Appalachian State (4-4, 2-3) @ Coastal Carolina (4-4, 1-3)
Thursday, November 7th, 2024 8:00pm EST
TV/Video: ESPN
Radio: FLAGSHIP 97.3 FM (North Wilkesboro),1060 AM/97.3 FM, & 1030 AM/99.1 FM (Charlotte), 96.3 FM (Greensboro), 96.3 FM (Winston-Salem), 1350 AM/96.1 FM (Asheville), 790 AM/93.7 FM (Johnson City), 1450 AM107.7 FM (Hendersonville), 1250 AM/103.9 FM (Marion); The Varsity Network App, Sirius/XM 990
Brooks Stadium
Capacity: 20,000
Surface: Shaw Sports PowerBlade
Jeff Sagarin Ratings
App State: 65.00
Coastal Carolina: 60.73
Home: 3.28
App State is favored by the Sagarin ratings by .99 points
VegasInsider Line: Coastal Carolina -1.5
Series: App State leads 7-3
Last Meeting: App State 24, Coastal Carolina 27 October 10, 2023, Boone, NC
Heading to the final month of the regular season, App State is on the last leg of three games in a thirteen day stretch. The trip to the outskirts of the South Carolina coastline serves as a quick reminder of how brutal Sun Belt scheduling can be. The Mountaineers have gotten up off the mat after a tough stretch of games, and it suddenly feels like a brand new season. It might feel like its hard to start from scratch, but we have to remember that college football is not a season that lasts a couple of months. It’s a twelve month calendar. You are constantly building toward your common goal and each week gives you another opportunity. Both teams in this matchup this week have the same overall records, but are heading opposite directions. Coastal has been hurting for several weeks, trying to find their late summer identity. The problem is that only the snowbirds come to the beach this time of the year.
The Chanticleers had a quick start to the season but have since cooled dramatically. After getting wins in their first three contests, the Chants have lost four of five. Some might have been perplexed as Coastal got to the meat of their schedule, and losses to Virginia, Louisiana and James Madison are not at all surprising. Virginia, being from a power conference, beat up the Chants pretty good, and Louisiana has proven to be a tough matchup for anyone. James Madison has had their ups and down, but handily won by a 39-7 margin. Last week might have been the true sound the alarm moment. Troy took it to the Chants. Previously with one win against Florida A&M, Troy ran it all over Coastal. The Trojans ran for 342 yards on the ground, by far a season high, and the second highest total Coastal had surrendered all season. It was the fourth time in the last five games that Coastal had allowed an opponent to eclipse 200 yards on the ground. The only team in that stretch who did not surpass 200 yards rushing, was Louisiana, who passed for 373 yards on the Chant defense.
Ethan Vasko has been the primary starting quarterback for Coastal, although he has battled through some inconsistencies this season. Vasko played in the entirety of the win over Old Dominion, back on October 5th, but was replaced in the Louisiana and James Madison games. Against James Madison, Vasko completed just five of his eighteen pass attempts for 84 yards. He did throw one touchdown pass, but also added two interceptions. He was replaced for a second time in consecutive weeks against Louisiana, where he completed just three of his ten passes for 10 yards. In both games, Noah Kim, formerly of Michigan State, stepped in and played pretty well, yet it was Vasko who took all the snaps in the loss to Troy. There does not appear to be a controversy, but if Vasko starts poorly, you could see an early hook from head coach Tim Beck, who is now calling the plays after firing his offensive coordinator a couple weeks back.
I do believe it is fair to give some appropriate props to the defensive side of the ball this week. One might glance at the total yards the defense gave up and think, that’s not good enough, and that is a fair statement. But the name of the game in all sports, score more than the other team. A lot of the Old Dominion drives were empty. They did not result in points, and four of their drives resulted in turnovers. Those yards do not matter after sixty minutes. Old Dominion dominated the possession game in the first three quarters, yet only held the ball for just over three minutes in the final frame. When things got tough, the Mountaineers engineered two long drives, kept the ball out of the Monarchs hands, and also provided the final margin. It all comes down to another week of football that isn’t pretty, but it’s winning football. Ahmani Marshall had 120 yards on another career day in which he carried the ball 23 times. Fifty-one of Marshall’s yards came in a grind it out fashion in the fourth quarter.
The last two weeks for the Mountaineers have been about making the right stops at the right time on defense, and running the ball well enough for the past three weeks to give them a fighting chance. Turnovers clearly sidetracked them in the Louisiana game, but we have seen the same blueprint for a couple weeks that limits opponents possessions. That is usually the type of games that unfold between Coastal and App State. Possession being a premium, and when you have it, take care of it, move the ball, and score. Last week Coastal scored 24 points against a Troy defense that many would consider average for the Sun Belt. Of the three touchdowns that Coastal scored, they were gifted two possessions deep in Troy territory. Coastal blocked a punt in the first quarter and scored on the next play to tie the game at 7-7. That was a one play drive that covered 11 yards, which was their only touchdown in the first half. Coastal opened the third quarter with a long drive that ended in a field goal, and then recovered a Troy fumble on the kickoff return at the 21 yard line. Coastal scored two plays later on a 21-yard run by Braydon Bennett. Another short field, another touchdown. The other Coastal touchdown came on a 38-yard TD pass on 4th down and 22.The short of it is, that Coastal scored three touchdowns on three drives that had a lot of once-in-a-season type plays involved, and they still got beat handily by a team that was previously 1-7. I realize we are putting a lot of stock in one game, but it just goes to show you the inconsistencies of this Coastal offense, along with Ethan Vasko being replaced in a couple games in the past month. Less stock might be put into those past few results if these teams were playing against each other on extra rest, but this is a short week, and there is only so much game planning, and time to recover that can be done after a team runs for 342 yards on your defense on 55 attempts. Back to the defensive side of the ball for the Mountaineers. It all comes down to getting stops, as Coastal is among the bottom third of the league in offensive first downs and third down conversions. Nothing demoralizes a struggling offense more than being forced to punt the ball. Finally, the opportunities will be there for the App State run game to continue to better themselves. Coastal’s defense has only intercepted four passes this season and are currently on a three game interception skid while allowing over 421 yards in each of their last five games, and 500 or more yards in three of their last five games.
The First Pick
Bluish Chickens 29
Mountaineers 34
