"Appalachian Agrees to Football Series with Montana, McNeese State"(Appalachian Sports Information)
Traditional NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) powers Appalachian State, Montana and McNeese State have entered into a six-game agreement that will have Appalachian host Montana in 2012 and travel to face the Griz in Missoula, Mont. in 2013, the three schools announced on Thursday.
ASU’s previously announced home-and-home series with McNeese State has been moved back one year as part of the arrangement, with games now scheduled for 2014 in Lake Charles, La. and 2015 in Boone. Montana and McNeese will square off in 2016 and ‘17 to round out the six contests.
Each home team is providing the visiting squad with a $100,000 guarantee to help offset travel expenses and there is a $250,000 buyout clause for each program.
Appalachian, Montana and McNeese State have combined for 48 Division I-AA/FCS postseason appearances and five national championships (Montana in 1995 and 2001; ASU in 2005, 2006 and 2007). They represent three of the nation’s top FCS conferences — the Southern, Big Sky and Southland, respectively.
The Mountaineers have faced the Griz just once before, a 19-16 overtime thriller won by Montana in the 2000 I-AA national semifinals at UM’s Washington-Grizzly Stadium. The Apps square off with McNeese for the first time on Sept. 12 of this season when the Cowboys visit Kidd Brewer Stadium.
SERIES DETAILS AND QUOTES
2012: Montana at Appalachian (Sept. 1)
2013: Appalachian at Montana (date TBA)
2014: Appalachian at McNeese State (Aug. 30)
2015: McNeese State at Appalachian (Sept. 5)
2016: Montana at McNeese State (Sept. 3)
2017: McNeese State at Montana (Sept. 2)
“This agreement is great for everyone associated with these three excellent football programs. It gives our student-athletes and coaches the opportunity to compete against the best competition and in the best atmospheres that FCS has to offer. For the students, alumni and fans of all three schools, it provides four marquee non-conference games to each of our schedules that are sure to be among the nation’s most talked-about showdowns each year. We hope that this agreement serves as a catalyst for more intersectional matchups between high-level FCS programs in the future.”
— ASU director of athletics Charlie Cobb
“This is good for Appalachian, but it’s especially good for all of FCS football. People look forward to games like Ohio State-Texas and Notre Dame-USC on the FBS level, so it’s great to give fans of our programs and FCS in general the opportunity to have games of a similar magnitude to look forward to as well. Also, I’ve always been a believer that to become a good football team, you have to play good football teams and these matchups certainly fit the bill in that regard.”
— ASU head coach Jerry Moore
“This is an exciting venture for all three programs. I know our coaches, players and Griz fans everywhere think very highly of these two football powers, and it will be great for the FCS to have six non-conference games featuring top-tier schools from different parts of the country. Special thanks should go to the administrators at Appalachian State and McNeese State, who worked hard with us to find a way to make this series happen. These game should generate a lot of national interest.”
— Montana director of athletics Jim O’Day
“Scheduling quality non-conference opponents is critical to the mission and vision of what we’re trying to do. It’s exciting to our fans, our community and to our institution. This is exciting for FCS football. It has national interest. Among the three of us there have been 10 national championship appearances and that speaks for itself.”
— McNeese State director of athletics Tommy McClelland
"Dowdy Becomes ASU-Record Fourth MLB Draftee"
Appalachian Sports Information
Pitcher Josh Dowdy became the fourth Appalachian State University player selected in the 2009 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft when the Baltimore Orioles tabbed him with their 38th-round pick (1,136th overall) on Thursday. He joins teammates Zach Quate, Rand Smith and Isaac Harrow, who were drafted on Wednesday by the Tampa Bay Rays, Florida Marlins and New York Yankees, respectively, to give Appalachian a school-record four MLB draftees this year.In 20 appearances in 2009, Dowdy posted a 6-3 record and 5.07 earned run average over 76.1 innings, proving to be one of the staff’s most reliable arms with seven mid-week relief appearances to go along with his normal spot in the weekend rotation. The right-hander held opposing hitters to a .288 average and struck out 68 batters while allowing just 19 walks.
Dowdy overcame a shaky start in ‘09 to go 14-straight appearances (including eight-consecutive starts) without a loss, a stretch that covered two months (March 15-May 15) and continued a trend of late-season success that spanned his two years at ASU. In 20 post-April 1 appearances during his two seasons with the Mountaineers, the East Carolina transfer was 9-2 with a 4.45 ERA.
In all, Dowdy struck out 123 and walked just 36 as a Mountaineer, good for a 3.4-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Amazingly, eight players that either were seniors or would have been seniors at Appalachian this past season went on to become MLB draft picks — Dowdy, Harrow, Quate and Smith, 2008 draftees Jason Rook (Orioles), David Rubinstein (Pittsburgh Pirates) and Garrett Sherrill (Milwaukee Brewers) and Ben Billingsley, who played at ASU as a freshman before finishing his collegiate career at Lenoir C.C. and being drafted by the Seattle Mariners last year. Prior to last year, no Mountaineers had been drafted since 1996.
