# 2008 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team

The 2008 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team represented Appalachian State University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FCS football season. It was the 79th season of play for the Mountaineers. The team was led by Jerry Moore, the 2006 Eddie Robinson Award winner for Coach of the Year. It was his 20th season as head coach. The Mountaineers played their home games at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, North Carolina.
Appalachian completed a perfect Southern Conference season at 8–0, and became just the fourth football program in conference history to win four straight conference titles. A quarterfinal playoff loss to the Richmond Spiders ended Appalachian's season, the quest for four consecutive national titles, and snapped the Mountaineers' record string of consecutive playoff victories at 13. Ending the season on a positive note was quarterback Armanti Edwards, who was honored with the Walter Payton Award, given annually to the Division I FCS most outstanding offensive player.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | Source |
| August 30 | 11:00 a.m. | at No. 7 (FBS) LSU* | No. 1 | Tiger StadiumBaton Rouge, LA | ESPNC | L 13–41 | 91,922 | 1 |
| September 6 | 3:30 p.m. | Jacksonville* | No. 1 | Kidd Brewer StadiumBoone, NC | | W 56–7 | 30,718 | |
| September 20 | 7:00 p.m. | at No. 5 James Madison* | No. 1 | Bridgeforth StadiumHarrisonburg, VA | Comcast | L 32–35 | 17,163 | |
| September 27 | 7:00 p.m. | Presbyterian* | No. 3 | Kidd Brewer StadiumBoone, NC | | W 48–14 | 28,405 | |
| October 4 | 3:00 p.m. | No. 12 The Citadel | No. 2 | Kidd Brewer StadiumBoone, NC | SportSouth | W 47–21 | 29,631 | |
| October 11 | 3:30 p.m. | at Samford | No. 2 | Seibert StadiumHomewood, AL | | W 35–24 | 10,670 | |
| October 18 | 3:00 p.m. | at Georgia Southern | No. 2 | Paulson StadiumStatesboro, GA (rivalry) | SportSouth | W 37–36 | 20,851 | |
| October 25 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 18 Furman | No. 2 | Kidd Brewer StadiumBoone, NC (Black Saturday) | | W 26–14 | 27,848 | |
| October 31 | 8:00 p.m. | No. 3 Wofford | No. 2 | Kidd Brewer StadiumBoone, NC | ESPN2 | W 70–24 | 30,931 | |
| November 8 | 2:00 p.m. | at Chattanooga | No. 2 | Finley StadiumChattanooga, TN | | W 49–7 | 6,057 | |
| November 15 | 3:30 p.m. | No. 11 Elon | No. 2 | Kidd Brewer StadiumBoone, NC | | W 24–16 | 24,831 | |
| November 22 | 3:00 p.m. | at Western Carolina | No. 2 | E. J. Whitmire StadiumCullowhee, NC (Battle for the Old Mountain Jug) | SportSouth | W 35–10 | 14,213 | |
| November 29 | Noon | No. 13 South Carolina State* | No. 2 | Kidd Brewer StadiumBoone, NC (NCAA Division I First Round) | ESPNU | W 37–21 | 13,712 | |
| December 6 | Noon | No. 7 Richmond* | No. 2 | Kidd Brewer StadiumBoone, NC (NCAA Division I Quarterfinal) | | L 13–33 | 15,215 | |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||||

## Game summaries
### LSU

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Appalachian State | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 13 |
| LSU | 14 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 41 |

### Jacksonville

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jacksonville | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Appalachian State | 21 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 56 |

### James Madison

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Appalachian State | 7 | 14 | 3 | 8 | 32 |
| James Madison | 0 | 0 | 21 | 14 | 35 |

### Presbyterian

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Presbyterian | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Appalachian State | 7 | 10 | 17 | 14 | 48 |

### The Citadel

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| The Citadel | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| Appalachian State | 7 | 34 | 0 | 6 | 47 |

### Samford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Appalachian State | 7 | 21 | 0 | 7 | 35 |
| Samford | 14 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 24 |

### Georgia Southern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Appalachian State | 7 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 37 |
| Georgia Southern | 10 | 10 | 7 | 9 | 36 |

### Furman

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Furman | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Appalachian State | 6 | 7 | 0 | 13 | 26 |

### Wofford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wofford | 14 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 24 |
| Appalachian State | 21 | 21 | 7 | 21 | 70 |

### Chattanooga

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Appalachian State | 21 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 49 |
| Chattanooga | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |

### Elon

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Elon | 0 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 16 |
| Appalachian State | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 24 |

### Western Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Appalachian State | 0 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 35 |
| Western Carolina | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### South Carolina State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| South Carolina State | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
| Appalachian State | 7 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 37 |

### Richmond

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Richmond | 6 | 0 | 17 | 10 | 33 |
| Appalachian State | 7 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 13 |

## Coaching staff

| Name | Position | Alma Mater | Year |
| Jerry Moore | Head Coach | Baylor, 1961 | 20th |
| John Wiley | Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs | East Texas State, 1984 | 18th |
| Dale Jones | Linebackers | Tennessee, 1988 | 13th |
| Scott Satterfield | Quarterbacks | Appalachian State, 1996 | 10th |
| Shawn Elliott | Offensive Line | Appalachian State, 1996 | 12th |
| Chris Moore | Running Backs | Appalachian State, 1999 | 14th |
| Mark Speir | Defensive Line/Recruiting Coordinator | Clemson, 1990 | 6th |
| Antonio Carter | Wide Receivers (Split Ends) | Alabama, 2004 | 1st |
| Brad Glenn | Wide Receivers (Slot) | Clemson, 1995 | 4th |
| Nic Cardwell | Tight Ends | Appalachian State, 2008 | 1st |
| John Holt | Offensive Quality Control | Appalachian State, 2008 | 1st |
| Brad West | Defensive Quality Control | Appalachian State, 2006 | 2nd |
| Trey Elder | Student Assistant | Appalachian State, 2008 | 1st |
| Jeff Dillman | Strength & Conditioning | Appalachian State, 2001 | 3rd |
Coach profiles at GoASU

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | Final |
| The Sports Network | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| FCS Coaches | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 |

## Awards and honors

* Walter Payton Award — Armanti Edwards
* Southern Conference Coach of the Year (coaches and media) — Jerry Moore
* Southern Conference Roy M. "Legs" Hawley Offensive Player of the Year (media) — Armanti Edwards
* Southern Conference Offensive Player of the Year (coaches) — Armanti Edwards
* Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Year (coaches) — Jacque Roman

## Statistics
### Team

| | ASU | Opp |
| Scoring | 522 | 303 |
| Points per Game | 37.3 | 21.6 |
| First Downs | 304 | 250 |
| Rushing | 156 | 124 |
| Passing | 137 | 106 |
| Penalty | 11 | 20 |
| Total Offense | 6,491 | 4,676 |
| Avg per Play | 6.8 | 4.7 |
| Avg per Game | 463.6 | 334.0 |
| Fumbles–Lost | 30–18 | 23–8 |
| Penalties–Yards | 88–761 | 79–723 |
| Avg per Game | 54.4 | 51.6 |
| | ASU | Opp |
| Punts–Yards | 60–2,352 | 82–3,181 |
| Avg per Punt | 39.2 | 38.8 |
| Time of Possession/Game | 29:10 | 30:50 |
| 3rd Down Conversions | 81 for 177 | 68 for 214 |
| 4th Down Conversions | 9 for 19 | 15 for 36 |
| Touchdowns Scored | 72 | 39 |
| Field Goals–Attempts | 8–12 | 10–17 |
| PAT–Attempts | 64–69 | 37–39 |
| Attendance | 201,291 | 160,876 |
| Games/Avg per Game | 8/25,161 | 6/26,813 |

#### Scores by quarter

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Opponents | 86 | 68 | 88 | 61 | 303 |
| Mountaineers | 125 | 159 | 106 | 132 | 522 |

### Offense
#### Rushing

| Name | GP–GS | Att | Gain | Loss | Net | Avg | TD | Long | Avg/G |
| Armanti Edwards | 13–13 | 193 | 1,169 | 228 | 941 | 4.9 | 11 | 76 | 72.4 |
| Robert Welton | 11–5 | 95 | 558 | 14 | 544 | 5.7 | 11 | 72 | 49.5 |
| Devin Radford | 10–3 | 75 | 540 | 20 | 520 | 6.9 | 4 | 84 | 52.0 |
| DeAndre Presley | 9–1 | 73 | 476 | 61 | 415 | 5.7 | 7 | 33 | 46.1 |
| Josh Jackson | 14–2 | 65 | 328 | 11 | 317 | 4.9 | 4 | 27 | 22.6 |
| Cedric Baker | 10–0 | 19 | 186 | 3 | 183 | 9.6 | 0 | 40 | 18.3 |
| Devon Moore | 3–2 | 22 | 133 | 10 | 123 | 5.6 | 2 | 40 | 41.0 |
| Matt Cline | 12–2 | 20 | 122 | 3 | 119 | 5.9 | 0 | 22 | 9.9 |
| T. J. Courman | 14–9 | 13 | 69 | 1 | 68 | 5.2 | 0 | 15 | 4.9 |
| CoCo Hillary | 14–12 | 7 | 37 | 8 | 29 | 4.1 | 0 | 13 | 2.1 |
| Anthony Cruver | 5–0 | 2 | 21 | 0 | 21 | 10.5 | 0 | 18 | 4.2 |
| Trey Hennessee | 14–0 | 7 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 1.9 | 0 | 7 | 0.9 |
| Hunter Stewart | 14–0 | 4 | 17 | 13 | 4 | 1.0 | 0 | 13 | 0.3 |
| Jason Vitaris | 14–0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 1 | 0.1 |
| Total | – | 604 | 3,675 | 465 | 3,210 | 5.3 | 39 | 84 | 229.3 |

#### Passing

| Name | GP–GS | Effic | Att–Cmp–Int | Pct | Yds | TD | Lng | Avg/G |
| Armanti Edwards | 13–13 | 170.19 | 196–306–9 | 64.1 | 2,902 | 30 | 72 | 223.2 |
| DeAndre Presley | 9–1 | 147.64 | 30–45–1 | 66.7 | 379 | 2 | 58 | 42.1 |
| CoCo Hillary | 14–12 | 0.00 | 0–2–0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Hunter Stewart | 14–0 | 0.00 | 0–1–0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Total | – | 165.88 | 226–354–10 | 63.8 | 3,281 | 32 | 72 | 234.4 |

#### Receiving

| Name | GP–GS | No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | Avg/G |
| CoCo Hillary | 14–12 | 56 | 735 | 13.1 | 5 | 50 | 52.5 |
| Ben Jorden | 14–7 | 29 | 506 | 17.4 | 6 | 58 | 36.1 |
| T. J. Courman | 14–9 | 29 | 292 | 10.1 | 3 | 48 | 20.9 |
| Brian Quick | 13–4 | 23 | 496 | 21.6 | 7 | 58 | 38.2 |
| Matt Cline | 12–2 | 19 | 264 | 13.9 | 2 | 35 | 22.0 |
| Josh Johnson | 14–9 | 16 | 229 | 14.3 | 2 | 38 | 16.4 |
| Blake Elder | 14–3 | 13 | 180 | 13.8 | 1 | 38 | 12.9 |
| T. Washington | 13–1 | 11 | 125 | 11.4 | 2 | 44 | 9.6 |
| B. J. Frazier | 14–4 | 10 | 120 | 12.0 | 1 | 20 | 8.6 |
| Robert Welton | 11–5 | 7 | 86 | 12.3 | 1 | 44 | 7.8 |
| Devin Radford | 10–3 | 5 | 178 | 35.6 | 2 | 72 | 17.8 |
| Josh Jackson | 14–2 | 4 | 28 | 7.0 | 0 | 13 | 2.0 |
| Clay McKnight | 13–0 | 2 | 13 | 6.5 | 0 | 7 | 1.0 |
| Devon Moore | 3–2 | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 0 | 19 | 6.3 |
| Brad Hardee | 13–3 | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 10 | 0.8 |
| Total | – | 226 | 3,281 | 14.5 | 32 | 72 | 234.4 |

### Defense

| Name | GP–GS | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Sacks | Pass Defense | Pass Defense | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Fumbles | Fumbles | Blkd Kick |
| Name | GP–GS | Solo | Ast | Total | TFL–Yds | No–Yds | BrUp | QBH | No.–Yds | Avg | TD | Long | Rcv–Yds | FF | Blkd Kick |
| Jacque Roman | 14–14 | 47 | 83 | 130 | 6.5–30 | 3.0–23 | 2 | 5 | 2–21 | 10.5 | 0 | 13 | 4–33 | – | – |
| D. J. Smith | 14–14 | 58 | 65 | 123 | 7.5–21 | 2.0–8 | 5 | 3 | – | – | – | – | 1–0 | – | – |
| Pierre Banks | 14–14 | 45 | 53 | 98 | 4.0–22 | 2.0–20 | 11 | 2 | 1–18 | 18.0 | 0 | 18 | – | 2 | – |
| Cortez Gilbert | 14–14 | 45 | 27 | 72 | 0.5–1 | – | 17 | – | 2–0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 |
| Mark LeGree | 13–13 | 37 | 21 | 58 | 3.0–19 | 1.0–13 | 7 | – | 10–32 | 3.2 | 0 | 22 | – | 1 | – |
| A. Williams | 14–14 | 13 | 42 | 55 | 4.5–29 | 3.0–25 | – | 4 | – | – | – | – | 1–11 | 1 | – |
| Lanston Tanyi | 14–9 | 15 | 37 | 52 | 7.0–28 | 6.0–25 | – | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| Ed Gainey | 14–10 | 32 | 19 | 51 | 0.5–0 | – | 9 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Jabari Fletcher | 13–11 | 21 | 28 | 49 | 12.5–57 | 6.0–45 | 2 | 8 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – |
| Billy Riddle | 14–3 | 20 | 22 | 42 | 1.5–2 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| Malcolm Bennett | 13–13 | 6 | 31 | 37 | 2.0–6 | 1.0–4 | – | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| Leonard Love | 9–7 | 18 | 19 | 37 | 2.5–5 | – | 6 | – | 1–10 | 10.0 | 0 | 10 | – | 1 | – |
| Travis Dowda | 13–5 | 20 | 10 | 30 | 4.0–42 | – | 2 | – | 3–33 | 11.0 | 1 | 33 | – | 1 | – |
| Quavian Lewis | 13–4 | 10 | 18 | 28 | 8.0–30 | 3.0–20 | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | – |
| Demery Brewer | 13–0 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 1.0–9 | 1.0–9 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Daniel Finnerty | 14–2 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 4.0–9 | – | – | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| B. Simpkins | 13–0 | 4 | 12 | 16 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Trey Hennessee | 14–0 | 4 | 10 | 14 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Brad Hardee | 13–3 | 8 | 5 | 13 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Richard Long | 14–0 | 2 | 9 | 11 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Jason Jones | 13–0 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 2.5–9 | 2.0–9 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Josh Smith | 10–0 | 5 | 5 | 10 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| D. McDuffie | 3–3 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 0.5–1 | – | 3 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Gordy Witte | 12–0 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 2.0–11 | 1.0–7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Ellis McDowell | 5–0 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0.5–1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Josh Davis | 7–0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Tony Robertson | 3–3 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 2.0–13 | 1.0–9 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Bobby Bozzo | 12–0 | 4 | 3 | 7 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Jason Vitaris | 14–0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Cedric Baker | 10–0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Jared Reine | 11–1 | 4 | 1 | 5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Daniel Kilgore | 14–13 | 2 | 2 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Wilson Fitchett | 14–0 | – | 4 | 4 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Orry Frye | 11–4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Justin Johnson | 3–0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.5–0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Mario Acitelli | 14–14 | – | 2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Brandon Olsen | 2–0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Brad Coley | 14–14 | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Dominick Magazu | 8–0 | 1 | - | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Brian Quick | 13–4 | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Neil Young | 14–0 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Mitch Mitchener | 2–0 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Clay McKnight | 13–0 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2–0 | – | – |
| Coad Westra | 3–0 | 1 | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Daniel Pratl | 3–1 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Bieschke | 14–13 | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | – | 480 | 587 | 1,067 | 77–345 | 32–216 | 69 | 45 | 19–114 | 6.0 | 1 | 33 | 8–44 | 14 | 1 |

### Special teams

| Name | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Kickoffs | Kickoffs | Kickoffs | Kickoffs | Kickoffs |
| Name | No. | Yds | Avg | Long | TB | FC | I20 | Blkd | No. | Yds | Avg | TB | OB |
| Neil Young | 55 | 2,232 | 0.6 | 56 | 5 | 12 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 44 | 44.0 | 0 | 0 |
| T. J. Courman | 2 | 55 | 27.5 | 34 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Adam Kassouf | 1 | 44 | 44.0 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| DeAndre Presley | 1 | 21 | 21.0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| TEAM | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Jason Vitaris | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 93 | 5,344 | 57.5 | 9 | 3 |
| Total | 60 | 2,352 | 39.2 | 56 | 6 | 12 | 15 | 1 | 94 | 5,388 | 57.3 | 9 | 3 |
| Name | Punt Returns | Punt Returns | Punt Returns | Punt Returns | Punt Returns | Kick Returns | Kick Returns | Kick Returns | Kick Returns | Kick Returns |
| Name | No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long | No. | Yds | Avg | TD | Long |
| B. J. Frazier | 29 | 183 | 6.3 | 0 | 28 | – | – | – | – | – |
| Josh Johnson | 7 | 47 | 6.7 | 0 | 26 | – | – | – | – | – |
| CoCo Hillary | – | – | – | – | – | 30 | 701 | 23.4 | 0 | 48 |
| Richard Long | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | 129 | 16.1 | 0 | 26 |
| Devin Radford | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 39 | 13.0 | 0 | 20 |
| Matt Cline | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 0 | 19 |
| Blake Elder | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Travis Dowda | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 17 | 17.0 | 0 | 17 |
| Tim Frye | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | -3 | -3.0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 36 | 230 | 6.4 | 0 | 28 | 45 | 902 | 20.0 | 0 | 48 |
2008 statistics at GoASU