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Mountaineers Face Uphill Battle Against Bigger, Stronger, Faster Georgia Bulldogs in Athens, Ga., on Saturday

By Jesse Wood

Nov. 7, 2013. The Appalachian State Mountaineers better eat their Wheaties on Saturday morning because the football players in the SEC are bigger, stronger, faster and more athletic.

The Mountaineers travel to Athens, Ga., to face the Georgia Bulldogs, a team that was ranked No. 5 in the nation during the preseason but has since fallen out of the Top 25, a time that by far will be the toughest opponent the Mountaineers will have faced all season.

ASU Head Coach Scott Satterfield knows this, and that is why the pre-game speech is “go out there and have fun, enjoy the experience of playing down in Georgia in front of 90,000 fans.”

The Bulldogs (5-3) are coming off a win versus Florda Gators, which is also a historic powerhouse in college football, while the Mountaineers (2-7) are coming off another loss.  

“It’s a different level, no question about it. [The SEC has] the best players in the country coming out of high school,” Satterfield said. “It’s an extreme challenge, but they put their pants on just like we do. We’ve never shied away from playing bigger schools here at App.”

Satterfield said his staff will have to get creative with some schemes to create spacing in the open field, noting that App State won’t be able to overpower or outpace the Bulldogs. 

As several sports blogs, including the Georgia Bulldogs ESPN blog, and Satterfield noted, the Mountaineers aren’t the same “giant killer” that took down Michigan a few years ago. When asked if he could take anything from the Michigan game and use it as motivation for the upcoming game against Georgia, Satterfield had this to say:

“I think we’re too far away from that [Michigan game].There’s not anybody on this team that was around during that time. This is a pretty different team. Back then we’re coming off a couple of national championships with a lot of the same players that were coming back on that 2007 team offensively and defensively. I just think that was a different era, different time, different kids.” 

He also mentioned that after that victory in the Big House, it’s incredibly difficult to sneak up on teams anymore.

ESPN”s Edward Aschoff wrote, “So don’t expect anything tricky in Athens.”

Another ESPN reporter called this game a tuneup for Georgia, after it faced Florida, and before it faces No. 9 Auburn. 

Kickoff in Sanford Stadium is set for 12:30 p.m. In addition to being produced and carried by WSB-TV (ABC – Ch. 2) in Atlanta, the telecast for the football game will also be carried nationwide on ESPN GamePlan and ESPN3.

Here are ESPN bloggers predictions for the game:  

10. Tuneup for Georgia: The Bulldogs get an FCS foe this week in Appalachian State. It should be a short day for the starters and comes at a good time, because the Bulldogs will turn around and travel to Auburn the following week. Expect the Bulldogs to take care of business here against the Mountaineers, who are 2-7.

 Chris Low: With a third straight victory over Florida in its pocket, Georgia gets a tune-up against FCS foe Appalachian State this week. It should be a short work day for the Bulldogs’ starters heading into next week’s critical game at Auburn. … Georgia 49, Appalachian State 14 

Edward Aschoff: For delivering an ugly win over Florida, the Bulldogs get a nice home game against Appalachian State. This isn’t the same giant killer that took down Michigan a few seasons ago, so don’t expect anything tricky in Athens, Ga. … Georgia 48, Appalachian State 13