Commentary: Quest

for four starts with talent
By Steve Behr, sports editor
sports@wataugademocrat.com

It was my first day back to the office when I was asked “Can they win four?”

As in Appalachian State’s football team. As in winning four straight national championships.

Naw. It takes seasoned veterans who are some of the top players in the Football Championship Subdivision to win national championships. Certainly the Mountaineers have run out of players who can make enough plays to win another one.

Didn’t they?

Well, here’s some bad news to the rest of the subdivision.

They haven’t.

The Mountaineers coaching and recruiting staffs have done a remarkable job of rotating good players in and out of the lineup over the last few years. By the time they become starters, few Mountaineers are inexperienced.

Freshman linebacker D.J. Smith is a prime example of this. He worked his way into the starting lineup this year and should be a fixture there for the next three seasons.

Linebacker Pierre Banks is another. He got a start three years ago at Wofford and the next year, he easily took over a linebacker position.

Running back Devon Moore, right tackle Brad Coley, receivers CoCo Hillary and T.J. Courman and tight end/guard Daniel Kilgore all have played extensive minutes without necessarily being the full-time starter.

Coley took over for the injured Mario Acitelli and will be competing for a full-time position along the offensive line, especially since guards Jon Holt and Kerry Brown will be leaving.

And speaking of the offense, which was one of the most explosive I’ve ever seen in 18 years of being an ink-stained wretch, don’t expect too much of a slow down. As good, and as difficult as it will be to replace running back Kevin Richardson, receivers Dexter Jackson and Hans Batichon and tight end Nic Cardwell, it seems that this team never runs out of weapons

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Hillary, Courman, Josh Johnson and Tavaris Washington are the nucleus of a dangerous receiving corps.

Moore gained over 100 yards when Richardson could not play in a game and as long as Armanti Edwards is healthy, the Mountaineers are always a threat to score every time they take the field.

The most interesting replacement will be the one who takes over for backup quarterback Trey Elder. The graduating senior was a key part of this team, be it as a mentor to Edwards, or as a guy who could take over the offense without the Mountaineers skipping a beat.

The offseason running will begin soon enough. So will the 2008 season.