Mountaineer Football Notebook: ASU Graces Cover of Sports Illustrated
by Appalachian Sports Information

September 5, 2007 - BOONE, N.C. — The worldwide recognition that continues to pour in for Appalachian State University football reached new heights on Wednesday when its monumental upset over Michigan was chronicled on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

This week’s SI cover features senior wide receiver Dexter Jackson scoring the first of his two touchdowns in front of 109,218 at the “Big House.” The headline reads “Alltime Upset: Appalachian State Stuns No. 5 Michigan.”

Considered one of the crowning achievements in all of sports, Appalachian is the first current football member of the Southern Conference and the first college football team from the state of North Carolina to grace the cover of SI in the last 35 years.

The Sept. 10 issue of Sports Illustrated hits newsstands on Wednesday.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: As expected, Mountaineers raked in a number of national and SoCon player-of-the-week accolades on Tuesday.

On a national level, defensive back Corey Lynch was named The Sports Network’s Special Teams Player of the Week. Lynch, a front-runner for the Buck Buchanan Award, presented to the nation’s top defensive player, added to his ball-hawking resume when he blocked Michigan’s game-winning 37-yard field goal attempt as time expired. The senior has blocked four field goals in his last eight games and has registered 24 takeaways in 42 career games in the Black and Gold.

Lynch and quarterback Armanti Edwards both claimed national POW recognition from the Sports Media Entertainment (SME) Network. Edwards totaled 289 yards of offense (227 passing, 62 rushing) and four touchdowns (three passing, one rushing) in the 34-32 triumph in Ann Arbor. He helped spur the Apps to a 14-point lead before halftime with a perfect first half (7-of-7 passing for 129 yards and three touchdowns).

Additionally, Edwards and Lynch were named the SoCon’s Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively. The award is the first for Edwards, who was honored as the league’s Freshman of the Week a record five times a season ago. Lynch, who registered 11 tackles to go along with the field-goal block, earned his fourth career SoCon POW recognition.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Appalachian also earned weekly honors as a team when it was name the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week on Tuesday.

The Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) has named a national team of the week since the 2002 season, with select members of the FWAA board of directors deciding who receives the weekly honor. This is the third season that the award has been sponsored by the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Other nominees for this week’s honor included California (a 45-31 winner over Tennessee) and Georgia Tech (which dismantled Notre Dame, 33-3, on the road).