Appalachian State wins third straight title

Dec 15, 2007 - 8:03 AM CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Appalachian State made history in its first game of the season, and did so again in its last.

Quarterback Armanti Edwards amassed 287 total yards and tossed three touchdown passes to lead the Mountaineers to a 49-21 victory over Delaware in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) title game on Friday.

Fifth-ranked Appalachian State set the tone for an upset-filled year in college football with its season-opening shocker over Michigan. It closed the season on Friday with an unprecedented third straight national championship.

The Mountaineers are the fifth team to reach three straight FCS title games, joining Eastern Kentucky (1979-82), Georgia Southern (1988-90 and 1998-2000), Marshall (1991-93) and Youngstown State (1991-94).

Edwards completed 9-of-15 passes for 198 yards, but the Mountaineers did most of their damage on the ground against the Blue Hens, rushing for 360 yards and four touchdowns on 51 carries - an average of 7.1 yards.

Kevin Richardson led Appalachian State with 121 yards on the ground and Edwards rushed for 89, while both Trey Elder and Devon Moore topped 70 yards and found the end zone.

The Mountaineers opened the scoring when Edwards hit Richardson with a 19-yard pass at the 10:47 mark of the first quarter. They made it a 14-0 advantage when Moore broke off a 46-yard touchdown run 6 1/2 minutes later.

Appalachian State moved ahead, 21-0, on their first drive of the second quarter and led, 28-7, at the half.

Edwards passed for another score in the third quarter, and Richardson and Elder found the end zone on the ground in the fourth to complete the rout.

The Blue Hens were led by senior quarterback - and NFL prospect - Joe Flacco, who completed 23-of-48 passes for 336 yards and one touchdown.

"We weren't so fortunate early on," Flacco said. "They jumped ahead pretty quickly. They are good. Things didn't go well early. It was tough to fight back from that, and they wouldn't let it happen."

Fifth-ranked Appalachian State (13-2) has had just one losing season in the last 23 years, while Delaware has had two since 1988. The Blue Hens also claimed a national championship in 2003.

After beating Michigan, 34-32, in Ann Arbor, the Mountaineers posted a 9-2 record during the regular season, losing Southern Conference games to Wofford and Georgia Southern.

In the playoffs, they defeated James Madison, Eastern Washington and Richmond.

Ranked 13th, the Blue Hens made a surprising run to the final after a two-year absence from the playoffs. One of Delaware's losing seasons in the last two decades came last year, when it finished 5-6.

"We lost to a great football team today," said Delaware coach K.C. Keeler, who lost for just the second time in 10 NCAA postseason appearances since taking over the helm of the Blue Hens in 2002. "We didn't make some plays early, and that put us behind. Things just steamrolled from there.

"Whatever went wrong for us tonight was because of Appalachian State. Give them all the credit, they are a deserving national champion. I'm disappointed we didn't convert early, but so much was about how they played."

The Blue Hens (11-4) did not even know if they would make the playoffs after losing their last two regular-season games to Richmond and Villanova.

But Delaware routed Delaware State, 44-7, in its playoff opener and cruised into the championship game. In their previous two contests, the Blue Hens rallied from 10-point deficits in the first quarter to oust top-10 teams on the road.

In the quarterfinals, Delaware upset top-ranked Northern Iowa, 39-27, then eliminated No. 4 Southern Illinois, 20-17, in the semifinals last week. The combined record of the three playoff teams they beat to reach the finals was 34-2.

"It's been an amazing journey," Keeler said of a season that ended in a berth in the national championship game after going 5-6 the previous year. "This loss doesn't change the way I feel about this team and these guys. It was a great season. We overcame a lot of obstacles to get here, and it was a great season."