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Know the Foe: App State

Know the Foe: App State

Football Oct 27
By ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist Paul Letlow

Few teams in the nation have won as often as App State since 2015.

The Mountaineers are 68-17 during that stretch, a mark that ranks sixth-best in the country, trailing just Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Georgia. App State claimed six consecutive bowl wins and four Sun Belt Championships over that span.

"I don't think we have to tell many people in the Sun Belt the success of Appalachian State and how good they have been," ULM coach Terry Bowden said.

This season App State is showing no signs of slowing down. Last Wednesday night, the Mountaineers won a thrilling 30-27 win over No. 14 Coastal Carolina with 31,061 fans at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

"We're in control of our own destiny right now," App State head coach Shawn Clark said after that win. "I'm so proud of this team and everyone involved in our organization. This is a great win for our university and for this program."

App State improved to 5-2 overall, 2-1 in the Sun Belt and first in the East Division. Since App State joined the Sun Belt in 2014, the Mountaineers are 51-10 against teams from the league (28-4 at home). App State enters its Homecoming game with ULM, holding wins over East Carolina, Elon, Marshall, Georgia State and Coastal Carolina. The two losses were to Miami and Louisiana-Lafayette.

No longer flying below radar, ULM (4-3, 2-2 Sun Belt) comes in riding a two-game winning streak following home wins over Liberty and South Alabama. Kickoff in Boone, North Carolina, is 2:30 p.m. CT/3:30 p.m. ET.

"They have an identity now," Clark said of ULM this week. "I went against Coach Bowden several times when he was at Akron and I was at Kent State. We played them here and they always give you issues scheme-wise, offensive, defensive and special teams.

"Those guys will play with confidence. Coach (Rich) Rodriguez is their offensive coordinator and he's been an unbelievable play-caller for a long time."

One ULM statistic jumped off the page when Clark began analyzing the Warhawks. ULM leads the Sun Belt at plus-eight in turnover margin, with 14 takeaways and just six turnovers through seven games.

"They're playing with a lot of great effort right now," Clark said. "They're plus-eight in the turnover battle and we're minus-five right now. Whenever they get turnovers, they score on the turnovers and create issues for the opposing team."

Otherwise, App State brings challenges in every phase. Last week, the Mountaineers limited Coastal to 55 rushing yards – 208.5 below its season average – on 29 attempts.

D'Marco Jackson leads the Sun Belt at 9.7 tackles a game (68 total), is No. 3 at 1.3 tackles for loss per game (9.0 total) and is No. 7 at 0.7 sacks per game (4.0 total). Demetrius Taylor (23.5 career sacks) and Nick Hampton (12.5 career sacks) also have 4.0 sacks each this season.

Quarterback Chase Brice leads the Sun Belt at 262.9 passing yards per game following a 347-yard performance against Coastal Carolina.

Running back Nate Noel leads the Sun Belt in rushing (635 yards, 90.7 per game), and Camerun Peoples is first with 10 rushing touchdowns even after missing two-straight games before scoring twice against Coastal.

App State has a seasoned receiving corps, featuring super seniors Thomas Hennigan, Malik Williams and Corey Sutton all ranked among the top eight in school history in both receiving yards (No. 4-Hennigan; No. 6-Williams; No. 8-Sutton) and receiving TDs (No. 5-Sutton; No. 6-Hennigan; T-No. 8-Williams). Another super senior, Jalen Virgil, ranks among the Top 20 in touchdowns. Hennigan is tied for No. 1 in school history with 208 career receptions and ranks third in career catches among current FBS players.

Placekicker Chandler Staton, who hit a 24-yard field goal as time expired in last week's 30-27 win against Coastal Carolina, has 55 career field goals to tie Bjorn Nittmo (1985-88) for first in school history.

"They have players at quarterback, running back, wide receiver and linebacker that lead the conference in statistics," Bowden said. "Passing, throwing, running and tackling. They are a team that is used to winning and used to winning big in our conference."

Mountaineer nuggets: Hennigan holds the FBS record for career starts with 58 (among his 59 total games). The previous record of 57 was held by Clemson OL Mitch Wyatt (2015-18) and Alabama OL Ross Pierschbacher (2015-18). … App State is 4-0 at home this season. … App State leads the 130-team FBS at 105.4 percent attendance relative to capacity. The 31,604 average at 30,000-seat Kidd Brewer Stadium leads the Sun Belt's second-place average by nearly 7,500. The only other FBS schools at 100-plus percent are Michigan (100.4 percent), Utah (100.3) and Georgia (100.0). … At No. 14, Coastal was the highest-ranked FBS team to ever visit The Rock. The Mountaineers posted their second-ever win against a ranked opponent – and first since the 34-32 win against Michigan in 2007 when App State was an FCS program.

 
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