BOONE, N.C. — While there is a grand achievement to be acknowledged, this weekend is about winning one game and keeping a zero in the loss column of the Sun Belt standings.
App State (3-1, 1-0) returned from a lengthy break to beat Arkansas State last week in the Mountaineers' much-anticipated league opener. Now they hit the road for their first Sun Belt road game of 2020 against ULM (0-6, 0-3) in a matchup that doubles as the 1,000
th overall game in App State Football history.
The Mountaineers are 632-339-28 since they began playing in 1928, and the immediate goal for the near future is going 1-0 on the trip to Malone Stadium in Monroe, La. The game Saturday begins at 4 p.m. ET (3 p.m. in Louisiana) and will be shown nationally on ESPNU.
"Everyone who has come through here and given their heart and soul for this program, I think it speaks volumes," App State head coach and alum
Shawn Clark said. "I'm very fortunate to be the head football coach here, and it's something I don't take lightly."
It's App State's first trip to Monroe since ULM won a wild 52-45 game in 2017. Coached by Matt Viator, the Warhawks have a new quarterback this year in 6-foot-3, 240-pound sophomore Colby Suits, previously the backup to dynamic four-year starter Caleb Evans, and Suits' top target is 6-5 tight end Josh Pederson, who has 22 catches for 260 yards. His father, Doug, is the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Running back Josh Johnson, like Pederson, was a preseason first-team All-Sun Belt pick, thanks to the former Ole Miss recruit's 1,298 rushing yards in 2019. To date, with Suits passing for 234.5 yards per game, ULM has averaged 13.5 points and 63.2 rushing yards per game.
App State has moved forward from a strong defensive performance in which it had 12 tackles for loss, six sacks and two interceptions while holding Arkansas State to no touchdown passes and kept the Red Wolves 21.2 points below their season average. With two talented quarterbacks and two standout receivers, Arkansas State did connect on a few long passes, but the Mountaineers' sure tackling following a 26-day break between games played an important role in the 45-17 victory.
"We had single-digit missed tackles," Clark said. "I've been doing this 20 years, and that's hard to do, especially after not playing a football game in (26) days. In saying that, we have plenty to work on and plenty to improve to reach our goal of being 1-0 this week."
Offensively, App State rushed for 305 yards against Arkansas State, and quarterback
Zac Thomas had a hand in five touchdowns (four through the air). The Mountaineers were missing starting receiver
Jalen Virgil, and fellow senior
Thomas Hennigan wasn't at 100 percent, but redshirt freshman
Christian Wells and true freshman
Christan Horn emerged as productive targets for Thomas.
Wells' three catches for 80 yards included scores of 46 and 20 yards, so the effectiveness of App State's receivers will be important again against a ULM defense that is allowing 36.5 points and 426.5 yards, including 246.2 on the ground, per game. The Warhawks' top defender has been linebacker Traveion Webster, who has 47 tackles through six games.
A win would allow App State to improve to 45-5 in its last 50 games against Sun Belt opponents and 21-4 in its 25th conference road game since joining the Sun Belt in 2014.
