App State Escapes Disaster In Mistake-Plagued Home Opener

BOONE, N.C. — There was an air of excitement, mixed with anticipation and slight nervousness as a crowd of 34,921 spectators made their way into Kidd Brewer Stadium for last Saturday’s home-opening football game.

Little did these supporters know that Appalachian State would be fighting for its life in the final minute against the fledgling Lindenwood Lions before securing its heart-pounding 20-13 win against the first-year Football Championship Subdivision program.

After opening the season on the road eight days earlier in Charlotte at Bank of America Stadium with their 34-11 victory over moribund UNC-Charlotte, the Mountaineers (2-0) would unveil the 2025 edition of their beloved team at home after one of the most tumultuous 12-month periods in program history.

There was a new head coach patrolling the sidelines in Dowell Loggains — remarkable for the fact that he had no previous ties.to the Mountaineers’ tradition-laden program. Joining him was a staff filled with other outsiders, many of them with NFL resumes, like Loggains’ own. 

There were two familiar faces, former All-American linebacker D.J. Smith at defensive coordinator and Mark Speir, a long-time Appalachian assistant who had served as the recruiting coordinator and defensive line coach during the 2005-2007 FCS championship era under Jerry Moore.

If that wasn’t enough change, there was a roster packed with unfamiliar names, the reality of a college sports world shaken by the emasculation of the NCAA, NIL chaos and the new reality where loyalty has given way to greed.

The atmosphere received a shot of normalcy, pregame, when the Adam Church Band — choked full of Appalachian State alums — rocked it out on the concert stage in Jerry Moore Plaza.

When the Appalachian offense took the field and quarterback AJ Swann threaded a perfectly-thrown aerial off of play action to veteran receiver Dalton Stroman for a 72-yard touchdown, most thought that the expected rout over Lindenwood (0-2).

But the cracks began to show when Stroman hauled in another apparent 47-yard TD pass on the next drive, but was stripped of the ball at the goal line for a touchback by Lindenwood defensive back Jayden Patrick. 

It was the second week in a row that an App State receiver had fumbled in the shadow of the end zone, the dynamic Jaden Barnes falling victim to the same fate in the first quarter against Charlotte.

You might witness such a miscue once in a decade, but somehow the Mountaineers had managed ro accomplish it twice in eight days.

Barnes (eight catches for 81 yards) emerged for his 13-yard scoring strike from Swann on the ensuing drive, capping a nifty six-play. 75-yard march down the field that featured the bruising runs of Rashod Dubinion (25 carries for 194 yards overall) and it was 14-0, but then the Mountaineer offense disappeared beneath the flood of mistakes to come.

Stroman’s fumble was the first of four Appalachian turnovers, Dubinion negating some of his productivity with two lost fumbles and Swann forcing an interception into tight coverage.

Swann — whose journey to Boone included a couple of years as the starter at Vanderbilt and one year as a backup at LSU — looked good in the statbook (19-of-34 passing for 294 yards). But too often, he missed open receivers in his read progressions and threw into coverage.

It didn’t help that Swann’s receivers dropped at least a half-dozen passes.

And then there were a plague of penalties for the second week in a row. The Mountaineers were flagged nine times for 80 yards and most of them were costly.

Barnes, showing a style reminiscent of Appalachian star DaVon Fowlkes (the 2004 Walter Payton Award finalist), set up two potential scoring threats with blistering punt returns. But both were ruined by holding penalties.

Another special-teams penalty for roughing the punter cost the Mountaineers 15 yards and kept a first-quarter Lion drive alive when ASU had the chance to establish good field position again.

Appalachian’s defense stymied Lindenwood for much of the contest, particularly the Lions’ rushing attack, which was missing preseason Big South/Ohio Valley Conference offensive player of the year Steve Hall, who was injured on his only carry of the game. 

Between Appalachian’s smothering run defense and eight sacks, the Lions were limited to one yard rushing on 33 plays.

Still, the combination of gutsy quarterback Nate Glantz (20-of-36 for 217 passing yards) and BSC/OVC freshman of the week Rico Bond (seven receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown) combined to move Lindenwood into scoring position midway through the second period. A missed extra point left the score at 14-6 heading to the intermission,

With the self-inflicted errors on offense in the second half, Appalachian managed just two Dominic DeFrietas field goals.

The third Mountaineer fumble of the game gave new life to the Lion offense when Dubinion didn’t secure the ball on his 14-yard burst up the middle. Kobe McClendon’s recovery gave Lindenwood the ball at the Mountaineer 46 with 9:15 remaining.

The Lions overcame a holding penalty that backed hem up to their own 44 on first down by converting fourth and two on Bond’s four-yard slant catch. 

A pair of Glantz completions moved the ball to the App State 14, but consecutive sacks by Caleb Sandstrom and Kevin Abrams-Verwayne on second down and Shawn Collins on the next play left the Lions facing fourth and 14 at the 24. 

After a time out, Glantz made a Fran Tarkenton-like scramble, reversing field, nearly falling down near midfield and then launching the desperation pass to the end zone.

Bond, who had made several highlight-reel catches during the day, somehow out-wrestled the Appalachian secondary for the ball in the end zone to make it 20-13 with 3:34 remaining. The Mountaineers were also flagged for a personal foul, which would come into play on the ensuing kickoff.

There was still one more trick left in the Lions’ bag when they pulled off an incredible onside kick. With two kickers on the field, almost like an indirect free kick in soccer, Will Graham faked the kickoff in one direction before A.J. Vinatieri squibbed it to the other side.

It bounced hard off ASU’s Jackson Grier and riccoheted off his chest to midfield, where Vinatieri fell on the ball.

Fortunately for Appalachian, the defense came to the rescue again, holding the Lions to three yards on a trio of passes before Elijah McCantos intercepted Glantz’s pass on fourth down.

The Mountaineers racked up 503 yards of total offense and limited Lindenwood to 216, while forcing three turnovers. But the plethora of mistakes made winning more difficult.

With two wins against mediocre competition, it is hard ro say what the rest  of the season holds for the Mountaineers. They open Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday at 7 p.m. against Southern Mississippi (1-1), a program facing similar uncertainties, with a new coaching staff and transfers galore as well,

One thing is certain, the Mountaineers must respond quickly to correct their mistakes.

Full Box Score

Lindenwood	0	6	0	7	13
Winner App State	14	0	3	3	20

LIN: Glantz,Nate (217), Rhodes,Jared (20), Bond,Rico (102)
APP: Swann,AJ (294), Dubinion,Rashod (194), Stroman,Dalton (142)

Date: 09/06/2025 Site: Boone, North Carolina Stadium: Kidd Brewer Stadium Attendance: 34921

Kickoff Time: 03:32 PM End of Game: 07:01 PM Duration: 03:28 Temperature: 72 Wind: E 8mph Weather: Cloudy

Qtr	Time	Scoring Play	LIN	APP
1st	14:42	APP – Stroman,Dalton 72 yd pass from Swann,AJ (De Freitas,Dominic kick) 1 plays, 72 yards, TOP 00:11	0	7
1st	03:32	APP – Barnes,Jaden 13 yd pass from Swann,AJ (De Freitas,Dominic kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:27	0	14
2nd	07:15	LIN – Glantz,Nate 1 yd run ( ), 8 plays, 54 yards, TOP 04:31	6	14
3rd	05:36	APP – De Freitas,Dominic 29 yd field goal 12 plays, 67 yards, TOP 04:31	6	17
4th	14:12	APP – De Freitas,Dominic 24 yd field goal 11 plays, 61 yards, TOP 04:06	6	20
4th	03:34	LIN – Bond,Rico 24 yd pass from Glantz,Nate (Graham,Will kick) 9 plays, 46 yards, TOP 05:41	13	20
			13	20