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Mountaineers know a lot about today's opponent
Presbyterian coach is a master at the spread offense
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Published: September 27, 2008
BOONE - Appalachian State hasn't played Presbyterian since 1969. But the Mountaineers know what to expect when they meet tonight at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
The Blue Hose will throw the ball a lot.
Bobby Bentley, in his second season as coach at Presbyterian, began honing a pass-first offense as an assistant in the 1980s to former Appalachian player Bo Corne at Byrnes High School in South Carolina.
He perfected his version of a spread offense as head coach at Byrnes, whose teams included former Appalachian quarterback Trey Elder and current receiver Blake Elder and reeled off four straight Class AAAA Division II state titles from 2002 through 2005.
Coach Jerry Moore of the Mountaineers called Bentley one of the gurus of the spread.
"I used to go down to Byrnes when we were recruiting the Elders and I used to watch them in the playoffs," Moore said. "He knows his business, I can tell you that. Watching (Presbyterian) on tape they're just like they were at Byrnes, just at a different level. They'll pick you apart if you're not careful."
Trey Elder, now a graduate assistant at ASU, said that he'll see a very familiar look when the Mountaineers play Bentley and the Blue Hose.
"They like to throw it around a lot," Trey Elder said. "They run a different type of spread than what we run here. He looks for the pass first whereas a lot of times here we look to the run first."
Bentley said that it's basically the same offense he ran in high school for 16 years.
"I began calling plays at age 22 for an offense in the 1980s that evolved from a shotgun to a no-huddle that featured a lot of screen passes," Bentley said. "I studied Tulane, Purdue and other teams that threw a lot.
"It's just something that evolved. I borrowed and begged and plundered from other people and I guess it's just an eclectic approach. It's a little bit of spread, a little bit of I back. It's a little bit of a lot of different things.
"We try to throw the football. We want to throw the football. As we continue to develop our people, especially in the offseason program, we're going to throw the ball even more. That's what we want to do – to spread things out and create space for our speedy guys and get the ball to them."
Presbyterian (1-3) leads the Big South Conference in passing with 239 yards a game, but is in the building stages of a transition from Division II to Division I.
The Blue Hose will play a Southern Conference team for the fourth time in five games when they face the Mountaineers, and haven't fared well. They lost 38-21 to Wofford, 66-12 to Elon and 23-21 to Western Carolina.
It won't likely get any easier against the Mountaineers, three-time defending FCS champions who are ranked No. 3 and smarting from a 35-32 loss at James Madison last Saturday.
"We knew when we took on the challenge that this will be a monumental task to play Appalachian and compete with these guys," Bentley said. "But for us to build the program to where we want to go we want people to know we are Division I now and that's one of the reasons we scheduled them – to realize we are stepping up a notch."
Moore said that he hopes the loss to James Madison, in which his team led 21-0 at halftime, was a learning experience.
Dominique McDuffie, a freshman cornerback, tore an ACL in last Saturday's game against James Madison. He had an MRI on Wednesday and it was determined that he will be out for the season. Sophomore Jared Reine is expected to start.
The Mountaineers took some other injury hits last Saturday, and tonight will rely on newer defensive ends to help fill the loss of Tony Robertson, who is expected to be out at least six weeks as result of a foot injury.
"I've been in the rotation a lot so I feel comfortable getting more time," said Lanston Tanyi, a freshman who could start at defensive end.
Jabari Fletcher, a sophomore defensive end, said: "There will be more a load on us, but we welcome the opportunity."
■ Tommy Bowman can be reached at tbowman@wsjournal.com.
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