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With last week’s win over Utah State, our Deacs are 3-0 and looking to make that 4-0 in Boone this Saturday. Trying to hand Wake Forest their first loss of the season are the Appalachian State Mountaineers, who are coming off an impressive 10-3 season which culminated in a 31-28 bowl win over Toledo. Lets take a look at 2 of their players who could be instrumental in keeping the Deacs from staying undefeated.
Offense: Taylor Lamb | Senior QB | #11
The App State offense is led by Taylor Lamb, who may be the best quarterback to ever play for the Mountaineers. Over his career, Lamb has thrown for over 7500 yards, 69 TDs, and only 29 interceptions. He has also shown an ability to run the ball, rushing for over 1500 yards and 19 TDs over the past 3 seasons. In 2015, he broke Armanti Edwards’s single season record by throwing 31 touchdown passes (Edwards threw 30 in 2008). He needs just 5 more touchdown passes to become App State’s career leader and 13 more to break the Sun Belt record for passing touchdowns in a career. He was named honorable mention All Sun Belt last season, throwing for 2,200 yards and 15 touchdowns. The Wake Forest pass rush will need to help out the secondary if the Deacs hope to keep Lamb from putting up some big numbers on Saturday.
Defense: Eric Boggs | Senior LB | #45
Whereas Lamb leads the offense, Eric Boggs leads the defense. Over his career, Boggs has recorded 268 total tackles (for comparison, Marquel Lee finished his career with 291), 15 tackles for loss, 8 sacks, and 6 interceptions. He earned 2nd Team All-Sun Belt honors last season with 98 total tackles, 3 sacks, and 3 interceptions as an integral part of a defense that gave up just 91 points in conference play and 19.1 points per game (14th in nation). He has no trouble making plays against tough competition as he recorded 12 tackles against Tennessee and 10 tackles against Miami last season. His ability to stop the run and read the quaterback in zone defense could make things tough on the Deacon offense.
