by ASHLEY DAVIS
Sports Editor

It would have been easy for Appalachian State University fans to pack up and leave early Saturday, as the ASU football dynasty fell with a 33-13 loss to the University of Richmond.

Instead, the student sections of Kidd Brewer Stadium remained filled, forcefully continuing the chants of “it’s great to be a Mountaineer,” as Appalachian took the field for both the remaining minute of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision quarterfinals playoff game and its season.

“I’ve been coaching a long time, and I’ve been in some huge stadiums at the end of the season,” ASU head coach Jerry Moore said. “To have the fan support that we have right here right now, it’s unbelievable. This is the best place in the world to play college football."

While Moore said the fans did their part for the game by staying through the snow and 20-point deficit, nothing changed the sadness that seemingly enveloped the stadium for both the Mountaineer fans and players.

“I’m heartbroken,” senior wide receiver T.J. Courman said. “It’s the only word to describe how I feel.”

Courman said the loss is a hard pill to swallow, considering the successes the team has experienced since Courman was a freshman in ASU’s first national championship season, 2005.

Saturday he led the team in receiving with seven catches for 63 yards and the team’s lone touchdown-reception in the waning minutes of the third quarter.

Twelve other seniors watched seconds tick away from their opportunity to be only the second graduating class of athletes with four-consecutive national championship titles.

One of which, linebacker Pierre Banks, has spent more time on the field than any of the other Mountaineers, in fact, more than any other collegiate football player.

Banks finished his career Saturday with 61 game appearances, enough to put him in the all-time leader position in the NCAA.

“I don’t know how to describe it right now,” Banks said. “I’m at a loss for words.”

Banks said Richmond did a few things different on the field than the team had seen and prepped for. He also added he thought the team had a false sense of security entering the locker room at halftime with a 7-6 lead.

 “We turned the ball over seven times and we’re not going to win doing that,” quarterback Armanti Edwards said following the game.

During the game, Edwards set the Southern Conference single-season record claiming responsibility for 41 touchdowns. However, he also claimed a career-high five interceptions, previously holding a high of two in one game.

Moore said the interception by Richmond’s Justin Rogers in the end zone with nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter was the biggest play in his opinion.

With the score 26-13, Moore said he believed if Appalachian had been able to complete the pass and score, the team would have regained the momentum to win the game.

“I thought at that point we could score 14 points and win by one,” Moore said. “I was as confident as you could be. I thought the momentum had changed and it’s just one of those things. [Receiver Brian Quick] just got his feet tangled up and the ball was thrown about where it needed to be thrown, he just wasn’t there.”

 Moore said the main thing for Richmond was its ability to keep possession of the ball, keeping its drives alive.

“They did all the things they needed to do,” Moore said.

He wouldn’t take one thing away from Richmond, Moore said, but the turnovers made by Appalachian were very costly to the team both offensively and defensively.

“You could not write this script,” Richmond head coach Mike London said. “We knew that any road to any championship had to come through here because this is the mecca of college football in the FCS. To have a chance to come up here and win, it is truly an outstanding accomplishment for the entire program.”

As for Appalachian, coach Moore said there’s always next year.

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