Before the championships, before the over-capacity crowds, before Appalachian football became the household name it is today, Black Saturday was the program’s identity.

As a young sports fan growing up in Greensboro, I had numerous teachers that were Appalachian State graduates and it seemed they ALL had Black Saturday posters hanging on their classroom walls.  It was on TV…It was on the radio…Black Saturday was everywhere, and it’s clever promotion helped drive home the fact that there was an intimidating gridiron force on the mountain.

Decades later the tradition has taken on a new meaning, as the Black Saturday designation signifies the marquee home matchup of the season.  This year’s installment will see the Mountaineers play host to Georgia Southern at The Rock – two teams that account for nine combined national championships at the FCS level.

It’s the same Georgia Southern program that holds the only victory over Appalachian on a “new age,” Black Saturday, coming on October 20, 2007.  The Eagles 38-35 win in front of a then-record crowd of 28,202 snapped the Apps’ Division I-best home winning streak at 30-consecutive games.

After a few subpar seasons in Statesboro, Georgia Southern enters this late October matchup with their sights set on returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2005.  With a 4-3 overall record, the next loss will be the last for Chris Hatcher’s squad as a postseason contender, so the Mountaineers have the chance this weekend to solidify an unprecedented fourth-straight year with no postseason football for this one-time national power.

This is a point in the season where The Rock can make the difference.  We’ve talked at length on our broadcasts over the years that the atmosphere at Kidd Brewer Stadium has played a vital role in a handful of games over the years.  Try to imagine the daunting feeling that permeates an opposing team when they stand on the Kidd Brewer turf, facing an ominous and imposing Howard’s Knob, with 30,000+ raucous fans piercing their concentration, as they try to muster a meaningful late-game drive.  It can be a deafening, game-changing experience and it’s the fans that make the difference.

This 2009 season has been all about an individual’s perception so far.  The Mountaineers have yet to play a game where coaches and players alike will tell you they feel all four quarters have gone according to script.  The Apps have had slow starts followed by fierce rallies that see the team sitting at 4-2 on the season – 10 points away from a 6-0 start.

Saturday in Spartanburg was another prime example of a slow beginning followed by a ferocious finish.  One missed assignment cost the ASU defense dearly on Wofford’s first play from scrimmage, as Derek Boyce sprinted to a 74-yard touchdown run.  The same defense that gave up big plays of 74, 64 and 66 yards during a first-half Terrier attack forced two drives of less than five plays and generated four takeaways in the fourth quarter.

The Apps have proven they have the ingredients of a championship contender.  Over the course of the last several years, many of us have enjoyed Saturday after Saturday of victorious football – using Appalachian games as a rallying point for our social calendars.

This team continues to fight and grind toward a perfect game.  It may not show itself as a flawless effort in every phase, but four quarters of dominance – these Mountaineers hit the field with that thought in their head as they go to every practice and every gameday.

This week can serve as a defining moment for the 2009 season – a rallying point where all that has proven to be positive comes together for one tremendous performance.  A win Saturday propels the Apps closer to their goal of an amazing fifth-consecutive Southern Conference title while a loss leaves little room for error for the remainder of the campaign.

Players enter the game with a focused mindset and fans have the chance to do so as well.  On your drive to the stadium Saturday, decide that you will be loud, proud and a difference-maker in Saturday’s outcome.  Decide you will not wait for the first energizing pop or dazzling escape to get excited – you’ll bring the fanatical intensity from the opening kick to the final whistle.  Decide you’ll cheer hard and conduct yourself with class, but you’ll make no bones about the fact that you are at Kidd Brewer Stadium to help the Mountaineers win and if you can’t talk for a few days afterwards, so be it.

The Mountaineers have proven they will be competitive in each game they play.  They have led 5-of-6 games in the fourth quarter and had the ball with a chance to win against East Carolina – a game that saw the team erase a 24-point rally thanks to energy from the players on the field and fans in the stands.  When the Apps needed a rally at Wofford, the crowd of Mountaineer supporters – one that easily outnumbered those there to see the home team – rose to their feet on each meaningful play and celebrated a hard fought victory in the end.

Saturday can be the day – where a gracious fan base rises up and takes over the emotional pulse of a venue that has been transformed into the greatest home-field advantage in the country.  The players will feed off the energy – and they will make you proud.
Be loud…Win with class…Wear black…and we’ll see you at The Rock for Black Saturday 2009.
 
Random notes:
Here is my Top 25 for this week:
1. Richmond
2. Southern Illinois
3. Northern Iowa
4. Appalachian St.
5. Elon
6. Villanova
7. Montana
8. South Carolina St.
9. McNeese St.
10. Massachusetts
11. New Hampshire
12. Liberty
13. Eastern Kentucky
14. Delaware
15. Weber St.
16. Northern Arizona
17. Colgate
18. South Dakota St.
19. Central Arkansas
20. Jacksonville St.
21. Furman
22. Stephen F. Austin
23. Texas St.
24. Youngstown St.
25. Eastern Illinois

Based on projections of key conference matchups down the stretch here is my best guess at the Field of 16:

1.    Richmond
2.    Southern Illinois
3.    Montana
4.    Appalachian State

Northern Iowa
Elon
Villanova
SC State

New Hampshire
Stephen F. Austin
Eastern Washington
McNeese State

Eastern Kentucky
Florida A&M
Montana State
Colgate

• Of the four remaining contending teams, William & Mary (5-1) has the toughest road remaining as they close out with New Hampshire followed by their regular-season finale at Richmond.  They play a James Madison team this week that has been eliminated from postseason consideration, but will be itching to factor into the race.

• It will be harder to justify not taking Florida A&M over a second team out of the Patriot League or Ohio Valley, or selecting Liberty as an at-large.  If the Rattlers and South Carolina State Bulldogs win out, Morgan State (currently 5-1) will suffer losses to both and thus be on the outside of the playoff picture.

• Sitting at 4-3 through their first seven games, Eastern Washington has work to do to become the third team out of the Big Sky to reach the postseason field – but the task is not impossible.  It starts with a home win over Montana State this week followed by a win over Northern Arizona in the regular-season finale.  The Lumberjacks (4-2) have the toughest road to the playoffs with November games at Ole Miss, at Weber State and against Eastern Washington to close the year.

• Picking Appalachian as the four seed assumes ASU wins out the regular season.  I feel the winner of the ASU-Elon battle on 11/14 could easily claim the final playoff seed.  Furman has a tough road to become the third team from the SoCon, with games against ASU, at Auburn and at Georgia Southern ahead of them during the stretch run.

• Stephen F. Austin’s (5-1) 16-13 win over McNeese State two weeks ago gave the Lumberjacks the inside track at the Southland title and a favorable schedule to close out the season.  Northwestern State and Nichols State are a combined 1-11 and Sam Houston State and Texas State are both 3-3 on the season.   McNeese State is easily a playoff team at 9-2 if they can finish off Central Arkansas in the regular-season finale.