Coastal Carolina has its biggest rival, Appalachian State, coming to Brooks Stadium to play in front of a black-out crowd and a national spotlight as the Thursday night primetime game on ESPN 鈥 not ESPN2 or ESPNU, but The Mothership network.
ESPN鈥檚 afternoon SportsCenter will even be co-hosted from the campus by Matt Barrie from 2-3 p.m. Thursday, with a large group of students expected to take part in contests and shenanigans on the air with Barrie.
The Chanticleers (4-4) are hoping the spirit of the rivalry and national television hoopla are an elixir that will pull them from the doldrums of losses in three straight and four of five games following a 3-0 start.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a level of excitement, right?鈥 CCU coach Tim Beck said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to feel good about where you鈥檙e at when you drop three straight, but there鈥檚 a little bit of a level of excitement because it鈥檚 a nationally-televised game, it鈥檚 a rivalry game, it鈥檚 a home game, to be able to play in front of the crowd.
鈥淚 think all of those things are kind of coming at a good time to be honest. It certainly does help. But that all goes away after the first snap.鈥
CCU is 1-3 in the Sun Belt Conference and has to win two of its final four games to extend its streak of being bowl eligible in four consecutive seasons.
鈥淲e鈥檙e definitely backed up in a corner right now,鈥 said CCU redshirt sophomore linebacker Clev Lubin. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a good team. We鈥檝e got a lot of players on both sides of the ball who can make a lot of plays. We just have to put it together... We control what happens at the end of the year. If we want to play in a bowl game, we can control that.鈥
App State (4-4, 2-3) has won two straight at home by seven and six points over Georgia State and Old Dominion after starting the conference slate 0-3.
鈥淚t seems like everybody we play is kind of finding their stride when they come to play us,鈥 Beck said. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e won two in a row and are probably feeling pretty good where they鈥檙e at, at this point.鈥
Coastal is looking for its third consecutive win over App State, and third straight home win over the Mountaineers, having won in 2020 and 2022. The Chants won in Boone, N.C., last year for the first time in seven tries.
All of the last four games have been close, which has fueled the intensity between the programs and fan bases.
CCU鈥檚 34-23 win in 2020 included a late CCU go-ahead TD followed by an interception return for a touchdown. App State won by a last-second field goal in 2021. Coastal won 35-28 in 2022, and the Chants won by a field goal last year.
Kade Hensley kicked the game-winning 24-yard field goal as time expired, and offensive lineman Evan Jumper of Myrtle Beach had a memorable celebration, chugging a beer that was thrown at him from the App State student section behind the goal posts.
Scouting the Mountaineers
The Mountaineers are led by senior quarterback Joey Aguilar (6鈥3鈥欌, 220), the 2024 Sun Belt Preseason Player of the Year.
He is averaging 283.8 passing yards per game with 18 TD passes and 10 interceptions while completing 56.5% of his passes. He is the only returning FBS quarterback who had at least 33 TDs and 3,700 passing yards in 2023, and bounced back from a four-interception game at Louisiana to tally 511 passing yards with seven touchdown passes and one interception in the last two games.
鈥淗e鈥檚 got a strong arm and sees the field really well,鈥 Beck said. 鈥淗e does a great job and he鈥檚 a big component of why they鈥檙e winning, what he does with the football.鈥
Sixth-year senior Kaedin Robinson (6鈥2鈥欌, 205) has been the focal point of the App State offense. He ranks 10th nationally and first in the Sun Belt at 95.5 receiving yards per game and has led the team in receiving yards in all eight games, with seven games of 75-plus yards and three of 100-plus.
The Mountaineers are much more balanced on the ground, as four players have at least 200 yards rushing, not including sacks, and Kanye Roberts and Ahmani Marshall have more than 300 apiece.
They may attack CCU on the ground after the Chants were repeatedly gashed by the run last week, allowing 338 rushing yards to Troy. The Mountaineers have averaged 174.8 yards rushing over their last four games.
App State鈥檚 much-maligned defense, which ranks 119th in the nation in points allowed at 34.4 and 114th in yards allowed at 428.3, including more than 200 yards per game rushing, stepped up in last week鈥檚 28-20 win over Old Dominion, recording four takeaways, a turnover on downs and five sacks.
The turnovers and red zone defense allowed the Mountaineers to largely keep Old Dominion out of the end zone despite giving up 498 yards of offense and 26 first downs.
The defense is led by a pair of Freshman All-America selections last year in linebacker Nate Johnson and defensive lineman Santana Hopper.
Last week was the first time this season App State has won the turnover battle in a game. Coastal has forced 11 turnovers 鈥 four have been returned for touchdowns 鈥 with seven giveaways and has won the turnover battle in five games, lost it in two and pushed in one this season.
Winning the turnover battle is important against every opponent, but perhaps more so against App State, which is 19-1 under fifth-year coach Shawn Clark when it forces more turnovers than its opponent.
App State won without several starters Saturday and expects to again be without several Thursday night. Clark named Roberts, senior kicker Michael Hughes and tight end David Larkins as being out, and said he hopes for the return from injury of running backs Anderson Castle and Maquel Haywood and tight end Eli Wilson, whom Clark termed 鈥榞ame-time decisions.鈥
Recovering, healing after Helene
App State went 37 days between home games at Kidd Brewer Stadium because of the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene on the campus and Boone area.
There were more than 100 storm-related fatalities in North Carolina, with the mountains being the hardest-hit region.
After playing a Thursday home game against South Alabama on Sept. 19, several days of nonstop rain before the storm arrived resulted in the cancellation of the Sept. 28 home game vs. Liberty.
The university reopened Oct. 11 and classes resumed Oct. 16 after students were out of classrooms for 19 days.
The Mountaineers have had a bigger mission than football in recent weeks as coaches, staff members and players have taken part in volunteer efforts that have included unpacking and organizing donated goods at a local church, and loading supplies and generators onto helicopters from a humanitarian aid organization.
鈥淎nytime you go 19 days without school it鈥檚 tough on anyone, and we were trying to do our part to volunteer in the community,鈥 Clark said. 鈥淚t was bigger than just football, it was about taking care of our people in the county and western North Carolina.
鈥... It was a tough situation but that鈥檚 life. You have to overcome tough things in life and you鈥檒l come out better on the back end.鈥
Beck was among the coaches that reached out to Clark, who said those included 鈥減robably every coach in the Sun Belt.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 pretty devastating up there,鈥 said Beck, who said CCU shipped canned goods and other products to assist people in the N.C. mountains. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine how hard it is trying to get ready to play a game with all that going on too... A lot of credit to them to continue to fight and grow as a football team.鈥
CCU Notes听
Coastal got off to incredibly fast starts in the first three games of the season, racing out to first-half leads of at least 18 points in each.
But the Chants have gotten off to chronically slow starts in each of the past five games. They trailed by double digits in the first half of each, facing deficits of 10, 14, 17, 21 and 22 points before halftime.
鈥淲e need to definitely be a better start team,鈥 Beck said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been thinking a lot about what we do, what鈥檚 our game-day procedures, how we do things before the game, if there鈥檚 something we鈥檙e doing wrong. It鈥檚 surprising because earlier in the year we started fast and we鈥檙e doing the same things... Sometimes with a lack of success, you hesitate. I think earlier in the year we just came out swinging. Maybe that鈥檚 it. I can鈥檛 really put my finger on it. I鈥檝e been thinking about it a lot. It wears on you. It wears on me. I look like [crap] and feel like [crap].鈥
Coastal has been an explosive offense with 40 plays of at least 20 yards in eight games, and redshirt sophomore quarterback Ethan Vasko ranks second nationally in yards per completion at 15.6 among QBs who average at least 10 completions per game, behind only Jaxson Dart of Ole Miss.
In Saturday鈥檚 postgame interview, Beck didn鈥檛 commit to Vasko starting his ninth straight game. 鈥淲e鈥檒l take it day by day and see what happens,鈥 said Beck. Vasko played the entire game Saturday after senior Noah Kim replaced him in the second quarter against Louisiana on Oct. 19 following an ineffective start and finished that game.
Redshirt junior wide receiver Jameson Tucker was announced this week as a nominee for the Burlsworth Trophy, which is given to the most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on.
Tucker set CCU鈥檚 single-season record for yards per reception at 21.15 on 20 catches last year, and leads the Chants this season in receptions (22), receiving yards (414) and receiving touchdowns (4).
The offensive line coached by Derek Warehime has put together another impressive season, ranking eighth in the nation in sacks allowed per game at 0.88 and 14th nationally in tackles for loss allowed per game at 3.75.
Coastal is on national television for the fourth time this season, as it has already played on CBS Sports Network (at Jacksonville State), ESPN2 (at James Madison) and ESPNU (Louisiana).
Beck commented this week on how it went calling plays last week for the first time at CCU after firing offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Travis Trickett two weeks ago.
鈥淭rying to manage both, it was challenging. It鈥檚 doable but it鈥檚 challenging,鈥 Beck said. 鈥淚t took awhile, as you can tell. We didn鈥檛 start maybe exceptionally. There鈥檚 still growth. I screwed some things up certainly in the game, trying to learn all the vernacular and the little odd-named things that our players know. I鈥檓 trying to adjust to that so they don鈥檛 have to adjust. I think at the end of the day there were some opportunities that we didn鈥檛 execute fully.鈥
Tucker believes the offense can quickly evolve under Beck.
鈥淥f course there鈥檚 more potential for the offense to be a little more explosive than it鈥檚 been,鈥 Tucker said. 鈥淲e just have to get all the nooks and crannies down within the offense, just small, tiny things, and they showed up [Saturday]. Just some routes and some timing. But just the small tiny things with more reps and more practice we鈥檒l definitely be able to get all that down and we鈥檒l be amazingly smooth by Thursday.鈥
Exceptional special teams
CCU鈥檚 special teams led by special teams coordinator Josh Miller, the lone holdover from Jamey Chadwell鈥檚 coaching staff, knew it would be challenged last week at Troy, and rose to the occasion.
The Trojans entered the game leading the nation in punt return average at 22.4 yards per return led by returner Devonte Ross, who had a punt return for a touchdown earlier this season.
Yet two big plays on special teams set up Coastal鈥檚 first two touchdowns, and the Chants made other significant plays on special teams during the game.
Tucker recorded Coastal鈥檚 second blocked punt of the season and the Chants recovered at the Troy 11 to set up Vasko鈥檚 11-yard TD run, and Joah Cash forced a fumble by Ross on a big hit on a kickoff return and Barry Brown recovered the ball at the Troy 21 to set up Braydon Bennett鈥檚 21-yard TD run.
Wanting to avoid kicking to Ross, a 43-yard first-quarter pooch punt by Vasko in deep shotgun formation was downed at the 1-yard line by receiver Cameron Wright near the left pylon. Unfortunately, the CCU defense gave up a 99-yard scoring drive.
Junior punter Emile Sebafundi from Australia had an exceptional day. A 48-yard punt drove Ross back and Tucker tackled him for a 2-yard loss on the return for a net punt of 50 yards. He had a 32-yard punt fair-caught at the Troy 11, and forced another fair catch by Ross on a 39-yard punt.
So the Chants allowed minus-2 yards on punt returns and an average of less than 15 yards on three kickoff returns with a forced fumble.
Junior kicker Kade Hensley made a 28-yard field goal and all three extra-point attempts, and is now 10-for-12 on field goals 鈥 including 9-of-10 from inside 50 yards 鈥 and 31-for-31 on extra points this season to surpass 100 PATs in his career.
Thursday's Game
Who: App State (4-4, 2-3 Sun Belt) at Coastal Carolina (4-4, 1-3)
When: 8 p.m.
Where: Brooks Stadium, Conway, SC
Occasion: Black Out
TV: ESPN
Radio: WRNN FM 99.5 and
Line: App State -1
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