BOONE, N.C. — Moving on from one Carolina to another, but this time with championship stakes.
Appalachian State, which has won three straight Sun Belt Conference titles, begins the pursuit of another one Saturday with its league opener against Coastal Carolina. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in Kidd Brewer Stadium.
With a sellout crowd on tap for Saturday's game, there will be temporary standing-room-only areas in both the south end zone and north end zone. Students and general admission ticket holders are invited to utilize the areas to help relieve congestion in the concourses and on Miller Hill.
Access to the south standing-room area is via the field-level gate at the bottom of Miller Hill, while the north standing-room area can be accessed via the grass hillside at the north edge of the west (home sideline) stands.
Coastal Carolina arrives in Boone at 3-1 with a three-game winning streak thanks to a 66-28 victory at UMass last weekend, and App State improved to 3-0 with a 34-31 win at North Carolina. That victory was exciting and memorable for many reasons, but it doesn't have any effect on the Mountaineers' goal of securing another conference championship.
"This Saturday's game is much bigger than last Saturday's, so we're focused," head coach
Eliah Drinkwitz said.
Family Weekend at The Rock will feature a showdown between the Mountaineers and another relatively new FBS program that has played Appalachian tough each of the last two years.
In 2017, during their first game as Sun Belt counterparts, App State trailed 22-17 in the third quarter of a 37-29 home victory against the Chanticleers.
Jalen Virgil's touchdown reception and back-to-back rushing touchdowns from
Marcus Williams Jr. allowed Appalachian to erase that deficit.
Last year,
Jacob Huesman made his first career start in place of injured starting quarterback
Zac Thomas and threw a touchdown pass to
Corey Sutton in a 23-7 road win. Williams and
Darrynton Evans both rushed for more than 100 yards.
App State's defense didn't allow any points that day — sun interference led to an interception return for a touchdown by Coastal's defense — and the Mountaineers' defense produced points thanks to a
Jordan Fehr safety that followed an initial hit from
Desmond Franklin.
With head coach Jamey Chadwell coordinating Coastal's option offense, the Chanticleers are again a ball-control team that can limit how many times an opponent has possession, and this year's team has a defense that leads the Sun Belt in both points allowed per game (18.0) and yards allowed per game (254.3).
Like Appalachian, Coastal has a win against a Power Five conference team this season, as Kansas had only nine offensive possessions in its 12-7 loss to the Chanticleers. They rank No. 6 nationally in time of possession per game (35 minutes, 18 seconds).
"You're not sure how many times you're going to get the ball, so you have to maximize your opportunities to score points," Drinkwitz said. "It's going to be a very challenging game."
Slowing down Coastal's run-first attack will require discipline and strong execution from App State's defense, which forced three turnovers in the win at North Carolina.
Demetrius Taylor earned multiple national defensive player of the week honors based on his performance in Chapel Hill,
Jordan Fehr added a career-high 16 tackles and
Akeem Davis-Gaither contributed 10 tackles, an interception and a blocked field goal as time expired.
Offensively, running backs such as Evans, Williams and
Daetrich Harrington will follow blocks from a line that includes key contributors such as
Victor Johnson,
Cole Garrison,
Ryan Neuzil,
Noah Hannon,
Baer Hunter and
Cooper Hodges. App State's tight ends and receivers also played a key role as blockers in the run game against North Carolina.
"It's all about being unselfish," Drinkwitz said. "You never know when you're going to get the ball, and you never know when your block is going to trigger us for an extra play or extra yards."
