BOONE, N.C. — A battle for the Sun Belt's East Division title and the right to host next weekend's first conference championship game will be held Saturday when Appalachian State (8-2, 6-1) faces Troy (9-2, 7-0) at 2:30 p.m. in Kidd Brewer Stadium.
The Senior Day game at The Rock will be shown on ESPN+.
Today, we'll look at how the offense from App State matches up against the defense from Troy:
App State Offense vs. Troy Defense
An App State team with the best scoring offense (38.9 points per game) and second-most productive rushing offense (246.6 yards per game) in the league will face a Troy defense that leads the league by allowing just 124.5 rushing yards per game.
The physicality up front for the Trojans should pose a challenge for the Mountaineers, who rank 11th nationally with a league-leading 5.91 yards per rush. App State has benefited from the big-play potential of
Darrynton Evans, who has 11 runs of at least 20 yards (14th nationally) and four runs of at least 50 yards (sixth nationally). He's scored on runs of 79 and 56 yards the last two weeks.
A line with center
Noah Hannon, left guard
Ryan Neuzil, a pair of right guards in
Baer Hunter and
Cole Garrison, right tackle
Chandler Greer and left tackle
Victor Johnson will have to contend with 327-pound nose guard Trevon Sanders and 279-pound tackle Marcus Webb. They've helped free up standouts such as Hunter Reese, who has come off the edge from his "Bandit" position and been a force with 6.5 sacks among his 12.5 tackles for loss. He has recorded a tackle for loss in 19 straight games. Weakside linebacker Tron Folsom has 68 tackles to lead a defense that has accumulated 35 sacks (No. 11 nationally) and 17 interceptions, including four from safety Melvin Tyus.
"They're very impressive when you turn the film on and watch their defense," App State head coach
Scott Satterfield said. "They're very aggressive, and they fly around. They're strong, and they can run. There's not many big plays on the film — you're earning every yard that you get, and they tackle well."
Since losing 56-20 against Boise State in their opener, the Trojans haven't allowed more than 27 points. With
Zac Thomas as the primary quarterback, App State's lowest output is 27 points, and it's scored at least 35 points in every other game with him leading the offense.
Since returning to the lineup two games ago, Thomas is 45 of 60 passing for 529 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions.
Corey Sutton and
Dominique Heath have combined for 11 touchdown catches in their first seasons playing games for the Mountaineers, and sophomore
Thomas Hennigan is coming off a four-catch, 60-yard performance against Georgia State.
App State also relies heavily on sets with two tight ends, and
Henry Pearson hurdled a defender on a touchdown catch against Georgia State one week after
Collin Reed had a big game at Texas State.
"Boise hit some big plays on them, but since then, they haven't given up many big plays," Satterfield said. "They're a very solid defense and very physical. We'll have to have a great plan and execute in order to move the football."
