BOONE, N.C. ? Six home games, including the home opener versus a traditional NCAA Division I FCS power, and the renewal of an in-state rivalry after a 30-year hiatus highlight Appalachian State University's 2009 football schedule, which was announced by director of athletics Charlie Cobb on Tuesday afternoon.

Appalachian opens the 2009 campaign on Sept. 5 at East Carolina. ASU and ECU were rivals in the North State Conference from 1948-61 and the Southern Conference from 1972-76. The meeting is the first between the two programs since 1979, when the Pirates claimed a 38-21 victory. However, the Mountaineers lead the all-time series ? which dates back to 1932 ? 19-10.  ASU is 7-36-1 all-time versus NCAA Division I FBS opponents, including a 34-32 triumph at No. 5 Michigan in the 2007 season opener.

After the lid-lifter in Greenville, N.C., Appalachian opens the home portion of its 2009 slate versus McNeese State. ASU has never squared off  with McNeese, a longtime stalwart at the FCS level. The Cowboys, out of the Southland Conference, were the NCAA Division I-AA (now known as the Division I Football Championship Subdivision ? FCS) runners-up in 1997 and 2002 and were the No. 2 seed in last year's FCS playoffs. The game is the first of a three-game series between the traditional FCS powers. The Mountaineers travel to Lake Charles, La. in 2013 and McNeese returns to Boone in 2014.

The final non-conference matchup of the season comes on Oct. 10 when ASU welcomes North Carolina Central for homecoming at The Rock. After years of gridiron success at the NCAA Division II level, including playoff appearances in 1988, 2005 and 2006, NCCU joined the Division I ranks in 2007 and 2009 marks its third year of the reclassification process.

The remainder of the schedule is rounded out by eight Southern Conference affairs. The Mountaineers host Samford (Sept. 26), Georgia Southern (Oct. 24), Chattanooga (Nov. 7) and archrival Western Carolina (Nov. 21) and travel to The Citadel (Oct. 3), Wofford (Oct. 17), Furman (Oct. 31) and Elon (Nov. 14) for action in perhaps the nation's toughest FCS conference.

In all, the 2009 schedule features all Division I opponents for the second-straight year with all 11 regular-season games to be played in the Carolinas.

“We're proud to announce such a challenging and fan-friendly 2009 schedule,” Cobb said. “As always, associate athletics director Jay Sutton has been instrumental in putting together a top-notch slate that will hopefully entertain our terrific fans and prepare us for runs at Southern Conference and national titles.”