SoCon Rewind: A Look Back At What Happened A Decade Ago In SoCon Football

Much of the hub-bub coming into the season involved Wofford’s epic run in 2003, which saw the Terriers win a school record 11 games and made it all the way to the FCS Semifinals before losing to undefeated and eventual national champion Delaware, with a 24-9 win in Newark.

But for many, other than Wofford, the 2003 season ended up being a disappointment, as the Terriers were the lone team to qualify for the postseason, but once there, Wofford carried the SoCon’s torch extremely well.

One of the other big storylines coming into the 2004 season was that it would be the first season with East Tennessee State, which had seen its football program forced to be shut down due to major financial losses.

Funny how a decade changes thing, as the departure of both Appalachian State and Georgia Southern to the Sun Belt Conference, and Elon departs for the CAA, those defections have coincided with the resurrection of the East Tennessee State football program, and in 2015, the Bucs will be ready to rejoin the Southern Conference.

The 2004 was also a season of change for Appalachian State, and it would turn out to be a record-setting season for the Mountaineer offense, which switched from a power, I-formation run-first offense to the spread. It would be the prelude to one of the greatest runs in Southern Conference and FCS history, although it wouldn’t appear to be so immediately.

With Appalachian State’s transition to the spread offense in 2004, the rushing totals would plummet, as Alan Atwater led the team with just 417 rushing yards–one of the lowest season-ending rushing totals in program history.

The Mountaineers would see a drastic change in production, and with the suddenly pass-happy Apps,the success through the air,  would see the offense unbalanced, as the Apps went on to have one of its lowest rushing totals for a leading rusher in school history, as Alan Atwater would lead the Mountaineers with just 417 yards on the ground.

The Mountaineers’ season would be summed by one word–inconsistency. An early October game with Furman represented one of the highs, as the 21st-ranked Mountaineers faced Ingle Martin and the second-ranked Paladins in an Oct. 9 Black Saturday clash at The Rock.

The game would go down as one of the greatest in the history of the Southern Conference and in the bitter rivalry between the Paladins and Mountaineers, as Appalachian State claimed a claimed a third-straight win over Furman, with a 30-29 win in Boone.

It would take a record-setting afternoon from junior quarterback Richie Williams, who posted an NCAA record 28-straight completions, and with a school single-game record 40 completions, as he went a whopping 40-for-45 passing for 413 yards and a pair of TDs without an INT. But it would be his legs that ended up completing the win for the Mountaineers, as he raced in from 13 yards out with just 35 seconds left tying the game, 29-29, and Julian Rauch’s extra point gave the Mountaineers the lead by the narrowest of margins, and they would hold on for the epic 30-29 win.

However, Appalachian fans will also remember two SoCon games that still stick in the craw, giving up a pair of 50-point offensive days to Georgia Southern and Chattanooga in a couple of records the Mountaineers didn’t won’t to be a part of.

The 54-7 loss to No. 2 Georgia Southern was Appalachian’s fourth-worst loss all-time in Southern Conference play, while the 47-point margin loss was the worst in a normally hotly-contested rivalry with Georgia Southern.

On the eve off Halloween, there was a strange feeling in the air as the Mountaineers took Davenport Field for a game against a struggling Chattanooga team that entered the contest with just a 1-6 overall record. But it would be a game that would see one of the wildest offensive games in the history of the Southern Conference, with the two teams combining for 115 points, as Chattanooga claimed a 59-56 win in wild game. It turned out to be the highest combined score between two teams in Southern Conference history.

The season would be disappointing as Appalachian finished 6-5, capped by a rare loss to Western Carolina, 30-27. Individually, however, Richie Williams and wideout DaVon Fowlkes would turn in historic seasons as a passer-wideout combination, with both finishing as finalists for the Walter Payton Award. Williams shattered nearly every passing and total offense for a single-season in the Mountaineer record books, setting school marks for passing yards (3,109), completions (234), TDs (24), completion percentage (.669) and total offense (3,393).