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Historic foes ready to renew their rivalry
Appalachian State, East Carolina will play one another for the first time in 30 years in 'Battle of the Beards'
Mark Mitchell Photo
DeAndre Presley will start at quarterback for ASU in place of Armanti Edwards.
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COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Published: September 5, 2009
It's being hailed as the "Battle of the Beards."
And it has been so long since Appalachian State and East Carolina have met in football that their Mountaineer and Pirate mascots have more gray in those beards these days.
The former conference rivals will meet for the first time in 30 years at noon today at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in Greenville.
A sense of history isn't lost on either of the head coaches, and the renewal comes at an interesting time -- both programs are stocked with significant numbers of returning players from teams that were successful in 2008.
East Carolina won the Conference USA championship last season. Appalachian won the Southern Conference. Both teams return 16 of 22 starters.
"There's a lot of excitement around here, and there's a lot of excitement at East Carolina," Coach Jerry Moore of ASU said. "They had a terrific season last year.… They won a conference championship, and we won ours.
"This ballgame goes back in history, there's a rich tradition of East Carolina and Appalachian State playing each other, and it's been years since we've played. There are a lot of people that have been looking forward to this ballgame for a long time."
ASU and ECU met 29 times from 1932 through 1979, both playing in the Southern Conference and the old North State Conference. The Mountaineers lead the series 19-10, but the Pirates won the last four games before leaving the SoCon for added scholarships and bowl-division competition.
Coach Skip Holtz of ECU said that it's a renewal that is overdue.
"I think one of the things that makes this exciting is not only the quality of play of Appalachian State but also that it's an in-state rivalry game," Holtz said. "I think by renewing this rivalry it just creates an awful lot of excitement and enthusiasm and energy. This has been a sold-out ticket for quite a while now and it's a hard ticket to get in this state with these two programs going head to head."
Appalachian will start the season ranked No. 1 in the FCS polls but will be without star quarterback Armanti Edwards, who is recovering from a deep cut on his right foot from a lawn-mowing accident.
Moore said that DeAndre Presley, a backup to Edwards as a freshman last season, will start at quarterback. Holtz said that his team was preparing the same, regardless of the starting quarterback.
"I think this (Appalachian) football team is much more than just Edwards," Holtz said. "He is a great player who has had great success, and when you watch him on film he does some incredible things, but he didn't play against Western Carolina last year and his backup (Presley) accounted for over 300 yards and three touchdowns.… I think we're going to see a very good quarterback."
The Pirates have a proven quarterback in Patrick Pinkney, a sixth-year senior who has played a key role in 17 wins and two bowl appearances the last two seasons, and many of the expectations for ECU are pinned on a potentially improved running game. The Pirates have an experienced offensive line anchored by senior Sean Allen and a deep group of running backs including senior Dominique Lindsay and sophomore Brandon Jackson.
"We have bigger, more physical backs than we've had," Holtz said.
The Pirates also have three key seniors --end C.J. Wilson, linebacker Nick Johnson and safety Van Eskridge -- back from a defense that allowed just 21 points a game last season.
"I think the biggest challenge is that they've got just about all their guys back," Moore said. "I started highlighting their roster, and I ran out of ink highlighting all their seniors."
The Mountaineers' defense returns nine starters -- including senior linebacker Jacque Roman, junior linebacker D.J. Smith and senior cornerback Cortez Gilbert.
"I hope our defense is pretty good, because (our offense) hasn't made many first downs (in preseason camp)," Moore said. "We're pleased with the way our defense has come on….
"Only time will tell. I don't mean just East Carolina, they're a terrific team to open with, but only time will tell if our defense and our football team is a justifiably good football team."
Holtz said he knows that the Mountaineers, who will get $300,000 for playing at East Carolina, will be after more than just a paycheck for playing a bowl-division opponent. It could be a close shave.
"I'm sure they look at it as an opportunity to make some waves," Holtz said. "This is a huge bragging-rights game.
"I look at it as very similar when we got to North Carolina and N.C. State with a little bit of a chip on our shoulder…. I think App State is going to come in here with that very same mind set."
■ Tommy Bowman can be reached at 727-7320 or at tbowman@wsjournal.com.
Game day
• Teams: Appalachian at East Carolina
• Time: Noon
• Radio: WKBC 97.3; WBLO 790
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