By Steve Behr
sports@wataugademocrat.com
It should come as no surprise that a turnover would determine Appalachian State's 20-13 victory over South Carolina State in front of 12,216 at Kidd Brewer Stadium Saturday in the first round of the FCS playoffs, especially since the two teams combined for 10 of them.
The Mountaineers (10-2), who committed five turnovers on three interceptions and two fumbles, ended up scoring the game-winning points on a colossal South Carolina State fumble on a field goal try. The Bulldogs (10-2) were actually lined up to kick a 32-yard field goal when the snap went past holder Matt Washington.
After a mad scramble for the ball, which kicker Blake Erickson nearly recovered, but ended up batting 10 yards further down the field, Appalachian State's Dominique McDuffie scooped it up at the 50-yard line and went the distance for a touchdown and a 20-13 lead with 7:42 left in the game.
It was the Bulldogs' fifth turnover of the game, but the most critical of the 10 the teams combined to commit.
"It's a tough way to lose a football game," South Carolina State coach Buddy Pough said. "I thought we played pretty good for a while, but we did not do quite enough, especially on offense to secure anything."
Appalachian State then turned to its defense to provide a three-and-out, helped by a backwards pass-fumble by Bulldogs quarterback Malcolm Long that the South Carolina State recovered, but also forced a fourth-and-32 and a punt.
Appalachian State's offense, which was just good enough most of the game, ran the clock down to 58 seconds.
Appalachian State takes on Richmond this Saturday for the third time in as many years - all in the playoffs. Richmond eliminated the Mountaineers 33-13 last year with help from five Edwards interceptions.
"I don't think we care who we play," Mountaineers coach Jerry Moore said. "We sure wanted to be playing in the second round."
Edwards, who has hurt his knee in the last two Elon games, faced the Spiders last year with a knee that required surgery after the season and a sore hip. He has now been hurt against Elon, skipped the Western Carolina game and played against S.C. State and Richmond in the playoffs the last two years.
He did not run the ball during practice last week and it was determined at game time that his rushing would be severely limited. Backup quarterback Travaris Cadet ran the ball once in the first quarter for minus one yard.
"All week long, we knew we were going to throw the football," Moore said. "We had certain plays that Cadet could run. As the week went on, things changed too. We had a column on what Armanti could do and a column on what Cadet could do."
If the Mountaineers can get the same defensive effort Saturday they did against South Carolina State, Edwards may not need to be at 100 percent. Appalachian State's defense did not allow a touchdown and only allowed South Carolina State All-American running back William Floyd, who is the MEAC's all-time rusher, 22 yards on eight carries before he left the game in the third quarter. The Bulldogs settled for just 33 rushing yards on 28 carries the entire game.
"We had to stop the run first," ASU defensive tackle Anthony Williams said. "That's what we've been practicing on all week. We knew if we stopped the run, they would have to go into the pass game. Basically they're more of a run team and a zone-trap team. There were certain plays we had to stop and we executed well on that."
South Carolina State also converted just 2-of-14 third downs, but converted a fake punt when Erickson found Terrance Smith for a 7-yard completion and a first down. However, the Bulldogs eventually were stopped and punted the ball back to the Mountaineers.
"We needed to be more effective offensively," Pough said. "We struggled in some of our conversion situations. I knew coming into this game that their defense was a good-bit improved and they gave us some tough looks with their secondary at times that took some of our run game away from us."
That meant the Bulldogs had to rely on Long's passing and got mixed results. Long completed 18-of-36 passes for 189 yards and three interceptions. He was also sacked once and pressured several times by the Mountaineers' pass rush.
Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards, who was restricted from running the ball unless absolutely necessary, completed 19-of-30 passes for 218 yards and three interceptions and three sacks.
One of those interceptions was returned 46 yards by Rafael Bush for a touchdown with just 1:34 left in the first half, which tied the game at 10-10. Devon Quattlebaum also picked off two passes,
However, Edwards also found Brian Quick for an 8-yard touchdown pass with 4:35 left in the first half, which gave the Mountaineers a 10-3 lead.
South Carolina State held Appalachian State's running game in check by limiting the Mountaineers to just 81 yards on the ground. Devon Moore gained 61 yards on 20 carries, but was limited to two rushes in the second half because of a bruised thigh.
Cedric Baker had the next highest total of 20 yards on nine carries. Edwards, who was sacked three times for 18 yards in losses, finished with minus one yard rushing on nine carries.
"When things are not flowing really well, it's easy to self-destruct," Moore said. "We remind our players here it doesn't make any difference if it's a team or a business or a family, when things start crumbling, they usually start from the inside, not the outside. I commend our players and our staff."
Vitaris added field goals of 19 and 24 yards after the Mountaineers failed to score touchdowns on four of its five red zone chances. Vitaris' 24-yarder was set up by an excessive celebration penalty called on the Bulldogs' after Bush's touchdown, which was compounded by a personal foul penalty on the extra point.
South Carolina State had to kickoff from its 7-yard line, which gave the Mountaineers the ball at the Bulldogs' 33.
Vitaris' field goal, which ended the first half, gave the Mountaineers' a 13-10 halftime lead.
The game also took another odd turn when Edwards fumbled on a sack and the ball was scooped up and returned by the Bulldogs' Ronnell Ferguson 35 yards before he was stripped of the ball by ASU's Matt Cline. That fumble was recovered my ASU tackle Matt Ruff and a possible scoring opportunity for South Carolina State was averted.
"It was a good fight," Moore said. "I told Buddy after the game that I think they're one of the best teams we've played all year - the best team we've played this year. ...We're real fortunate to win the ballgame."

Appalachian State 20, South Carolina State 13
South Carolina State    3 7 3 0 - 13
Appalachian State    0 13 0 7 - 20
Scoring summary
First quarter
SCSU-Erickson FG 31
Second quarter
ASU-Vitaris FG 19
ASU-Quick 7 pass from Edwards (Vitaris kick)
SCSU-Bush 46 interception return
ASU-Vitaris FG 24
Third quarter
SCSU-Erickson FG 19
Fourth quarter
ASU-McDuffie 50 fumble recovery (Vitaris kick)

            SCSU    ASU
First downs    15    20
  By rushing    6    9
  By passing    9    10
  By penalty    0    1
Rushes-yards    26-33    45-84
  Avg per rush    1.3    1.9
  Yards gained    90    135
  Yards lost        57    51
Passing yards    196    218
  Passes        19-37-3    19-30-3
  Avg. per att    5.3    7.3
  Avg. per comp.    10.3    11.5
Sacks-by: yards    3-18    1-19
Total plays-yards    63-229    75-302
  Avg. gain play    3.6    4.0
  Fumbles-lost    3-2    3-2
Penalties-yards    7-47    5-50
Punts-avg        4-36.0    4-35-5
  Net avg        36.0    34.8
  Inside 10        0    3
Third down conv.    2-12    8-16
Fourth down conv    2-4    0-0
Time of possession    23:44    36:13
Individuals:
Rushing: SCSU-Jamison 6-29, Ford 8-22, Long 10-14, Wiley 1-3, Team 1-(-35); ASU-Moore 20-61, Baker 9-20, Radford 5-12, Edwards 9-(-1), Cadet 1(-1).
Passing: Long 18-36-3 189, Erickson 1-1-0 7; ASU-Edwards 19-30-3 218.
Receiving: SCSU-Young 7-92, Smith 4-51, Washington 4-37, Ford 2-12, Elmore 1-5, Stukes 1-(-1); ASU-Quick 6-92, Elder 5-57, Cline 3-43, Jorden 2-6, Baker 1-11, Moore 1-9, Radford 1-0.