Elon, Appalachian try to stay focused

It's out there, Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore said Tuesday. He knows it and his eighth-ranked Mountaineers know it, and for sure No. 6 Elon knows it, too.

Appalachian State's Nov. 14 visit to Elon will be the marquee game in the Southern Conference this season. It will most likely decide the league championship and will have major FCS playoff seeding implications, as well.

Each team is 5-0 in league play heading into Saturday's games -- the Mountaineers host the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and the Phoenix play at Western Carolina -- and neither can afford to look ahead to next Saturday.

"Elon is there and everybody knows it, but we certainly haven't been talking about Elon, I can assure you of that," Moore said during Tuesday's SoCon teleconference. "All you've got to do is look at what's happening at Chattanooga and it doesn't take long to get anything about Elon out of your mind."

During the teleconference, Elon coach Pete Lembo, who has his team on pace for the program's first trip to the playoffs, was asked if the words "Appalachian State" were forbidden this week.

"I haven't said that and I don't think I need to say that," Lembo said. "This is a group of kids that's slowly maturing, and I think they've learned some lessons from previous experiences, good and bad, and they have a lot of respect for Western Carolina."

Appalachian State has won outright or shared the SoCon title each of the past four seasons, while Elon is trying to win its first title since joining the league in 2003. The Phoenix have had a shot at the title the past two seasons but have stumbled down the stretch.

Crowding around

Appalachian State has averaged 25,321 fans at its four home games at the recently expanded Kidd Brewer Stadium, the second-highest FCS total in the nation. Montana's attendance is tops with an average of 25,736.

The largest crowd UTC's Mocs have seen so far is 17,367 at Georgia Southern on Oct. 17.

The Mocs have more than held their own, attendance-wise, at home. UTC has averaged 10,744 per game, which ranks 31st in the nation.

UTC averaged just 5,748 per game last season and needs to draw just 7,024 for its home finale next weekend against The Citadel to average 10,000 for the season.

According to his contract, coach Russ Huesman will receive a $10,000 bonus if the Mocs average at least 10,000 fans a game.

Extra points

Huesman wasn't particularly pleased with Tuesday's practice, citing a lack of hustle and concentration. ... Huesman said fullback Shaun Kermah should play this week after not getting on the field against Western Carolina. ... Safety J.D. Dothard said he will undergo knee surgery Thursday to repair his torn ACL. ... Huesman's weekly radio show has been moved from Thursday to 7 tonight at the downtown Buffalo Wild Wings. That's because of the women's basketball exhibition game Thursday against Lee University.