By Bret Strelow | App State Athletics
BOONE, N.C. — They've gone through practices, and another game day awaits, but there's nothing routine about the schedule or circumstances connected to App State Football's upcoming matchup with Marshall.
Days of heavy precipitation, followed by last Friday's catastrophic arrival of Hurricane Helene's rains and winds, have led to unthinkable destruction and tragedy in much of western North Carolina, including Watauga County and Boone.
For many, the recovery time will be measured in months or years, not days or weeks.
With an understanding that football is of secondary importance to the real-life challenges facing residents of the High Country and beyond, the Mountaineers (2-2, 0-1) returned to the practice field in a relatively unscathed Kidd Brewer Stadium and began preparing for their Sun Belt game at Marshall (2-2, 0-0) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
"We're very fortunate that we get to play this game of football that we love," App State head coach
Shawn Clark said. "Football is important, but it's not the most important thing right now. The most important thing is our community, our county. Our county has a lot of pride in App State Football and App State Athletics, so we want to make sure we go out and represent the best way we know how."
Saturday is set to be App State's first game appearance in 16 days.
After playing a Thursday night game against South Alabama on Sept. 19, the impact of Helene led to the cancelation of a Sept. 28 home game against Liberty.
Clark and his staff worked this week to strike the right balance between being caretakers — the welfare of their student-athletes and fellow staff members is the top priority — and pushing those student-athletes in a way to best prepare them for the test of facing the Thundering Herd on the road.
App State is moving forward from a 48-14 loss to South Alabama, which used the running of powerful back Fluff Bothwell and elusive quarterback Gio Lopez to create big problems for the Mountaineers. Still possessing a stout defense anchored by a formidable line, Marshall has changed its offensive identity with the arrival of new offensive coordinator Seth Doege, a former Texas Tech quarterback who employs parts of the Air Raid offense he learned from the late Mike Leach.
The numbers tell a different story than you might think, though, as quarterback Stone Earle is leading an offense that is averaging more rushing yards per game (193.5) than passing yards per game (184.3). Earle, who started two games for North Texas last season, leads the team with 45 rushing attempts this season, while A.J. Turner has gained 378 yards on just 30 rushes.
Turner has 100-yard games with single-digit carries against Stony Brook (eight for 119 with an 80-yard run), Virginia Tech (six for 103 with a 69-yard run) and Western Michigan (9 for 124 with a 67-yard run).
Missed tackles plagued the Mountaineers during their short-week loss to a fully rested South Alabama team. Marshall will be playing its first Sun Belt game, following a nonconference schedule that included a lopsided win over FCS-level Stony Brook, a 31-14 loss to Virginia Tech, a 49-14 loss to Ohio State and a 27-20 victory against Western Michigan.
Defensive back J.J. Roberts was named the Sun Belt's Defensive Player of the Week after he finished the Western Michigan game with 15 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Defensive end Mike Green leads the way this season with 4.5 sacks among his 6.0 tackles for loss, and PFF credits him with 17 quarterback pressures.
The task of protecting quarterback
Joey Aguilar and creating running room for App State's backs falls to an evolving offensive line, and achieving run-pass balance is one key to starting games in a better manner. The opponent has received the opening kickoff and scored a touchdown on its first drive in three straight games, contributing to App State facing sizable deficits after one quarter against Clemson (35-0), East Carolina (16-0) and South Alabama (14-0).
Marshall has won seven of its 13 home games in the series against App State, which will be attempting to prevail in Huntington, W.Va. for the first time since 1995, when Clark was the Mountaineers' starting left guard in a 10-3 victory. The last three meetings at Joan C. Edwards Stadium were Marshall wins in 2002, 2020 and, in their first game as Sun Belt foes, 2022.
