HSR Preview: Appalachian State

Football is almost here. Football is almost here. Football is almost here. I used several sources in compiling this preview. The previews that had already been posted at Maize n Brew, Varsity Blue, and Maize and Blog were all helpful, and the Appalachian State Media Guide was enlightening. Stats for last year's team can be found here.

Appalachian State Offense vs. Michigan Defense

The Apps' offense revolves around senior running back Kevin Richardson and sophomore QB Armanti Edwards. Richardson rushed for 1600 yards and an incredible 30 (THIRTY) touchdowns last year, setting a D1-AA record in the process. Edwards himself accounted for another 30 TDs, split evenly between the ground and the air. Overall, he rushed for 1153 yards and passed for 2251, so he's another of those mobile quarterback guys.

Appalachian State also returns a veteran offensive line. Senior center Scott Suttle is a three-year starter and left guard Kerry Brown has been rated the #12 guard in the 2008 NFL draft. Left tackle Mario Acitelli started 14 of 15 games last year, pushed into that role due to injuries ahead of him. His sister is a cheerleader, and I'm sure he never hears about that from other guys on the team, or opposing fans, or opposing players. The right side of the line might be a little shakier, where two guys who've mostly spent time on special teams move into starting roles. Junior right tackle Jonathan Bieschke doesn't have the confidence of the media guide, which says "Should he keep the starting job..." Maybe some weakness there?

The wideouts aren't new, but they have to replace a lot of production lost last year after Willie Mayfield's graduation. Mayfield had twice as many catches as this year's #1 option, Dexter Jackson. Jackson is a burner who won the Southern Conference championship in the 200-meter dash, so I'd expect Trent to be keeping tabs on him. The other options are possession receiver Josh Johnson and TJ Courman, who is "penciled in" for the start, according to the media guide.

I like this matchup for our first game. We're replacing 3 of 4 starters on the defensive line and 2 of 3 linebackers and going up against a team whose offense ran the ball 66% of the time last year. This should give us the chance to really establish our run defense, which will serve us well in the Big Ten regular season (and if Oregon remembers what their best weapon really is. Hint: Not Dixon). Our pass defense will get be tested, and the receivers aren't green, but this isn't a team that makes its bones in the air. It's been an excellent Football Championship Subdivision team, but it shouldn't actually threaten us.

Appalachian State Defense vs. Michigan Offense

Mike Debord must have been salivating over this game all summer. Like Michigan, the Apps are replacing 3 of 4 defensive linemen. However, they'll be doing it with two sophomores and a freshman, with the lone returning starter (Gary Tharrington) also a sophomore. The freshman, tackle Bobby Bozzo, is 6'3", 265, typical of the undersized line. Expect Michigan's OL to move them around for Hart and Minor all day long and for Avery Horn to burn his redshirt.

The linebacking corps will be needed to back up the line (/John Madden). They have a lot more experience there. Pierre Banks is 6' flat and 210, so he's another undersized guy by Michigan standards, but he had 110 tackles playing WLB to lead the team. More impressive is the fact that he's the 16th of 17 kids in his family, needed only three years to earn his degree in electronic media/broadcasting, and is now pursuing his master's degree. He should finish it before he's done with football, as he has another two years left of eligibility. Jacques Roman is a bigger 6'1", 240, while Cam Speer's 6'0", 215-lb. Both are battling it out for the MLB spot. I'd expect Roman to get the nod, as he's less likely to get steamrolled quite as often by Hart.

Appalachian State's DBs come loaded with experience. The two senior corners combine for 81 career starts and safety Corey Lynch was a College Sporting News D1-AA All American last year.

Like I said, look for Michigan to run the ball, run the ball, and run the ball. Henne might air it out a few times, but this game will likely be a slog through the trenches. Look to last year's Vanderbilt and CMU games for guidance.

Special Teams

Julian Rauch was the Apps' placekicker last year. His 10/14 on field goals was serviceable at best, but he was a solid 70/71 on PATs. Punter Neil Young averaged 37.8 yards on 29 attempts and is reportedly searching for a heart of gold.

Very Special Teams

Appalachian State's mascot is named Yosef, a corruption of "yourself" in mountain dialect, from the idea that "if you are an Appalachian alumnus, fan or friend and have a heart filled with black and gold, you are Yosef." He was created for the 1942 annual with the full name of Dan’l Boone Yoseff. By 1949, Yosef had dropped a letter and was being portrayed by a student. It was more in line with the Notre Dame leprechaun than, say, Bucky Badger. But attitudes change:

In the early 1980s opinions began to sound that Yosef was too ugly and that his appearance needed to be altered. The need for a more dignified mascot, away from the slouchy, flea-bitten character, was evident.

Prior to the 1983-84 academic year, a committee comprised of university students, staff and faculty members modernized Yosef’s look through a cartoon-type head and body.

This is much more dignified than a guy in coveralls.

When all is said and done, Michigan should come out with an easy win. I'll guess a final score of 41-14 because I like the symmetry and because I can easily see the secondary getting burned a couple of times, especially if we're up big and the starters are gone.

Appalachian State vs. Michigan: Alumni Showdown

We're back for another year's worth of alumni showdowns! Since we got started late in the game last year, we still have plenty of schools to cover and lots of Michigan alumni to which to pay tribute. So without further ado...

The "rule" is basically that we find some major alumni from the opposition university and try to find a Michigan analog, and then face them off head to head. Some are straight-forward, others require more effort. As this is for entertainment purposes only, please, no wagering.

(Author's note: To express our mild displeasure conceptually with the fact that Michigan is opening the football season with an Division I FCS opponent, marking the first time Michigan has ever played a I-AA/FCS team, there will only be three matchups this week as opposed to our usual five.)
Just missing the cut for the Mountaineers:
Miss Teen South Carolina 2007: Lauren Caitlin Upton
We could not, in good conscience, include her as an Appalachian State alumna, because she is going to BE an App. State freshman this year, as we understand it, but we also could not ignore one of the trainwreckiest of trainwrecks that live television have wrought upon us.

"I personally believe that U.S. Americans are unable to do so because, um, some people out there in our nation don't have maps and, uh, I believe that our, uh, education like such as, uh, South Africa and, uh, the Iraq and everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, uh, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S., uh, should help South Africa and should help Iraq and the Asian countries, so we will be able to build up our future."

(In case you're wondering folks, its the country on the left of the map, sandwiched between Canada and Mexico.)

The Matchups

Stephen J. Dubner	vs.	Rensis Likert
Stephen J. Dubner is the co-author of the wildly successful pop economics book Freakanomics, which was really good and helped me understand economic principles for the first time in my life. Rensis Likert was a sociologist who founded the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research and developed Likert Scales, an example of which would be: Michigan head football coach Lloyd Carr's public persona is that of "crotchety old man": Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree Agree Strongly agree (GZ notes: "An attempt was made to distribute surveys at Schembechler Hall, but poll workers were refused entrance and told to get the hell off of the lawn.") Advantage: Michigan. While Freakanomics is a great read, the CIC snob in me really feels that University of Chicago economist Steven Levitt did most of the heavy lifting.  Likert, though I had never heard of him until researching this, came up with something that so many of us use in our everyday life that we likely presumed that it had always existed.  That's how you know you're good, you come up with something that feels organic.
Charles Frazier	vs.	Betty Smith
Charles Frazier is the author of the acclaimed 1997 historical novel Cold Mountain, which I do intend to read someday as it purportedly has one of the finest descriptions of the Battle of the Crater anywhere.  Betty Smith is the author of the much beloved A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the touching 1943 coming of age story based on Smith's real-life experiences growing up in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Advantage: Push.  Cold Mountain is considered by many critics to be one of the best works of fiction of the latter quarter of the 20th century, while A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was such an instant hit that it was immediately shipped to U.S. servicemen during World War II.  You know what, they're both good books.
Alvin Gentry	vs.	Rudy Tomjanovich
Gentry actually has a pretty exceptional basketball resume, having played at App. State under Press Maravich (Pistol Pete's father) and Bobby Cremins, was an assistant coach to Larry Brown at Kansas and with the Spurs, and an assistant under Pat Riley in Miami.  He was also the Pistons coach after Doug Collins (in the horrors of teal era). Rudy Tomjanovich, in addition to being one of the greatest players in Michigan basketball history, is basketball's most famous recipient of a punch, as well as being a two-time NBA championship winning coach (1994 and 1995 with the Houston Rockets, the team for which he is also the franchise's all-time third leading scorer), a gold medal winning coach at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Advantage: Michigan. Rudy T. is the man.  He's the very rare example of a great player turned great coach, and while Alvin Gentry is an impressive assistant coach, his head coaching record leaves something to be desired.

So there you have it, when it's all said and done, it's Michigan 2, App. State 0, Push 1. I don't care if they're two-time defending national champions, it's still the FCS.

That's all I have for today. Once more, GZ should be around with a real preview, you know, actual football content, sometime soon.
(As always, a thanks to Wikipedia for making this a very fast effort, if not always wholly accurate.)