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Defensive secondary keeps passing game silent, stunned |
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Tuesday, 04 December 2007 |
 Senior safety Corey Lynch snags the ball from an Eastern Washington wide receiver Saturday for his 23rd career interception. Photo by Derek DeSha
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by ERIK RHYNE
Sports Reporter
The Eastern Washington University passing attack was considered by some to be the eventual demise of Appalachian State University.
However, senior safety Corey Lynch and the ASU secondary accepted the challenge, strong-arming the competition in a 38-35 win.
Heading into the game, the Eagles were known to be a pass first offense, averaging 308 yards per game.
Against Appalachian, Eagles sophomore quarterback Matt Nichols totaled
only 185 yards in the air, a majority coming in the fourth quarter.
“They just had a good defensive scheme,” Nichols said. ”They wouldn’t
really let any guys get loose. We didn’t take advantage of what they
gave us. For the most part, we just didn’t play the best game.”
Unlike previous opponents, the Mountaineers got the chance to face a
team that favored passing the ball, rather than a rushing attack.
“I guess you can say it’s a joy to have that challenge out there,”
Lynch said of the Eagles’ pass first offense. “We definitely knew it
wasn’t solely about stopping the pass. …Your learning curve doesn’t go
up against a team like James Madison [University]. It’s a bigger
learning curve against a team like Eastern Washington.”
Lynch seemed to be in the head of Nichols and the other Eastern Washington offensive players.
Totaling five tackles, he also had an interception, a fumble recovery and a blocked kick.
With the two turnovers, Lynch extended his school record to 30 takeaways in 54 games.
Lynch also blocked a field goal in the first half, the sixth of his
career. Mountaineer head coach Jerry Moore said Lynch had help from
practice over the week.
After the struggles against James Madison, Moore said the team looked
into using a different formation. The formation was similar to what
Eastern Washington used.
“It was a pretty good day. He ought to take the rest of the day off,”
Moore said jokingly. “All three are things, the grassroots of it, is
his anticipation. He has a great knack for getting off on the snap.
He’s got a great anticipation of being in the right place at the right
time.”
“We’ve done a lot of five wide stuff at the beginning of the year and
had success with it,” Nichols said. “We weren’t really prepared for the
blitz. We thought they would just stay in coverage.”
Playing defense, Lynch rarely touches the ball.
However, it seems he has a knack for finding the ball. When Lynch gets an interception, the Mountaineers are 20-0.
Even with his success, Lynch gave credit to the other members of the
secondary and the entire defense for getting a strong rush on the
Eagles.
“I can’t take any credit for it,” Lynch said. “It’s a God-given ability
that I am blessed with. I just go out there and play and thank Jesus
for giving me the chance to play and make plays.”
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