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By Stephen Cheek
SouthernPigskin.com State of North Carolina Columnist
SouthernPigskin.com State of North Carolina Columnist Stephen Cheek looks ahead to the game of the year in the Old North State.
North Carolina is ACC country plain and simple. The conference was founded in Greensboro and is still headquartered in the city. Four out of the twelve members of the conference are found within the state’s borders and the state sits at the geographic center of the conference footprint. This coming weekend the state will be the football center of the conference with the #7 ranked GT Yellow Jackets traveling to Durham to play Duke, the #12 ranked Miami Hurricanes travelling to Chapel Hill to play UNC and the #24 ranked Clemson Tigers travelling to Raleigh to play NC State. In addition, the Florida State Seminoles will also travel to North Carolina to play Wake Forest in Winston-Salem this weekend. The amazing thing about this upcoming slate of games though, is that despite all the big names and big fanbases that will be showing up in the Old North State to watch some football, the biggest game of the year within the state North Carolina is going to be in the Southern Conference. Yes, you heard me right; the biggest game of the year in North Carolina is going to be played in Elon, NC where FCS (1-AA) #7 ranked Appalachian St is traveling to face FCS (1-AA) #6 ranked Elon. How can I say this about a lower division game when the state is also hosting games with both ACC and Bowl Championship Series implications? Well, even though the SoCon has been in existence since 1921 and once included most of the members of the current SEC and ACC, this weekend’s matchup stands to rank as one of the biggest games in conference history. Any time you have two top ten teams facing off it is big. Throw in the fact the game will be the de facto conference championship game, has monumental FCS playoff implications, features teams that are undefeated in conference and with the two greatest players in each school’s history on the field, it is a recipe for the Game of the Year in North Carolina no matter the size of the school or stadium. The state’s ACC schools dream of playing in matchups like this, but once again this Saturday it will be their opponents with the most riding on their games. As such, those fans who want to see championship caliber football in NC should focus on the Mountaineers and Phoenix Saturday at 3pm televised on SportSouth if they can’t be there in person.
Elon’s home field, Rhodes Stadium, officially seats 11,250 people but on Saturday I expect more than 20,000 people will be trying to find a way into see the game. The reasons extend beyond the simple high rankings of each team. Appalachian St arrives riding an 18 game Southern Conference winning streak, are the three time conference champions and has won three of the last four national championships on the FCS level. Coach Jerry Moore has built a juggernaut up in Boone that has shown no signs of slowing down, even after season opening losses to former SoCon rival East Carolina and highly ranked McNeese St. The Mountaineers are led by QB Armanti Edwards who is the reigning Peyton award winner as the best offensive player in the FCS, is a four year starter. Despite a foot injury to start the year (and likely accounted for at least one of the losses to start the year,) Edwards will go down in the books as one of the greatest statistical players in all of college football history. Oh, do I need to mention that Appalachian has the #1 offense in the nation? It is easy to see why Appalachian St is the #1 program in the SoCon right now and probably in all of FCS (1-AA) football.
The best part about Saturday though is that Appalachian St is not the higher ranked team. Elon has a few numbers in front of their name also. The #6 Phoenix boast a top 10 offense also, and feature Edwards’ likely replacement as the upcoming 2009 Peyton award winner in star WR Terrell Hudgins. After beginning his career at East Carolina, Hudgins transferred to Elon when the Pirate coaching staff wanted to move him over to the defensive side of the ball. All Hudgins has proceeded to do in four years at Elon is catch 49 TDs on 361 completions for 4,782 yards. If that number seems high, it is because this past weekend against Western Carolina, Hudgins surpassed Jerry Rice’s career mark of the most in receiving yards in NCAA history. These stats have not just been built in the games against bad teams either, as Hudgins has recorded 25 career 100 yd games including Elon’s one loss this year to Wake Forest. Several of his catches can be found on YouTube due to their amazing nature and Hudgins likely will be playing on Sunday next year as a receiver in the NFL. Can the storylines of this game get better?
Of course they can, because football is a team game and both of these squads boast strong supporting casts for their star players. For Appalachian St, QB Edwards is supported by RB Devon Moore who is on pace for a 1000 yard season and a top 25 defense led in tackles by LB D.J Smith and interceptions by DB Mark LeGree who led the nation last year in interceptions. Elon boasts a record setting QB of their own in junior Scott Riddle, who has been feeding Hudgins the ball for the past three years, and the reigning SoCon offensive player of the week in RB Brandon Newsome, who had four TDs last week in the win over Western Carolina. Elon also has a much improved defense that is holding opponents to 12 points per game, after several years of making the Texas Tech defense look good. There is no doubt that Elon coach Pete Lembo is building a program capable of rivaling the Mountaineers, but it remains to be seen if the Phoenix can pass Appalachian State for Southern Conference dominance. Saturday is their chance, and when you are a rising small college program, you can’t ask for a better showcase for your efforts than a sold out stadium in front of a television audience.
Overall, Saturday is going to be a matchup between two really good teams with high powered offenses who are going to put points on the board. The fact that both teams can score on anyone will make defense the key to the game. Statistically, the Mountaineers rank higher but Elon has held common opponents to lower scores. Elon will also have the benefit of playing at home in what is sure to be a supercharged atmosphere. It will be a great day to be a college football fan, and an even better day for folks who love to watch players play at a high level for the love of the game. In the end though, Appalachian has been in this position before, Elon has not. We see it every year in all levels of football. Whether it be FSU in the 90s, Florida more recently or the New England Patriots for that matter, the upstart rises up to challenge but the defending Champs know how to handle the situation. The Mountaineers win in the last minute 31-27 to truly make this matchup the Old North State Game of the Year.
Week 10 Old North State Power Rankings
1. North Carolina – Tar Heels are starting to play up to fan’s expectations after wins over VT and a revived Duke team. The win over the Blue Devils was a bigger accomplishment than non-local observers will give credit for, especially since Duke rode in on a three game win streak. The Blue Devils were charged up and on a roll but the Tar Heel defense shut down Thad Lewis and the offense did enough to win behind 160 yds of rushing from Ryan Houston. Even if UNC loses to the favored Hurricanes on Saturday, they should have a good shot of winning both BC and NCSU and are looking at a possible Music City Bowl berth against an SEC foe.
Record 6-3 overall 2-3 in the ACC Next up: Miami
2. Duke – Tough loss for the Devils in Chapel Hill deflated the balloon a little, but it did not end the season for the Blue Devils. I am holding the Blue Devils high more because of the ineptitude below them than for their most recent on field performance. Unfortunately, for the Devils to qualify for a bowl, they will have to upset either GT at home or Miami on the road in addition to beating Wake Forest in Durham to close out the season. I said at the beginning of the year it would be too bad if Duke got to 6-6 and still didn’t make a bowl. With a win over NCCU not valid towards bowl eligibility, that possibility is growing more real by the day. Record 5-4 overall 3-2 in the ACC Next up: Georgia Tech
3. East Carolina –The Pirates put on a show for the ESPN cameras last Thursday. The new logo and helmets looked great and the tailgating scene in Greenville looked even better. With former ECU great Jeff Blake on hand for the event, the Pirate football team still could not get it done against the Hokies. Somehow, sixth year QB Patrick Pinkney has regressed over his time playing at ECU. Once again though the C-USA race in not affected by the loss and the Pirates just need to finish strong to make the title game. Record 6-4 overall 4-1 in C-USA Next up: at Tulsa.
4. Wake Forest – The Deacs let another W get away from them on Saturday as Georgia Tech scored a TD in overtime to win in Atlanta. Wake had the Jackets down to 4th and inches and was up by 3 after kicking a field goal on the first possession of OT. Just like Miami though, the Deacons let the game slip away. See last week’s column if you want more info on the disappointment of this year’s team. Record 5-5 overall, 2-4 in the ACC Next up: FSU
5. NC State – The Wolfpack outscored Maryland last weekend but that is more an indictment of the Terrapins than a pat on the back for State. Maryland is not a good team this year and State could have easily lost the game on Saturday. The fact is that Tom O’Brien’s defense is decimated by injury after starting the season with some home. Clemson travels into Carter-Finley this coming weekend on a high after beating FSU on national TV and their road to Tampa Bay in their control. I don’t expect an upset, and at VT next week will not be any easier. Record 4-5, 1-4 in the ACC Next up: Clemson
Tied for 6. Appalachian State – See above for SoCon GOY. Record 7-2 overall 6-0 in the SoCon Next up: at Elon
Tied for 6. Elon – See above for SoCon GOY. Record 8-1 overall 6-0 in the SoCon Next up: Appalachian St
8. Western Carolina - The Cats gave conference heavyweight Elon a fight for a half last Saturday but as I predicted, it was a record setting day for the Elon offense. Once again, the long season continues up in the Smokies. The Ole Mountain Jug is still up for grabs but Western will have to play their hearts out in Boone to get it done.
Record 1-8 overall 1-6 in the SoCon. Next: at Eastern Kentucky
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Old North State Pigskin is a blog focused on the North Carolina schools in the ACC and Southern Conference. Referencing the state’s Revolutionary War nickname to include all the schools with its borders (and not just the Tar Heels with the state’s civil war nickname) this blog is written from a fan perspective, nothing more, nothing less. I am not a current or former coach, administrator or player of any university. I am not a professional journalist. While I am a graduate of the University of North Carolina, I am also the son of a lifelong Duke Football fan, and the son-in-law of an NC State alumnus. I just make observations as I see them…and try to leave the bias out. Comments, criticism, suggestions and corrections are all welcome at .
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Comments
Correction to the article above: Elon has the #1 total defense in the FBS so Appalachian is not better statistically. To make Saturday even better you will have the #1 O going against the #1 D. Thanks to Ben Parrish for the correction.
And that would be FCS not FBS.
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