BOONE, N.C. - Bucking the trend of slow starts this season, No. 10 Appalachian State University football jumped out to a 20-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 20-7 win over Samford in the Southern Conference opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon at rain-soaked Kidd Brewer Stadium.

Appalachian (1-2, 1-0 SoCon), which had been outscored, 41-14, in the first halves of losses to East Carolina and McNeese State to open the season, outgained Samford (2-2, 0-1 SoCon), 283-71, in the first half on Saturday en route to the commanding 20-0 halftime lead.

After holding Samford to the second of three-straight three-and-outs to open the game, ASU got on the board when quarterback Armanti Edwards capped a seven-play, 73-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown run. With the score, Edwards became just the second player in school history and the eighth in the SoCon's annals with 50 career rushing touchdowns.

The Mountaineers stretched the advantage to 10-0 early in the second quarter on a 21-yard field goal by Jason Vitaris but the Bulldogs posed their first serious scoring threat of the afternoon on their ensuing possession when they drove to the ASU 12 yard line. However, Appalachian cornerback Ed Gainey turned the tide of the game when he intercepted a pass by Samford quarterback Dustin Taliaferro on the ASU 2 and returned it 54 yards to the Samford 44.

Four plays later, Edwards rolled right, looked back to his left and found high-school teammate Jordan Gary wide open in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown pass. The first reception of the sophomore tight end's career gave the Apps a 17-0 lead.

Appalachian closed the impressive first half by forcing Samford to punt for the fifth time in six first-half possessions with 2:24 to go in the second period and driving 42 yards in eight plays on the ensuing series to set up a season-long 44-yard field goal by Vitaris that made it 20-0 on the final play of the half.

The score remained 20-0 into the fourth quarter but the Bulldogs ended ASU's bid for its first shutout over a Division I opponent in nine years when they drove 80 yards in 18 plays and finally got on the board on a one-yard touchdown plunge by Chris Evans with 6:16 left to play.

Despite losing the shutout, the story of the day was the Mountaineer defense. Just one game after surrendering 522 yards of total offense in a 40-35 loss to McNeese State, Appalachian limited Samford to 192 yards on Saturday. ASU sacked Taliaferro twice, hurried him eight times and broke up eight passes while holding the 2008 SoCon Freshman of the Year to just 86 yards on 12-of-33 passing. Evans, a Walter Payton Award candidate, didn't fare much better, managing just 86 yards  on 22 carries against the Black and Gold defense.

Linebacker D.J. Smith led the defensive charge with 16 tackles, two pass break-ups and two quarterback hurries. Cornerback Cortez Gilbert added nine tackles, including one for a loss and a pair of pass break-ups, and linebacker Justin Lloyd tacked on eight stops and a sack.

Offensively, Edwards paced the Mountaineers with 211 yards of total offense, including 194 on 19-of-28 passing. He also turned in ASU's top play of the year to date in the second quarter when he escaped a sack, lost control of the slick ball, corralled the loose ball, escaped another sack and completed a pass to Cedric Baker while being dragged to the ground for a 16-yard gain that helped set up Vitaris' first field goal.

Other offensive stars included junior running back Devon Moore, who turned in his second-straight 100-yard rushing performance with 106 yards on 17 carries (6.2 avg.), and CoCo Hillary, who led all receivers with six catches for 63 yards.

Appalachian continues SoCon play next week when it travels to The Citadel for a 1 p.m. affair.

NOTES: ASU extended its winning streak in SoCon games to a school-record 13 ... the 13-game SoCon winning streak is tied for the seventh-longest in league history and is the longest since Georgia Southern won 15-straight SoCon games from 1997-99 ... after losing consecutive home games for the first time in nine years, Appalachian won for the 43rd time in its last 46 home games ... the Mountaineers won for the 16th time in its last 17 games that immediately followed a same-season loss and avoided their first 0-3 start since 1993 ... ASU moved to 30-8 all-time in SoCon openers ... the 100-yard rushing effort was the third of Moore's career ...  with 211 yards of total offense, Edwards moved to 14th in NCAA Division I FCS history with 11,301 yards of total offense ... an over-capacity crowd of 22,139 braved the steady rain that fell throughout the game.