BOONE, N.C. — With the Aug. 1 start of fall camp, the 2019 football opener against East Tennessee State is only 13 days away. Today is the fifth installment of an eight-part, position-by-position breakdown series presented by Clean Eatz.
Part 5 of the series focuses on the Appalachian State defensive line, which possesses the talent and depth to again serve as a strong foundation for a defense that received national acclaim in 2018.
The new line coach is
Anwar Stewart, who worked the previous two seasons as a defensive assistant at Kentucky, his alma mater. He was a standout defensive end at Kentucky and in the CFL during a 13-year playing career that ended in 2013.
"It's been great," Stewart said. "I inherited a hard-working group, and these young men, they love the game and play hard. They're great guys who go to class and do well in school. I think it's an honor for me to be able to put my spin on it and help these guys continue to grow as young men and players."
Regularly using as many as nine or 10 players along a three-man front has been a staple of recent App State defenses, including the 2018 version that helped the Mountaineers rank No. 4 nationally in scoring defense, and Stewart believes this group has similar three-deep capabilities at each position.
Junior defensive end
Elijah Diarrassouba returns after starting all 13 games last season.
Chris Willis started five of the final six games at the other end spot last season, but he is scheduled to miss the entire season following a summer injury.
Demetrius Taylor,
Caleb Spurlin and
Tommy Dawkins are the most experienced ends after Diarrassouba.
In the middle, App State moves forward without 2018 all-conference tackle
MyQuon Stout, a two-year captain who made his first tackle as a member of the New York Jets during Thursday's NFL preseason action.
E.J. Scott and
George Blackstock, who recently received a scholarship, return after backing up Stout last season.
"We have that work ethic and that motor," Diarrassouba said. "That's kind of been what the foundation of the D-line has always been. Don't do too much talking — just work."
With so many players getting time on the line, individual statistics can be spread out, but fresh options have been beneficial in slowing down opposing offenses.
Diarrassouba recorded a sack on the first play from scrimmage in the 2018 home finale that allowed App State to beat out Troy for the Sun Belt Conference's East Division title. Spurlin also recovered a fumble that he forced on a fake-punt completion by Troy, with those two plays paving the way for App State to jump out to an early 21-0 lead in a 21-10 victory.
Taylor, meanwhile, has been productive with 6.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss in 25 career games as a reserve. Injuries slowed Dawkins last year following a productive redshirt freshman season in which he made 10 appearances.
The 6-foot-3, 275-pound Scott, who has excellent athleticism for his size, and Blackstock are both former walk-ons who have impressed coaches with their hard work and productivity through the years. That position also has a pair of redshirt freshmen in
Jordon Earle, a high-energy player who appeared in two games last season, and
Chris Washington.
More depth along the line comes from the likes of
Zareon Hayes,
Hansky Paillant,
Brock Mattison,
Dorian Pickett,
Will Israel and true freshman
Luke Smith.
"We're three deep all the way across, and that's great to have because what you want to do is train the guys and get those guys playing so hard that, when another group is in, you don't miss a beat," Stewart said. "That's a goal for D-line coaches — to have guys like that where you can always put guys in here, here and here and be able to not miss a beat. I think that's one of the great things that we have here."
