By J.T. Bennett
SouthernPigskin Staff Writer
SouthernPigskin.com Staff Writer J.T. Bennett talks about his trip to Appalachian State to watch the Mountaineers play the GSU Eagles. Follow us on Twitter at Twitter.com/SouthernPigskin
As I was driving up to Boone, North Carolina this past Saturday I thought I was in for another great game between Georgia Southern and Appalachian State. After a one-point game in Statesboro last season, a game which I attented, I was excited to see a competitive football game between two Southern Conference giants.
One team did have a great game; the other...a horrible game.
Appalachian State racked up 712 yards of total offense on Georgia Southern. Mountaineer Quarterback Amarnti Edwards had 300 yards passing… in the first half. Edwards was taken out in the third quarter because there was no more need to have him on the field. True freshman Tavarris Cadet entered the game and in a quarter and a half he amassed 139 yards rushing.
The only bright spot for Georgia Southern was Derek Heyden’s fumble recovery for a touchdown. Quarterback Lee Chapple was intercepted twice and sacked five times. I don’t blame Chapple for the Eagles' offensive woes, that spot is reserved for the Georgia Southern offensive line. It seemed like every play there was a Mountaineer in the backfield.
Appalachian State is in the bottom half of the Southern Conference in rushing defense and still kept the Eagles to .6 yard per carry. Georgia Southern’s leading rusher was Adam Urbano with 41 yards on 16 carries. With the running game not working and the defense not stopping anything the offense rested on the shoulders of Chapple. I imagine the score being a little closer if there wasn’t two dropped passes that would have resulted in 6 points for the Eagles.
Georgia Southern is a better team than how they played in Boone, they simple ran into a championship-caliber Appalachian State football team. While the game wasn't that good, the atmosphere and the setting was quite the contrary. 
This was my first trip to Appalachian State and Boone, NC. I had always heard that App State is a great place to watch a game; friends told me about the mountains, the campus, the passion of the fans. So I made the trip. Everything was true. I have to give a special thanks to “Beer Hat Guy”. He answered my call on an Appalachian State message board for an amazing tailgating experience.
I sat on top of a parking deck overlooking the stadium and the campus eating some cold potato soup. The mountains were in the background with the clouds settling on top. Born in the panhandle of Florida and raised along the Atlantic coast, I had never experienced a football setting like that before. It was awesome.
Everywhere I looked there were tailgaters. I have been to games at Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech and more and the pre-game intensity was just as high at Appalachian State.
As I walked to the stadium you could see the community rallied around a team. All ages were dawned in their Mountaineer gear, whether it was the five year old with his number 14 jersey or the 70 year old woman with Yosef painted on her face.
I was very impressed with Appalachian State's athletic facilities. The press box rivaled some FBS facilities I have been in. The setting has the feel of a big-time college football powerhouse and it should...ASU is the premier FCS program in the nation. They are serious about some football in Boone, NC.
Regardless of who you are a fan of, a trip to Appalachian State is a must is you are a college football enthusiast. The tailgating is top-notch, the scenery is straight off a postcard and the fans are as rowdy as you will find anywhere in college football. The Mountaineers know how to play football and they know how to do gameday as well.
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Boone is a great place, not just to watch a game. I have a cousin that started off at UGA with me and transfered up to App. St. after a year. She loved it and got one heck of an education. She is a travel guide that takes people all over the world. We haven’t seen her in two years cause she is either in Hawaii taking a group back packing or she is in Brazil taking people down the Amazon.
Everytime I made it up there it was a great time.
