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A history-making season at Liberty was capped in the most perfect of ways as the Flames shut down Georgia Southern’s vaunted rushing attack and defeated the Eagles 23-16 to capture the 2019 FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl on Saturday in front of 18,158 fans at Exploria Stadium.
Appalachian State vs. UAB (New Orleans Bowl) When: Saturday, December 21st, 9:00 PM EST Where: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana TV/Streaming: ESPN, WatchESPN (subscription req’d) New Orleans Bowl History (Last 6) Dec. 15th, 2018: Appalachian State 45, Middle Tennessee State 13 Dec. 16th, 2017: Troy 50, North Texas 30 Dec. 17th, 2016: Southern Miss 28, Louisiana-Lafayette.
Clark’s incredible journey came full-circle on Friday afternoon when he was introduced as the 22nd head football coach at Appalachian State.
Evans scampered 58 yards with a screen pass from quarterback Zac Thomas on a third-and-15 play less than two minutes into the game and Appalachian was on its way to the decisive 45-38 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette in the second consecutive meeting between the two teams in the conference title clash at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
The FCS playoffs are finally here! Enjoy the picks of the staff of the College Sports Journal and find out who we think will win the FCS National Championship.
The Bobcats may have been 30-point underdogs against one of the elite teams in the Group of Five, but TSU trailed just 14-13 midway through the third quarter. At that point, Appalachian finally unleashed tailback Darrynton Evans, who rushed for 154 yards on 21 carries and three second-half touchdowns to finally lift the Mountaineers (10-1 overall, 6-1 in the SBC) to their comfortable 35-13 win.
BOONE, NC – The college football season is winding down and almost all of the talk is concerning the College Football Playoffs and the four available spots that accompany it. Will it be defending national champion Clemson, LSU, Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia or somebody else? Just as important to the group of five conferences is.
It is hard to believe that 24th-ranked Appalachian State could play so badly early in its Sun Belt Conference football showdown Saturday night at historic Turner Field and still find time to engineer its 56-28 victory over the Panthers.
It seems like nothing ever comes easy for Appalachian State when it is playing a Power-5 Conference football team. So why would Saturday night before 80,849 fans be any different for the Mountaineers in its 20-15 nail-biter over South Carolina at Williams-Brice Stadium?
BOONE, N.C. — In the wind, the cold and the snow of Kidd Brewer Stadium on Thursday, 20th-ranked Appalachian State seemingly watched the cotton boll of its Cotton Bowl hopes wither and die on the vine as arch-rival Georgia Southern held on for a 24-21 victory before 18,796 brave spectators and the national-television, Halloween-night audience.
There was no doubt that No. 24-ranked Appalachian State had a couple of extra helpings of motivation heading into Saturday afternoon’s homecoming football game at Kidd Brewer Stadium and the Mountaineers turned that incentive into their convincing 52-7 Sun Belt Conference rout of Louisiana-Monroe. Remembering last season’s 34-14 loss to Georgia Southern four days following.
As sprinters, Darrynton Evans and Jalen Virgil would make a fine start to building a successful track relay team.
And at Kidd Brewer Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Appalachian State needed all of that speed and more to hold off upset-minded Charlotte, 56-41 in a non-conference football game.
National championships are hard to come by at any level, particularly team titles. Stop and reflect for a few seconds that it has been nearly 12 years since any Appalachian squad has won a national crown in any sport.
Already 0-2 after the first week of Sun Belt Conference play and facing the daunting stretch of a contest against one of the league’s best teams — Texas State (13-3, 2-1) — on Saturday before embarking on a three-game road swing, the last thing the struggling Mountaineers needed was a loss at home against an SBC bottom feeder.
“We’re not coming here to shock the system, but to enhance the culture,” Drinkwitz said. “This is not a stepping-stone job. This is a top-25 job.”
Louisiana-Lafayette heads to the AutoNation Cure Bowl to face the Tulane Green Wave for what will be the second bowl game matchup with the New Orleans based school and third meeting in five years.
BOONE, N.C. — There was a sense of symmetry for Darrynton Evans on Saturday afternoon as Appalachian State played in the first Sun Belt Conference football championship game against Louisiana-Lafayette before 14,960 fans at a rainy Kidd Brewer Stadium. “I kind of had a flashback,” said Evans, as he scooped up a bouncing kickoff and.
Gardner-Webb probably couldn’t have picked a worse time to roll into Kidd Brewer Stadium than Saturday afternoon as the opponent in Appalachian State’s hurricane-delayed, football home opener. Coming off a cancelled contest last weekend, when Southern Mississippi used every excuse necessary to back out of a scheduled non-conference encounter, the Mountaineers were firing on all.
South Florida and Houston had big home wins over Power 5 squads and Navy had the upset win over previously Top 5 in the Power Poll Memphis to highlight Week 2 action in the FBS Group of Five schools. The biggest riser for a second straight week has to be Hawai’i, where a team we.
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. — The one thing that Appalachian State needed from redshirt sophomore quarterback Zac Thomas in his first college start was a performance close to error free in the crucible of 105,232 fans Saturday at Penn State’s Beaver Stadium. Coming into the biggest game of his life, this Trusville, Alabama product had thrown.
Here at College Sports Journal, we thought it would be best to see how the Group of Five stack up with our opinions and not so much the Sagarin rankings alone. We will still be sharing the Top 25 Sagarin rankings weekly but we will also now start a power poll that will take the.
Kennesaw State at Georgia State When: Thursday, August 30, 7:00 PM EDT Where: Georgia Dome, Atlanta, GA TV/Streaming Coverage: ESPN+ (subscription req’d) Kennesaw Sate: CSJ’s 2018 Preview Capsule The Owls are only three years old as a program, but in that time head coach Brian Bohannon has built a team built for deep runs in the FCS Playoffs. Today they take.
College Sports Journal announces their 2018 Fearless Prediction for the Order of finish of the Sun Belt Conference, the second of our Group of Five Conference previews. It has been addition by subtraction for the Sun Belt Conference as two teams are out and the league now will be the last of the FBS conferences.
Appalachian State Mountaineers Location: Boone, NC Coach: Scott Satterfield (41-22) 6th Season Stadium: Kidd Brewer Stadium (Capacity: 21,650) CSJ Projections: 1st: Sun Belt (1st East Division) 4th: North Carolina 56th: FBS 58th: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: Appalachian State won a share of the Sun Belt Conference title with Troy last year in finishing 9-4.
Troy Trojans Location: Troy, AL Coach: Neal Brown (25-13) 3rd Season Stadium: Veterans Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 30,402) CSJ Projections: 2nd: Sun Belt (2nd East Division) 3rd: Alabama 63rd: FBS 66th: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: The Trojans won a share of the Sun Belt title after defeating Arkansas State in a thriller in the regular season finale.
Arkansas State Red Wolves Location: Jonesboro, AR Coach: Blake Anderson (31-20) 5th Season Stadium: Centennial Bank Stadium (Capacity: 30,382) CSJ Projections: 3rd: Sun Belt (1st West Division) 2nd: Arkansas 82nd: FBS 86th: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: The Red Wolves have been a consistent Sun Belt winner and finished 7-5 last season although a.
Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks Location: Monroe, LA Coach: Matt Viator (8-16 @ULM, 86-49 overall) 3rd Season Stadium: Malone Stadium (Capacity: 27,617) CSJ Projections: 4th: Sun Belt (2nd West Division) 4th: Louisiana 111th: FBS 132nd: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: The Warhawks had no trouble scoring (averaged just short of 34 points per game and scored over 50.
Georgia State Panthers Location: Atlanta, GA Coach: Shawn Elliott (7-5 @GSU, 8-10 overall) 2nd Season Stadium: Georgia State Stadium (Capacity: 25,000) CSJ Projections: 5th: Sun Belt (3rd East Division) 4th: Georgia 113th: FBS 139th: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: The Panthers defeated Western Kentucky 27-17 in the AutoNation Cure Bowl for their first bowl game.
Georgia Southern Eagles Location: Statesboro, GA Coach: Chad Lunsford (2-4) 2nd Season Stadium: Allen E. Paulson Stadium (Capacity: 25,000) CSJ Projections: 6th: Sun Belt (4th East Division) 5th: Georgia 115th: FBS 144th: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: The Eagles struggled with six straight losses and fired Coach Tyson Summers, who tried to stray away from the.
South Alabama Jaguars Location: Mobile, AL Coach: Steve Campbell (60-23 overall, 0-0 at USA) 1st Season Stadium: Ladd-Pebbles Stadium (Capacity: 33,471) CSJ Projections: 8th: Sun Belt (4th West Division) 7th: Alabama 119th: FBS 156th: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: The Jaguars kept most games close but could not finish games to slump to a 4-8.
Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns Location: Lafayette, LA Coach: Billy Napier (0-0) 1st Season Stadium: Cajun Field (Capacity: 41,426) CSJ Projections: 7th: Sun Belt (3rd West Division) 7th: Louisiana 118th: FBS 154th: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: After a 5-7 overall record,Louisiana-Lafayette fired its head coach Mark Hudspeth, who led the Cajuns to five straight New Orleans Bowls.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers Location: Conway, SC Coach: Joe Moglia (51-15) 5th Season Stadium: Brooks Stadium (Capacity: 21,000) CSJ Projections: 9th: Sun Belt (5th East Division) 5th: South Carolina 120th: FBS 160th: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: After a season-opening win over UMass, Coastal Carolina endured nine consecutive losses (but none by more than 8 points) and.
Texas State Bobcats Location: San Marcos, TX Coach: Everett Withers (0-0) 3rd Season Stadium: Bobcat Stadium (Capacity: 30,000) CSJ Projections: 10th: Sun Belt (5th West Division) 13th: Texas 126th: FBS 184th: Division I 2017 In A Sentence: The Bobcats finished 2-10 (1-7 Sun Belt) for the second consecutive season in Coach Withers’ second season in San.
MOBILE, Ala. — Nate Woody was genuinely worried about the health of his defense when he met a group Mountaineer fans Saturday morning at the team’s hotel several hours before the Dollar General Bowl. Woody quickly rattled off a list of his walking wounded. But the veteran defensive coordinator and his Mountaineer cohorts had little.
BOONE, N.C. — For any college football player, it is the ultimate fantasy — scoring a touchdown on your senior day. But for rarely-used Appalachian State quarterback Curtis Fitch, his highlight moment in his first game of the season went beyond his wildest dreams. Fitch was summoned from his normal game-day duties of signaling in.
BOONE, N.C. — For the first two plays Saturday afternoon, things couldn’t have gone better for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in their battle for football bowl eligibility against first-place Appalachian State. Starting quarterback Jordan Davis scrambled for a season-long 47 yards on first down and then fired a 28-yard scoring strike to senior Devin Scott.
ATLANTA – Appalachian State was rested and motivated on Saturday afternoon at the former Turner Field and it showed as the Mountaineers torched Georgia State 31-10 in a Sun Belt Conference first-place showdown. Coming off a 17-day break since its 27-6 home victory over arch-rival Georgia Southern on Nov. 9, ASU overcame a few shaky.
BOONE, N.C. — Just like Elle Woods in the movie “Legally Blonde,” the Appalachian State football team was looking forward to a perfect day Thursday against its arch-rival from Georgia Southern. Unlike Woods, the Mountaineers pulled off that accomplishment with their convincing 27-6 Sun Belt Conference victory over the winless Eagles before 23,110 fans and.
MONROE, La. — Appalachian State has made a habit of poor starts during the 2017 college football season, but an even worse finish sent the Mountaineers tumbling to their costliest loss of the year Saturday as Louisiana-Monroe scored a 52-45 knockout in Sun Belt Conference action. ULM quarterback Caleb Evans escaped pressure, stepped up in.
After playing just well enough to win several football games earlier this season, Appalachian State performed just poorly enough to lose 30-27 in double overtime Saturday at Massachusetts. Senior Logan Laurent kicked three field goals, including a 45-yarder to force extra time and a 36-yard boot in the second overtime period to lift UMass to.
As Ian Anderson sang in Jethro Tull’s first hit single, “Nothing is Easy,” and Appalachian State proved that again Saturday by scratching and clawing its way to a 37-29 Sun Belt Conference victory over scrappy Coastal Carolina before 30,179 fans at Kidd Brewer Stadium. After sprinting to its 17-3 second-quarter lead, the Mountaineers turned the.
Things had come with only a modicum of difficulty last season as Appalachian State marched to its share of the Sun Belt Conference football championship, but little has been easy about the Mountaineers’ attempt to retain its throne in 2017. That was illustrated again on Saturday afternoon as ASU rallied from a 20-0 deficit to.
Appalachian State knew it was facing a new and improved New Mexico State football team Saturday afternoon, the Mountaineers just didn’t know how much better and how hard it would be to put these hard-charging Aggies away. The Sun Belt Conference favorites from Boone needed a school-record six interceptions — three each from cornerbacks Tae.
BOONE, N.C. — A week ago, at Texas State, Appalachian State executed well enough on the final play of the game to escape with a 20-13 win. But the lack of precision in the final seconds on Saturday cost the Mountaineers dearly as Wake Forest’s 6-foot-5 Scotty Washington leaped and blocked Michael Rubino’s 44-yard field.
SAN MARCOS, Texas — It isn’t uncommon for a college football team to overlook weaker opponents as it peaks ahead to more important games. But such an oversight on Saturday night nearly cost Appalachian State dearly in its heart-stopping, 20-13 victory over Texas State in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both squads. Coming in.
ATHENS, Ga. — The neglect to execute the little things cost Appalachian State in a big way Saturday evening before 92,46 fans at Sanford Stadium as the Mountaineers lost 31-10 in their season-opening football game to No. 15-ranked Georgia. Freshman quarterback Jake Fromm (10-of-15 for 143 yards passing and one TD) sparked the Bulldogs off.
Football season is once again upon us and the race for the Celebration Bowl and post season play is now on! Can anybody in the SWAC Challenge Grambling for the crown, will anyone in the MEAC challenge the North Carolina schools, and is this Tennessee State’s year to bust into the post season? This week.
CSJ’s Predicted Order of Finish Appalachian State Troy Arkansas State Idaho South Alabama Georgia Southern Louisiana-Lafayette Louisiana-Monroe New Mexico State Georgia State Texas State Coastal Carolina Appalachian State Fearless Forecast: The Mountaineers have a tremendous coach in Scott Satterfield, who is 28-10 in his tenure in Boone which includes two consecutive years of double-digit wins,.
Here at College Sports Journal, we have been covering the Division I FCS football sub-division with most of us here have followed this area for over 15 years. We are now looking to expand our football coverage to bring to the so-called lower half of the FBS ranks—the named Group of Five. The Group of.
When Liberty made a surprise announcement at 5:00 On Thursday, February 16th, Liberty University got word from the NCAA that their waiver to allow them to transition to FBS scholarship limits was granted. Starting with the upcoming season, the Flames would be able to start transitioning to competing as an FBS Independent. As I was.
