BOONE, N.C. — App State alum Luke Combs made a cameo when the two teams renewed a long-running series with a Queen City meeting in 2021. Last year, Yosef ziplined down to the Kidd Brewer Stadium field when they met in Boone for the first time since 1979.
There could be plenty of on-field fireworks when Game 3 of this four-game series between App State and East Carolina kicks off Saturday in Greenville's Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. The ESPNU game has a 4 p.m. start time.
The current forecast calls for a game time temperature in the high 70s with about a 25 percent chance of rain, following a stretch earlier in the day with higher chances of precipitation.
The Mountaineers (1-1) opened the season with a 38-10 win against ETSU but fell behind by a big margin early in a 66-20 loss at No. 20 Clemson, which has a 66-3 home record in the last decade. ECU, meanwhile, won 42-3 against Norfolk State before prevailing 20-14 on the road against Sun Belt foe Old Dominion.
The Pirates (2-0) have a strong defense — one that scored two defensive touchdowns during a 43-28 loss to the Mountaineers last season in Boone and has totaled 26 tackles for loss already this year — to pair with an improved offense that is directed by new coordinator John David Baker (previously Ole Miss' co-offensive coordinator/tight ends coach) and new quarterback Jake Garcia (formerly of Miami in 2022 working with
Frank Ponce, then Missouri in 2023).
The Pirates committed six turnovers (with three of them via interceptions) against Norfolk State and tossed four more interceptions against ODU. ECU opponents scored only 10 points off those 10 turnovers, and the Pirates' fast-paced offense that often snaps the ball early in the play clock has overcome those mistakes with help from the fact that it has had a whopping 28 possessions. Garcia has averaged 295.5 passing yards in his two starts, while Rahjai Harris rushed 26 times for 131 yards and two TDs against ODU.
This will be the third FBS-vs.-FBS matchup (in a span of four seasons) between the Mountaineers and Pirates. In January 2017, they agreed to a four-game series with App State home games in 2021 (in Charlotte's Bank of America Stadium) and 2023, then ECU's home games in 2024 and 2026.
With App State leading the ECU series 21-12, there were 29 meetings from 1932-1979. After ECU won 38-21 in Boone in 1979, they didn't face off again until ECU's 29-24 home win in 2009, when star QB Armanti Edwards was sidelined from that FCS-vs.-FBS opener while recovering from a preseason accident that injured his foot. During another FCS vs.-FBS matchup in 2012, ECU won 35-13 at home in sweltering Greenville heat.
The Mountaineers played a night game last weekend at Clemson and will be looking to perform with more precision in all three phases.
