BOONE, N.C. — A sold-out Kidd Brewer Stadium will have a Gold Out fan theme Saturday as App State Football opens the 2026 season against FCS program Maine. The home opener at The Rock kicks off at 3:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+.
The Mountaineers have now sold out 16 of their last 18 home games, and 21 of the stadium's largest 24 crowds have occurred since the start of 2022.
App State, with 43 transfers and 30 freshmen among the 73 newcomers on the roster, will face a Maine squad that returns nine offensive/defensive starters from a 6-6 team in 2025. The Black Bears opened their 2026 schedule last Thursday, building a 21-0 lead in a 21-18 win at Towson.
App State started 4-2 in in 2025, head coach
Dowell Loggains' first season, and four of the five regular season losses after that fast start were by a combined 14 points. In addition to a new-look roster for 2026, the coaching staff also has a lot of new faces, namely offensive coordinator
Mike Anthony, special teams coordinator
Tyler Zielenske, safeties coach
Aaron Fierbaugh, wide receivers coach
Justin Harper, defensive line coach
Antonio James, running backs coach
Tyler Kelley and offensive line coach
Ryan Pugh.
Defensively, captain
Colton Phares is back after recording a team-high 101 tackles from his linebacker spot in 2025, and a team captain representing the offense is dual-threat quarterback
Malachi Singleton, who didn't make any starts during his first three FBS seasons. He did appear in 11 games for Purdue in 2025 after playing in five games as a redshirt freshman for Arkansas in 2024 and redshirting in 2023, after he was recruited by a Razorbacks staff that included Loggains, who left Arkansas for South Carolina following the 2022 season.
Among the returning offensive linemen available for Saturday are
Trent Ramsey (started at right guard in 2025 before suffering a season-ending injury) and
Tyriq Poindexter (started at right tackle in the 2025 opener before suffering a season-ending injury).
Aside from a 22-yard run by
Juan Berchal on a fake punt, the other 140 carries via a returning App State player came from
Jaquari Lewis, and the five other scholarship running backs on the current roster are all looking to make an impact with their talents after dealing with significant injuries last season. The Mountaineers scored 36 touchdowns last year, and the eight TDs from returning players were produced by
Lewis (six rushing),
Sam Mbake (one receiving) and
Alexander Sanchez (one receiving).
The Mountaineers' offense will face a test from a Maine defense that forced 11 fumbles and recorded 29 sacks last season. The Black Bears allowed 2.7 yards per rush and posted six sacks in their 2026 opener, highlighted by 2.0 sacks from All-CAA selection Chris Bacon (defensive end) as well as 1.5 sacks apiece from starting defensive tackles Derek Berlitz (who began his career at West Virginia) and Bryce Purnell (who started his career at Virginia).
Defensively, Phares is the only App State returner who ranked among the top-10 leading tacklers on the 2025 squad, but edge rushers such as
Aiden Benton (another preseason All-Sun Belt pick) and
Caleb Sandstrom had 3.5 sacks apiece, while returning defensive back
Ja'Den McBurrows played well in his three 2025 starts before being sidelined by injury. A mixture of experienced, productive and on-the-rise transfers from fellow FBS schools, FCS programs and other levels make up a group that aims to have speed be a bigger part of its identity in 2026.
Making his first collegiate game appearance, third-year Maine quarterback Eddie Buehler threw a pair of first-half touchdown passes last week before finishing 17 of 27 for 199 yards against Towson. Rashawn Marshall, a freshman All-American in 2025, rushed for 81 yards on 13 carries.
This will be the third meeting between App State and Maine, which traveled to Boone and won FCS playoff games over the Mountaineers in 2002 (14-13) and 2011 (34-12). App State had won at least one postseason game in six straight seasons from 2005-10, starting with a national title three-peat from 2005-07, before being eliminated in the opening round by the Black Bears in 2011.
