By Steve Behr

sports@wataugademocrat.com

Chattanooga head coach Rodney Allison has little idea how to stop the Appalachian State offense, led by quarterback Armanti Edwards.

He’s just hopeful to slow it down a little.

“Once Edwards got over his injury, they’ve been hitting on all cylinders,” Allison said. “He’s probably, besides (Georgia Southern quarterback Jayson) Foster, the most explosive player in this league. They’re not just one or two guys. They’ve got as good of an offensive line in the league, they’ve got a tight end that could be all-conference and they’re the two time national champions. You don’t do all that and beat Michigan without having good players and good coaches. I’d take giving up 30 right now.”

Allison is very away of Appalachian State’s firepower, which churned out 79 points and 743 yards in a 79-35 victory over Western Carolina last week. Running back Kevin Richardson gained 215 yards and scored three touchdowns against the Catamounts, earning him SoCon Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Edwards did his share, hitting 26-of-31 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 35 yards, but scored three touchdowns.

Appalachian State (8-2, 4-2 SoCon) knows that a win would give them a share of the Southern Conference championship with Wofford (8-3, 5-2), which earned the SoCon’s automatic bid into the playoffs.

Should Appalachian State beat the Mocs for the 12th straight time in Boone, the Mountaineers are very likely to be awarded an at-large berth into the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. If they are not awarded one of four seeds, they are not guaranteed a home game, even though it’s very possible that they’ll host at least one game at home.

Still, that’s not at the front of the mind of Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore, who is more concerned about beating the Mocs first.

“Our season, this year and every year, all we talk about is winning the Southern Conference championship,” Moore said. “That’s all we talk about. Then we focus on the first ball game. We took 10 days before we focused on Michigan. Then the next week, we focused on the next game. Last week, it was Western Carolina. This week, it’s Chattanooga.”

Moore acknowledged that thinking ahead to the playoffs is human nature, but he’s not obsessed with it.
“I don’t think anybody is naive enough not to think about it, but it’s not a driving force at all,” Moore said.
The Mountaineers take on a Chattanooga team that had high hopes at the beginning of the season, but has slipped to 2-8 overall record, 2-4 in the Southern Conference.

“I think it’s a game we’ve got to play well early,” Allison said. “It’s no secret that we’re 2-8, but we’ve lost a bunch of close games. We’ve got to play with them early.”

Even though Chattanooga is last in the SoCon in scoring offense at 23.8 points per game, the Mocs have weapons on offense, beginning with senior quarterback Antonio Miller. He has completed 128-of-247 passes for 1,428 yards, 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

His favorite target is Blue Cooper, a sophomore who has caught 36 passes for 473 yards and four touchdowns.
Turnovers, according to Allison, have been a big problem for the Mocs. Chattanooga is a plus-3 in turnovers, but they have been a factor in the Mocs’ losses.

“We’ve played well at times and at times, we’ve play poorly,” Allison said. “For the most part, we’ve been reflective of our turnovers. We have to mix it up. It’s not rocket science. We’ve been tied up to the turnover situation.”

Edwards has found a favorite target in Hans Batichon, who has 40 receptions for 651 yards and six touchdowns. Batichon caught seven passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns against Western Carolina.

Moore said Batichon is one of several good seniors who provide leadership for the Mountaineers.

“We have a good program and they are the heart and soul of it,” Moore said.