them to have long drives and i will tell you they're putting seven eight men in the box and what they're doing is this they're saying look we're gonna force chase bryce to beat us past the football and by the way we've got pretty good corners we're gonna play some man and and we're gonna we're gonna make him horizontally versus vertical and that's what they're doing right now here comes davis cheek 11-14 passing only 76 yards again ab state giving elon some of that short passing game and that's what elon says they'll take advantage of they said they'll take what the defense gives you sometimes that sounds like coach speak other times that talks like effective play calling and elon's been able to maintain the time of possession war due to the fact that they've been multiple in their look today jalen thomas with the carry he has been utilized only three times now on the day witherspoon getting the majority of the carries but thomas a five-yard gain up to the 30. you wonder thomas is hurt because again normally he's he's involved in the running game as well as the passing game [Applause] on second and five inside handoff thomas has some room to run across midfield two men to beat and he's pulled down inside app state territory at the 42-yard line there's the burst from the sweet feet of the shifty jalen thomas you look at this that get a good job by the offensive lineman good read by thomas and again good burst after the after the play of getting up field stephen jones with the potential touchdown saving tackle there and jalen thomas now with his third carry gives him 33 yards on the day one carry now he's averaging 11 yards a touch not bad productivity first down to 10 for the phoenix toward the corner bobbled on the sideline and incomplete nick ross in coverage for the black and gold i tell you what you know that was a good throw good protection and uh uh almost you know a good catch there again bob look couldn't hang on to it dave you talk about coach speak you know when you look at the offensive scheme for uh elon when they're running this rpo you know it pretty much it is what it is i mean and you hate to say that that's cliches but you know if you've got a linebacker or safety walking down and they're putting more men in the box you're gonna you're gonna throw the ball if they take folks out of the box you know you're gonna run it so it you know you hate it say it's coach speak but it is what it is you know thomas off the right on second and ten safety valve pass and met in the backfield what a pop by demarco jackson on cortez weeks i tell you what great play by demarco jackson take a look at this not only is he having to cover a running back but then watch this tackle in space great job of breaking down and at least hanging on and making a play i tell you middle linebackers have it tough i'm telling you because again they they've got to go up against 300 pound lineman in the trenches and stop running backs but then they got to be able to cover out there in space five yard loss elon one of four on third down today they've got third and 15 from near midfield see if the apps try to turn up the heat on davis cheek they do and he'll roll out now running for his life pull down demarco jackson again meets his man in the backfield and elon's positive drive snuffed out near midfield i tell you what demarco jackson just has all the attributes of a great linebacker he can run he can tackle in space he has great instincts again an average linebacker wouldn't have made david's cheek slip there david's cheeks cheek saw number 52 looking like a mini ray lewis coming and he said i'm going to get down but demarco jackson again just just fantastic instincts there jeff york on to punt away again thomas hennigan standing just in front of his own 10. freshman ready to boom it away nice tight driving spiral so v log can cover oh that checks up nice for the phoenix inside the 10. they'll get back to it at the 12-yard line elon pedernab stayed back the mountaineers up seven with the ball here midway through the second when we come back [Music] [Applause] at state 10-3 they lead the elon phoenix here kid brewers stadium david jackson avery hall back and avery those lids on the uh the mountaineers today they'll throw back to your days right they're definitely a throwback to my days and that's why i think that's the best looking uniform in all the different uh versions now i'm just kidding they look sharp today and i think because of the recognition of coach jerry moore and his contributions they wanted to kind of show him a little love today by going back to those old helmets jeff york pinning upstate inside the 20 as the mountaineers will try to dig out of a hole and get that offense moving once again chase bryce again in the passing game you just saw the numbers eight of 10. and the mountaineers trying to use some time to maybe balance out time of possession here 1305-715 elon has done a good job of keeping the ball in their possession moving it in short chunks and that app state offense off the field here for the majority of the first half about nine minutes to go until halftime sutton a falling catch on the sideline up to the 28th that's good for a mountaineer first down cory sutton quietly with his third catch for right around 60 yards corey sutton has been very productive had seven catches for 60 yards last week at the miami game and you expect him to have a big game today dj if you look at chase bryce he tries to emulate a clap a couple times before each play but i will tell you what elon's doing they're not buying it they're not going to show what they're doing defensively noelle with the shifty first step but met on the second the elon linebackers converge nick villos in there around the stop belongs a very strong start to his freshman season out of cathedral high school in los angeles part of again that elon linebacking core where you know they are leading tacklers in the fall for these first three games it was the defensive backs that were leading tacklers in the spring and that was part of the problem linebackers have benefited from a little bit of experience and villos has been a big part of that second down and nine bryce across the middle finds sutton again shakes one and gets clobbered over the top of the 43 for a first down game the again great job elon blitz to the right side he rolls back to the left uh to the right on his side great throw to to corey great run after the catch uh corey's got to wrap that football up though that doesn't want to turn that ball over credit trayvon jones the reigning colonial defensive player of the week for sticking with the shifty mountaineer speeds to receiver cory sutton nate noel on first down and 10 trying to go left side and gets stopped for a gain of one again more evidence of that front seven of elon recognizing play formation stopping the run game app state has not been nearly as explosive in that element of the football game as we thought they might be well and it's real clear they're starting off with uh three uh down ryman but they're they're definitely blitzing their their their bandit and their spur that's what they call the outside linebackers and the middle linebacker and again as i shared with you you know chase price is clapping you know faking a clap as you can see there and then he's because he's wanting to see if somebody will walk up but they're not giving him any type of look so that he can determine what they're doing bryce rushed in that throw intended for hennigan on the sideline good pursuit there dj you can do that clap motion or you can you can literally have a receiver go in motion to try and discern what the defense is going to do if they're going to bring the safety walk the safety down or if they're going to blitz a linebacker you can also you do that to try and create a a mismatch or mis catch them out of alignment but but elon's not falling for it they're they're not just they're disguising their defense and they're showing at the very last minute which is causing a few problems up front for appalachia jaden dennis on that pressure of bryce who has third down and nine from his own 44. seven point game here at the rock bryce across the middle a lot of traffic no flag fourth down coming up wow wow christian wells the intended target let's check it again let's take a look at that if you look at the throw look like maybe traffic into one another actually you know again that's not that's not that's not bad again most most dbs are going to have their short arm on that receiver the long arm ready to play the ball between the ball and the quarterback and he just disguised his his hole very very well there xavier sebastian averaging 40 a game the aussie puts his foot into one fair catch called for at the 13-yard line by elon phoenix and we'll see how elon tries to take advantage now once again thwarting appalachian state with good play out of their front seven now you start to look at elon's game plan avery you're seeing a phoenix team that's fairly balanced out of their offensive sets today 105 yards 71 of those in the air 34 on the ground they've been a little bit more productive on the ground recently is this time if you've been baiting something to try to hit the home run ball if you're elon and try to get back in the football game from that perspective you know what i'll be candid the dj right now elon feels like they're in a great situation with 10-3 here at kid brewer stadium 6 41 to go in the in the second half they're kind of controlling the tempo uh think about it they you know they're they're they're happy to be here they're controlling the time of possession they're keeping appalachia's offense on the sideline the defense is playing well enough to keep them in it i mean they they actually feel good about where they are right now jalen thomas into td roof's grasp gain of one thomas on the day four carries 34 yards almost all of the elon rushing attack especially here in the second quarter second down and nine davis cheeks used play action effectively at times today and now is that our first penalty that we have seen on the elon offense today again they came out tied into the wide side of the field they even motioned back to the wide side of field again appalachian shifted the defense to that side but again the tight end got a little excited there and i guess he was ready to curate that contain that wall there to give us back a shot to the sideline to the perimeter but uh false start there by by elon talking with drew fulmar he said you know elon out gained their first two opponents in wofford and campbell this year but it was unforced errors that kept points off the board you look at elon they've got the fourth best offense in the colonial to start the year but the seventh best scoring offense well he talked a lot about those mental errors those pre-snap penalties that were killing them in the first two ball games that makes second and 14 now this cheek goes across the middle and he's got a target that's a first down catch phoenix move the chains again as bryson daltry makes the grab bryson daltry six foot 194 junior out of charlotte uh berry academy that was just a good good uh inside route uh good throw by davis you know uh when we're talking to coach farmer he said uh davis cheek he said he he's he's the complete package and he was talking about his mental toughness his competitiveness competitiveness and he was talking about his decision-making and he's showing some good decision-making and showing a lot of competitiveness in this ball game thus far jalen thomas has set back on first down at 10. and now another whistle and stoppage of play and another unforced error against the phoenix now you look at the way that that davis cheek has played today it kind of fits the mo of the description we were given not flashy just kind of gets it done you're not seeing somebody utilize athleticism to to make the the the skill set work it's more of a hey you know i'm just gonna be tough be physical and and take what's given to me and make the best of it you know again they said he was a very a good competitor they said he was intelligent he said he has the it factor and we're like what does it factor mean he talked about what he gets and he watches film he watches video you know and he just he just comes to work and he does the very very ordinary things in an extraordinary way and you just kind of seen that now now some of these pre-snap penalties here dj you know they they're young up front and you know even though they've got a junior center maybe there's a lack of communication you know we are playing in front of a large crowd here today and maybe that's contributes to it but but this is something he wanted to avoid when coach farmer was talking to us large crowd that's eerily silent right now in a seven point game nearing halftime you know it's not caused by noise if you can actually hear the whistle [Applause] cheek with the handoff thomas with a stiff arm but the pile catches up with him demarco jackson who's that quite the second quarter meets thomas on the second effort you know we keep talking about too how young this this elon offensive line is but uh i mean they average six three 313 pounds across the front so they're young but they're big and they and again they did play in the spring got their feet wet but they're not these guys you know a lot of times you bring in smaller guys and you have to develop them these guys came in big and they just need to get refined i guess but they're big up front second and 21 after all the false starts five wide across the middle and some of those yards coming back to the phoenix avery jones on the catch that'll get us inside the initial sticks bring up third down and eight davey jones ran a pretty good slant route there and uh good good throw by davis cheek but but good good slant route getting inside getting good position separating from the db it's eight different receivers that have caught footballs for elon today rolling inside three minutes big third down conversion opportunity for the phoenix they're just one of five on third down today upstate turning up the heat good protection and a first down catch as elon keeps the drive alive that's jordan bonner on the grab right on the midfield stripe first of all great protection up front by elon now now we the appalachian state only rushed four down linemen so they put eight guys in the secondary so really great job by jordan bunner finding a a seam or gap in that zone coverage again and just coming back to the football giving giving davis cheek a big target there sixth play of the drive as chief goes to work toward the sideline and the rolling catch by jackson parham picks up five yards on first down you know uh coming into this football game you knew elon would throw the football and you kind of said well what's gonna you know when the rubber meets the road when it comes to asu's tough secondary steven jones sean jolly you know what what's going to give right now elon's kind of having their way with this asu defense in the secondary again it could change you know but but right now they have the positive momentum all but 10 of their plays in the passing game 16 of 20 davis cheek 122 so far in the air as he barks out the second down to five call from the 49 of ab state territory cheek with plenty of time to throw short arm that one did parham get down to it they'll say no incomplete bring it back you know davis cheek shows a lot of poise in the pocket you know he takes his time whether the uh the read is is uh short to to long or long to short he just does a good job with his reach he tried to trap it tried to trap it that's an art form on turf when those little pellets pop up they don't lie the pellets don't lie they'll tell you every time the eye in the sky and pellets pretty much done if both of them disagree with you third down at six big play for the upstate defense they try to wrestle momentum back in this football game with a seven point lead five wide for cheek again plenty of time to throw pass bad it away across the middle nick hampton gets to it at just the right time to keep that from being another first down grab i tell you what good job by nick hampton running with a really speedy bryson daltrey who's the wide receiver that's an outside linebacker running with a wide receiver so that tells you nick hampton's speed uh appalachian rushing three and uh dave you know when they go in and look at video in halftime they may want to change that strategy to put a little more pressure on davis cheek he has too much time to throw right now three punts today for jeff york all inside the 20 freshman playing well helping elon with field position battle ab states had a couple deep fields to work with spinner this time picked up on the bounce and hennigan quickly thwarted at the 10-yard line so ab state with 135 full complement of timeout seven point lead avery hell how aggressive are you here you know what david jackson it's a minute and 35. uh you're only up by seven against fcs opponent uh i think i mean you know you're deep in your territory so the the coach coaching manual says to play it conservative but i think i'll be aggressive and try and put some points on the board here kind of interesting the juxtaposition of last week where sean clark had the opportunity for a drive late in the second quarter and elected not to put the the foot on the gas because he wanted to make sure that his team had the lead going into the break felt like that was the right thing for the program at the time and he kind of defended that in his press conference on monday saying look we know we had time outs we know we had the ball but we wanted to be smart on the road see if that strategy changes at all at home nate noel could change it with one run shakes off a tackler across the 25. quick burst in the run game for a mountaineer first down and again dave the coaching manual when you're deep in your territory because you don't want to throw the ball around because you could have an intercept and take it back for a touchdown the coaching manual tells you to play it conservative but sometimes you got to be aggressive and they're being aggressive with the run right now noel another corner away from breaking a long run this is where you pick up your tempo too you know you can you can be aggressive in in play calling or you can be aggressive in the in the tempo if you pick your tempo up maybe you can wear this elon defense down in the next minute and five and run the football effectively and try and score perhaps state has what are called fastballs those quick burst plays after big plays to catch defenses off guard now chase bryce showing the wheels going up and over for the first down gain at the 42. good good job i see i've not really seen chase bryce run the football but he's a good athlete again good job nothing there don't throw it into double coverage and just get as much as you can again manage the game you go back and look at the development at one point in time chase bryce and trevor lawrence were battling for a starting position at quarterback at clemson and bryce was thought to be someone that could impact the game from the uh from the the wheels perspective and travel or trevor lawrence ended up okay i tell you what he's doing pretty well he's done very well but bryce was somebody that you know initially as he transferred out to duke was thought to maybe go to georgia he went to duke didn't work out the way he saw it he said it wasn't the right fit for him at duke went shopping again in that transfer portal which he said is in to quote him in his own words no joke right but they're especially with all of the covid uh uh transfers and rule changing super seniors and all of that and that's that also speaks a lot about appalachian appalachia had six four fourteen uh super seniors and you know these guys could have gone see the penalty here it's marshall lewis yeah they had 14 super seniors and they could have gone in the transfer portal but they decided to stay here so that says a lot about appalachia's culture and uh and i'm gonna tell you chase bryce was good in high school he played at grayson and george grayson high school in georgia he was very you know productive there then of course had had some success at clemson everybody talks about the syracuse game and how he stood out and won that football game for clemson uh but like you mentioned which is strange because you know david cutcliff is known for for mentoring and developing quarterbacks but for some reason it just didn't work out at duke uh but i will tell you there's not a better coach right now than you know that can help mentor and develop him than frank punts you know you look at what frank punts did with taylor lamb who threw for 9 000 yards rushed with 2 look what he did with zach thomas what he did with cam bryant who who had a 71 completion percentage if anybody can can you know get chase going in the right direction uh it's frank punts and and so he's in a good situation uh but but again it's still early he's still got to work out some of the the work through some of the rust and and learn the mechanics of as coach frank punch says the mechanics of asu's system frank potts mentoring you mentioned taylor lam who's an offensive coordinator now himself and a gardner-webb at the fcs level 52 seconds to play in this opening half first and ten half state on 41-yard line bryce quick slant over on the sideline hennigan with the grab and a seven yard pickup gets out of bounds that'll stop the clock good job of uh pitch and catch by bryce and hennigan and good job opinion i mean he didn't have a choice got tagged and got knocked out of bounds but getting out of bounds and stopping the squad two grabs for 12 yards for hannigan on the day five different receivers for bryce as we see an injured elon player down in the app state backfield that is torence williams the redshirt junior out of burlington williams high school i tell you he's been a very effective player for them six to 290 pounds played at williams which is a story program in north carolina but uh they're gonna miss his presence if he can't come back in the game because they got a red shirt freshman bar vlad field who plays behind him the timeout on the field will give elon a chance to huddle briefly as ab state sits two yards removed from midfield trying to extend a seven point lead coming up at halftime we'll talk to ab state men's basketball coach dustin kearns he took the mountaineers to the ncaa tournament for just the third time in program history we'll get an update on what's going on in the fall for coach kearns in the mountaineer basketball team here in just a few minutes noel on second and three has the first down and more into elon territory clock stops to move the chains with 42 seconds to play until halftime twins to both sides yeah spread out that defense good read by chase check into a run play good run by by nate noel [Applause] that's noel's eighth carry of the day and now a whistle and a stoppage it's like a false start up front by half state very few penalties in this game today knock on wood well very few but they've been kind of they've been momentum stolen there's four or five here in the last i guess six minutes of this quarter between both teams pretty clean football game up until about like i said about two or three minutes ago i tell you what you know i'm not sure how the appalachian fans will respond to you know a conservative drive because i'm sure most folks would have probably thought this team would be ahead by more than seven at this point but i will tell you this is a very good uh elon football team and i will tell you they're going to play well in the colonial athletic association and and having a game like this will help them uh and you know dave when you think about the colonial athletic association man just in their southern division they've got to play richmond they've got to play james madison they got to play william and mary they got maine on the schedule they've got new hampshire on their schedule these are all teams that appalachian fans are familiar with uh and they're very tough opponents that that's a brutal schedule when you think about what elon has to do in the fcs and lee uh league play begins for the phoenix next week they'll be hosting william marriott road stadium before back-to-back games on the road against richmond and maine and you're right i mean colonial has has put just about the whole field in the playoffs for years and that's always one of the knocks from the southern conference teams and elon trying to get right back in that mix some think the colonial could have as many as five playoff teams in a 2014 field this year jase bryce trying to get some of those penalty yards back finds corey sutton who's spins to a stop at the 47. app state with one timeout left 23 seconds to go until halftime not a whole lot of pep in their step right here i tell you that was a well-designed play by appalachian but i'm telling you uh elon is just hustling to the football big big john johnson got out there and made a play there bryce finds malik williams again he's been the answer man for the black and gold inside the 30. clock stops to move the chains with six seconds left see if you go clock play try to get one more shot and take a timeout or instead app state will take the time out now and set up for what would be a half ending field goal attempt chandler stayton good from 43 already today his long is 53. how about malik williams here in the first half avery hall you talk about all this firepower that app state has sometimes malik williams gets a little bit underappreciated but three catches 117 yards and a touchdown malik williams has been a big target for the black and gold as he continues to move up the career yardage ladder himself he has definitely stood out over the last couple ball games but think about this dj you're absolutely right i mean you think about the super senior wide receiving core of thomas hennigan corey sutton malik williams and jalen virgil they combined for 516 catches 600 6795 yards and 57 touchdowns and and everybody talks a lot about hannigan everybody talks a lot about virgil because of his kickoff returns and his multiple ways of scoring people talk about corey sutton but malik williams has been very productive the last few years for us 45-yard field goal attempt from right in the middle of the field [Applause] howell's hold down kick good with one second to play until halftime staton's leg a good one today from 45 of the mountaineers extend to their largest lead to the ball game at 13-3 right here before halftime that'll get the fans moving a little bit as you see chase bryce on the mountaineer sideline 13 of 17 in the passing game 232 yards and a touchdown that's got the hometown crowd excited heading into the break as the apps polish off an eight-play 62-yard drive only took a minute and 34 seconds off this late second quarter clock dj you and i were talking before the game and we were just having shop talk and we were talking about we thought it'd be a close football game in the first half because elon would be playing inspired football but it'll be interesting to see if tristiani can keep his guys motivated and playing inspired football uh and it'll be you know to see if coach clark can say to his guys look we have not started as fast as we would like we need to go back out in this second half and be authoritative on offense and defense it will be interesting to see which leader prevails in motivating their troops in the second half two of app state scoring drives in this first half have been right around 90 seconds in length app with only 11 minutes and 48 seconds of clock time total as you see the squib kick lead to a scrum on the field and the final play of the half will see the elon phoenix gobble it up and trail by 10. 13-3 mountaineers on top of the phoenix here at the rock the kid brewer stadium opener from boone [Music] 10 point lead for app state over elon halftime here at kid brewers stadium david jackson avery hall with you as we take a look at some first-half statistics abstain like we mentioned they have not left that offense in park so far today 317 yards of total offense and avery we see the play of chase bryce here today 13 of 17 in the passing game 232 yards and uh he was finding his weapons early on in the first half he's finding his weapons and again you know you see that 13 for 17 but many of those throws were horizontal in nature and so the receivers did a lot got a lot of yak after the catch or you look at the bright spot in the receiving core david malik williams is having a stand-up ball game again three targets three catches 117 yards and that's that's been the majority of bryce's production but definitely wants to see if he can go more vertical in the second half elon phoenix couldn't get away from demarco jackson there but they've had some moments here as well from an offensive standpoint 156 total but it's been the time of possession that they've really been able to work out you see the mountaineers going to the ground game toward the end of the second quarter nate noel the leading rusher for the black and gold seven carries 42 yards helped chew up some field position to get that final field goal right before halftime 13-3 our score here at the break kid brewer stadium has been electric today we'll see what lies in store for the second half 10 point lead perhaps state over elon at halftime 13-3 the score at halftime app state up by 10 you're looking over the beautiful landscape that is kid brewer stadium one of the finest places to watch a college football game in the country new look with the new north end zone facility but that's the same old boon right behind you there with howard's knob and elk knob out the background just a gorgeous atmosphere and a gorgeous day for football here in the high country avery hall as you greyed out chase bryce in this first half of play 13 of 17 in the passing game 232 yards from a decision-making standpoint tempo standpoint what do you think you know chase is managing the football game he's managing the football game well again no poor decisions we don't we don't see any you know ints we don't see any turnovers uh no sacks so he's managing the football game but what you'd like for him to do is be more aggressive in his play calling you know coach clark talked about the fastballs and you know going with the initial play and being more aggressive on the play caller obviously he he's managing the game by being very conservative i'm sure the appalachian faithful would like for him to be more aggressive and when i say be more aggressive you know if he's reading uh short to to to long down the field or from long to short whichever way he's reading his reading progression is going he's got to be more aggressive and get the ball down the field so oh go ahead they'd also like for him to you know take a few more chances but again he's managing the football game well based on the statistics so you look at the way that elon has put themselves in position down 10. what do the phoenix need to do to take advantage of the position they're in now you know what uh coach triciani said it best when we talked to him this week elon right now just needs to stay in the moment he said stay in the moment because he said this is a football game and these the elon players right now they're playing like this is a a football game and uh they are playing very very well and uh you know they they want to keep putting pressure on appalachian relative to time of possession they want to keep the you know the clock running because again with the point spread this is a respectable ball game uh appalachian is the one that's gonna lead if this game ended at 13-3 appalachian would be the one leaving the field saying gosh we we didn't play well we didn't perform well today so elon's in a great position right now they just got to have to stay in the moment realize it's a football game and hey look you know coach clark said it too dj you know eight fcs schools have beaten fbs schools this year already so they know that so just stay in the moment is all they have to do sean clark went as far as to say that 1994 vmi will not happen here and that is an obvious throwback to an app state team that was poised to win a southern conference championship on this field they had the trophy sitting on the porch of old owens field house thomas haskins came up here and had other ideas bmi boat races at state they miss out on the socon championship have to go on the road for the playoffs that year but sean clark was on that team and remembers what that moment felt like and i think as a player you know when you haven't necessarily answered that was one of the first things he talked about dj he said i remember that 0-10 vmi team that had lost 49-00 to georgia southern 58-15 to citadel and they came in here and beat us 26-23 in overtime in 1994 so he he knows what's at stake here jalen virgil won a three in the country that's had an opportunity to return a hundred yarder this year they've kicked away from him twice it's hennigan again and hennigan getting loose up the sideline across the 35-yard line so upstate with decent field position to start their first drive they'll mark them at what looks to be the 39. looks like we got a little little fist of cuffs going on on the sideline over there dj well there are enough of these folks that have grown up around each other you got to expect they're going to talk about old family members stomping grounds something hey listen you got a lot of like rivalries in between rivalries butler mallet creek represent on both sides you know williams cummings but represent on both sides i mean you've got a bunch of north carolina north carolinian football players on the field and they they know about the rivalry and plus the the other rivals with their high schools marcia lewis here [Applause] an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty comes at the wrong time and i tell you what if you're tony triciani coming out of the locker room and saying whatever he just said to see uh unsportsmanlike after a long kickoff return that is double negative to start this second half the double negative particularly when it when it's so far removed away from the play the play had ended 20 seconds uh you know before that so that's that's why it's disheartening for coach triciani so let's see how app state capitalizes on even better field position they are in elon territory to start this second half of play up 10 at home and now a false start penalty neither one of these teams exactly crisp to start the second half you know it's interesting uh both teams started the football game first quarter and halfway through the football game very crisp not a lot of middle mistakes a lot about encroachment not all sides clipping or whatever but the last half of the second quarter and of course start of the third quarter they've been really really messy it's our fault we brought it up we jinxed it we touched them all right take two first and fifteen for bryce with peoples in his backfield cam picks up a block long pass down the field hennigan just overthrown good coverage down the sideline there as well that had to be a touch pass and it was right on time trayvon jones again the reigning colonial defensive player of the week step for step with hennigan i tell you trevon jones is as good as they come i mean he's an athlete uh does well on a kickoff return pun return just an athlete but does a great job covering him he actually slows hennigan down now i think that you know bryce has to take a little bit off that throw because you know if you look at the miami game he missed corey sutton in the same manner in the miami game so he's got to take a little bit off that throw but he but he has a strong arm but he's got to take a little bit off that throw trayvon jones two takeaways last week upstate throwing right out of here's people's pushing his blockers back across midfield to the elon 49 that picks up nearly all the penalty yardage except third down and long we'll call it 10 and a half from right on the midfield stripe here to open up third quarter play this falls right into coach bill crocker's wheelhouse for the the defensive coordinator of elon he said listen we want to keep appalachian in third along and for us to do that we've got to play well on first down and second down but fortunately he was aided by penalty by appalachian on this drive one of four upstate on third down in the first half bryce with plenty of time good protection there sideline route in the past caught by malik williams not enough for the first down though as williams came back to the football and is marked out at the 43. and now there's another flag on the field as well if this is in the vicinity of roughing the passer maybe i don't know no this is going to be against appalachian it looks like uh looks like it's gonna be a personal foul on appalachian uh but i will tell you dj going back to that last play you know it's third in in in to wilkesboro which is about 30 miles from here folks uh and the folks are watching on the set here but why does a receiver not run a deep enough route to get the first down you make that catch you still have a first down we got to do a better job of that recognition as well now elon will forego the penalty bring up fourth down and now app state will have to punt so after having opening field position on the 48-yard line the apps stay right there and do not advance the ball further forward that will bring xavier sabatch out for his second effort of the ball game has he's been very productive he's been averaging almost 42 yards per point and he's been doing that for a few years for appalachian he was right on that 42-yard marker one inside the 20 in the first half he's got another opportunity to do so and we'll do it pins elon at the five yard line scooting down there in coverage kristen johnstone how about your long snapper working down the field to pin the opponent inside the five-yard line good deal i mean that's excellent special teams play great great punt by sabots there again and he's been doing that consistently and you know everybody talks about our super seniors we had three super seniors come back on the uh on the special team side so just a bunch of super seniors on this appalachian football team but dave you know we keep talking about super seniors we were talking to elon they've got a bunch of super seniors i think if you go around the country you're going to find that a lot of schools have super seniors so it's an offset for a lot of people tony triciani talking about how that's going to be a trend it's not like the super seniors just go away after this year everybody with a bonus year from last year will be given that opportunity as we see dj moyer take the first hand off of the third quarter for elon and his drop for a loss of about a yard and the app to actually about two yards in the upstate backfield td roof again making a big play there again td roof has just been a beast the last couple ball games getting in the backfield and that's one of those havoc plays you know havoc play is a play where it's a tackle for a loss or sack and again ruth coming from his outside linebacker position just getting in the backfield making the play great job third tackle in the game for roof two of them for loss jalen thomas the setback he'll take the handoff and try to get off right guard again across the yard line back up to the six this is kind of treadwater territory for elon dangerous field position especially with an app state defensive front that can really put the pressure on the dangerous field i mean field position anytime you're in in your opponents inside the 10 or inside the 20 you really don't want to throw the football because again you know couple two bad things can happen incomplete plus an interception and so you want to call it conservatively but i i surmise they'll run another running play here and be punting the football to appalachia but they no you got to back out the backfield so they may throw it to the to the perimeter that's thomas moving out wide to the bottom of your screen pressure's coming heat across the middle and the pass is caught but short of the first down gain that's daltry again on the grab give him the 13-yard line had to get to the 15 so that'll bring up fourth down it's short and elon will have to punt out of their own territory pretty deep at that actually good good good call by davis cheek on that play dj again the safety everybody came they glitched and he threw to the area where the where the blitzers were coming from and if he could have shaken a tackle he could have still been running jeff york an opportunity to uncork one here all-state punter in high school second best weekend in the c.a.a to start the season with his effort against wofford from his own goal line spiraling kick hannigan thought about it for a moment and will instead go fair catch and have state will have another possession when we come back from the timeout no movement here 10-point lead for the black and gold back to kid brewers stadium david jackson avery hall with your 13-3 app state in front by 10. you see bear hunter there captain's doing what captains do trying to get the troops fired up a little bit as the upstate chant comes from a crowd that has been largely silent this afternoon elon has kept the tempo of this game and the momentum of this game on their sideline and this ruckus crowd at the rock hasn't been able to explode too many times since the long malik williams touchdown elon has kind of kept things in check and now a pass down the far sideline and a nice circus catch by jalen virgil inside the 30 let's check it again good job good protection front bryce goodread taking his time throwing the football back shoulder great job of coming back to the football by jalen virgil hanging on to the football and possessing it awesome job trayvon jones got back to him in a hurry trying to dislodge that football first and 10 mountaineers little shoulder fake going toward the corner sutton throwing to the ground and here comes the flag much to the chagrin of the elon defensive backfield i tell you what you know he's upset shirmari wingard the freshman uh cornerback but that that was pass interference and that was a late call and they can say the ball was not catchable but it wasn't catchable because of the the db pushing the receiver if you take a look at this they're running down the field the he pushes the guy down so obviously he cannot get to the football because of the push and i know uh shimar shimari wingard is not happy about that but young man that's that's a pass interference and pop warner football so first and ten ab state inside the red zone and an official red zone trip for the first time today it's it's it it's good that asu's getting into the red zone again zero opportunities in the red zone in the first half and this is where you want to make hay and and be very productive and and not just getting a field goal but scoring a touchdown that's it's a good thing that either neither team has been in the red zone scott hanson would be bored out of his mind right now well they're gonna back it up five yards the whole left side of our of the offensive line uh moved anderson hardy damian daley those guys uh were in a hurry to to try and knock elon off the ball there have been nine penalties now in the game i believe if my count is right this is the fifth all-star penalty combined against both teams and that's all come very recently as you mentioned earlier here kind of slow start to this third quarter app state in the red zone still in the red zone after the penalty trying to punch one in here against elon again you look back to that first quarter fumble into the end zone by corey sutton kept points off the board on app state's opening drive it was a crisp one but points don't count if you don't score them and that's where we see this game still stuck in a 10-point margin and maybe these guys are excited i mean they're playing at home in front of a big crowd again it's been 651 days since we've had a crowd here at kid brewer stadium so maybe maybe we can blame it on nerves uh dj but again the false starts you you know that is it's plausible for elon's offensive line when you've got four freshmen on the front on the front the line but on asu's offensive line where you've got a couple juniors uh and really a senior leading the call in the play call at center you really don't want to see any false starts nate noel on the carry for three yards brought down by marcus hillman brings up second down and 13. upstate settled for one field goal just outside the red zone actually a pair of them today over toward the sideline another catch by christian wells or check that mike evans the tight end first throw to a tight end today and that'll bring the mountaineers back within the sticks bring a third down to nine that was good good job by uh mike evans because he actually lined up in the in the slot and looked as if he was going to go block and then cut did the uh short end route across the field and a good throw by davis cheek as well i'm sorry not the district by chase bryce well the protection on third down to nine ball at the elon 12. big opportunity here noel trying to get the corner turning back inside and gobbled up on the sideline short of the six yard line also short of the first down marker you know uh this three three five defense i'm starting to buy into it a little bit and i say buy into it a little bit dj because really you have uh you have four safeties on the field going forward on fourth down here fourth and four noelle up the middle stutter steps first down gain to the two if the mark is the two or inside the three it should be enough for a mountaineer first down the line to gain was to the near side of the three-yard line and he got it just across enough they may bring the chains out for this one but i think noel should have the first down on the spot i think that's going to be a first down and if he didn't lose his footing there he he would probably we've gotten into the end zone i think things are getting a little antsy going forward for fourth and uh fourth and four inside the ten you know what the expectations are higher and coach clark is i mean you know he he's feisty when it comes to being aggressive and wanting to win and be successful it's an old lineman as a head coach you think he's going to get too blue you need to do it that's that blue collar mentality he expects his guys to be able to get four yards in a situation like that ab state now two of four on third down or rather on fourth down conversions this year so that'll bring up first and goal from the elon iii now i was talking about elon's 335 you know people are probably surprised at the speed because you know that previous play before the fourth down play they chased noel down but keep in mind they got five defensive backs on the field and really four safeties tight end on either side of bryce henry pearson over on the left the handoff goes to noel and he's wrestled to the turf again trey alls brooks on the stop just shy of the two you know a lot of appalachian fans probably say well you know uh noel's running the ball now what happened to uh cam peoples you know talking with coach frank punt's office coordinator he said listen there's no right rotation in how we we put the backs in we all we want are fresh legs and we want fresh legs because we don't want a guy turning the football over because he's tired so again that's how he he rotates his backs noel up the gut again stops shy at the one yard line pile of phoenix defenders in there bring up third down and goal from the one and a half app state has converted a fourth and four on this drive inside the 15-yard line bring that up about the backs you know dj you're in the red zone you're on the two or three yard line you say it you want a six two two hundred twenty pound back in there versus a five ten hundred ninety pound back but again he right now noel must have the fresh legs plus he runs bigger than 510 190 i'm telling him he runs much bigger than that ready to go on the handoff fake it's bryce across touchdown upstate [Applause] chase price with the qb sneak it's the footwork of the mountaineer signal caller that gets abstained into the end zone for the second time today chase does a good job of reading the defensive end as well as a outside linebacker on that side they both decide to go inside good job by good read by chase there stating on for the p-a-t and a little breathing room for ab state trying to go up 17 here at the rock b.a.t is good chase bryce good at finishing off the drive take a look dingy territory here defensive end comes inside outside linebacker overruns it a little bit but just good decision by chase to take it in and put it in the end zone 20-3 upstate leading the phoenix at the rock [Music] [Applause] north carolina's band of distinction getting to play after the touchdown run seven play 55 yard drive 308 off this third quarter clock chase bryce in to the end zone from one yard out bryce has thrown for one rushed for one and app state badly needed a touchdown on that drive avery hall to try to feel a little distance here in this now 17 point game not not a perfect drive but it was an effective drive we scored so so appalachian has something to kind of build some momentum elon returned by moyer out to the 24 yard line so now we'll see what kind of answer davis cheek has when you're down 17 you might not be able to play the short passing game that elon has played so effectively so if the phoenix are going to try to stretch the field how are they best positioned to do so i tell you what their best position to kind of do what they've been doing davis cheek has had a lot of time to sit back in the pocket and go through all of his reads and he's making good decisions but but but dave it's not really what what elon should i think is what appalachia should do i think they should start putting a lot of pressure on on uh david's cheek i'm not saying exotic blitzes but put more pressure on him to make him get a little rattled and make him uncomfortable in the pocket because right now he has ample amount of time and he's doing a great job of finding the right receivers timeout taken by elon as the phoenix got lined up and thought better of their opportunity here so the phoenix take the time out that will stop play with 8 24 to go here in the third quarter tight turn around for upstate as they will get ready to face the marshall thundering herd in here it's kind of like rivalry week all of a sudden you bring an old soconfo and elon avery hall you remember what it was like to play against marshall my god i get chill bumps thinking about it marshall back in the day had had very good football teams you know they were like furman as a thorn in appalachian side we would beat marshall matter of fact i only lost one time to marshall in my four years david jackson but they won two national titles during that time so they they were like a thorn in our side it was always a competitive football game they always had pretty good well not pretty good they had always had great athletes skill positions big guys up front uh and it's just gonna be they're they're from west virginia it's gonna be a blue collar type football game and uh a lot of their fans still remember the rivalry our fans remember the rivalry so next thursday night should be special in boone here 7 30 kickoff on the mothership little flea flicker action here comes pressure taylor nearly gets him on the sideline as he chases him out of bounds that's davis cheek running for his life after trey cobb whiffed on him demetrius taylor was closing in on him on the fleet flicker i tell you what uh david's cheek showed a little more speed than i anticipated uh trey trey cobb was on if you take a look at this he you know little trick play here creek cheek tries to roll out cobb is not slow so so so chick showed a little speed there he's six three 217 pounds and showed a little mobility there all that running for one yard call it second down and nine twin receivers toward the left it's a right side pass and a curl route caught and then some after the fact down the sideline and finally pushed out of bounds by nick ross that's a big gain for the elon phoenix jackson parham stretching the field i take good throw by chief good job of using the ref as interference you really can't see the ref but the player felt the refs presence and so he he slowed down but good good job by the receiver there 44 yards to parham for the first down jackson parham now with five catches for 83 yards cheek having to throw out of bounds a little bit more pressure that time as demetrius taylor got into the screen there brings up second down at 10. i tell you a great way to respond by elon asu comes out scores takes it up to 23. this is a very very effective drive by elon a great way to respond we talked about stretching the field parham has been the top target so far today that's eight targets he's had five catches for 83 yards run play up the middle doesn't go anywhere so now elon with third down and 10. zab states middle of that defense anchored today by demarco jackson has been a little bit tougher to move in between the tackles i tell you what uh that was just a good play by uh the demarco jackson again up to making a great play in in stuffing the offensive line and then putting stuff in the back in the hole but he also respected the run because they had thrown two plays which would have you know kept kind of had his mind thinking pass again but he did a good instinctive job by playing the run only 37 rushing yards today by the phoenix 210 total that's 173 in the air for davis cheek on 18 of 25 passing did we miss something the penalty against ab state that will actually make this second down and five so the mountaineers with an opportunity on third and long defense now will defend second down and five from just outside the 25-yard line new life for davis cheeking company play action pass caught inside the 10 first down phoenix that's cortez weeks on the grab inside the mountaineer ted 10 yard line of weeks makes his fourth catch of the day i tell you cortez wigs has had coming into the ball this ball game over 12 catches so he's been very active and he does a great job of separating from defenders and finding a seam in that that zone coverage there did blitz the outside linebacker on that side but still too much too much open area on that far right side for uh weeks there and weeks is a bit shaken up on the sidelines so that'll stop play here and give these two two teams a chance to get this chess match moving you know uh dj when you watch davis cheek throw the football around you know he's 445 yards well he was 445 yards away from uh moving into second place on elon's program history's uh career passing chart but to put things in proper perspective he'll move into second place pretty soon in a couple ball games but he'll have to get 13 000 yards to catch scott riddle don't think it's happened at elon and and you know uh davis cheek has had a productive career at 6 000 yards throwing the football but he'd have to get 13 000 to pass the number one guy a couple of playoff opportunities just like scott riddle those were some of the more decorated postseason quarterbacks in elon history for sure weeks out cheek play action looking for the tight end and overthrows donovan williams in the seam second down coming up second and goal from the nine cortez weeks going out gives elon fans a moment's pause injuries were such a problem in the spring you hate to see a guy like weeks the senior out of west road and high school down in mount ulla you don't want to see a senior that can have the impact that weeks has shown today most of 2020 with an injury as well as offensive line another fake stretch play in the ball picked off picked off for the end zone by the black and gold td roof coming out with it roof with a convoy down the sideline as he crosses midfield flag on the play as roof is still in space to the 10 yard line mountaineers reverse field but hold everything there's a flag back at the 50. the turnover should likely stand as td roof cements his imprint on this mountaineer defense i tell you what there's is that david's cheek down i can't see on the far sideline oh no that's an offensive lineman an offensive lineman okay i can't really see people have huddled around them but where that flag was thrown there's going to probably be a block in the back or something on the return team the roof's interception should stand as cheek tried to go across the middle on the play fake and t.d roof caught the deflection and took it back his first turnover of the year and i tell you what the senior with a little bit of burst oh yeah but you know like an endurance runner don't don't match up on him in a 5k he's going to go to the sideline and ask for some oxygen though and he's going to hope and pray that appalachian sustains a try here's [Applause] wow that was on elon wow let's take a look at this man wow uh it looks like uh davis tried he had a he had a wide open receiver if you take a look at it wide open threw it behind him a little bit which allowed td roof to pick it off a little tip drill volleyball drill and uh look there again if he had thrown a little ahead of the receiver it would have been a touchdown and that's that's why they say football is a game of inches you throw that football a little further in in front of the receiver it's a touchdown but behind him appalachia's on the five yard line going in after an int tell you dante small threw a couple of blocks on that return back to spring td roof three roofs had a big day couple tackles for loss an interception and an official return of 90 yards and then tack on the five he was about four yards deep in the end zone as you see ab states turnover prowess 103 interceptions since 2015. i think that makes it 104 going into because it was 103 after last week and all fake to peoples it's bryce on the move to the one-yard line i tell you what the qb runs one and he wants another one i tell you what well and you know what that's taking what the defense gives you again you he's reading either the defensive end or he's reading that walk down safety and that's just taking what the defensive end gives you if he comes down and crashes on the back you keep it and uh if he doesn't you give it to the running back that rpo is as we make it we over engineer sometimes it is pretty simple caleb spurling at that fullback spot people's runs right behind him and into the end zone touchdown black and gold cam people's into the end zone for the first time today and the mountaineers starting to spread this thing out here at the rock tell you what nice run you know he reminds me of a of a eric dickerson type run again when he runs the football he runs high but he runs powerful and he keeps his eye eyes up on the defender and does a good job of cutting and making people miss 18th career touchdown on the ground for people's his fourth rushing score of the year state and on for the p.a.t [Applause] and the mountaineers point after away from a 24-point lead kick on its way staton remains perfect let's check cam people's running on the train tracks again just nice nice read there good good job bye did you see caleb sperlin making a good block sperlin clearing the way for a 27-3 lead at the rock camp peoples into the end zone for the fourth time sunbelt's leading rusher third in scoring heading into the weekend he finds paydirt for the fourth time this year mountaineers lead 27-3 at the rock david jackson avery hall back with you is elon phoenix and dj moyer will try to bring it out lawyers got some real estate if he can get to the corner at the 20-yard line and that real estate heads up on it pretty fast what were they flying tackling attempt there of jordan hillig he went end over in like he was summer salting at the end of a triple jump you know that that was called you know i slowed down a little bit because i thought he was gonna be tackled now i better kind of turn on the burners but uh you got a kicking net over there to deal with as well you know i cringed when i saw him bring that out of the end zone but he made it he made it very productive we got an injured elon player down that is louis duarte redshirt freshman out of dudley high school down in greensboro the the temperature has cooled off here a little rainbow here over kid brewer stadium it is raining like on the other side of campus we can see it from here if you're at the plymouth student union right now you're getting soaked here at the rock it's dry for the women it looks like the pot of gold is at the plymouth student union it could be at the end of the rainbow there is an atm over there i don't know i don't know if that's where the rainbow is pointing to but that's a beautiful rainbow we've had a few of those here i remember the montana game back in 2012. that was one of th that's the famous rainbow game there are a ton of pictures that are circulating around from that contest marie freeman had one of the best ones do you think the folks in the science department have called a lab class real quick to study it you know i think if you were you were the one over that program they might have apple that's a tough text tough text to get at the football game hey guys roy g biv here on the text we've got we've got work to do yeah all right davis cheek down 24. score not showing how tight elon kept this in the first half remember we had a 10-point game at the break but app state has done what sean clark hoped dapp state would do take advantage of opportunities the td roof 90 yard interception return set up a short field score ab state's defense bent but didn't break and now you've got an opportunity here to force field position after a one-yard gain [Music] for elon on the first play of the ensuing drive still five and a half minutes to go here in the third quarter five wide davis cheek gonna try to air it out a little bit we saw the nice throw to jackson parham on the last drive now throwing off his back foot dangerous throw out of bounds brings up third down d.j that's the tight pressure that appalachian should have been getting on cheek in the first half and then they finally put a little pressure on him and they're forcing him to throw off his back foot and obviously uh they're making him uncomfortable and that forced an errant throw and that's what you got to do for what david c cuz if you sit around and let him sit him let him sit back there and get comfortable he'll he'll definitely pick you apart davis cheek completed his 500th career pass earlier today sean clark actually recruited him out of butler high school said he was a gritty player that would give upstate problems with his versatility and that was the case in the first half for sure third down and nine cheek with pressure demetrius taylor hits him as he throws in that ball off the pads of dante smalling coverage incomplete that'll bring up fourth down wow this ball hits off the top of his helmet point if you see that there but hey good position he was in good position he was leveraging the sideline again once again appalachian put great pressure on david's cheek to make him get rid of that ball before he really wanted to which is why he under threw it that is excellent camera work by our espn plus crew 2. you could feel the doink with the tightness of that shot fourth down and nine on the punt is jeff yerke hey hopefully they won't put him in concussion protocol because of that no i'm just kidding malik williams back to return he's gonna let this one roll pick it up on the scoop and out of bounds at the 30-yard line 4 49 to play in the third quarter ab state back to it from an offensive standpoint what do you need to see avery from an offensive perspective from app state to close out this third quarter i know they're going to get an opportunity if this thing continues to go the way it's going to get some other players some reps here but i feel like frank ponce and crew still want to see a few things here i think they do and again i think it's too early to bring in folks uh you know he talked about coach frank punts talked about the fundamentals you know of everything that they do from an offensive perspective they still have to show that they can be fundamentally sound throughout this football game jamir smith gets his first carry of the ball game and is met quickly by marvian field the redshirt freshman out of hampton georgia at defensive end remember torrence williams went out earlier so phil getting a little time at that end spot no gain on the play brings up second down and 10. you go back to uh uh fundamentals i mean you know uh chase has had a if you just look at statistics he's had a very good game but i'm sure he wanted a more crisp football game and if you look at the rushing attack we're not over we're not over 100 yards if i'm not mistaken right at 100 yards play action fake pass down the seam virgil had it and it's broken up nice closing speed there by shimari wingard to break up the pass to jalen virgil let's check it again again a decent throw but you kind of want to have virgil come back i know it's hard but you kind of want to kind of have him come back to this somewhat because again good position by the defensive back again the long arm you always are taught by your position coach to keep that long arm free and the short arm on that wide receiver so you can feel where he is but good job of knocking that ball down with that long arm third down and 10. jamir smith the notre dame transfer running back three receivers up top for chase bryce 17 of 23 in the passing game underneath route corey sutton looking to release on the sideline depending on the footwork should have the first down and does so that is a super seniors footwork on the elon sideline for the first down first of all nice drag route across the middle of the field but but excellent job of knowing where the first down marker is dj and getting there you know turning on the jets and stretching the ball a little bit to get there field awareness and again super senior that's what they do corey sutton hoping for the full season he hasn't had one since 2018 showcase his skills and a shot at the next level bryce with pressure that ball is out and it's picked off elon with the football and an opportunity for a return that was a busted play from the start if you kind of get a chance to take a look at it busted play trayvon jones was right there on it he said he he again if before that play before he made that he was hit by the defender it's like he paused because of of the route of the receivers like he was thrown off so that was a busted play which allowed for elon to have a create a habit play there how about trayvon jones second interception of the year his third takeaway in the last two weeks and now elon all of a sudden inside the mountaineer 40 off their second turnover of the day again you look at what billy crocker has done on the takeaway element of things since he's become the defensive coordinator at elon that is just textbook phoenix defense tell you what that was a great job you you see uh td roof coming up to make the play i keep wanting to say ted because his daddy was a good football player in the state of georgia too and i know his dad but td roof coming from making the play but what you did not see if you didn't play a close attention great job by tommy dawkins again keeping containment keeping the running back uh going sideline to sideline versus going north so good job by the defensive end there malik griffin picks up three yards second down at seven inching toward the 30-yard line of the phoenix down 27-3 elon needs points they have not had much go right in the offensive spectrum here in this second half again griffin gets the scene griffin's a speedster his cousin deandre swift with the lions he's been limited in practices this week if you're curious about that on your fantasy team but he's got a similar burst when he gets that seam i mean you're talking about a quick step and release we've seen some evidence of that here on these last couple rounds fast back and that's why you just say kudos to asu for making sure they're playing assignment football or alignment football they all stayed in their gap and stretched that play out to keep him from bursting third down and seven elon today two of nine on third down well south of their normal productivity one of the top five third down conversion offenses in the colonial heading into play here in week three cheek in trouble here come the mountaineers going against his body he's got a safety valve caught there at the 20-yard line that's witherspoon out of the backfield still on his feet inside the 10. and that's a first down for the phoenix great patience there by davis cheat to make that play happen great great patience but look at here uh witherspoon did exactly what he's supposed to do the closest receivers goes long the deepest comes short he stretched that and stayed a little deep for davis cheek to get the football tour sideline route not quite to the goal line there that's brayboy's first catch he's been quieted after an explosive first quarter of play so bray boy gets elod inside the five they'll call it first and goal from the two or check that second goal from the two with her spoon adultery in the backfield along with davis cheek elon trying to put points on the board off the turnover they scored points off both of the turnovers forced last week by trayvon jones 10 of them in that comeback win against campbell he's trying to give him six more [Applause] cheek with time bouncing lots of time bouncing pressure starting to come he'll heat this toward the back pile out and complete again too much time and when he finally got pressure it made him you know kind of overthrow the receiver but uh i tell you what asu just uh you know we've got too good of uh asu has appalachia state has too good of a defensive line not to get pressure on the quarterback and davis just has too much time third and goal at the two yard line elon has been shut out here in the third quarter thus far had a pass picked off in the end zone on their last drive witherspoon the setback he'll get the handoff stutter steps it across the goal line for the touchdown mckinley witherspoon's second rushing score of the year keeps elon in it here late in the third i tell you he's five nine 195 pounder from uh high bright like you said in lenoir he's making the folks a little more proud again hard running moving forward and falling forward following the big offensive lineman great job by by mckinley witherspoon skylar davis on for the p-a-t make it a 17-point game low snap clangs off and into the new money seats down there in the end zone but skylar davis provides a nice appetizer into a plate here let's check mckinley witherspoon nice hand off good good adjustment stutter step there cutting a little bit and just really just that's that's want to that's desire i'm getting in the end zone and then i'm gonna take a few people with me wander around the rock as a youngster find a pay dirt here as an elon running back mckinley witherspoon maybe a couple pictures in there as well why not the selfie well that's when you want to say son the score is uh what 20 20 uh seven to ten i mean but you know but you know what 27 to 10 does that bring back members that was a score down at rose stadium when they had the largest crowd in their history in 2009 when they were ranked number six and appalachia was ranked number five got 21 points out of the gate in about the first two minutes of that game two of them came off mark lagree interceptions lagree was inducted into the upstate hall of fame earlier today there have been some memorable games between these two elon could never quite get over the hump in the southern conference they found their way into the playoffs a few times in the colonial they have looked like a playoff team here today as hennigan takes the kickoff back across the 30-yard line to about the 31. we've got 39 seconds left here in this third quarter of action as the mountaineer offense will come back out so one of the things i think on the the stat sheet that will give pause in a short week will be the turnover bug once again appalachian state minus one today in that category um you see the fumble in the end zone the interception it feels like almost too much effort is that uh you know corey trying to stretch one out trying to score there at the uh at the first quarter bryce may be hanging on too long is that like a psyche turnover if that makes sense no that's really a try you know trying to do too much go ahead you know take what what you have when you receive you know you you're kind of receiving the football get as many yards as you can you know chase hanging on to the football a little too long there though those are the issues with those turnovers but but again those are things that you can correct nate noel back at the running back spot trying to get a crease and does so into the second level up to the 41-yard line a seven-yard pickup for nate noel appalachian state's rushing attack is pretty well spread out about 116 yards on the ground nate noel now accounting for 57 of those yards not a huge running day today not a huge running day and we're talking about an appalachian state program that has been the top 16 in russia in the last six or seven years we're talking about averaging 265 yards per game 275 yards per game 250. so 116 is not a good day for this appalachian offense noel to the 45-yard line and that'll do it here for this third quarter of play ab state up 17 here at kid brewer stadium nate noel and crew moving the football here as we head in the fourth quarter 27-10 ab state leads it at the rock [Music] we start fourth quarter play here at the rock kid brewer stadium with upstate leading elon 27-10 mountaineers with third down and short failing to convert on that third down play so we'll see what sean clark will elect to do here it'll be a loss of two yards so punt unit coming out here to flip the field position with just under 15 minutes remaining in this contest we're going to continue nostalgia day for you here i understand for some of you it's kind of been like that today and see the old school helmets on the team they've got the 1989 look you've heard the hall of famer avery hall on the dial we've got one better for you here in just a moment after this sabot punt we will let you know that the former head coach of the black and gold jerry moore getting ready to join us here for a few moments coach always great to see you fun to be here it's been like where's waldo today man you have been everywhere we saw you on the track we saw you in the stands we saw you in the plaza yeah you've had the smile on your face a little bit today it uh it was it's been a great day the whole my whole family's been here scott of course chris coast for me or us and uh scott our other son's a doctor emergency room doctor in wisconsin and he's here so we've just uh we've had it's been a great time for margaret now let's start first with something topical here on this ball game coach you remember some of those battles with the elon phoenix oh yeah limbo took that program over and brought elon up to the top of the southern conference pecking order those were some of the annual battles that people circled on their calendars right i'm telling you it and they played that way today they they're well coached and the kids their men are playing hard cheek incomplete on first down good pressure there for the mountaineers he's 21-34 in the passing game 223 yards one interception elon has moved the football 266 yards total neither team has rushed the ball a ton here this afternoon second down and 10 coming up as we visit with the hall of fame legendary coach jerry moore had his statue unveiled in the jerry moore plaza a little bit earlier this afternoon i don't know exactly what it feels like to have a statue but coach i would imagine after this play you can tell us a little bit about what that's like and what that experience was like this morning his cheek completes the underneath pass about a seven yard pick up there for cortez weeks good to see him back on the field after being hurt earlier a third down and short coming up so so what was the the the experience like how do you even stand in to get a statue made of yourself i don't know where it all started but susie uh howler did it for us her father did the yosef statue by the pond here and she did it was fun just to be out there with margaret and i went out there and she different measurements and things like that and then shortly after that we began to see a little bit of the finished product cheek on third down receiver slips and a flag comes in there late ronald clark was in coverage that was dauntry on the slip and we'll see how that gets sorted out coach you had an opportunity last night to speak with a group of alums and a lot of friends of the program i'll call them long time fans uh you you made the joke that we were going to have to eat pancakes and sausage because you were going to talk for a while but the the depth and quality of the stories last night just i think a testament to what you meant to this program but what appalachian football meant to people for a long stretch of time well i touched on earlier my background a little bit and at one point i thought i was out of coaching dr thomas and jim garner offered me an opportunity here and i thought i'd be here a couple years and it turned out i was here still here after the penalty phoenix get the football on the pass interference that's dj moyer on the carry pickup of one brings up second down and nine you know you're one of the things that stood out last night was your memory about individuals you know you were talking about where people were in the locker room when they gave such speeches we asked sean clark about his recruiting visit with you and he said that when he came to boone you guys went to a brunch at the broy hill and and that's kind of where it all started what do you remember about recruiting the current head coach of the mountaineers well number one we had already had a good player from here dexter coakley and uh sean was uh of course a two-time all-american for us and just his demeanor as much as anything he was very grounded and serious about what he wanted to do he was a good great deep snapper to begin with and that was one of the things that attracted us to him and then just how hard he worked and just a great personality locker room personality practice personality third down and 12 coming up here for davis cheek trying to keep this elon drive alive spinning around turf a little bit wet with a few little rain showers and that's it cheek finally taken down demarco jackson's had quite a day he gets to him again and that'll bring up fourth down here for the phoenix coach you mentioned that work ethic and you know you talked a little bit about the value of walk-on players last night there was a scholarship donation made that you have said that you'd like to see go to a walk-on player while coach clark might not have been a walk-on for you necessarily it was that spirit of development you have had on your staff for years coaches that get the best out of players can you touch on just what that's meant to the overall development of the program during your tenure well just uh they're important i think one of the best things that's happened to me in my coaching career was when i went to the university of nebraska and nebraska plays very average high school football and we had a lot of walk-ons there that was my first association really with the how important numbers are and good numbers we've got a special teams miscue that will sort out after the break and continue our conversation with head coach jerry moore of the mountaineers his team 27-10 they lead the phoenix we're back at the rock 2710 appalachian state on top of elon let's check what happened here on this punt you see thomas hannigan call fair catch and then there's just a little bit of chaos app state blocked into the play so it will be mountaineer football after all of that is sorted out of course elon thought maybe they had an opportunity to say that app touched it first but instead being blocked into it now the mountaineers with the football at midfield driving up 17 points here on their home field with 11 41 to play in the game chase bryce back at quarterback we're continuing our conversation with the hall of fame coach jerry moore as bryce goes to work has the pass out on the far side line of christian wells who catches near a first down gain coach one of the things we've been talking about today is the consistency of this program overall you started so many traditions here one of those was the wednesday night fire it's been talked about a lot here it's a tradition coach clark has kept i know coach satterfield does it at louisville eli drinkwits does it now at missouri but what what did that wednesday night ritual mean to you and your stuff it was a great release for us is right after practice we'd all go out to dr perman's there goes cam peoples he's going to enter us interrupt you with a touchdown maybe yeah tripped up at the 20-yard line first down gain for peoples in the mountains touchdowns are a little bit better than country fires but uh we dr fuhrman started with us back in the early 90s it just started off just the two of us then three and then roughing mcneal and then gary griffin some of those old names and then it got to where the whole staff went out there as soon as practice was over and we got hamburgers and stuff from wendy's and we just it was kind of a devotional men's there goes people's he wants to get to the fire touchdown black and gold can people's in for the second time today coach i would imagine you'd like to i'd like to make a call like you do i still remember michigan the last on the block front that field goal that might not have been as dramatic as that moment but hey they all count that's right cam peoples with another touchdown run for the apps give him 11 carries on the day now or check that 12 carries on the day 80 yards rushing and a pair of scores and appalachian state gets back that touchdown they gave up an opportunity for a 24-point lead yet again on staton's p-a-t and that p-a-t is up and good coach we will now uninterrupted let you finish up um actually i want you to talk about this play right here how about cam peoples i think he's a terrific runner i came to practice last tuesday week and i watched him i watched him stretch and watched all the practice and i went up and ate with him and i i was impressed the way sean and the rest of the coaches work and the attention that the players had it was just uh it was an awesome thing it's no surprise to me how well they're playing well you know and that's one of the final things i'd like to ask you about you know you've got the the bloodlines that are still here you've got guys like sean clark obviously the head of the program dale jones has been here for a long time there's continuity in in people that you either worked with or that worked for people that you helped groom in the industry tradition is hard to build at a school but appalachian state's got such a solid solid foundation and you're a big part of that i mean it's got a it's got to be magical to sit here and watch this and know that that your stamp is on this no matter what after i've been here a couple years and and then john settled worked for me one spring and he made this statement to me and i locked on to it tradition never graduates and so we've tried to just keep the same format sometimes you make some changes in things and you hope that they're good and they'll make things better but just tradition tradition tradition and uh we've tried to stay with those things we didn't have to pull a rabbit out of the hat you know it's uh and and nick cardwell is a guy we're talking about walk-on kids he was a corner when he was a junior in high school of center guard when he was a senior he was not a great athlete and he came in here as a walk-on football player he's a leader he said his junior and senior year were national championship years and you see that fire that they just had on the screen there on coach cardwell as you mentioned went from player at app state to a guy that sits around that fire now oh yeah and as part of the coaching lineage and you've had a lot of folks former players at not only the collegiate level some of them professionally some of them at the your favorite part the formative high school coaches now that are getting an opportunity to impart some of those things do you keep up with those guys much you do you travel around yeah i do i've seen the mileage on your car before i know you traveled to a game or two well my grandson's a coach now and that's right cupperson high school and uh just outside of charlotte and he's doing some of those things so it's uh it's like i said it's a tradition well coach it has been a sheer joy to watch you bounce around the facility here these last couple of days and and i know that you'll you'll be uh you're going to be outside watching over us now but uh but come over and check on the statue every once in a while oh i will i've got wash it up yeah i know that's probably it'll probably be landscaped more effectively by the time you get done with it but coach always great great day from all the appalachian people i just uh i can't thank them enough and you're one of the guys that's right at the top you've always been so generous with your time and it's i'd love to hear you call a ball game well thank you coach and this is great to see you back up here i know we'll do it again soon thank you all right jerry moore the hall of fame coach appalachian state honored here throughout the weekend dinner last night statue unveiling at jerry moore plaza just outside kid brewer stadium here a little bit earlier today we got nine minutes to go here in the fourth quarter elon on the move now third down uh checked out a fourth down play now third down at six uh phoenix failed to convert so appalachian state set to get it back in a 34-10 ball game the mountaineers have been able to stretch things out once again thanks to that offense 442 total yards and camp people starting to become part of that storyline 11 carries 80 yards the touchdown that coach moore said he saw the seeds of in practice just a little bit ago jerk on the opportunity to punt away malik williams back to return for appalachian state and fair catch called for and the catch made this time whole lot less controversial than what we saw earlier mountaineers 34-10 they lead elon here in the fourth quarter at the rock from high atop the mark e rick's athletic complex here at kid brewer stadium david jackson avery hall glad to be back with you here today it's been a good day for the home team 34-10 app state leading elon avery hall back in here with us after a chance to catch up with his old ball coach jerry moore and we see jacob huseman in at quarterback for the first time today finding thomas hennigan over on the far sideline for about a seven yard pickup avery one of the things that that we were talking with coach about you know just in that that ability to sustain success you know and and he may have underplayed it a little bit there were the if you go back and look at the coaches that worked under jerry moore i mean you're talking stacy searles uh i mean i don't even want to start because the list goes so long but the the the bloodlines of that program manifest and find themselves in so many other programs now that's got to be a really neat thing for coach to go back and look at now that his days are over to be able to to say hey look i've impacted these many lives and these many programs well you know you see that a lot with the nfl they talk about the coaching tree but you just it's hard to enumerate coach moore's coaching tree because he's impacted so many young men that now we're we can start right here with dale jones we can start right here with sean clark we can go to scott satterfield we can go to tim horton we can go all down the line but he's kind of impacted a lot of folks but coach moore you know he's a great football coach but he's just a better man you know it's good to see him here in the booth and told him i loved him he said i love you and you know he he was like a father figure to all of us and so uh everybody knows about the the football prowess and the 215 wins the three national titles but uh he was just he's just a better man than he is a football coach jacob hughesman with the sideline pass caught and a near first down that's eli wilson the tight end awfully close to moving the sticks again yeah i think you say that well avery i think everybody's got a football story with coach i think everybody's got an off the field story with coach moore and and i tell you elon fans i know probably are tired of hearing about this but but i think what what also needs to be said he had a tremendous amount of respect for what pete limbo did as he came in in 2006 to establish a program that became a perennial contender obviously that sent pete limbo up the coaching ladder a little bit but it was the way they did it that coach always talked about no cutting corners recruiting incredibly well instilling good values that's how elon was able to work their way to the top of a very tough southern conference at the time listen dj you know a lot of people talk about success but uh coach moore did it without any scandals usement going deep corey sutton on the back pedaling catch first down abs stayed inside the five so again no no no no scandals and again if you're gonna build a house build it brick by brick and that's what he did and that's what coach limbo did and again these guys didn't have scandals you know like a lot of these coaches so so just job well done it was neat to hear jerry moore was always on the the socon teleconference right before pete limbo would get on there and the two of them would get on early every once in a while and chit chat back and forth it's like two old friends talking on the phone nate noel using the oh hand trying to get his balance back and couldn't quite do it cole coleman finally from the safety position is the one that tips over noel who fought clawed and scratched trying to get that corner there i'll tell you what uh he slips a little bit here again trying to get back and get what it can get but runs into the arms of cole coleman as well as big torrance williams good to see torrence williams back we mentioned that that cortez weeks was back in the football game earlier as well and huseman slips down we had a rain shower it wasn't a hard one you could probably barely see it on the cameras it was so light but it has made this track slippery both teams dealing with it you mentioned shoe changes i mean not many of us take extra shoes on vacation but team's playing we you do you you're talking about the marshall rivalry earlier uh david we would take two pairs of shoes to marshall because they they we felt like they put more sand on the field when we would come to town and again we took the the we took our regular cleats for turf and then we took our turf cleats that had the longer uh cleats and uh you know you just have to be prepared depending on the turf and there are a lot of pellets in there that you know that'll have you slipping as well huseman across the middle nearly had his man that was deshawn davis off his fingertips on the crossing route that'll bring up fourth down and apps will send out the field goal team i'd like to know how that assignment comes across the email app state's coming somebody needs to go out and put more sand on the field let's see let's look at this replay nice throw a little high but but it touches both hands you want to see your receiver pull that down yeah you know dj you'd be surprised at what some teams do uh uh for competitive advantage 29-yard attempt for stayton his third field goal look of the day and it is the third one complete as well so chandler staton his third boot of the day makes it a 37-10 game here at the rocks [Music] [Applause] hey when you get a chance to come to kid brewer stadium you sing your favorite luke combs song in the stands it's a happy day here at the rock for the home team appalachian state up 37-10 on top of elon here david jackson avery hall with you as we come down the home stretch of this one avery i think that this is a game where both teams have that that first half to evaluate i think elon's got a lot of things that they want to build on off of that i think appalachian state probably likes the way the second half has transpired in that when they've had opportunities to put this thing away they've been able to do so absolutely again more or crisp in this second half both teams gonna have a lot to you know a little bit to work on uh but but you know what uh coach coach triciani probably feels really good about the game thus far i mean no one wants to lose and they came here to win but uh he's avoiding major injuries uh you know it's been a respectable football game uh i mean you know he's got to be pleased with the way his guys came out here and competed today when you talk about spreading the football around that was a big part of the plan today for the davis cheek and company we've seen five different elon rushers we've seen eight different elon receivers here today so they've done what they've needed to do to distribute the football and upstate snuffing out that run as we are seeing new players in the mix all the way around in this one that's griffin on that last carry lost a yard [Music] appalachian's got some new players in as well on defense and uh some guys that are not even on the depth two two deep chart here so i guess now's that time as we start seeing substitutions uh substitution players come into the ball game are you getting a chance to get on tape you know get a chance to be evaluated by coaches we've heard so many stories over the years about a player that gets into a game like this as griffin carries again for the phoenix player gets in a game like this all of a sudden they say hey you know we like the way you played that on defense we're gonna put you on special teams and then that turns into a part-time role and then all of a sudden you're starting safety and hey it all started because you you took advantage of this the game of football or with the game of football you always want to be relevant and and relevant means showing up on tape showing up making plays showing up always hustling showing up always working hard and i will tell you i don't know a coach a good coach that won't find a spot for a kid who shows up and and makes plays very productive third down and seven this has been an achilles seal for elon today only three of 13. a little sling pass off the side to bray boy fumble ball on the field app state's got it we'll see if they count that as a catch as long as they do that's an upstate turnover ronald clark was there to pounce on it bray boy made a football move that likely goes down as a fumble yeah it looks like that's going to that's going to be a fumble uh ronald clark a six foot 195 pound freshman out of beaufort georgia making a being in the right place at the right time take a look here good solid lick hits the ball knocks it out ronald clark in the right place at the right time here yeah logan dublin on the tackle that great football play he didn't lead with the top of his helmet he led with his shoulders his face and good job of uh knocking that ball loose so the mountaineers with the football jacob huseman back under center a few new faces in there from the offensive perspective with 2 42 to go upstate up 37-10 and we have a whistle and a stoppage of play jacob huseman interesting you know you talk about people's football lineage huseman was a a pretty well recruited quarterback out of bradenton florida he was recruited by north dakota state right in the middle of their championship heyday carson wentz was the qb at north dakota state when husband was recruited to go there ended up coming to appalachian state had that big win over coastal carolina in a start in 2018 the georgia southern comeback in 2020 captained the team for six of 11 plays on that game-winning drive that app state put it away but huseman was a guy that when he announced he was coming back sean clark said hey talk about a super senior that lets the coach sleep at night you know app didn't had a transfer quarterback coming into no real natural backup that had played a lot and he said we've got to back up qb that has played in games i could put my head on the pillow at night and know that we've got somebody that can manage a game without having to learn how to manage the game at the same time i i respect huseman just because he didn't go to the transfer portal i mean you got a guy and he's the guy who runs hard there's anderson castle a hometown product watauga high school graduate had a fumble recovery in the east carolina game on special teams speaking of finding ways to make opportunities he runs hard i've come to a couple practices here in boone and he he just works his tail off and works hard and a very productive back but going back to houston you know he didn't enter the transfer portal any of these years when he was sitting behind zach you know he was sitting behind you know now chase he just he took care of his business and handled his business respectful in this respectful manner and that's what i admire about him again uh but but he's so valuable people don't realize he he's been calling in the plays the last four or five years and again you you can't you can't want to play if you can't get it into the troops he's got to have the best audible on the team then right castle again off the right side he runs so hard he runs so hard dragging him over the 20-yard line in the 17th that's a mountaineer first down hometown first down for anderson castle i'm going i'm going to age myself here watch this guy he takes the ball good vision and not makes first guy miss and just drags two or three phoenix again uh you know i'm gonna age myself here he reminds me of john riggins and uh i'm i'm aging myself because john riggs is an older back but castle just runs so hard i like watching him play he looks like a pittsburgh steeler down there look at him go inside the 10 again at the eight yard line castle with that power game you know app state doesn't have the fullback anymore you know and castle i'm not saying that he's got the speed of a fullback but he's got the he's got the speed take a look at this he just puts his his shoulders down and and just keeps his legs churning he's so big and strong you know he he he looks like a fullback but he has the the the tailback speed now now here's the thing folks cam peoples nate noel they are awesome backs this is our third team back he he's on the depth chart where he needs to be but he is a good back and and he doesn't miss a beat when he gets in during this time castle trying to get the corner into the end zone touchdown mountaineers ball game here at the rock i tell you what he he he he would probably start for some fcs teams or some other group five football teams because he's just a he's a talented footballer you know coach clark talked to us about no negative running plays i've never seen an uh castle take a negative running play or have a negative running play his first career touchdown at app state some great blocking by seth williams to make it happen too he was getting congratulated on the sideline those those big offensive linemen luke smith troy got second group in there seth williams craig mcfarland jaden ramsey those guys are knocking folks off the ball take a look at this run here again hand it good vision you're not going to tackle him the first guy is not going to ever tackle that guy again just just hard running legs churning good vision going north and right here i'm gonna deliver the blow versus being tackled that's what i'm saying that that's where the fullback look comes you know he's leading with pressure with 39 seconds to go anderson castle into the end zone and that puts a cap on what ended up being a fine day some tense moments in there i think in some cases avery you can make the argument that you learn a little bit more in a game like this when when you have some adversity to respond to no secret that app state didn't like where they were at halftime they came out and handled their business here in the second we and we you know we talked about it being a close game in the first half and then we said okay we anticipate asu coming out or appalachian state coming out and playing a a more focused football game in the second half and that's what they've done uh but they still have some things to work on you can't start slow against a marshall you can't start slow against a louisiana and coastal carolina you know we have those two teams back to back so so they've got some things to work on but you know it's go it will be great to be a mountaineer on a saturday night in boone with this outcome and coach clark will take it this will be the 19th consecutive win for app state in this series and elon has got opportunities to play other north carolina teams that was one of the things that tony triciani pointed out and it's not just fbs teams like uh the games that they've had on schedule with wake forest they had one that was taken away due to covert with duke they've got a game with wake on their schedule but they play uh other north carolina fcs teams and then usually get matched up with a southern conference team now in the playoffs should they make it so he sees a lot of value in playing these regional games from a recruiting impact especially with what they do in north carolina in terms of building a roster so don't uh don't think this will be the last time that elon should they be given the opportunity will find their way to boone again now this don't you know the final score may end up 44-10 but uh dj this is a good elon football team they've got young guys on the offensive line and defensive line they've got good backs they've got good linebackers i'm not saying this year may be the year but they're gonna they're gonna surprise a lot of folks in the colonial athletic association and i'm telling you next year they're gonna be really good speaking of hometown guys jake crissman the pride of elon western alamance grad getting a couple of carries here as we close down this one at kid brewer stadium that could be the final play of the game and it should be the final play of the game is appalachian state is going to move now to two and one on the season heading into their thursday battle with marshall while elon will fall to one and two they've got william and mary opening up colonial play next week lots of excitement for both of these programs moving forward from here final score 44-10 avery hall your final thoughts on this one i tell you what appalachian came away with the win as expected a nice margin as expected uh you know a lot of things to work on you know particularly around the running game a lot of the pre-snap penalties they need to eliminate again you know converting on third down was something that coach clark wanted to work on and i think they'll still have to continue to work on that i think dj you've got the final stats i think they ended up uh less than 30 percent 35 in in third down conversion so those are things you have to work on elon has a very good football team they're going to have a lot of success in the colonial athletic association they can they can run davis cheek is poised he makes great decision he has a strong arm they're going to be very successful cheek ended up with 225 in the passing game today on 22 of 36. chase bryce 19 of 29 a 19 of 25 rather for 293 yards and a touchdown appalachian pass for 341 yards in this game kid brewer stadium happy place here at the rock our final score once again ab state wins their first win at kid brewer by the final score of 44-10 over elon this has been a presentation of espn and archive of today's game is available exclusively on the espn app for avery hall our spotter marin jackson our producer jerry thomas and our entire crew this is david jackson saying good night from boone mountaineers win it 44-10 over elon here at the rock

Channel: App State Nation

Views: 2,545

Keywords: App State, Appalachian State, Elon

Id: xVf7oKM9Qvw

Length: 143min 8sec (8588 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 22 2021