By Bret Strelow | App State Athletics
BOONE, N.C. — From Senior Day, on down to this weekend's trip to Statesboro, App State's regular season is concluding with a series of emotional, meaningful games.
The Mountaineers (6-5, 3-4) kept their postseason chances alive with a home victory against Old Dominion, and they need a win at rival Georgia Southern (5-6, 2-5) on Saturday night to clinch bowl eligibility. The Eagles, in their first year under the direction of head coach Clay Helton, are also a Saturday win away from becoming a bowl-eligible team.
Those are the stakes, beyond the bragging rights attached to every App State-Georgia Southern showdown.
"To play in a game of this magnitude, with the history we've had with each other, I just think it's one of the best games in college football," said
Shawn Clark, who experienced a three-game winning streak against the Eagles as a mid-90s player at App State and is 2-0 against them as the Mountaineers' head coach.
App State has four wins this season against FBS competition and two against FCS teams, but only one of the two counts toward bowl eligibility. Sun Belt Conference realignment left the Mountaineers with a late hole to fill on their 2022 schedule, and filling it with FCS program Robert Morris made the most sense, but having two FCS games has complicated the effort to improve the program's perfect bowl-eligible mark to 8-for-8 as a full-fledged FBS program.
Known traditionally for its run-based, triple-option offense, Georgia Southern has attempted 513 passes and officially posted 325 rushing attempts with an offensive coordinator, Bryan Ellis, who served as WKU's co-offensive coordinator during a 2021 season in which the pass-happy Hilltoppers beat App State in the Boca Raton Bowl.
Relying on quick reads and releases, sixth-year senior quarterback Kyle Vantrease has been sacked only seven times en route to leading the Sun Belt at 319.2 passing yards per game. He has thrown 22 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions while completing 60.7 percent of his attempts.
A season-ending injury has sidelined receiver Derwin Burgess Jr. (717 yards and seven touchdowns in 10 games), but Khaleb Hood has caught 70 passes for 791 yards. Georgia Southern is still dangerous in the running game, as Jalen White has rushed for 915 yards with 10 touchdowns this season. His four 100-yard games include a 143-yard effort last weekend against Marshall's stout defense, with 101 of the yards coming in the first quarter.
App State's defense has allowed an average of 269.2 passing yards in its five losses and held the opponent to less than 100 passing yards in four of its six wins. The Mountaineers have held five opponents to less than 90 rushing yards and gone 4-1 in those games.
"It's a high-powered offense, and they can really throw the ball down the field," Clark said. "They'll go three and four wide most of the game, but they'll run the ball, as well. We have to do a really good job of getting push and we have to do a fantastic job of keeping our leverage on the back end."
Offensively, App State returned to form last weekend by totaling nearly 500 yards, including more than 200 passing yards from
Chase Brice in the first 17 minutes. From there, with a sizable lead, a running game led by
Ahmani Marshall (career-high 137 yards) did most of the damage.
A different offensive player has led App State in rushing attempts in each of the last five games, with
Nate Noel recording 18 two weekends ago and Marshall amassing 19 against ODU as injuries and other considerations affected the rotation.
The Mountaineers capitalized on a few over-the-top passing opportunities, including
Kaedin Robinson's 57-yard gain on App State's first play from scrimmage and
Christian Wells' 75-yard touchdown.
Georgia Southern's defense ranks last in the Sun Belt by allowing 227.6 rushing yards per game, in part because South Alabama, Louisiana and Marshall rushed for an average of 272.7 yards per contest during the Eagles' current three-game skid.
Georgia Southern ranks 13th of 14 teams in the league by allowing 256.5 passing yards, but the Eagles are actually 4-1 when allowing more than 300 passing yards this season. That includes the victory against Nebraska, plus back-to-back league wins against JMU and Old Dominion in October, as well as a Coastal Carolina game in which the Chanticleers overcame a last-minute deficit to win 34-30.
"We have to be prepared for three different kinds of (defensive) fronts and about six or seven different coverages, because they're very multiple," Clark said. "It's a rivalry game. Our kids know we have to win another game to go to postseason play and have another chance to be champions. We've stubbed our toe this year a few games and aren't playing for a Sun Belt Championship, but still have an opportunity to go to postseason play and play for a championship."
