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An App State Football Walk Down Memory Lane: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly And The Triumphant

By Mark S. Kenna

Nov. 11, 2013. After a defeat in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, Appalachian State football dropped to 2-8 on the season. This loss makes the Mountaineers winless in FBS match-ups except in Winston-Salem and Ann Arbor.

ASU is now in danger of taking on a two-win season, something that has not happened since 1977 (2-9).

If ASU beats both Wofford (5-4, 4-2 in the southern) and rival Western Carolina (2-8,1-5 in the southern), they can end their season 4-8, a record that is still reminiscent of losing seasons similar to 1993 (4-7), 1982 (4-7). However, if they lose to Wofford or Western, they stand to have one of the worst records in the programs history.

ASU travels to Spartanburg, S.C., Saturday to take on Wofford, No. 2 in the SoCon.

To add some perspective, here is a list of App State’s fifteen losing seasons:

1928 (3-6) – The first year of ASU’s football program

1934 (3-4-1) – Alcatraz officially becomes a federal prison

1941 (4-5) – Cheerios invents O-shaped cereal

1945 (1-6) – The last year of World War Two

1952 (2-6-1) – The first B-52 test flight

1956 (3-6) – President Eisenhower re-elected

1957 (4-6) – Same year Sputnik 1 is launched

1966 (3-6-1) – Emperor Halie Selassie visits Kingston, Jamaica

1973 (3-7-1) –Pete Rose wins NL MVP

1977 (2-9) – President Jimmy Carter pardons almost all Vietnam draft dodgers

1979 (3-8) – Howard Stern begins broadcasting on WCCC in Hartfort, Conn.

1981 (3-7-1) – Dan Rather becomes primary anchorman of CBS-TV news

1982 (4-7) – IBM releases PC-DOS version 1.1

1993 (4-7) – Bill Clinton is inaugurated the 42nd president

ASU football has 63 total winning seasons and four seasons with a .500 record.

Here’s some more numbers:

– Eighteen consecutive winning seasons 1994 – 2012

– Only two consecutive losing seasons, 2, 2x (1956-1957, 1981-1982)

– Most victories in a two year-span 27 (2006-2007)

– Most victories in a three year-span 39 (2005-2007)

– Most victories in a four-year span 50 (2005-2008)

– Most victories in a five-year span 61 (2005-2009)

– Three time national champions

– 11-time SoCon champions