Football Southern Conference

SoCon Football Results, August 31, 2002

Marshall 50, Appalachian State 17

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Byron Leftwich threw for 469 yards and four touchdowns as Marshall (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 19 AP) overcame a sluggish start in a 50-17 victory over Division I-AA Appalachian State on Saturday night.

Leftwich, who set a Mid-American Conference record with 4,132 yards passing last season, finished 27-of-41 and ran for a fifth score.

Josh Davis atoned for two fumbles and a dropped ball in the first quarter with a huge second half in the absence of Darius Watts, Marshall's top receiver who was out with a separated shoulder.
Davis had 11 catches for a career-high 264 yards, including a 76-yard TD scamper late in the third quarter that broke open a tight game. He had 182 yards after halftime.

Appalachian State, ranked second in the I-AA preseason poll, kept it close for a while despite playing without starting quarterback Joe Burchette. He underwent surgery Friday for a ruptured disc in his back and is expected to miss up to four weeks.

Midway through the third quarter, Appalachian State narrowed the gap to 23-17 after Davon Fowlkes scored on an 89-yard punt return.

That was more yards than the Mountaineer offense managed in the entire second half. Appalachian State had 47 yards in the half and 140 overall.
Richie Williams, the first freshman quarterback to start at Appalachian State since 1989, finished 9-of-24 for 64 yards.

Marshall avoided becoming the first ranked team to lose to a I-AA opponent, scoring the final 27 points to win comfortably.

Despite insisting it wouldn't look ahead to a Sept. 12 game at No. 16 Virginia Tech, Marshall looked anything but comfortable early.
A holding penalty negated a 100-yard return on the opening kickoff by Roberto Terrell.
Davis fumbled Leftwich's first pass after a jarring hit by Erik Crutchfield, and Josh Jeffries recovered for Appalachian State at the Marshall 16. Four plays later, Joey Hoover scored from the 2.

Davis then dropped a pass inside the Appalachian State 20, forcing Marshall to settle for a short field goal, and he fumbled a punt at the Marshall 15 that a teammate recovered.

As Davis left the field, coach Bob Pruett tried to settle him down. He responded with a 10-yard scoring run on a reverse to start the second quarter for a 9-7 lead.

North Carolina State 34, East Tennessee State 0

RALEIGH, North Carolina (Ticker) -- One week after accounting for five touchdowns, Philip Rivers spread the wealth for North Carolina State.
Lamont Reid returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and Greg Golden scored twice as the 24th-ranked Wolfpack ground out a 34-0 rout of East Tennessee State.

In a season-opening 34-14 victory over New Mexico, Rivers passed for three TDs and ran for two more. He reached the end zone just once against East Tennessee State, capping the scoring in the fourth quarter with a five-yard keeper.

Held without a touchdown pass for just the fifth time in 26 career starts, Rivers climbed past Terry Harvey into second place on the school's all-time list with 6,061 passing yards. He was just 10-of-12 for 145 yards with an interception.
Reid's return put North Carolina State (2-0) ahead for good and Golden made it 21-0 at halftime with touchdown carries of three and 14 yards.

The Wolfpack held East Tennessee State (0-1) to one pass completion and 81 total yards en route to their second shutout in the last seven regular-season games.

Jatavis Sanders was the only one of three Bucs' quarterbacks to complete a pass, going 1-for-9 for 11 yards. Sophomore Dashannon Gamble was 0-for-3 with two interceptions and Jason Davis went 0-for-2.
West Virginia 56, Chattanooga 7

MORGANTOWN, W.Va.---West Virginia quarterback Rasheed Marshall threw three first-half touchdowns, and running back Avon Cobourne picked up his 19th career 100-yard rushing game Saturday to lead the Mountaineers to a 56-7 season-opening victory over Chattanooga in front of 54,455 fans at Mountaineer Field.

The Mountaineers scored on their first three possessions and were never threatened the rest of the night. Marshall connected with receiver Mike Page for an 18-yard touchdown pass at 9:48 of the first quarter for the game's first score. Cobourne scored the first of his two touchdowns on the next series. After WVU blocked a UTC punt, the All-America running back tallied from one yard out to increase the lead to 14-0 with 6:10 left in the initial period.

Cobourne pushed the margin to 21-0 on the first play of the second quarter. His three-yard run capped an eight-play, 68-yard drive. Cobourne picked up 106 yards on 20 carries to lead the Mountaineers on the ground.

Marshall tossed his second scoring pass of the game with 7:16 left in the first half. Fullback Moe Fofana came out of the backfield and caught a six-yarder to push the score to 28-0. WVU made it 35-0 at halftime when Marshall hooked up with tight end Josh Bailey for a 16-yard score.

UTC senior quarterback Ryan McCann, making his first start in a Mocs uniform, completed his first three pass attempts and was 12-for-23 passing for 55 yards with three interceptions. Punter Travis Grubb was forced to punt eight times and had a solid evening averaging 42.4 yards per punt.

In the fourth quarter the Mountaineers added three touchdowns. WVU scored on a 46-yard fumble return by Cassel Smith, Danny Embrick threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to John Pennington and Hikee Johnson closed out the scoring on an 11-yard run.

UTC's lone score of the night came on the final play of the game when reserve quarterback Justin Barnes threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Joey Peters. Barnes played the final series of the game leading the Mocs on a 11-play
65-yard drive that took the last 5:45 off the clock.

In the first half, the closest the Mocs came to scoring was in the second quarter when they drove to the WVU 31 before turning the ball over on downs. UTC drove from its 34-yard line to the Mountaineers' 31, but on fourth down,
McCann's pass to Cortez Rankin was incomplete.

Josh Cain recorded 15 tackles marking the 17th time in his career he has had a double-digit tackle game. Cain also forced a fumble and Bryan Lamar intercepted an Embick pass to highlight the defensive effort.

The 49-point margin of defeat was the worst in an opener in school history. For the game, West Virginia had 560 yards of total offense and the Mocs finished with 150 yards.

The Mocs open the home portion of their schedule next Saturday as they host Alabama State at 1:30 p.m. at Finley Stadium in the annual River City Classic.

Western Carolina 23, Liberty 3

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) - Manny DeShauteurs rushed for two touchdowns and 91 yards Saturday as Western Carolina beat Liberty 23-3.

The Catamounts (1-0) rushed for 257 total yards and added 162 yards passing. Brian Gaither went 8-for-14 for 88 yards, while Pat Cilento completed 7-of-11 for 74 yards.

Chris Vought added three field goals in five attempts for Western Carolina.

The Catamounts opened up a 17-0 halftime lead after DeShauteurs' two second quarter touchdowns and a first quarter field goal.

Liberty (0-1) got on the scoreboard with 6:29 remaining in the third when Jay Kelley hit a 45-yard field goal to make it 20-3.

James Condon passed for 123 yards for the Flames, completing 10 of 26 attempts. Verondre Barnes led the Flames in rushing with 101 yards on 22 carries.

The Flames turned over the ball seven times on three interceptions and four fumbles.


Wofford 48, Newberry 0

SPARTANBURG, SC -- Sophomore quarterback Jeff Zolman came off the bench to rush for 106
yards, including an 82-yard touchdown run, as Wofford defeated Newberry,
48-0, tonight in the season opener for both teams at Gibbs Stadium in
Spartanburg, S.C.

Wofford took control of the game on its opening series as a 53-yard
Jesse McCoy touchdown run capped a three-play, 72-yard drive just 1:25
into the contest. Todd Rhoden's extra-point attempt was blocked as the
Terriers took a 6-0 lead.

Wofford extended its lead to 8-0 at the conclusion of Newberry's opening
series when Shaun Bennett blocked a Brandon Carnes punt with the ball
rolling out of the end zone for a safety.

Zolman's 82-yard score gave the Terriers a 28-0 lead with 5:03 to play
in the first half en route to a 35-0 margin at the intermission.
Zolman, a native of Dayton, Ohio, finished with a team-best 106 yards on
six carries as 14 different Wofford rushers totaled 476 yards on the
ground.

For the game, the Terriers outgained the Indians by a 558-to-132 edge in
total offense while holding a 26-to-7 advantage in first downs.

Wofford won its season opener for the first time since 1997 and recorded
its first shutout since a 13-0 blanking of The Citadel on Oct. 27 of
last season.

"Our defense played very well," Wofford Head Coach Mike Ayers said. "I
thought our kids came into the game ready to play both physically and
mentally.

"Offensively, we did some great things. We played a lot of people and I
think it was a productive game."

McCoy's second touchdown of the game, an 11-yard run with 44 seconds
left in the second quarter, gave Wofford its 35-0 lead at the half.

"Wofford showed its experience on defense and we had a few kicking game
errors early," Newberry Head Coach Mike Taylor said. "Their
misdirection hurt us. When they got into space, we failed to make some
plays and they took advantage."

Zolman completed 4-of-6 passes for 49 yards, including a 26-yard
second-quarter completion to McCoy that set up a six-yard J.R. McNair
scoring run on the next play as Wofford took a 22-0 lead. McCoy
finished with 74 yards and two touchdowns on five carries. Including
his punt and kickoff returns, he totaled 137 yards on just eight
touches.

Tony Jefferson and Teddie Whitaker recorded their first career
interceptions for the Terriers. Wofford also recorded three sacks.

Wofford has an open date next week before returning to action Sept. 14
at South Carolina State.


VMI 27, Charleston Southern 24

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. - Matt Sharpe (Chesterfield, Va.) kicked a 35-yard field goal with :44 remaining to lift VMI to a 27-24 come from behind victory over Charleston Southern in the season opener for both teams.

VMI rallied from a fourth quarter 14-point deficit and scored 17 unanswered points on three straight possessions to secure its first road since 1996 (26 games) and its first road season opener win since 1982 (11 games.)

The Keydets trailed 24-10 at the start of the fourth quarter, but began the comeback at the 11:00 mark of the final period when quarterback Joey Gibson (Jacksonville, Fla.) scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak that capped a 10-play 60 yard drive. Sharpe missed the ensuing extra-point, however, and the scored remained 24-16.
VMI forced CSU to punt on its next drive, but had to endure a 30-minute game delay for lightning before moving 50 yards in seven plays to tie the game on a 29-yard touchdown pass from Gibson to Pedro Garcia (Newport News, Va.). Freshman Donnie Johnston (Mechanicsville, Va.) caught the two-point conversion pass to tie the game at 24-24 with 6:26 left.

The Bucs failed to move on the next drive and punted to the VMI 45. The Keydets covered 37 yards in eight plays before Sharpe nailed the game winner with :44 left. The drive was keyed by a 13-yard pass to Greg Carlson (Purcellville, Va.) on a third and nine play, and a 12-yard run by John Bell two plays later moved the ball within field goal range.

The Keydets snuffed out any hopes of a Buccaneer comeback on the ensuing drive when Musa Sarki (Hampton, Va.) picked off a Chappell pass at the VMI 40 and returned it 46 yards to the CSU 14-yard line with :29 seconds left in the game.
The Keydets took an early 3-0 lead with 6:56 left in the first quarter when Sharpe kicked a 20-yarder, but CSU answered with touchdown passes of five and 22 yards by Buc quarterback Darren Swiggett to assume a 14-3 lead with 9:46 left in the half.

VMI answered with a 12-yard over the shoulder grab of a Gibson aerial at the goal line by Johnston , who had just been moved from offensive tackle to tight end a week before the season started. The score cut the VMI deficit to 14-10 with 7:06 remaining in the second quarter.
CSU managed a 39-yard field goal by Nick Zdal with eight seconds remaining before halftime, capping a 16-play 52-yard drive to assume a 17-10 lead at intermission.

The Bucs completely dominated the third quarter and extended their lead to 24-10 with 8:38 left in the period when running back Theo Warren scored on a three-yard run, capping a 10-play, 69-yard drive. Warren rushed six times for 27 yards on the possession.

CSU would sustain a big loss on its next drive when Swiggett was knocked out of the game with a concussion following a safety blitz by Tripp Smith (Suwanee, Ga.) on a seven-yard pass completion. Freshman Clint Chappell took over but was unable to move the Buc offense with the same precision for the rest of the game.

VMI racked up eight first downs in the first half and did not attain another until early in the fourth quarter. The Keydets finished the game with 16 total first downs and 254 total yards for the game. VMI did not commit a turnover despite showers that dumped heavy rain throughout the second half.

Gibson completed 11 of 20 passes for 143 yards and two touchdowns while Bell finished as VMI's top ground gainer with 73 yards on 16 carries. Garcia snagged three passes for 53 yards and a score while Kevin Solomon (Hopwell, Va.), T.J. Snelling (Chesterfield, Va.), and Carlson each caught two passes.

Warren led CSU rushers with 84 yards on 20 carries and Aaron Dunklin caught 8 passes for 64 yards to lead Buc receivers.

Linebackers Derik Screen (Lynchburg, Va.) and Chris Walsh (Lima, Ohio) and cornerback Ron Vaughns (Winston-Salem, N.C) led the defense with six tackle each, and senior tackle Matt Kluk (Darnestown, Md.)had five stops with one sack for -4 yards.

HEAD COACH CAL McCOMBS - "I told our guys in the locker room during the lightning delay that this is what we are all about at VMI, overcoming adversity. That's what our school is all about. Can we hang in the boat, or are we going to lose our poise? I was so proud of our guys because even when we were down at halftime, they weren't distraught, and they said we had one more half to play. And they never quit and they never doubted. The thing that also amazed me was that we didn't have any turnovers in these conditions."

" Our players were looking forward to having the chance to come back with a road victory. That monkey is off our back, and I know they want some more wins on the road."
"I was real disappointed with the way we played in the first half, but I felt the difference in the game was that we made some plays in the second half and the kick (Sharpe's field goal.)"