BOONE, N.C. — After opening the season with an overtime thriller at Penn State, Appalachian State returns to action Saturday with another first-time opponent: Charlotte. Separated by less than two hours, the Mountaineers and 49ers will meet for the first time in a 6 p.m. game at Richardson Stadium on ESPN+.
Today, we'll look at how the App State offense matches up against Charlotte's defense:
App State Offense vs. Charlotte Defense
Appalachian State is moving forward from an opener in which it scored 38 points, or one fewer than the school record against a program that's currently in a Power Five conference. The Mountaineers won 39-34 against South Carolina in 1975.
App State gained 266 yards and averaged 9.5 yards per play during a 28-point fourth quarter in Happy Valley. New starting quarterback
Zac Thomas' three fourth-quarter touchdowns included two touchdown passes to
Malik Williams, and
Jalin Moore broke several tackles on his go-ahead, 16-yard touchdown run in the final two minutes.
Left guard
Ryan Neuzil joined Williams (four catches for 66 yards), Moore (124 all-purpose yards with 88 on the ground and 36 via a career-high five catches) on the grade-based PFF College Football site's Sun Belt Team of the Week.
Neuzil, center
Noah Hannon, left tackle
Victor Johnson, right tackle
Chandler Greer, starting right guard
Baer Hunter and fellow right guard
Cole Garrison helped the Mountaineers gain 91 yards on 12 rushing attempts in the fourth quarter.
Corey Sutton had three catches for 75 yards in the fourth quarter alone, as he was one of nine App State players to make a reception.
The Mountaineers will attempt to keep rolling against a Charlotte defense that tied Wyoming for the best mark in the country by allowing minus-9 yards rushing last weekend. Fordham had 16 official rushing attempts with four sacks and a long gain of 7 yards.
Free safety Ben DeLuca had a team-high six tackles after leading the country last season with five forced fumbles. Along the line, the 49ers are expected to have defensive lineman and 6-4 junior college transfer Dantrell Barkley available after he missed the Fordham opener.
