Appalachian State Mountaineers: Preview vs #25 Miami Hurricanes

The Appalachian State Mountaineers get their last shot at a top foe before the Sun Belt Conference season rolls around when they face Miami tomorrow.

Back in Week 1 the Appalachian State Mountaineers went to one of the most hostile road territories in college football. They played hard and tough. They made a couple of mistakes here or there, but ultimately they were beaten by the college overtime rules. The Mountaineers had done a pretty good job keeping the Tennessee Volunteers out of the red zone the whole game. Overtime allowed the Vols into that area.

Bend and don’t break can’t really function from the twenty-five yard line in. It really can’t work if you succeed in forcing a fumble at the goal line that the other team manages to recover for the score. With that score and succeeding stop, Tennessee ended the chances of the Mountaineers to get to a New Years Bowl game.

There can be no real revenge for that. Last week’s convincing win against Old Dominion was not going to make up for that. There is something that would at least get close though. App plays Miami this week and gets the Hurricanes in Boone. Miami is currently ranked number 25 in the polls and is the highest ranking team in the ACC Coastal Division.

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Beating Miami would at least reassert that the Mountaineers are ready for primetime. It would be a season defining win even if Miami were to sink into the abyss known as the ACC Coastal. It is even possible. The Canes are two games into a new administration with neither previously played Florida school (FAMU + FAU) offering much competition for them. The Miami swagger can always leave the team to be surprised.

The Mountaineers are a well-oiled machine by comparison. They have been playing this way at least as long as Taylor Lamb has been the quarterback, and the philosophy dates back to the run of FCS championships in the 2000s. They don’t get many chances in the Sun Belt to do this.

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The thing they will have to watch for is the Miami run attack. Mark Richt is trying to replicate his Georgia model at the U with Joseph Yearby and Mark Walton. Both have run for more than two hundred yards in these first two games. They are averaging 8.5 yards per carry against FAMU and FAU.

However Tennessee also came in with a vaunted run game. That really did do the Mountaineers in. What did them in was one long bomb over the head of a single coverage cornerback. Miami will try that one too with Brad Kaaya behind center. None of the Miami receivers currently have a number of catches, but all have yards per reception over eight with five holding receiving averages per catch of over fifteen.

Next: Appalachian State beats Old Dominion

To win, App will need to stick to the model on offense, score, and don’t make mistakes. The App kicker is still learning, so be careful about when to stick him on the field. Make the Hurricanes play all four downs in no man’s land. Fortunately the crowd will be with the Mountaineers this time.

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