His No. 11 Terriers turned heads in September when they beat two-time Division I FCS champion Appalachian State, 42-31. That's the same App State that knocked off Michigan earlier that month.
Two months later, Wofford owns the automatic FCS playoff berth out of the Southern Conference and a win over the then-No. 1 team. The reward is the longest road trip in program history, to take on the team currently ranked No. 2.
The sting is real for Ayers, who came to Wofford in 1988 from Eastern Tennessee State, installed a triple-option offense and started finding pieces to the puzzle. Wofford joined the powerful Southern Conference in 1997; it took an outright league title for Ayers to taste the FCS playoffs in 2003.
“We know the selection process is not a perfect process,” Ayers said. “In 2-oh-2, we were 9-3 and didn't get a bid. In 2-oh-4, we were 8-3 and got passed up as well.”
Over the past six seasons only Appalachian State has won more SoCon league games than Wofford, which is remarkable considering it is a small, private liberal arts school with tough admission standards. Just 385 of the 2,354 students who applied for the 2007-08 school year were admitted.
Ayers has to find players who fit academically first, and athletically second. Linebacker Seth Goldwire chose Wofford for its team concep t, over Bucknell and Drexel.
“Wofford was an easy decision,” Goldwire said. “I like how we play football. We don't play as one person. That's something you don't find everywhere.”
The triple option could seem like a mask for a limited recruiting pool, though backup quarterback Ben Widmyer - a Couer d'Alene, Idaho native who recruited Wofford, not the other way around - says it is no gimmick.
“I think it's just a weapon,” Widmyer, a junior who ran for a touchdown against Appalachian State, said. “When you can run the option and throw out of it, it can make it tough on teams.”
The run game alone can make it rough. The Terriers have 28 different offensive formations, according to their coach.
“We do a combination of things,” Ayers said. “We'll have a three-back concept, and then we run the option out of the gun. Any way you can run option, we will run it.”
The Terriers' lowest run total was 211 yards in a 38-17 loss to North Carolina State of the ACC. Their next lowest was the 273 they gained in a 45-20 win over Furman.
Josh Collier, a 205-pound senior, is the starter at QB and owns the team's longest run from scrimmage, 62 yards. In Wofford's system the quarterback almost has to rotate like the running backs. Widmyer got a majority of the snaps when Collier was hurt against Charleston Southern and N.C. State.
Both can throw the ball and that may be the gimmick the Terriers bring to the table: An improved passing game that includes half-back option throws and the like.
“And we have receivers that will run by you,” said Ayers, who has seen Andy Strickland haul in four touchdowns. “A lot of people disregard our receivers and that's fine with us.”
Wofford is unique on defense as well, playing a “50” front that includes three down linemen and generally has the two outside linebackers crowding the line of scrimmage. Goldwire, a 220-pounder, mans the middle to the tune of 90 tackles; fellow linebacker Kevin Adleman is next on the team with 53 stops.
The Terriers have managed 15 sacks in a conference that isn't as pass-happy as some. The only FCS team that averaged more yards on the ground than Wofford is SoCon foe Georgia Southern, at 327 compared to Wofford's 318.
The Eagles also beat the Terriers 38-35 on Nov. 3. Ayers said that loss and the Terriers' 24-13 setback to Elon - both league losses came at home - had a common denominator: turnovers. They lost three fumbles against Elon and one against Georgia Southern, and had an interception in each game.
“The games we won, we did the things you need to do,” Ayers said. “The games we didn't, we turned the ball over.
“Bottom line, Elon is a good football team, Georgia Southern is a good football team, and I think North Carolina State has shown what it can do. In the games we won, we did the things you need to do - we had ball security, we put points on the board, we were opportunistic on defense and won the kicking game.”
When the Terriers have it all together, they can beat anybody. Ask Appalachian State. Or Chattanooga, which dropped a 42-16 decision to Wofford on Nov. 10. That sealed the league title for the Terriers, who had last week off.
“We started out real strong, better than most people would've hoped,” said Goldwire. “The Georgia Southern game, that was a good game. It just matters how you bounce back. We bounced back well enough to make the playoffs.”
And set up a game 2,330 miles away from home.
“We don't have a choice but to push that aside,” Goldwire said. “If we don't, we won't be ready to go on Saturday. That's what we're worried about.”
Up next: Wofford at Montana
Saturday, 12:05 p.m. (MST), Washington-Grizzly Stadium (23,183, SprinTurf)
The NCAA's smallest Division I school is chasing one big goal - building itself a dominant FCS program - all the way out to Montana.
Location: Spartanburg, S.C. Enrollment: 1,378.
Series history: First meeting.
Man in charge: Mike Ayers (Georgetown, Ky., '74) is the winningest coach in Wofford history, with a 131-92-1 record in 20 seasons. He is 142-113-2 as a college coach.
Ones to watch
43 Seth Goldwire (5-11, 220, jr., Guyton, Ga.): The middle linebacker is far and away the Terriers' top tackler with 90, and has 3.5 for losses, to go with an interception and a fumble recovery.
20 Kevious Johnson (5-9, 205, sr., Fitzgerald, Ga.): The halfback doesn't get 20 carries a game, but he averages 7 yards a touch, good for 1,029 yards and eight touchdowns this season. He has 3,617 yards and 32 TDs for his career.
12 Josh Collier (6-2, 205, sr., Bonaire, Ga.): He triggers Wofford's triple-option attack to the tune of 461 yards and a team-high nine TDs on the ground. Collier has also thrown for 865 yards and five scores.
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