BOONE, N.C. — App State Football's regular season finale on Saturday against Arkansas State will be the final home game for a group of battle-tested and resilient seniors.
The outcome will determine if that group and the rest of the Mountaineers play again in the postseason.
With kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. on Senior Day in Kidd Brewer Stadium, both App State and Arkansas State need a victory to become bowl eligible. The Mountaineers earned bowl berths in eight of their first 10 seasons after becoming postseason-eligible in 2015, including an NCAA-record seven berths in the first seven seasons, and this is the program's debut season under the direction of first-time head coach
Dowell Loggains.
App State stood 4-2 halfway through the regular season but lost its next four games, with the first three losses being decided by a combined 13 points. The Mountaineers bounced back from a lopsided loss at James Madison to win 26-24 last weekend in a home matchup with Marshall, which outgained App State by a significant margin but committed all three turnovers in the contest, not counting a blocked field goal from inside the red zone to swing the tide even more.
Closing November with another home game, App State faces an Arkansas State squad that started 1-4 before winning four straight Sun Belt games to reach 4-1 in league play. That stretch began with consecutive one-point wins at home against Texas State and on the road against South Alabama, and the Red Wolves followed a 34-24 victory against Georgia Southern with another Sun Belt road win: a 23-10 victory at Troy.
After that, Arkansas State's title-game hopes faded away with a 27-21 loss against Southern Miss and a 34-30 heartbreaker at home against Louisiana, which stopped mobile quarterback Jaylen Raynor short of the end zone on a game-ending keeper from the 2-yard line.
App State last faced Arkansas State in 2021, the first year in Jonesboro for current head coach Butch Jones, who was in charge of Tennessee's program when the Volunteers held off App State in an overtime thriller to begin the 2016 season. Jones' quarterback at Arkansas State is a Winston-Salem native who is smaller but faster than many of the dual-threat QBs who have challenged the Mountaineers' defense this season.
The Red Wolves lost standout running back Ja'Quez Cross to a season-ending injury after the opening game of the season, and Raynor ranks third nationally with 25.8 completions per game. His top targets have been Corey Rucker, a sixth-year receiver with 3,813 career yards, and Chauncy Cobb, who has 64 catches to go along with two kickoff returns for touchdowns.
With
AJ Swann again listed as out on the Sun Belt's availability report,
JJ Kohl is expected to again direct the offense for the Mountaineers, who are 3-2 in his first five starts. Kohl has thrown 10 touchdown passes and two interceptions this year, with four interception-free starts. The Mountaineers have won the turnover margin in three of his starts (3-0) and tied it in one other (the 45-37 loss to Coastal Carolina).
App State's offensive line protected Kohl well and opened up running lanes last weekend for
Jaquari Lewis, who gained 175 yards on 33 carries in relief of
Rashod Dubinion. The Red Wolves are successful at pressuring opposing quarterbacks, with their 2.7 sacks per game ranking 19
th nationally and second in the Sun Belt.
More than 20 Mountaineers are expected to be recognized on Senior Day, and that group includes five fifth-year Mountaineers who were App State true freshmen in 2021: LB
Kyle Arnholt, DB
Jordan Favors, TE
David Larkins, OT
Jayden Ramsey and WR
Dalton Stroman.
DB
Ethan Johnson is a fourth-year Mountaineer who played as a true freshman in 2022, and DL
Kevin Abrams-Verwayne is in his fourth season at App State after beginning his collegiate career at the JUCO level in 2019 and suffering two season-ending injuries in Boone.
A win in the final home game would create the chance to play one more time in the Black and Gold.
