St. John's grad gets fill of sports by announcing at UT, Mud Hens
Chances are, you've heard Kevin Mullan's voice before.
In the last few years, if you've attended a Toledo Mud Hens game, University of Toledo football, men's or women's basketball contest or a St. John's Jesuit football or basketball game, Mullan is the person you heard over the public address system. Whether he's asking people to "scream for some ice cream" at Fifth Third Field or reveling in another "three-point play the old-fashioned way" at Savage Arena, Mullan has become the de facto voice of Toledo.
A Toledo native, Mullan graduated from St. John's and Miami University. After college, he came back to Toledo to work in broadcasting. In 2003, Mullan replaced Bobb Vergiels as the Mud Hens' public address announcer when Vergiels took the Detroit Tigers' job.
Mullan has enjoyed announcing all the fanfare that comes along with the sold-out Mud Hens games, from Opening Day to the playoffs. But he believes, "It's important for me to make sure I'm bringing my A-game every time whether there's 10,000 people there or 10."
Mullan's first job as a PA announcer was as a student at Miami. He announced the women's field hockey, women's soccer and softball games for three years and the men's ice hockey games for two.
Mullan, 27, has worked as the PA announcer at UT for the last three years and St. John's for nearly as long. He also has a day job at the Community Partnership, a nonprofit organization in South Toledo. He started in public relations, and next month Mullan will take over as the chief executive officer of the group.
"I GREW UP in a family of athletes. My dad has been coaching CYO basketball a lot longer than I've been alive. I've always grown up around the game of basketball and around sports, but I was sort of more of the performer. I was in theater and played CYO basketball in high school. I wanted to be around sports, so I found this as a way for me to tap into both. My favorite sport is always going to be basketball. That's the sport that I love to play. My brother just got married a couple of weeks ago, and his bachelor party started with the five of us at St. John's, playing basketball for a couple of hours.
"THE ANNOUNCING just kept creeping up on me. At the end of my freshman year, I bumped into someone I had played pickup basketball with at the rec center, and he worked in the athletic department. He knew I had a radio show and asked me if I'd be interested in working as a PA announcer for women's athletics. When I was back in Toledo, I got an e-mail that the Mud Hens had an opening because Bobb Vergiels left for the Tigers. I called and just said, I've done this, if it's a permanent fix or a temporary fix I can do it. They had me do a few games as an audition, and I've been there ever since. It's worked out really, really well.
"MY ANNOUNCING STYLE has sort of gradually happened over the years. The first audition I ever had at Miami as a PA announcer I didn't really know what an announcer did, the only guy I was familiar with was the announcer for the Chicago Bulls. I thought, I want to be that guy. So I went way over the top, and it was completely obnoxious. It was bad. But the athletic director couldn't make it and so he heard it over his cell phone. By the time it made it to his ears it actually sounded pretty good because it was so over the top in person. He liked it, said that would be great. It was an energy they weren't used to having at field hockey, soccer and softball."
"WHEN I STARTED with UT, that put me officially announcing 12 months out of the year. It's actually 11 months, right now I get March off. If I wasn't working here I'd have season tickets here. I have as much fun at the women's games as I have at the men's games. The fans we have at the women's games are phenomenal. They get into it. We don't have the same attendance at the women's game as the men's, but if you close your eyes, nine times out of 10 you will think there's the same number of people there because the fans that come to those games are so dedicated.
"AT THE Community Partnership we are a substance abuse prevention agency. We have direct prevention and indirect prevention, which are the more environmental factors. Things like working with bars or convenience stores, working with the courts. Finding what are the things in our community that make it easier for an adult to abuse or misuse drugs. We have an initiative in poverty, bridges out of poverty has become a large part of our organization. It's a big concern related to the health of our community. Every few years we reevaluate what is our role, how can we help the community.
"I WAS LIKE a kid in a candy shop the first time I started announcing at Savage Arena with the new sound system and I heard it. It was so exciting. A lot of it was because it was the university putting into this team what the fans have been putting into this team for years. There was a significant investment in the fan experience. That has always been my priority as an announcer, to bring the fans closer to the game. To try and get them as excited about the game as I know I am and as the players are. I consider myself very privileged to be the announcer for the best teams in Toledo, the best franchises we have. I love New York City and it would be cool to live there for a little bit, but I don't think I could replicate what I have here."
Copyright 2009 The Blade
Hokies out for some redemption
The familiar hoopla - water cannons, orange carpet, buses emblazoned with school graphics - awaited Virginia Tech at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Friday. A similar welcome for Cincinnati at Miami International had a considerably more novel feel.
The Hokies, losers to Kansas in last season's Orange Bowl, are perennial participants in the BCS boogie. Not so for their New Year's Day dance partner. With their initial Big East title, the Bearcats earned a first BCS bowl berth.
While the No. 12 Bearcats seek to further validate a historic 11-2 season, the No. 21 ACC champion Hokies hope to culminate their 9-4 season on a redemptive high.
"It's probably a little bit more exciting now for the simple fact that last year we left on not too good of a note," Hokies cornerback Victor "Macho" Harris said. "We've got a chance to redeem ourselves now."
Said Bearcats coach Brian Kelly: "You never really arrive, but when you get a chance to be part of the Orange Bowl, it certainly changes the way your program is looked at. We weren't much of a team that was regarded nationally as a contender for this destination. I think we'll at least be considered now a team that each and every year has an opportunity to get back here."
Transformed town
With the Cincinnati Bengals entering the final NFL weekend 3-11-1 and the Reds probably facing a ninth consecutive losing season in 2009, the football Bearcats have easily won over Queen City sports enthusiasts.
Their basketball brethren are wildly popular with two national championships and six Final Four appearances, but even that team hasn't emerged from the second round of the NCAA tournament in eight of its last nine trips dating back to 1997.
Quarterback Tony Pike is a Cincinnati native who can attest to the transformation.
"Coming to the games as a child and seeing from where we've come, where 16,000 was a good crowd for us, to now we want to sell out every game," Pike said. "For us to do that and the buzz we've created around campus and all the people I know who are making the trip down here, it shows people are behind us."
Added Kelly: "It transcends just our campus. It's the city of Cincinnati. For many years it's been a basketball town and a pro town. The nice part about it now is that it's a college football town."
The Bearcats have sold just short of 14,000 of their 17,500-ticket allotment.
Beamer changes plan
Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer is preparing differently for this Orange Bowl after the Hokies lost the last one and four of their last five bowl appearances, including a 2005 trip to the Sugar Bowl against Auburn.
The Hokies have practiced more often and done more hitting during the sessions.
"We learned a lot," Harris said. "I think the coaches learned a lot, too. That is why they changed a lot of things."
Copyright (c) 2008, Newport News, Va., Daily Press
College Football Bowl Games Provide Opening Weekend Surprises
The Five Bowls Of Opening Weekend
As seems to be the custom more and more, the opening salvo of Bowl games provides upsets galore. That was certainly true with the five Bowls of this past weekend. With the Christmas Holiday fast approaching, and the powerful Big Ticket Bowls just on the year - end horizon, let's look back at some of the weekend's best action.
The Most Surprising Result: Southern Miss Upsets Troy In The New Orleans Bowl - This Sunday night love - fest between two groups of good ol' southern boys was just supposed to "tide us over" until the highly anticipated Poinsettia Bowl on Tuesday.
Forget it! This was an old-timey hum-dinger between two groups of rascals who knew how to get after each other. Disrespected all fall, the Golden Eagles blocked a field goal in overtime to secure a win over the Sun Belt Champion Trojans, 30-27. USM deserved the win in a terrific and exciting match-up.
Best Coaching Performance: Steve Fairchild Of Colorado State In The New Mexico Bowl- First year coach Steve Fairchild knew he had a tough act to follow when he replaced Sonny Lubick at the helm of the Fort Collins football program.
He demonstrated on Saturday, in Albuquerque against the highly touted Pat Hill of Fresno State, that he has learned a thing or two along the way.
Balancing the Ram rushing game of 362 yards with 257 yards of passing, CSU spotted the favored Bulldogs a 21-20 halftime lead and came back to overhaul the tiring defense of Fresno State.
The clear blue sky of the New Mexico Bowl was a perfect backdrop for the 40-35 upset victory by Colorado State. Score one for the Mountain West against the WAC.
Best Defense: South Florida In The St. Petersburg Magic Jack Bowl- Underperforming all season, the Bulls of Jim Leavitt provided a glimpse inside the rough and tumble world of Big East football when they mauled CUSA-entry Memphis, 41-14.
Memphis coach Tommy West could only shake his head in disbelief when he was informed of his team's 66 yard rushing effort and paltry 238 yards of total offense. "We were never in it" stated West. How true.
Most Disappointing Performance: Brigham Young In The Las Vegas Bowl - The Cougars believed they would roll over PAC 10 representative Arizona in another ho-hum trip to the Las Vegas Bowl.
After all, BYU was making it's 4th straight trip to the neighboring Bowl in Nevada and they had already destroyed fellow PAC10 member UCLA during the season, 59-0.
Arizona's jumped on Brigham Young early, and never let up until the final score read 31-21 for the Wildcats.
The end of a disappointing season for Coach Bronco Mendenhall's Cougars, who believed they were BCS Bowl worthy prior to the season.
Best Strategy: Jim Grobe, Head Coach of Wake Forest In The Eagle Bank Bowl - Known by his peers as a superior coach who can take lemons and create lemonade, Jim Grobe proved his mettle in the inaugural Bank Bowl of Washington, D.C.
Seeing at halftime that his Demon Deacons were being hurt by the triple option attack of the Midshipmen, Grobe pulled both outside linebackers inside and brought his corners up to cover the flanks. This adjustment shut down the vaunted Navy running attack and led to a Wake Forest victory, 29-19.
Most Outstanding Player: Gartrell Johnson, Running Back for Colorado State In the New Mexico Bowl - Playing the game of his life, Johnson rushed for 285 yards against the poor-tackling Fresno State to lead the Rams to a 40-35 upset victory.
Johnson made history by accumulating the second highest individual rushing total in Bowl history. The record is owned by Ga Tech's PJ Daniels, who ran for 307 yards in the 2004 Humanitarian Bowl.
If the opening games are any indication, this could be one of the most exciting Bowl seasons in many years. Next up is the game everyone has been waiting to see, Boise State vs. Texas Christian in the Poinsettia Bowl. Let's hope it is as thrilling as those of the past weekend.
Copyright (c) 2008 Bleacher Report, Inc
Coaches on far different sidelines
Nick Saban is the man who Forbes magazine featured on its September cover and tabbed as the most powerful coach in sports, citing as evidence his eight-year, $32 million salary and the total control he is given over Alabama's football program.
Kyle Whittingham was the man who, on the same day he was participating in interviews at ESPN, was mistaken for Bronco Mendenhall by some of the network's analysts who credited Mendenhall for the good job he was doing at Utah.
When it comes to comparing Alabama's Saban and Utah's Whittingham, who will lead their teams onto the field at the Jan. 2 Sugar Bowl, their positions on the proverbial coaching ladder are vastly different.
Saban is hovering near the top while Whittingham is just starting his climb in the nation's football consciousness.
The one thing they have in common? Both would benefit tremendously from a Sugar Bowl win.
Alabama isn't paying Saban millions of dollars to lose to a non-BCS team in a bowl game the Crimson Tide view as part of their SEC heritage, having made 12 previous trips to New Orleans.
"Alabama is in one of those can't-win situations," CBSSports.com' analyst Dennis Dodd said. "If Saban wins, and he better win big, that's what he is supposed to do. If he loses, the wolves will come out even after a 12-2 season."
Whittingham, meanwhile, IS coaching not only for the reputation of Utah but all non-BCS teams. The last thing he can afford is for his team to be smacked around like Hawaii was in the 2008 Sugar Bowl.
Beating Alabama, on the other hand, could be a huge gain for Whittingham's reputation.
"People outside of the MWC still don't know much about Whittingham," ESPN analyst Bruce Feldman said. "Heck, I'm sure a lot of the media doesn't even know his name. Willingham, Winningham? I feel like I've heard it messed up a few times this year. Beat Alabama and Saban and they won't screw up his name again."
If he's feeling any pressure to beat Saban, Whittingham isn't acknowledging it.
He never gives thought to who is on the other side of the field and he didn't know that Saban was supposedly such a powerful guy either, nor does he care.
"I don't get into all that stuff," he said.
If he did, he'd know he was going up against a coach who thrives in the spotlight that Whittingham often seems to avoid.
Ever since he uttered the words "I'm not going to be the next Alabama coach," Saban has been one of college football's central characters as the Tide's head coach.
He came to the Tide after five years at LSU in which he led the Tigers to the 2003 national title and two years as the Miami Dolphins' coach.
Often described as gruff, methodical and a jerk, in addition to being a very good technical coach, Saban has been embraced by Alabama followers as the Tide's savior from the mediocrity in which the program has been mired.
Last year he used references to Sept. 11 and Pearl Harbor when he said Alabama had to rebound from a catastrophic event after losing to Louisiana Monroe 21-14. The comments drew criticism in Alabama and outside of the state, but certainly there were Alabama fans who were relieved their coach was so devastated over the loss he forgot his political correctness.
Saban apologized for the remarks, but he hasn't toned down his opinions or his gamesmanship.
This year he seemed to poke fun at Georgia's planned blackout of the Alabama game by wearing a black shirt to his press conference, claiming it was the only one he had that was clean. His recent comments that Alabama was the only 12-0 team from a "real BCS conference" could be viewed as a way of discounting Utah's 12-0 record.
Now the pressure is on him to deliver the win and wipe away any thoughts that Utah belonged on the same field as Alabama. It's on Whittingham to prevent such a thing from happening, although even if he can keep the Utes close to the Tide many might consider it a victory, the pundits say.
"Saban's team must resolve its disappointment over missing out on the Big Enchilada, rediscover its motivation and reassert the primacy of the SEC against a BCS "outsider," ESPN's Pat Forde said. "Even a dream season like this would lose significant luster if it ends with two straight losses, one of them a major upset."
sltrib.com
It's college football playoff time, sorta
Well, we can't have a real playoff in the Football Bowl Subdivision so we have to make do with what we've got. And given what there is to work with in this silly Bowl Championship Series, what we got ain't all that bad.
It's not good, but it's not terrible.
When Alabama and Florida meet this afternoon in the SEC Championship game, it'll serve as a national championship semifinal of sorts. Whichever team walks away from the Georgia Dome victorious will play in Miami next month for all the marbles.
The loser, on the other hand, will get a nice parting gift in the form of a Sugar Bowl berth.
The other semifinal works only if Oklahoma defeats Missouri in the Big 12 Championship game, which makes it - I don't know - just a semi-semifinal. Should the Sooners win, they also go to Miami to take on the Crimson Tide or Gators.
If a three-loss Missouri team pulls off a monumental upset, the showdown in Kansas City will lose its semifinal status because it would propel Texas to the title game.
Of course Texas thinks it should be in this evening's contest because it defeated Oklahoma head-to-head on a neutral field.
But if Texas had made it instead of Oklahoma, wouldn't Texas Tech have a right to cry foul? After all, the Red Raiders defeated the Longhorns straight up.
Then again if Texas Tech had earned the bid Oklahoma would raise a ruckus because it beat Mike Leach's team by a gazillion points.
But, I digress. And besides, all this is giving me a headache.
Here's what I think will happen:
Alabama will beat Florida. I know the Gators have looked absolutely awesome since the head-scratching loss to Ole Miss, but trust me on this one.
Not since the days Gene Stallings roamed the sidelines has a Bama team been this brutal. And by brutal I mean this is a squad so hard-hitting and physical it pounds the opposition into submission.
The Alabama defense is mean, ugly and nasty - exactly the way a great defense is supposed to be.
If I'm wrong and Tim Tebow, Percy Harvin and company run wild I'll gladly eat crow Sunday, but I've got a hunch Nick Saban's gang will be 13-0 by the end of the night.
The Big 12 Championship, however, will go as expected with the Sooners flinging the Tigers around like a rag doll.
That means Alabama and Oklahoma will square off in the BCS National Championship game Jan. 8 while Texas moans and groans about being passed over.
And as is the case year after year after year, guys like me will call for a 16-team playoff. Guys like Barack Obama and Steve Spurrier will call for an 8-team playoff, and guys like Mack Brown - coach of a team on the outside looking in - will push for the plus-1 model.
Is college football a great game or what?
(c) 2008 The E.W. Scripps Co
Why College Football BCS Rankings Are So Mysterious
As the new President-elect, Barack Obama faces one of this country's most vexing problems.
Obama has promised the American public that he will bring change to a stagnant system that is controlled by a few wealthy men that control the millions of dollars at stake. During a Nov. 16 "60 Minutes" interview, Obama elaborated on his plans: "Eight teams. That would be three rounds to determine a national champion. I don't know any serious fan of college football who has disagreed with me on this. So, I'm going to throw my weight around a little bit. I think it's the right thing to do."
That's right, fixing the college football post-season is on the national agenda.
Prior to 1998, the collective wisdom of football coaches and sportswriters decided the fate of college teams by ranking them in two weekly polls, with the final lists deciding the season's champion. This led to problems when the media poll did not agree with the coaches poll, and dual champions would have to be named.
The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) was created to finally provide a national championship game so that at least the No. 1 and the No. 2 ranked teams could play each other at the end of the season.
Of course, working backwards, how are we sure that the two teams selected are indeed the No. 1 and No. 2 teams? Should we fall back on the polls or should we use the other four BCS bowl games to provide an eight team playoff, as our next president suggests?
Sea of rankings
Since the playoff system seems to be an uphill battle, let's focus on the current BCS polling solution and why it has so many doubters.
The weekly BCS rankings consist of three components: the Harris Interactive poll (114 writers); the USA Today coaches poll (60 coaches); and the infamous "computer" rankings (6 independent systems averaged together). Each component counts for one third of the total, with the average point value of all three determining the rankings from 1 to 25.
The human polls are self-explanatory but come with an opportunity for bias among writers and coaches, as well as varying methods of ranking. This uncertainty and frequent lack of logic helped support the use of automated ranking models. Just feed in the data from previous games and have the rankings derived according to the embedded algorithm. Human emotion and bias are eliminated, but the focus is now on the correctness of the model.
Unfortunately, of the six models used by the BCS, only one, by astrophysicist Wesley Colley, provides all of the mathematical details, while the other five claim proprietary rights and keep their methods shrouded.
In a Nov. 19 interview with the Birmingham News, BCS administrator Bill Hancock admitted, "We don't have the formulas and that's by design. The commissioners are not in the computer business and don't want to be. But on the other hand, they want to know that the computer rankings they hire are the best they can be. Because we're hiring the service, we don't have any control over the math."
Even the coaches are in the dark. "I don't know how the computer thing works," USC coach Pete Carroll said earlier this month.
Typically in science, a hypothesis is proposed and then checked against observations to find out if it's valid. However, in college football or any sport there are no definitive observations, as each team does not play every other team. So, the best we can do is compare a model's results with other human polls or other computer-based rankings. Since there is no final "right" answer, any system's output is going to be open for disagreement.
SOS!
Wins and losses seem to be the simplest statistic to use to compare teams. Within conferences, teams typically play every other team so a winning percentage (wins divided by games played) provides a reasonable ranking. However, comparing teams across conferences becomes the challenge, as we can't assume that each conference has equally strong teams.
So, a "strength of schedule" (SOS) variable is added to each model. The algebra fun begins in knowing how deep to take this SOS factor. If Team A beats Team B, we need to know how good Team B is by analyzing its previous opponents. But, how good are Team B's previous opponents? This backward chain needs to stop somewhere.
Thankfully, when trying to rank only the top 25 teams, the iterations can stop when there is only a negligible change in ratings. A team that plays weaker teams in their non-conference schedule not only runs the risk of an upset, but also lowers their SOS. The NCAA has also prohibited the use of margin of victory as a factor to prevent unsportsmanlike run-ups in the score.
Its not a perfect system, but that's OK with the BCS' Hancock. "We know that there's no one computer ranking that can adequately tell you who's going to win it on Saturday," he said. "We just need something to add a little science and that's what we have."
(c) Imaginova Corp. All rights reserved.
Appalachian over Cats
CULLOWHEE -- Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards was available to the Mountaineers only in the case of an emergency when they played at rival Western Carolina Saturday. And though the Mountaineers' offense struggled in the first half, Appalachian State's defense made sure they didn't need to dial 914.
Instead, the No. 2 Mountaineers, who trailed by a field goal at halftime, scored two third quarter touchdowns, added another early in the fourth, and cruised to a 35-10 victory over the Catamounts in front of 14,217 chilly fans at E.J. Whitmire Stadium.
Appalachian State not only secured an outright Southern Conference championship, but retained possession of the Old Mountain Jug for the 22nd time in 24 seasons.
More importantly, the Mountaineers go into the FCS playoffs with a nine-game winning streak and was awarded the No. 2 seed. They'll host South Carolina State Saturday at noon. Should the Mountaineers keep winning, they'll host playoff games until the finals, which are in Chattanooga, Tenn.
"The most important thing going into the playoffs is knowing that it's one game at a time," linebacker Pierre Banks said. "Whoever we got next week, we'll prepare for that team like we do every week. We'll prepare as hard as we can to beat that team and that's what we've been doing over the past few years."
Edwards, who is nursing a hip pointer suffered the previous game against Elon, watched the game from the sidelines while understudy DeAndre Presley ran the offense. Moore said Edwards could have played and actually considered putting him in if Appalachian State struggled offensively in its first two series of the second half.
Appalachian State trailed 10-7 at halftime and the entire offense was not playing well.
"We had already talked about it, but we never mentioned it, obviously, to DeAndre and we never mentioned it to Edwards," Moore said.
Though Edwards was available, Moore was happy he could stay with Presley.
"We didn't want it to (get to that point). I didn't want it to for a couple of reasons. DeAndre needed that. I'm not sure you could have written a script to do better. ...Last year he was playing high school football. Now it's all on his shoulders for the (SoCon) championship, or to direct us to a championship. I think you've got to give a guy like that a real chance."
Presley, a freshman making his first start of his college career, made sure that a change was not necessary by running for three touchdowns and threw for another. It not only gave ASU a victory, but also gave himself some needed confidence.
A conference with offensive line coach Shawn Elliott helped calm Presley down.
"Coming out of the first half, I didn't have much confidence in myself," Presley said. "Being my first game starting, I wanted to do everything perfect, so I began to get rattled a little bit. In the second half, I was talking to coach (Elliott) and he was telling me, 'Look, I believe in you, the team believes in you, play with confidence and everything will take care of itself.' Coming out in the second half, that's what I did, play with confidence and it took care of itself."
Presley ran for 156 yards on 25 carries, and led the Mountaineers (10-2) to 382 yards in total offense. He completed 16-of-25 passes for 158 yards and a 17-yard touchdown to tight end Ben Jorden with 6:08 left in the third quarter that gave the Mountaineers a 21-10 lead.
"It was play-action," Presley said. "All week in practice I was supposed to read the safety, he's going to bite on the play fake, and sure enough that's exactly what he did. Ben Jorden was wide open in the end zone.
"My only thing was, don't mess this throw up."
It was more than enough for the Appalachian State defense, which buried, Western Carolina's offense, particularly in the second half. The Catamounts (3-9) finished with just 72 yards in total offense, minus two on the ground. Western Carolina had 83 yards in the first half, leaving them with minus nine in the second.
The Mountaineers made life particularly difficult for Western Carolina quarterback Zack Jaynes. The redshirt freshman connected on just 5-of-26 passes for 63 yards and was sacked five times.
"They blitzed a lot more than we expected," Jaynes said. "But I think it's just the fact of us making plays and running with it and we didn't do it."
Western's running game wasn't much more effective. Warley led the Catamounts with 28 yards on 11 carries and was the only Western runner to gain more than five yards.
"We tried to do what we do every game, which is dominate," defensive end Lanston Tanyi, who had 2.5 sacks, said. "I didn't feel like there was any pressure was on us because I knew our offense would eventually come through."
The Mountaineers also leaned on their defense in the first half while the offense struggled with holding on to the football. Appalachian State turned the ball over once on a fumble, another time on a muffed punt and a third time on an interception.
Appalachian State was also stopped on a third-and then four-and-one at the 5-yard line when Trey Hennessee was stopped for no gain and for a 1-yard loss.
"At the half, we were down 10-7 and the way it worked out, it was good for us because there really wasn't a panic, but there was a little bit of a crises there," Moore said of the halftime locker room scene. "The players handled it well and came back out and handled their business."
Things went much smoother in the second half. Presley took advantage of a short field caused by a B.J. Frazier punt return by capping a 40-yard, five-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown run.
After finding Jorden for a 17-yard touchdown pass, the Mountaineers capped a 47-yard, seven-play drive with an 8-yard Josh Jackson touchdown run, giving them a 28-10 lead with 13:07 left in the game.
ASU's defense took it from there, keeping Western Carolina (3-9) to just one second-half first down, none in the third quarter. Appalachian State made the Catamounts pay with a 30-yard Presley touchdown run with 3:47 left in the game.
Western Carolina made things interesting in the first half by taking a 7-0 lead on a 1-yard run by starting quarterback Zack Jaynes, which capped a seven-play, 48-yard drive set up by a short punt. After Presley tied it with a 6-yard touchdown run, Western went up 10-7, a lead the Catamounts took to halftime, on a 43-yard field goal by Blake Bostic.
Western Carolina coach Dennis Wagner was disappointed in the four dropped passes in the first half and the fact that the Catamounts failed to take advantage of other time when they had good field position.
"Most of it was on us," Wagner said. "We had three or four opportunities to get the ball in the end zone and didn't get it there."
(c)2008 Watauga Democrat - Mountain Times Publications ~ All rights reserved.
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