David Coulson

The game's first mistake occurred on ASU's second series when DeAndre Presley forced a third-down pass into coverage. Kyle Glazier picked it off at the ASU 35 and returned it 23 yards, with Presley making a TD-saving tackle.

But on the first play after the interception, Matt Barr hit his favorite receiver Lito Senatus for a 12-yard touchdown in the left corner of the end zone to make it 7-0 with 10:21 left in the first quarter.

Midway through the first quarter, both offenses were still struggling, with one first down each.

Appalachian State stopped WIU again, with Matt Barr avoiding a huge loss to throw the ball away before he was sacked. The Mountaineers took the ball over at their own 41 for their best starting field position of the day with 7:10 left in the first period.

It is starting to snow heavily again and ASU is going to the ground game behind senior Devon Moore to finally show some life on offense, moving into Western Illinois territory at the 48.

Some more of Moore and ASU has a first-down at the 20.

Travaris Cadet burst through the middle for a 16-yard gain to the two to set up Devon Moore for a three-yard scoring blast with 3:29 remaining in the quarter. Jason Vitaris survived a shaky snap and a partially-blocked, low kick to hit the PAT. The ball barely cleared the crossbar to tie the game at 7.

It was a 10-play, 59-yard drive that took 3:41 off the clock. All 10 plays were on the ground as the Mountaineers used good blocking from their veteran offensive line to open up holes on the zone read play.

It hasn't been a stellar day so far for the CAA game officials. An obvious out-of-bounds catch, confirmed by replay, gave WIU a first down and helped the Leathernecks get into ASU territory. But a dropped pass ended the WIU drive at the ASU 44.

Yard markers are becoming almost impossible to see now.

At the end of the first quarter, the teams were tied at 7-7. ASU had the ball on the 17 after getting pinned inside the 10 by a WIU punt.

Snow-blowing crews were trying in vain to clear some of the lines on the field during the TV time out.

With Matt Barr under heavy pressure from ASU, he threw an interception to Mountaineer safety D.J. McDuffie, giving the Mountaineers the ball at the WIU 21. McDuffie returned the ball 31 yards.

DeAndre Presley sprinted to the one on the read option on the next play and scored on the next play to give ASU a 14-7 lead with 12:56 left in the second period. No problems the second time around for Jason Vitaris on the extra point.

I thought it would be difficult for Western Illinois to run the ball on the ASU defense and the Leathernecks had minus-10 rushing yards in the first quarter.

Matt Barr and DeAndre Presley traded interceptions in the second quarter, the second of the day for both of these Walter Payton Award finalists. ASU had a TD drive killed inside the WIU 10 by a holding penalty and then the Presley interception at the goal line.

But the Mountaineer defense held to force a punt after a 61-yard interception return and Presley came back to get ASU on the board again with the longest run in postseason history, 89 yards, with a great block from Blake Elder springing him up the sideline.

It is 21-7 ASU with 3:45 left in the half.

DeAndre Presley has seven carries for 156 yards and two TDs so far.

Matt Barr was sacked by Jabari Fletcher and fumbled back to the WIU six, but one of his linemen recovered to set up a punt situation with 2:39 left in the half. Western Illinois is close to being blown out at this point and seems to be holding on before the intermission.

ASU has another scoring chance at the WIU 40 after the punt.

With 44 seconds to halftime, ASU has a third and one at the WIU six after a Tony Washington reverse.

Devon Moore's six-yard TD burst on the zone read play might have been the knockout blow for the Mountaineers, who lead 28-7 after a six-play, 40-yard drive. There are 39 seconds left in the half.

The App State fans may be getting a little bit bored as we head to halftime. Fans in the upper deck are having a snowball fight. It's 28-7 at the break as WIU attempts to regroup.

Getting the ball first in the third quarter didn't help Western Illinois a whole lot as two runs were stuffed and a pass was dropped.

ASU had a 291 to minus-26 advantage at the half in rushing yards and WIU only added 78 yards through the air. DeAndre Presley was 0-of-4 with two interceptions passing, but completed his first pass of the second half for a first down.

Give some props to the ASU receivers for their blocking today. Matt Cline is the latest to set up a big Presley run.

Presley struck for 35 yards with a great catch at the end by Brian Quick in the end zone to increase the Mountaineer lead to 35-7 with 11:11 left in the third period. The scoring drive went six plays for 60 in 2:51.

Having almost as bad a day as Western Illinois is the CAA officiating crew. WIU downed the ball on a punt at the half-yard line after a Leatherneck defender stepped from the end zone to down the ball without reestablishing himself in the field of play. There have been a lot of missed holding penalties and numerous other miscues from this crew.

Showing some desperation, WIU went on fourth and long from the ASU 34 and Matt Barr scrambled away from contain to pick up a first down at the 24 with less than five minutes remaining in the third period.

The CAA officials strike again. There was a pass interference call on a CLEAR pass breakup in the back of the end zone to bail the Leathernecks out and give them first and goal at the three.