By Bret Strelow | App State Athletics
BOONE, N.C. — Welcome (back) to The Rock.
When App State opens the 2023 season Saturday against Gardner-Webb at 3:30 p.m., it will be the Mountaineers' first game day appearance at Kidd Brewer Stadium in 287 days. The Runnin' Bulldogs are the first of six visiting teams (on a six-game home schedule) that reached postseason play in 2022.
Following a 6-6 campaign in Boone with no postseason, App State head coach
Shawn Clark's staff has six new assistant coaches, including two coordinators in
Frank Ponce (offense) and
Scot Sloan (defense) who have both returned to Boone, plus a new Director of Athletic Performance (
Matt Greenhalgh) who also has returned to Boone. On the field, there are 32 scholarship newcomers on the roster, including 14 from the transfer portal.
"We're excited to play this season," Clark said. "It's been a long time since the last game we played, and I think everyone in our program has something to prove, including for myself and all the way down that this is not a rebuild or a reload. We're resetting, and I think our team is taking that to heart."
Saturday's game will be streamed on ESPN+, and a limited number of tickets remain available for sale.
Gardner-Webb went 5-0 in Big South play last year and won an FCS playoff game under the direction of 33-year-old head coach Tre Lamb, whose cousin, Taylor Lamb, started at quarterback for the Mountaineers from 2014-17. The Runnin' Bulldogs return 10 defensive starters, plus standouts such as 1,000-yard rusher Narii Gaither, from a team that led in the fourth quarter of a 31-27 loss to Coastal Carolina, lost 21-20 at Liberty and trailed 21-7 through three quarters of a 28-7 loss at Marshall.
Gardner-Webb gave up 300-plus passing yards but held Coastal to 46 rushing yards on 37 attempts in Conway, S.C., so that offers some background on the test awaiting a run-first App State offense with redshirt freshman quarterback
Ryan Burger set to make his starting debut. A dual-threat player who had worked with Ponce during the start of 2022 spring practices before reuniting with Ponce this spring, Burger took 26 snaps in relief during his one game appearance in the 2022 fall (while Ponce was an assistant at Miami).
A strong supporting cast — with three veterans returning in the middle of the offensive line, a deep stable of game-tested running backs and experienced targets back in the passing game — will be counted upon to help the handful of offensive newcomers or underclassmen merge effectively from August practices to September game days.
"A lot of new faces, but we have a lot of veterans who can uplift the new guys and make sure we all become one," receiver
Christan Horn said. "At quarterback,
Ryan Burger, we trust in him and have faith in him. I trust him, and everybody with the offense and whole team trusts him. We'll make sure we help bring him up in the way we got brought up by our older guys."
Returning defensive standout Ty French recorded 15 tackles for loss last season for Gardner-Webb, including 11.5 sacks, and Gaither is back to lead an offense with new faces at quarterback and along the offensive line. He rushed for 1,019 yards last season after gaining 966 yards in 2021.
It's unclear if he'll be taking handoffs from top 2022 backup Matthew Caldwell, a 6-foot-4 Jacksonville State transfer, former Florida State walk-on quarterback Gino English or 6-4 freshman Jaylen King. Another quarterback on the roster, Ty Lyles, began his career as a quarterback at Coastal Carolina before moving to running back with the Chanticleers in 2022.
The Runnin' Bulldogs will likely attempt to spread out App State's new-look defense and force the Mountaineers to make plays in space.
Nick Ross (safety), Andrew Parker (inside linebacker),
DeAndre Dingle-Prince (defensive end), cornerback (
Ethan Johnson) and
Brendan Harrington (outside linebacker who suffered a season-ending injury in last year's opener) are projected to start again in 2023 for a defense with many new faces, including Sloan from his coordinator position.
Whether it's a defensive back like
Jordan Favors, who will have more of a prominent role during his third year in Boone, or a defensive lineman like
Shawn Collins, one of six FBS transfers to join the defense, there are opportunities for many guys to make a significant mark on App State football for the first time.
"Being almost a whole new staff with the defense, we've got a lot of new techniques and a lot of new everything," Harrington said. "It's fun to learn from a new group of guys and take whatever they can give us."
