BOONE, N.C. — Leading up to its first Sun Belt Conference home game of 2025, App State Football closed its nonleague schedule with a dramatic victory against Oregon State and then evened its Sun Belt record with a decisive win at Georgia State.
The Mountaineers passed those tests with flying colors, which will also adorn the throwback helmets they break out Saturday for a sold-out Homecoming game against Coastal Carolina.
"I thought we had more edge the last two weeks than we've had," App State head coach
Dowell Loggains said. "I think we've played with more resilience than we have. I think that only happens, I've used this statement, confidence is born through demonstrated ability. You have to teach teams how to win collectively, together. They're starting to buy into the principles of playing smarter, harder, longer than our opponent."
App State (4-2, 1-1 SBC) faces the Chanticleers (3-3, 2-1 SBC) at 3:30 p.m. in Kidd Brewer Stadium, and fans are encouraged to wear gold as a response to their grassroots efforts to create a gold-oriented theme for this game. Spectators can bring back the gold rally towels they acquired during the Oct. 4 home win against Oregon State, while the Mountaineers will turn back time by wearing gold pants with black jerseys and black "Flying Yosef" helmets.
Yes, the same "Flying Yosef" logo that appeared on the program's helmets from 1983-88, a stretch in which Mack Brown and Sparky Woods coached the Mountaineers prior to Jerry Moore's 1989 arrival. Moore, who was often seen carrying a pencil and notepad during his coaching career, enjoyed drawing sketches and is responsible for creating the Block A logo with the embedded Mountaineers script.
Homecoming weekend is also Hall of Fame weekend, with two of Moore's title-winning stars from the FCS era being honored: Dexter Jackson and
DJ Smith, who were teammates on the 2007 national championship team. Now 15 years removed from the end of his App State playing career, Smith is the first-year defensive coordinator for a first-year head coach in Loggains.
With Loggains calling the offensive plays and Smith directing the defense, App State will attempt to get App State back on the winning end of a series that began with six consecutive Mountaineer victories. Coastal Carolina has won four of the last five meetings, including a Boone breakthrough in 2023.
During its two October wins to date, App State did not commit any turnovers and had its two lowest penalty totals of the season.
Making the first two starts of his FBS career with
AJ Swann sidelined by injury, a well-protected
JJ Kohl has thrown five touchdown passes, totaled 527 yards through the air and added one rushing touchdown. The Mountaineers' defense limited both opponents to less than 100 rushing yards and didn't let 300-plus passing yardage totals alter the outcome, as red-zone stops thwarted Oregon State's comeback attempt and Georgia State trailed 31-0 before making a fourth-quarter push.
Coastal Carolina arrives in Boone at the midpoint of what's been an up-and-down season.
The Chanticleers' three wins all involved double-digit margins, including league victories at South Alabama (38-20) and against ULM (23-8). They have been outscored 133-14 in their three losses to Virginia (48-7), East Carolina (38-0) and Old Dominion (47-7).
"It's a team that's like a lot of us," Loggains said. "I would say, up until about two weeks ago, we're figuring out who we are. We need to make sure we know exactly who we are and that we play that way every week. They're a team that can beat anyone on any given Saturday. This is a good football team that creates a lot of challenges. Schematically, they're going to create challenges."
NC State/Maryland transfer MJ Morris started the season-opening loss to Virginia and hasn't appeared in a game since throwing three interceptions during a 13-0 win against Charleston Southern the following week. Tad Hudson, who began his collegiate career at North Carolina and started last year's Myrtle Beach Bowl for Coastal, has started the last four games but is listed as questionable on the Sun Belt's availability report after missing the second half of the rain-soaked win against ULM. Samari Collier, who redshirted at Illinois in 2021 before performing well at Hutchinson Community College, rushed 12 times for 86 yards and a touchdown in addition to throwing a touchdown pass in those difficult conditions.
The Chanticleers' most productive running back has been Ja'Vin Simpkins, who has gained 205 yards on 32 attempts in Coastal's three victories.
Defensively, Coastal often employs a three-safety defense, and interceptions have accounted for six of its eight takeaways this season, with two picks apiece in the Sun Belt wins against South Alabama and ULM.
Coastal Carolina's visit will be the 14th straight single-game sellout at The Rock, and it will be the first Saturday matchup between the Mountaineers and Chanticleers since 2020, the year of Coastal's first victory in the series. Each of the previous four meetings had been nationally televised games played on a Thursday, Wednesday or Tuesday.
"We're figuring out how to win," Loggains said. "We're starting to cut down on the turnovers. We're starting to cut down on the penalties. The energy and effort's been great. Now, it's, we get it, and we really like these celebrated locker rooms, so let's start doing the little things right that keep us in those celebrated locker rooms."
