It looms on the Appalachian State schedule like a burgundy and gold dust storm on the horizon.
Nov. 14. Appalachian State at Elon.
The way the Southern Conference race has shaped up, it looks like that game will decide the league championship, and who gets the coveted automatic bid into the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. For Appalachian State, it's usually meant one of the top four seeds in the playoffs and guaranteeing home games for the first three rounds.
It's hard not to look that far into the future. That's because the present has the Phoenix ranked sixth in The Sports Network poll and seventh in the coaches poll. Elon has also been winning games by big scores, and its defense is No. 1 in points and yards allowed in the SoCon.
But the Mountaineers must resist this temptation for the obvious reason: Furman's got a decent football team.
I know that The Citadel handed the Paladins a 38-28 loss last week. I also know it took an overtime period for Appalachian State to beat The Citadel 30-27 when the teams played in Charleston, S.C.
Reality indicates that Appalachian State should beat Furman relatively handily this Saturday at Paladins Stadium. Appalachian State has been on a roll lately, beating N.C. Central 55-21, Wofford 44-34 and Georgia Southern 52-16.
The first win could be chalked up to quality of opponent. N.C. Central was 0-5 when it invaded Kidd Brewer. Though I feel the Eagles have great potential, they were not on the same level as the Mountaineers.
Appalachian State struggled in the first half with Wofford, but superior depth and athleticism took over and the Mountaineers rallied from a 34-20 deficit to win the game.
The win over Georgia Southern was more like an assault and battery. Georgia Southern walked down a dark ally known as The Rock and Appalachian State added an old-fashioned beat down to a mugging.
Offensively, gaining 712 yards on anybody is impressive. Doing it to a team looking to reclaim its position in the FCS elite is impressive times 10.
What was most impressive was Appalachian State's defense, holding Georgia Southern to 15 yards rushing and in reality, nine points, since the Eagles scored seven from a returned fumble for a touchdown. It's the first time the ASU defense put together a complete game.
They'll need a similar game Saturday. Furman is still formidable, even if things have not gone their way the last few years. Overlooking them would be a big mistake, even with Elon still looming on the schedule.