Maine has easy time with ASU

Appalachian State's season ended with a whimper Saturday.

Failing to generate enough yards or points with an offense that had been quite adept at putting up big numbers in recent years, ASU struggled throughout in a 34-12 loss to Maine in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Maine improved to 9-3 and will play at Georgia Southern in next weekend's quarterfinals.

ASU, which was making its seventh straight playoff appearance, finished 8-4. The Mountaineers had won six straight playoff openers, but had that string end as history repeated itself. Their last loss in an opener was in 2002 — to Maine at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

"It's an honor to come down here and win," said coach Jack Cosgrove of the Black Bears, who now has a 2-0 record on ASU's home turf.

For the Mountaineers, it was the second-biggest losing margin in 40 playoff games, behind a 25-point loss to Middle Tennessee State in 1992.

ASU was limited by an aggressive Maine defense, and it limited itself with a lack of run production — gaining just 3 yards on 25 rushing attempts.

"The first play of the game, we rushed for about 7 or 8 yards, and that's a good way to get started, and two plays later, we're punting the ball," coach Jerry Moore said. "And that's the way the whole day went.

"We've not been a really good solid running team all year. That's not been a thing that people really worry about against us, having to stop the run.

"For us, we're not that good up front right now."

Virtually all of the Mountaineers' yards were passing yards. Sophomore Jamal Jackson threw for 272, was sacked three times and intercepted twice and managed one touchdown pass — a 20-yarder to Andrew Peacock in the second quarter.

"When you don't have a good running game, they're going to focus on the pass," Jackson said. "But you've still got to be able to execute. We didn't very well."

On their first 14 first downs, the Mountaineers averaged just 1.1 yards.

"Any time you've got to go long distance, it's tough to move the ball," Jackson said. "When you're facing second and 8 or second and 13, the defense is going to play the sticks. It puts the offense in a bind. Any time the defense can dictate what you're going to do, it's not going to be a good outing."

The Mountaineers survived a rocky first quarter and came out relatively unscathed, trailing just 7-0 thanks to a goal-line stand and blocked field-goal attempt by Doug Middleton and an interception by Justin Lloyd inside the 30-yard line.

But the lack of offensive production caught up with ASU.

With the Mountaineers' defense taxed, the Black Bears surged ahead 13-6 on the second big connection from Warren Smith to Damarr Aultman. The two hooked up for a 44-yard touchdown pass on their opening possession, and then on a 35-yarder in the second quarter against a somewhat riddled Mountaineers' secondary.

Starting free safety Dominique McDuffie was suspended Friday night for a "university issue." Backup Patrick Blalock injured a hamstring on the game's third play — pressing No. 3 free safety Jamill Lott into full-time duty. And starting cornerback Rodger Walker injured a groin on the fourth play.

The Bears poured it on in the third quarter, sandwiching a 20-yard touchdown pass from Smith to John Ebeling and a 54-yard touchdown run by David Hood between three straight three-and-outs by the Mountaineers.

"We weren't worn down or anything, it just wasn't our game today," linebacker Jeremy Kimbrough of ASU said.

Moore said he thought that his team was ready.

"One thing is, I think Maine played well," Moore said. "I wouldn't want to take one thing away from the way they played. I don't want it to sound like a bunch of excuses. They played well. They had a great plan."Smith finished with 250 yards and three touchdowns passing, and Pushaun Brown provided a complementary 111 rushing yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.

"Warren was very sharp early, and we just ran our offense," Cosgrove said. "We hoped to be able to run the football, and we found ways to do that … and (that gave) us a good run-pass balance and kept them on their heels a little bit."

ASU's best drive covered 74 yards and ended with a 1-yard run by Travaris Cadet that cut the gap to 27-12 with 14:56 left.

But two interceptions and a lost fumble hampered further fourth-quarter progress by the Mountaineers, and Brown tacked on a clinching 31-yard touchdown run with 9:30 left.