BOONE, N.C. — Moving forward from its first win as a ranked FBS team, App State will attempt to remain atop the Sun Belt Conference standings when it plays at South Alabama on Saturday.
Kickoff for the ESPNU game is scheduled for noon ET (or 11 a.m. CT).
App State is 2-0 on the road this season with wins at North Carolina and Louisiana. South Alabama prevailed in its 2019 opener at home, winning 37-14 against Jackson State, and its last home game was a 20-17, two-overtime loss to Georgia Southern.
Here's a closer look at how App State's offense potentially matches up against South Alabama's defense:
App State Offense vs. South Alabama Defense
Eliah Drinkwitz joked that App State's 17-7 win against Louisiana looked better to him as the head coach than the offensive coordinator. The Mountaineers put up 572 yards of offense in a 52-7 win against ULM last weekend, but the offensive coordinator in Drinkwitz still wasn't satisfied.
After all, App State committed two turnovers, fumbled the ball three times and made mistakes that put quarterback
Zac Thomas on the verge of being sacked three times.
"I thought offensively we played, at times, well but was extremely disappointed with the turnovers," Drinkwitz said. "And we didn't give up any sacks, but that was just because Zac made some unbelievable plays in the pocket. But we had three times where we had free rushers on the quarterback on third downs. That's inexcusable — cannot happen in a six-man protection scheme. So those things, as the head coach, have got to get corrected and have got to get corrected in a hurry."
On a positive note, App State did rush for a season-high 302 yards, with
Marcus Williams Jr. gaining 79 yards on 16 carries and scoring once in his busiest game day of the season. He provided another backfield threat with
Darrynton Evans rushing for 130 of his 136 yards in the first half of the lopsided win, and the Mountaineers are working to develop more ball-securing depth behind them.
App State's 19 completions against ULM were spread among nine players, as tight end
Collin Reed scored for the 11th time in his career and graduate transfer
Keishawn Watson added a 14-yard reception.
Jalen Virgil's 56-yard touchdown following a short pass from
Jacob Huesman capped the scoring.
"The point of emphasis this week for the offense is don't get caught up in the points, don't get caught up in the explosive plays — you've got to get caught up in we had six penalties, two turnovers and three free runners on the quarterback," Drinkwitz said. "And that is not winning football at a consistent level. And so that's what's got to get corrected this week."
The Mountaineers are preparing for a South Alabama defense that is allowing 30.4 points, 203.6 rushing yards and 201.1 passing yards per game. Interceptions have accounted for seven of the 12 turnovers forced by the Jaguars, and they have a big, productive defensive lineman in 310-pound Jordon Beaton.
A third-team preseason all-conference selection, he began the year at nose tackle and has started the last four games as an end who lines up near the outside shoulder of an offensive guard. Beaton, fellow 3-technique end Jeffery Whatley (300 pounds) and tackle Sean Brown (325 pounds) are all seniors.
On the back end, senior cornerback Travis Reed leads the team with two interceptions and five breakups. The top tackler is weakside linebacker Nick Mobley with 61 stops.
"They don't give up deep balls, make you drive the football the length of the field," Drinkwitz said. "So we're going to have to be very disciplined and we're going to have to be very focused on execution."
