BOONE, N.C. — Saturday isn't just the FBS head coaching debut for Appalachian State's
Eliah Drinkwitz.
It's the first of at least 12 opportunities for the 2019 App State football team to compete together, with Game 1 kicking off at 3:30 p.m. in Kidd Brewer Stadium. East Tennessee State of the FCS-level Southern Conference will visit The Rock for the first time since 2003.
A lot has changed since then. ETSU dropped football following that season but restarted its program a few years ago and finished an 8-4 season in 2018 with a first-round playoff appearance.
App State put together a run of three straight FCS national titles from 2005-07, left the Southern Conference to join the FBS-level Sun Belt Conference in 2014 and has paired a 4-0 bowl record with three straight league titles.
Thirty years have passed since the 1989 arrival of title-winning, Hall of Fame coach Jerry Moore, and App State Athletics will recognize him in multiple ways during its season-opening Saturday in Boone. The day also marks the beginning of a new era with Drinkwitz, 36, directing the Mountaineers as the sixth-youngest FBS head coach in the country.
"It's going to be a lot of excitement for all the new coaches," said Drinkwitz, whose staff of 10 assistants includes four coaches who were at App State last season and six coaches who are relatively new to Boone.
"This is a new team from last year, so we've got to do a great job of controlling our emotions and focus on the job at hand. We can't get caught up in all those different aspects of it. You've got to enjoy the moment, and you've got to stay in the moment, too. It's going to be different, but I'm not going to shy away from it. You know, the closest thing I've ever had to being the head coach was the head seventh-grade coach, and there might be a few thousand more fans at this game than there were at that one. We'll do the very best we can."
In 2005, Drinkwitz coached separate "Green" and "Gold" seventh-grade teams at Alma Middle School in Arkansas. Now in Black and Gold, Drinkwitz will lead an experienced team that returns 10 offensive starters and six defensive starters from an 11-2 season in 2018.
This will be the Mountaineers' first time opening a season at home since 2015, when current seniors
Josh Thomas,
Akeem Davis-Gaither and
Desmond Franklin were true freshmen.
"We've been working hard all offseason, all summer, especially for this game, Game 1," Thomas said. "To be in game week, we're just really excited and can't wait for Saturday."
After playing at Tennessee, Georgia and Penn State to begin the previous three seasons, App State renews a rivalry with a school that's less than 60 miles from Boone in Johnson City. Appalachian holds a 32-13-1 lead in the series.
The Mountaineers are entering their sixth FBS season, and their winning percentage of 78.8 over the previous four years (41-11 record) ranks No. 5 among all FBS programs.
Even though Saturday will be unchartered territory for many App State coaches, Drinkwitz noted that App State's players possess a lot of experience, and they won't be going through their first game at The Rock.
Thomas and Davis-Gaither already have played in 42 career games. Two juniors, receiver
Thomas Hennigan and center
Noah Hannon, have made 26 straight starts.
"It's a really exciting time for many people around the country who care so much about college football," Hennigan said. "I know we're excited. Doing all the training, running and little things for the last eight months, it's exciting to finally get back on the field."
