No. 2 Appalachian State University (8-2, 6-0 SoCon) can clinch at least a share of its fourth-consecutive Southern Conference championship and earn the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division I Football Championship with a win over No. 11 Elon (8-2, 6-1 SoCon) on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
In addition to the title implications, Saturday's game also marks the final regular-season appearance at The Rock for 14 Appalachian seniors: LB Pierre Banks, OL Jonathan Bieschke, OL Brad Coley, WR T.J. Courman, WR Anthony Cruver, DB Josh Davis, TE Trey Hennessee, WR James Hill, WR Brandon Knox, DB Leonard Love, WR Clay McKnight, DB Billy Riddle, TE Brandon Simpkins and P Neil Young. Since 2005, when all but one of the 14 seniors were playing their freshman or redshirt-freshman campaigns, ASU is 47-8 overall and 29-1 at home.
Additionally, the class is striving to become only the second in NCAA football history (post-1900) to win four national championships. The only class to ever accomplish the feat was the 1986 senior class at Augustana (Ill.), which won Division III national titles from 1983-86.
NOTING SATURDAY'S MATCHUP:• Appalachian rides a seven-game winning streak into the game, which is tied for the second-longest streak in NCAA Division I FCS, behind only top-ranked James Madison (8).
• ASU has also won 10 conference games in a row, which is the third-longest string in the nation, behind only Dayton’s and Albany’s 12-straight wins in Pioneer and Northeast Conference action, respectively.
• ASU has won 12-straight games over Elon, including five in a row in Boone. Elon has not won a game in the series since 1964.• In five games since Elon joined the SoCon in 2003, the Apps have outscored the Phoenix by a combined 228-86, good for an average final score of 46-17.
• However, laying claim to its fourth-straight SoCon title and the automatic spot in the 16-team postseason field certainly won’t come easy to ASU, as Elon brings perhaps the best team in school history to the High Country this afternoon. The 11th-ranked Phoenix have been tabbed as high as No. 3 in The Sports Network’s national FCS poll this season. Their only losses have come at the hands of a pair of top-10 foes in Richmond and Wofford.
• The matchup features the unquestionable front-runners for first-team all-conference accolades at quarterback this season in ASU’s Armanti Edwards and Elon’s Scott Riddle. Edwards leads the league in total offense (278.5 yards per game) and pass efficiency (174.1) by wide margins while Riddle is tops in passing yardage (247.1 yards per game). The duo is tied for the conference lead with 22 touchdown passes apiece.
• Edwards has thrown just two interceptions all season and has attempted 157-consecutive passes without being picked off. On the other hand, Riddle has been picked off a SoCon-high 14 times and ASU’s defense leads the league with 17 INTs.
