By Jesse Wood
Oct. 17, 2013. Looking to turn its season around after a dismal start, the Appalachian State Mountaineers (1-5) face longtime-rival Furman (2-4) at Paladin Stadium in Greenville, S.C., on Saturday, Oct. 19.
Saturday’s matchup will be the 44th and final time that the two will meet as Southern Conference foes with Furman holding a 22-18-3 advantage since 1971, the first time the two battled on the gridiron for a scoreless tie.
In a press conference Tuesday, head coach Scott Satterfield noted similarities between the two football programs this year. Both have lost some close games to good football teams and both are playing young players. He noted that the “thing” that keeps the Paladins in the game is defense, which ranks second in the SoCon in total defense. Furman also leads the league in rushing defense.
As for the Mountaineers, Satterfield said that the Mountaineers gave up too many sacks against Samford last Saturday. He mentioned that through the first five games, the offense gave up about five sacks while the prior Samford game was a different story, leading to five additional sacks for the season that also adding difficulty to moving the ball forward.
But he noted bright spots with true-freshman punter Bentlee Critcher, who averaged nearly 54.9 yards over nine punts, which was good for the fourth-longest single game average in school history. He also pinned four punts inside the 20-yard line. He also noted that third-down defense played well versus Samford.
He continued to praise true freshman running back Marcus Cox, who may be utilized as a receiver out of the backfield even more after the release of talented wide receiver Sean Price. Satterfield said that sophomore wide out Malachi Jones will move into the starting lineup on the outside with senior wide receiver Tony Washington. In addition to utilizing Cox and Jones more in Price’s absence, the staff is expecting wideouts senior Andrew Peacock, sophomore Simms McElfresh and sophomore Bob Beathard to step up.
After giving credit to Samford, Satterfield acknowledged the dismal start but vowed to continue to press on, to continue to make adjustments to improve.
“Obviously, we’ve got a lot to work on, and we’ll continue to move forward,” Satterfield said. “This hasn’t been exactly what we wanted. We have a lot to work on to get better.”
Kickoff starts at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9, from Paladin Stadium in Greenville, S.C. Tickets are still available for the away game and cost $10 for kids 4 to 12 and $25 for adults. Click here to order tickets.
Listen to the game on the radio on the Appalachian IMG Sports Network.
- David Jackson (play-by-play)
- Steve Brown (analyst)
- Randy Jackson (sideline reporter)
- Steve Zushin (network engineer)
- Aaron Brunk (scoreboard host)
For more information, click to Game Day Central.
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