BOONE, N.C. — Two Sun Belt East Division teams with identical records meet Saturday night, with the winner between App State and Marshall clinching bowl eligibility heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.
The Mountaineers (5-4, 2-3) take on the Thundering Herd (5-4, 2-3) at 6 p.m. in Joan C. Edwards Stadium. This is Marshall's annual "75" game that remembers the 75 people, including 37 football players, who were lost in the 1970 Marshall Plane Crash that followed a contest at East Carolina.
The home team in the App State-Marshall series has won each of the previous six matchups, with both teams going 3-3. The Mountaineers are winless in their last four visits to Huntington, W. Va., including a nonconference matchup in 2020 prior to Sun Belt showdowns in 2022 and 2024.
App State last won at Marshall in 1995 as part of an undefeated 11-0 regular season, with the second-ranked Mountaineers prevailing 10-3 against the third-ranked Thundering Herd that year. For longtime fans of each school, the history of his rivalry carries deep meaning, considering that:
— Twenty-one of the first 28 matchups occurred when they were both members of the Southern Conference from 1977-96
— At least one squad was ranked in the FCS Top 25 in 11 of the teams' 13 contests from 1985-96
— Both teams were nationally ranked eight times in that 13-game stretch
This season, injuries to three starting offensive linemen have contributed to struggles since App State improved to 5-2 with an overtime home win against James Madison. The Mountaineers lost 19-3 at Georgia Southern and were beaten 39-23 last weekend by visiting Georgia State.
Wide receiver
Chris Lofton has made a recent surge with 15 catches for 253 yards and two scores in the last three games, plus a 56-yard touchdown pass on a trick play against Georgia State, and five tight ends have caught a touchdown pass this season. Defensively,
Caleb Sandstrom produced his sixth sack of the season last weekend, and freshman edge rusher
Sawyer Arnold recorded the first two sacks of his career.
Following a 45-0 loss at Penn State to open the season, Marshall won three straight close games against Middle Tennessee (28-26), Missouri State (30-24) and FCS program Gardner-Webb (36-35 on a go-ahead field goal with three seconds left).
The Thundering Herd has continued to be streaky, losing 45-17 against James Madison and trailing 27-0 midway through the third quarter of a 27-21 loss to Coastal Carolina. It beat South Alabama 20-13 and led 27-10 at halftime of a 36-23 win against Old Dominion before losing 49-13 last weekend at Georgia Southern.
Zion Turner has started the last three games at quarterback, after Sun Belt Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Carlos Del Rio-Wilson started the first six games, and they have each appeared in seven games. West Virginia transfer Khalil Wilkins, a 6-foot-4 athlete who scored on a 66-yard touchdown run last weekend, has seen time at quarterback, running back, receiver and kick returner this season.
Also impacted by an injury at left tackle, with Tariq Montgomery listed as out for Saturday, Marshall's offense has received a boost with the recent return of running back Jo'Shon Barbie, whose 45-yard touchdown run was part of a 250-yard ground total for the team.
Among the leaders for the Thundering Herd's defense is 6-6, 258-pound defensive end Braydin Ward, who has 5.5 tackles for loss this season, but he is listed as questionable for this week's game in the first Sun Belt Availability Report. Marshall is allowing 31.9 points and 430.3 yards per game, with a breakdown of 253.9 passing yards and 176.4 rushing yards.
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