Sept. 18, 2004

Charleston, SC - When the John Zernhelt era finally begins today for The Citadel, both the Bulldogs' new coach and Appalachian State's Jerry Moore will be flying blind.

And not just because of the sheets of rain that Ivan might leave behind in Boone, N.C.

The Citadel, the last Division I team outside of the Ivy League to play football this season, doesn't have any game film for Moore and his assistants to ponder.

And with no film to trade, Zernhelt and his coaching staff have yet to glimpse live footage of the 20th-ranked Mountaineers and their new no-huddle offense.

"You feel like you don't have a clue," Moore said this week.

Citadel coaches have put in phone calls to Wyoming and Eastern Kentucky, the teams App State already has played this season (losing by 53-7 at Wyoming and stomping Eastern Kentucky by 49-21 last week.)

But that's not the same as breaking down film of App State's junior quarterback, Richie Williams, who earned Southern Conference player of the week honors after hitting 23 of 29 passes for 319 yards and four touchdowns against Eastern Kentucky. Williams also ran for 90 yards and totaled 409 yards of offense, six yards shy of the school record. Williams' favorite target is receiver DaVon Fowlkes, who has snared 21 passes for 234 yards and two TDs in two games.

"We'll just have to adjust on the fly," said Citadel linebacker Julian West. "We are just preparing off hearsay. We don't know exactly what they are going to do when they play us. We've just tried to prepare the best that we can."

Zernhelt, of course, was The Citadel's offensive coordinator last season, when the Bulldogs snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Mountaineers with a 24-21 victory at Johnson Hagood Stadium. The Citadel took advantage of three App State turnovers in that game, winning on Travis Zobel's 26-yard field goal with 1:16 to play.

"In that game, we were able to move the ball and our mentality was to play a field position game, to keep the ball away from them," Zernhelt said. "If you didn't score, then when you turned the ball over with a kick, you tried to give them a long way to go."

The tape of last year's game might serve as motivation for the Mountaineers. That loss likely kept them out of the I-AA playoffs for the first time since 1997.

"I can remember walking into that locker room after that ballgame, and it was one of the few times in my coaching career that I've almost not known what to say," Moore said.

The Bulldogs enter the game with many questions. Can senior tailback Nehemiah Broughton, coming back from knee surgery, find room behind a largely untested offensive line? Can fifth-year senior Justin Hardin, starting for the first time at quarterback, move the offense? Can the defense, with eight starters back, keep the Bulldogs in the game?

Citadel players are just happy there will be a game.

"It looks like it will be a rain game," Zernhelt said. "But at this point for us, it doesn't really matter."