Appalachian State’s Southern Conference Legacy: Moments and Milestones No. 10

Linebacker Dexter Coakley Registered 15 tackles against Marshall In The Apps First Ever Win Over A Top-Ranked Foe

GREENVILLE, S.C.–Appalachian State fans most likely would be able to tell you where they were when Appalachian State defensive back Johnny Smith picked off Marshall quarterback Todd Donnan’s pass and returned it 70 yards for a score on a cold, rainy October evening at The Rock.

Who can forget the call by Brian Esteridge of the Appalachian Sports Network, It’s picked off by  Johnny Smith…Johnny Smith 40…Johnny Smith 30…Johnny Smith 20…Johnny Smith 10…5…TOUCHDOWN JOHNNY SMITH TOUCHDOWN APPALACHIAN!!! As his voice reached its peak, it cracked during that call.

And who could blame him? That play, if you were a Mountaineer fan, student or alum, was worthy of such excitement. After all, it was one of the biggest plays in the history of Appalachian State football. It is where the turnaround began after a horrendous ’93 season.

Smith’s game-winning INT return for a score in the fourth quarter was vindication, as some Thundering Herd fans and press thought the Marshall program had surpassed Appalachian State, especially after a 35-3 loss in Huntington a year earlier.

It was one of the most dominating performances by an Appalachian State defenses in the history of the program against a No. 1 ranked team, and when the Thundering Herd made the trek  to Boone, the Mountaineers were laying in wait for the upset win, climbing back to the SoCon after suffering through the only losing season in the 24-year career of Jerry Moore just a year earlier.

Even making the story more memorable for most fans of the Black and Gold was the story of Smith himself, who was a running back-turned-defensive back, and this type story is one that the Mountaineer football program has prided itself on during its 42-year Southern Conference membership.

The win was especially needed, as the Mountaineers were on the brink of falling out of the Division I-AA Top 25, ranked No. 24 after a 34-31 loss to Georgia Southern a week earlier in Statesboro. Add to that a 12-10 loss to Wake Forest to open the season, and the Mountaineers were almost in a must-win situation just to make the postseason coming into the important meeting with the top-ranked Thundering Herd.

The defensive effort on the evening for the Mountaineers was highlighted by the play of Dexter Coakley, who registered 15 tackles, including three for a loss, while also breaking up a pair of passes and causing a fumble. It was one of Coakley’s signature performances in a career filled with big-time performances, and it was a game in which the nation knew what many Appalachian State fans already knew. Coakley would lead a Mountaineer defense that was simply outstanding against a nationally ranked offense, and one that would finish the ’94 season with ranked tops in the Southern Conference and No. 10 nationally.

An even more intriguing development occurred at the quarterback position, where current Mountaineer head coach Scott Satterfield was making just his second start in the signal-caller’s role. There was a bit of a quarterback controversy brewing in the High Country, with Andy Arnold starting the campaign as the ASU No. 1.

Not only did more than 19,000 watch the game in person, but there was also a regionally-televised audience as a result of the SportSouth Southern Conference Game of the Week — also the first night game at Kidd Brewer Stadium since 1986.

Early on before the TV audience, both teams were conservative offensively, which was dictated mostly the driving rain which was present for most of the evening. Mountaineer defensive back Jamie Coleman picked off another Donnan pass at the ASU 40, giving Satterfield and the Mountaineer offense excellent field position to start the game.

However, the Mountaineers would move it the Marshall 27, but would get no further, as talented Mountaineer running back Chip Hooks was met by a sea of white at the line of scrimmage on a fourth-and-one, and the Mountaineers turned the football over on downs.

That defensive stop by the Herd was enough to get the momentum going for Donnan and the Marshall offense, as the Herd drove the football 72 yards, culminating with a two-yard scoring toss to Danny White, staking the Herd to a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter of play.

With one of the best pass-rushes in school history, the Thundering Herd by no means had an easy time of it scoring on that opening drive, and Donnan got to know the Mountaineer defensive line really well on that opening drive, including a sack by Shawn Elliott.

Elliott was part of a defensive front, which also included current current Mountaineer linebackers coach Mark Ivey. ASU ended up leading the Southern Conference in sacks at season’s end in 1994.

The first of the big plays on the night from Johnny Smith would come early in the second quarter, when he forced a Chris Parker fumble, which led to the first points of the evening when Jay Sutton came on to convert a 41-yard field goal in treacherous conditions for a kicker, especially when planting on the uncertain KBS surface with the game played in a quagmire.

The Mountaineers would take their first lead of the ballgame when Damon Scott plunged into the end zone on a short scoring run, giving the Mountaineers a 10-7 lead.

Another Marshall turnover, which this time came via a fumble from starting quarterback Todd Donnan, and William Peebles was the man at the bottom of the pile with the football for the Mountaineers. The stout defense, coupled with the deluge, made the Thundering Herd top-ranked passing attack look inept, while the Thundering Herd couldn’t hold onto to the football when pulling it down to run it at the staunch Black and Gold outfit.

ASU went to the locker room with all the momentum, as well as a 10-7 lead. In a game where a two-score lead must have seemed like a 30-point advantage, the Mountaineers would put together one of the more impressive drives of the season, considering the opponent and the league’s top defensive unit coming in.

Two big gainers by ASU running backs on the opening drive of the second half proved to be two of the most pivotal offensive plays of the night for ASU. Hooks pulled in a second catch in excess of 20 yards, with a 23-yard reception from Satterfield, and then Scott proceeded to rip off a 35-yard rush to get the ball down to the Marshall 5-yard line.  ASU would eventually punch it in from short-yardage to take the 17-7 lead. The Mountaineers could taste victory.

The Mountaineers would enter the fourth-quarter with that two-score advantage, and all that remained between the Apps and a Southern Conference upset was 15 meager minutes. That would eventually set the stage for Smith’s memorable interception, and Esteridge’s play-call that still echoes in the ears of all Mountaineer fans who had their headsets tuned to the in-stadium feed on that rainy evening. But it was ASU’s constant pressure on Donnan that would eventually force the errant throw, as the Herd had to put the ball in the air trailing by two scores and under 10 minutes to play.

On a third-and-long play and the Herd inside Mountaineer territory, ASU got pressure up the middle once again with Peebles and Coakley encroaching on Donnan, as he got rid of the ball towards the home sidelines and breaking on the pass perfectly was Smith, who picked off the pass with a full head of steam reminiscent of “Old Man” Willie Brown in slow-motion in some of those old NFL Films Super Bowl highlight videos.

The score dashed any thoughts of a Marshall Miracle on the Mountain, giving the Mountaineers a 24-7 lead. Donnan and the Herd would get on the board once more, via a short scoring pass to White, setting the final margin, at 24-14.

Unfortunately for the Mountaineers, the win did not lead to a Southern Conference title, as the Black and Gold lost to winless VMI on the final Saturday of the regular-season to gift wrap the title to the Herd. Still, ASU certainly made a strong statement after a disappointing 1993 season. The win was ASU’s first-ever victory against a No. 1-ranked opponent.

That rainy evening saw Coakley put on a show for the ASU defense, while a star was born under center, in Satterfield, who would go on to demoralize the Herd one more time a year later in Huntington. Satterfield completed the night with 113 passing yards, while rushing for 30 more yards and a score.

ASU defeated New Hampshire, 17-10 in overtime in bitterly cold conditions at Cowell Stadium in the opening round of the playoffs. However, the Mountaineers eventually bowed out of the playoffs with a quarterfinal setback out on the blue turf, 17-14 against the Boise State Broncos to end the season with a 9-4 overall record.