Saturday, October 5th, 2024 3:30pm 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
Joan C Edwards Stadium
Capacity: 38,227
Surface: Astroturf
Jeff Sagarin Ratings
App State: 65.17
Liberty: 64.70
Home: 3.07
Marshall is favored by the Sagarin ratings by 2.54 points
VegasInsider Line: Marshall -3
Series: App State leads 16-10
Last Meeting: App State 31, Marshall 9, November 4, 2023, Boone, NC
This is going to be hard. This week has been unlike any other week I have experienced in the High Country. Football is certainly on the back burner. The month of October in Boone is supposed to be full of visitors. Whether they crowd Kidd Brewer or the Blue Ridge Parkway, this is supposed to be our peak. However, that peak will be unlike what you can imagine. The peak will not come from sightseeing or touchdowns, but the heart that encompasses our community. The tireless efforts from first responders, emergency management, linemen and most importantly, people who volunteer, will be what this last week of hell will be remembered for. The outpouring of love, time, donations and supplies from across this great nation will never be forgotten. We hope we never have to pay it back, but if and when we do, we’ll be there.
The Thundering Herd is still searching to find out what kind of team they have. They have played their four non-conference games, with eight Sun Belt games remaining on their schedule. Their nonleague slate consisted of Stony Brook, Virginia Tech, Ohio State and Western Michigan. Predictably, the Herd lost to their P5 opponents, both of which were played on the road. They dispatched of Stony Brook convincingly in their opener and squeezed by Western Michigan last week in Huntington by the score of 27-20. Western Michigan now stands at 1-3 with a win over Bethune-Cookman, but they gave Wisconsin a hard time in their opener before falling 28-14. Western Michigan also lost at Ohio State by a wide margin.
Marshall has looked good in their wins when they ran the ball. They ran for 259 yards against Stony Brook and 243 yards against Western Michigan. In their last three games, Marshall has thrown for less than 180 yards in each contest. They are not a high volume passing attack, and they do not run a lot of plays as a whole on offense. They ran 64 plays against Western Michigan, after running 70 against Ohio State, and 62 against Virginia Tech. They average just 6.1 yards per pass despite throwing 10 touchdown passes in four games. Stone Earle has played in every game at quarterback while Braylon Braxton and Cole Pennington have played in two games apiece. Their leading running back AJ Turner has 378 yards on the season on just 30 attempts. He gained 119 yards against Stony Brook and 124 yards against Western Michigan in those wins.
Unfortunately, with the Mountaineers, we do not have an update. The loss to South Alabama nearly two weeks ago seems like two years ago. Prior to Hurricane Helene, fans were not in a good space. Early last week, there was Liberty controversy over a “White Out” for the fans, while the football team was going about life, business as usual. Perhaps this was a rope-a-dope moment for Liberty. After consternation for about a whole day, while the rains prior to Helene were falling across the mountains, the game was called off on Friday morning at around 11:30am due to travel concerns. Quickly, the focus was no longer on football. And for many families across the southeast, making connections with their football playing sons during and after the floodwaters receded, was next to impossible. Over five days after the storm has passed, many in Boone and the surrounding areas remain without power and connectivity to the outside word. Yes, football seems silly to discuss at this point.
So, even though last week works as a bye week for a football team, it was anything but a week to rest and relax. By the time Saturday rolls around, it will have been 16 days between games for the Mountaineers. Certainly that helps a team recover from the grind of the first four weeks, but the time off could actually hurt. Think about what you might go through as a college athlete, with the constant talk and doubt as to whether a game will be played or not and then the continued struggle the following week whether they had the energy after mental exhaustion of dealing with the storm. These players and coaches have been through a lot of highs and lows in the last couple weeks and it could show on Saturday. Or, a road game, is exactly what this team needs. To get away from the constant reminder of what happened last week. To get back to doing the things they love to do, to at least escape for a moment. Both of these teams are pretty evenly matched. There are not a lot of things that Marshall does exceptionally well, but they also do not do anything poorly either. They are basically middle of the pack in just about every Sun Belt category. However, they are pretty stingy defending third downs, which could be a trouble spot for Appalachian if they continue to struggle on the ground as they did in the first four games. Last year, Joey Aguilar worked the Marshall defense methodically with four completed passes to three different tight ends. The Mountaineers were also able to run the ball forty times a season ago, and Aguilar led that attack with 44 yards on the ground of his own. It worked last year thanks to three interceptions thrown by Marshall quarterback Cam Fancher. But you cannot bank on a three interception game from your defense. And one would imagine we do not want Joey Aguilar leading the ground game again. The last two App State teams to travel to Marshall lost in tight games that were decided in the fourth quarter. I would expect another tight, low scoring game this weekend where points will be at a premium. It is always hard to win in Huntington. Marshall leads the all time series in West Virginia 7-6, and the Mountaineers have dropped three straight. The last win at Marshall was in 1995, a 10-3 win in App State’s perfect regular season. Time has come to end that streak.
The First Pick
Buffs 21
Mountaineers 24
