Big Plays Hurt Appalachian Big Time

BOISE, Idaho – As Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore searched to find answers to what went wrong, he kept coming to the same conclusion.

It wasn't the continuous rain, the trip across the country, or even the pressure of the playoffs. It was a handful of big plays.

There were two in particular – a 61-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter from Boise State's Tony Hilde to Ryan Ikebe and a 64-yard scoring toss in the third period that featured the same two.

The two plays led to a 17-14 Boise State victory over Appalachian State before 15,302 drenched fans at Bronco Stadium.

Boise State advances to the I-AA semifinals next Saturday at home against Marshall.

But Moore's mind wasn't on the team from West Virginia. His hosts in Boise were more than enough.

"We typically have been able to come from behind in this type of game," Moore said. "The weather was no factor at all. The only thing that was a factor was Boise State."

The Mountaineers stormed out of the gates with an interception of Hilde on the first play from scrimmage. Free safety Johnny Smith stepped in front of a pass intended for Jarrett Hausske at the Appalachian State 39 and returned it 20 yards to the Boise State 41.

Problem was, the offense could make little use of the gifts the defense presented.

"I'm disappointed in our offense," said Appalachian State quarterback Scott Satterfield, who completed 7 of 27 passes for 73 yads with an interception. He also rushed for 60 yards on 19 tries including a 1-yard plunge that closed the game to 17-14 with 8:57 remaining in the game. "The defense gave us some great opportunities and we didn't get any points out of them."

Hilde, who was intercepted nine times in 11 games, saw the Mountaineers pick off four throws in a little more than 11 minutes of possession in the first half.

What's more, Appalachian State recovered three Boise State fumbles.

On the other side, any Appalachian State shortcoming seemed to turn to disaster.

Mountaineers cornerback Matt Stevens, who had two interceptions in the game, appeared to have a third in his grasp on the 64-yard second-half bomb, but missed as he swiped at the ball with his left hand only to watch Ikebe jog into the end zone and give Boise State a 17-7 advantage.

"I just misjudged the ball," Stevens said. "We shut them down most of the game but they got those two big plays."

Said Moore: "Those two (passes) were perfectly thrown balls. That was as good a coverage as you can get without pass interference."

On the first touchdown, Smith missed getting his second interception of the game only to watch Ikebe race 61 yards down the sidelines for the first score of the game. Boise State had 218 yards – 135 on two plays – in the air.

Ikebe had his own thoughts on the Mountaineers' single coverage against him on both touchdowns.

"With our style of offense, you just can't do that," he said.

Boise State Athletics

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