BOONE
The account of Appalachian State's loss to 0-10 VMI in 1994 -- repeated occasionally by Coach Jerry Moore as a warning to not overlook any opponent -- wasn't brought up this week.
That's because ASU's opponent today, Western Carolina, served notice of its own last weekend with an impressive 24-7 win at Eastern Kentucky, a team ranked among the FCS top 25 much of this season.
The Catamounts had just one win before the breakthrough victory, an attention-getting precursor for the Mountaineers going into today's 74th Battle for the Old Mountain Jug. Kickoff will be at 3:30 at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
The Mountaineers, after defeating Elon last week to clinch an FCS playoff berth and at least a share of a fifth straight Southern Conference title, will be after their 20th straight league win today and will be trying to stay in the race for a possible top-four playoff seed.
Moore said he doesn't sense any hint of a letdown for the regular-season finale.
"I'd hope not," Moore said. "We've played awfully well and we're playing for a lot…. You always guard against a letdown, but it isn't something that is paramount with us…. Every indication is that our players want to keep getting better, want to keep improving."
The Catamounts (2-8, 1-6 SoCon) seem to be improving. They haven't produced much offense this season (last in the SoCon in total yards and scoring) but they have progressed on defense and have allowed an average of just 14 points in four of their past six games.
And the Mountaineers (8-2, 7-0) might be without star quarterback Armanti Edwards, who strained his right knee against Elon.
Edwards had a platelet-rich plasma injection -- a treatment designed to speed the healing of tissue -- on Tuesday and did not practice this week.
Moore said Tuesday that he thought that Edwards would play, but he seemed less certain Thursday. Edwards is expected to suit up, and his playing status is said to be a game-time decision. If Edwards doesn't play, Travaris Cadet will most likely be the quarterback.
Coach Dennis Wagner of the Catamounts said: "We will prepare either way, but we are planning on (Edwards) playing.
"They're getting themselves ready for the playoffs right now, and I'm sure they don't want to lose any of that continuity that they've built with that offense."
Wagner said he liked what he saw at Eastern Kentucky and that the win was significant.
"Right now in our program every win is a great win," he said. "To top it all off, we did go on the road, and it was one of those games we told our kids they had to play error-free football."
Wagner said that success today will require more error reduction. ASU has won 22 of the past 24 in the series.
"It's a great rivalry, although it really hasn't been much a rivalry lately," Wagner said. "We've got to do a better job of challenging those guys. App is certainly peaking. They're just playing really good football…. We're going to have to play a perfect football game to beat App."
Moore is expecting a challenge and said that even before last weekend's win over Eastern Kentucky he had taken note of Western's improvement while reviewing tape of the Western-Elon game.
"You couldn't help but see the way Western played," Moore said. "I think they've done a terrific job there…. Their kids play hard. I think that's the No. 1 thing you've got to have. Before you do anything else as far as building a program and winning, you better play hard and you better be committed to playing hard. And I think they're that way….
"It did not surprise me that they beat Eastern Kentucky."
tbowman@wsjournal.com.
727-7320
Game day
• Teams: Western Carolina at Appalachian
• Time: 3:30
• Radio: WKBC 97.3; WBLO 790
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