BOONE, N.C. — A first-place showdown, accompanied by No. 24 App State's first home game as a ranked FBS team.
A ring game takes priority over rankings for head coach
Eliah Drinkwitz as his team returns to The Rock and continues its pursuit of a Sun Belt Conference title.
Atop the Sun Belt's East Division, the Mountaineers (5-0, 2-0) play host to West Division leader ULM (3-3, 2-0) on homecoming Saturday at a sold-out Kidd Brewer Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
Fans are encouraged to come early and stay late, with the East Gate serving as the best spot for East side ticket holders to enter.
A little more than a week after App State put on a strong defensive display to claim a 17-7 road win against Louisiana in a rematch of the 2018 Sun Belt Championship Game, the Mountaineers face another high-scoring team from the same state.
App State and ULM are the only Sun Belt teams without a league loss. Their quarterbacks —
Zac Thomas and Caleb Evans — account for the two Sun Belt players who are among the 20 finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award. Their primary running backs —
Darrynton Evans and one-time Ole Miss commit Josh Johnson — are the two Sun Belt players averaging at least 100 rushing yards per game.
The Mountaineers received their first Top 25 ranking at the FBS level last season, and they're back this week at No. 24 in both the AP Top 25 and Amway Coaches Poll.
"It's not something that we're focused on," Drinkwitz said. "We acknowledge it for recruiting, our university acknowledges it, and that's all fine. But within this room, within our locker room, they don't give us 24 extra points, so we're not really worried about it."
After averaging 47.0 points in its first four games, App State was backed up inside its 5-yard line to start four of 10 possessions at Louisiana, but the Mountaineers still put together touchdown drives of 95 and 97 yards.
With the defense playing so well, Drinkwitz admits that he wasn't as aggressive as usual with his play-calling.
"We won the game," he said. "Obviously, as the offensive coordinator, I'd like to score more than 17 points. As the head coach, I thought it was perfect."
This season, with league wins against South Alabama and Texas State, the Warhawks have lost to Florida State (45-44 in overtime), Iowa State (72-20) and Memphis (52-33 against a team that was ranked No. 23 at the time).
ULM arrives in Boone with a defense that already has forced 11 turnovers, with cornerback Corey Straughter having four interceptions among his 10 passes defended, and the Warhawks are averaging 30.3 points, 245.3 passing yards and 217.5 rushing yards per game.
The 5-foot-9, 215-pound Johnson has rushed for 712 yards to average 118.7 yards per game and 6.7 yards per carry. The 6-2, 210-pound Caleb Evans has totaled 15 touchdowns thanks to five as a runner and 10 as a passer who completes 61.0 percent of his throws.
A senior with 7,968 passing yards and more than 1,700 rushing yards in his career, Evans accumulated 403 yards of offense (356 passing) and had a hand in five touchdowns as ULM won 52-45 against App State when the teams last met two years ago in Monroe, La.
"They have our full attention," Drinkwitz said. "We know we're going to need a great week of preparation to meet the challenge on Saturday."
