The Odyssey looks forward to the beauty of the Appalachian and the Blue Ridge mountains this weekend.
Thursday night, App State will host a Marshall team smarting over an epic collapse. For 11 quarters, the Thundering Herd had been riding roughshod over its outmatched opponents. Holding a 38-21 lead at home early in the fourth quarter against East Carolina, Marshall was facing a 4th and 2 at the ECU 22. The Herd passed up on a field goal attempt as a fade route failed to get a soul-crushing first down. Marshall missed a 31 yard field goal attempt after ECU had scored to narrow the gap to 38-28. ECU scored again on a trick play with 2:30 to go as QB Holton Ahlers caught a 27-yard TD pass from a wide receiver. ECU recovered an onside kick and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 55 seconds to go. Undaunted, Marshall quickly marched down to the ECU 15 but JaQuan McMillian intercepted a Marshall pass at the goal line to mar a 433-yard passing day by Grant Wells. Defense in the tilt was optional as 1,218 yards of offense attested. Will Marshall still have a hangover with such a short turnaround? Stay tuned.
If East Carolina is a barometer, App State should have an edge as their defense was much more able to keep the dangerous Holton Ahlers at bay in their opener against the Pirates.
Charlotte will be hosting Middle Tennessee on Friday night. We expect the 49ers to fare well against a Middle team that is, charitably, middling. Charlotte opened with a thrilling last-minute victory over Duke. While experts thought the 2021 Dukies would be underwhelming, Duke has a potent offense and has followed up with 2 impressive victories. Last Saturday, the unpredictability of college football again was on demonstration. A Georgia State defense that had been thrashed in its first two games, allowing 109 points, finally showed up. In addition, Georgia State made a needed QB change. The rejuvenated Panthers shockingly limited Charlotte to 9 points in a 20-9 triumph. We thought fourth-year starting QB, Chris Reynolds, and the rest of the 49er offense would fare much better. We expect a close game where the home field may prove the difference.
On Saturday, we will return to the mountains and will eagerly listen as “Enter Sandman” again electrifies the Blue Ridge. Virginia Tech entertains FCS Richmond at noon. The Hokies almost pulled off a memorable comeback at West Virginia and will want to rinse away the taste of their frustrating 27-21 defeat. Virginia Tech’s downfall was caused by total failures after three different occasions of first and goal to go: Result; zero points! Toss in yet another failure for Hokies when they did not convert a 4th and 1 from the West Virginia 25 and you have the recipe for defeat in front of the passionate Mountaineer fans.
Strangely, Richmond’s season closely parallels that of Marshall. The Spiders opened with 2 impressive victories and then let a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter slip away against Villanova. Villanova scored 3 TDs in the final five minutes (!!) to pull a 34-27 rabbit out of the hat. We do not expect a Virginia Tech letdown. The Hokie coaching staff will no doubt be reminding their team of their 2010 loss to FCS’s James Madison in the aftermath of their ballyhooed, heartbreaking opening loss to Boise that the Odyssey attended in Landover. One other reason that the “boys from VPI” will not overlook Richmond. The last time the Spiders played in Blacksburg was 1985. Final score: Richmond 24, Virginia Tech 14. The Odyssey thinks it is more likely that Richmond recovers from its hangover to play to its potential than Marshall even though the Odyssey does not expect a Richmond upset.
At any rate, during our drives through the mountain roads this weekend, we will definitely keep an eye out for John Denver.