UR athletic director irked by FCS system
"That should be an embarrassment" is what UR Athletic Director Jim Miller said about the FCS playoff system that has allowed Appalachian State to stay at home for the fourth consecutive postseason.
Richmond (10-3) plays at second-seeded ASU (11-2) tomorrow in the quarterfinals. If the Mountaineers can advance to the semifinals, they will go through four consecutive years of FCS playoff competition (three games each year) without leaving home until the championship game at a neutral site in Chattanooga, Tenn.
ASU did so last season despite being unseeded. Only the four seeded teams are guaranteed home playoff games. Miller emphasized that his beef is not with ASU, but the playoffs' structure. Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore believes his team has deserved home playoff games because of regular-season achievement and strength of schedule.
"How else are you going to determine who plays at home?" he said. "What other criteria would you use?"
The Mountaineers have won or shared the past four Southern Conference championships. In nonleague play since 2005, ASU has visited Kansas, LSU (twice), N.C. State and Michigan, where the Mountaineers won last season.
ASU consistently is among the FCS leaders in home attendance, and the awarding of home playoff games in matchups of unseeded teams is linked to revenue potential.
Mountaineers are not left out in the cold
Early this week, snow fell on Boone, N.C., but the Mountaineers aren't running around in it. Last year, Appalachian State opened an indoor practice facility with an 80-yard by 60-yard FieldTurf surface.
"It's a huge benefit," Moore said Tuesday. "This time of the year, our snow resorts are usually making snow. They don't have to make any snow right now. There's plenty of snow up here."
Before the indoor facility was built, ASU commonly would practice in a gym when snowy conditions forced the team inside. Weather for tomorrow in Boone, N.C.: mostly cloudy, high of 41. Snow already has melted from the game field.
Spiders' best defense may be their offense
Appalachian State averages 471.5 yards and 39.2 points and has one of the nation's most dynamic quarterbacks in junior Armanti Edwards. Richmond's best bet to get through the Mountaineers may be ball control starring Josh Vaughan, the 6-0, 232-pound senior tailback from Hermitage High. He was lifted from the starting lineup after gaining 44 yards on 16 carries in a Sept. 27 loss at Villanova.
"Ever since that game, I think he's kind of been a man possessed in terms of getting to the next level, making one cut and getting upfield," UR coach Mike London said. "Even as a senior, you're allowed to grow up and mature."
In the eight games since, Vaughan has averaged 143.8 rushing yards. Vaughan has been helped considerably by the blocking of fullback John Crone, who missed last weekend's first-round win over Eastern Kentucky because of an ankle injury. UR lists the 240-pound Crone as a starter for tomorrow. -- John O'Connor
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