Date: Saturday, Nov. 16
Contest: Appalachian St. (7-3, 5-2) at W. Carolina (5-5, 3-4)
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Place: E.J. Whitmire Stadium in Cullowhee, N.C.
TV: Fox Sports Net
THE GAME: Appalachian State holds a 48-17-1 advantage in the series with Western Carolina that dates back to 1932 … The Mountaineers have won three straight and 16 of the last 17 meetings in the Battle for the Old Mountain Jug … In Cullowhee, the Mountaineers hold a 21-8 series lead … ASU’s Jerry Moore is 12-1 vs. the Catamounts and WCU’s Kent Briggs is facing the Mountaineers for the first time as head coach … Western’s last win came in 1998 by a 23-6 score in a game that was, ironically, broadcast live by Fox Sports Net.
THE COACHES: Appalachian State head coach Jerry Moore (Baylor ’61) is in his 14th season as the head coach of the Mountaineers and is now the winningest coach in SoCon history with a record of 114-54 … Moore is in his 21st season as a college head coach with a record of 141-102-2 … Moore’s 111th win topped Wallace Wade’s 110 wins at Duke between 1931-50 … Moore was the SoCon coach of the year in ’91, ’94 and ’95 … Kent Briggs (Western Carolina ’79) is in his first season at Western Carolina and has a career record of 5-5 … Briggs was a Catamount assistant coach from 1980-88 and was most recently the defensive coordinator at Connecticut.
GAME NOTES: Appalachian is coming off a 54-13 win against VMI … ASU QB Joe Burchette threw for 224 yards and four touchdowns in the first half of last week’s win … DE Josh Jeffries recorded five tackles and an interception against the Keydets … WCU had an extra week to prepare for the Mountaineers as it was idle last week … Western Carolina has the top passing offense in the SoCon this season, averaging 256.3 yards passing per game as a team … The Catamount offensive line will have to contend with the SoCon sack leading defense of Appalachian State … The Mountaineers have recorded 23 sacks on the year.

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