By Bret Strelow | App State Athletics
BOONE, N.C. — During Sunday's team meeting, App State head coach
Shawn Clark showed everyone an image of a man digging for diamonds.
Just short of breaking through the final barrier, unable to see that his hard work was about to pay off, he turns around and quits.
"I told our team that's not who we are," Clark said. "We have to keep digging and keep putting our best foot forward."
In a season full of down-to-the-wire finishes, App State (3-4, 1-2) enters homecoming Saturday against Southern Miss (1-6, 0-4) at a sold-out Kidd Brewer Stadium with a two-game losing streak. The weather forecast calls for sunny skies and an unseasonably warm high temperature of 74 degrees just three days before Halloween.
Coastal Carolina made a 24-yard field goal as time expired in its 27-24 win at The Rock on Oct. 10, and two incomplete passes thrown to the end zone ended last weekend's 28-21 loss at ODU, which had a fourth-and-10 conversion before erasing a 21-20 deficit on a touchdown with 48 seconds left.
Each of App State's last four games and five of the last six have been decided in the closing seconds. Of the program's last 12 losses, 10 have been one-possession games decided by eight points or less.
Despite the internal and external frustration with so many close calls ending in tough-to-swallow defeats, another packed stadium will greet the Mountaineers as they attempt to even their Sun Belt Conference record at 2-2. Nine of the top 11 crowds in Kidd Brewer Stadium history have occurred since the start of the 2022 season, with a home attendance average of 36,832 through three home games in 2023.
"I love that we have a passionate fan base," Clark said. "At this time in a season, you don't have much time to look at the outside noise with social media, and we spoke to our players about staying away from that. That's a negative side of the world right there, and everyone has their own opinion, and that's great. The best thing is those fans are showing up to support us every single Saturday, and we need that more than ever Saturday at homecoming."
Like ULM, Southern Miss has had an extended break in which to prepare for the Mountaineers. The Golden Eagles last played on Tuesday, Oct. 17, with a 55-3 loss at South Alabama extending their losing streak to six games.
Southern Miss went 7-6 with a bowl victory last year in Will Hall's second season as head coach, and the Golden Eagles opened league play this year with a pair of high-scoring losses (44-37 at Arkansas State, then 50-36 against Texas State). ODU capped a goalline stand with a fourth-and-1 stop before running off the final 3:51 in a 17-13 win in Hattiesburg the following weekend.
Ti Mimms, one of the Golden Eagles' starting receivers, averages 20.5 yards per punt return with an 82-yard touchdown that accounted for the team's only touchdown against ODU. Southern Miss' headlining offensive standout is running back Frank Gore Jr., the son of a former NFL star with nearly 2,500 career rushing yards and more than 50 career receptions — he's even completed 15 passes as a Wildcat-style quarterback.
Behind three interior linemen who all weigh 330-plus pounds, 6-foot-3 quarterback Billy Wiles has started all seven games, but Houston transfer Holman Edwards played the final two and a half quarters in the Golden Eagles' last game.
App State's defense applied lots of pressure in the passing game against ODU, which had more big plays on the ground than through the air. Opponents are rushing for 193.1 yards per game against the Mountaineers, taking advantage of some poor run fits, and they have totaled at least three sacks in four of the last five games.
"When we're on defense, they're going to try to run the football and throw it downfield, and they have the players to go make those plays," Clark said. "We have to do a great job of continuing to prepare and make sure we continue to execute."
Defensively, Southern Miss has been dealing with an abundance of injuries, particularly in the secondary.
App State quarterback
Joey Aguilar leads the Sun Belt with 16 touchdown passes through seven games, and
Kaedin Robinson has surpassed 100 receiving yards in two of the last three games. Redshirt freshman
Kanye Roberts made his first start at ODU and gained 109 yards on 26 carries — 15 more than his previous high — in place of an injured
Nate Noel, who has been participating in practices leading up to Saturday's game.
"You look at Kanye and how he's went about his business, he's in a good place right now," Clark said. "He has all As in the classroom, and he's always doing extra film study. That's what you want. We knew when his time came to be the guy or be a starter that he would perform at a high level."
