By Nathan Ham
Appalachian State still has a shot at winning the Sun Belt Conference Championship even after last week’s dismantling at the hands of Louisiana. The Mountaineers (4-2, 1-1 SBC) will host #14 Coastal Carolina (6-0, 2-0 SBC) in a game that could determine who wins the Sun Belt East Division.
App State will look to bounce from last Tuesday’s 41-13 loss to the Ragin’ Cajuns. The Mountaineer offense struggled throughout the night. Quarterback Chase Brice completed just 15 passes in 26 attempts for 133 yards and two interceptions. App State averaged just 2.7 yards per carry and finished with only 78 rushing yards as a team. Nate Noel had 44 yards on 17 carries. Camerun Peoples did not play as he continues to recover from an injury.
Coastal Carolina, currently ranked 14th in the country, has won all but one of its games this season by at least four touchdowns. The only close game they played was a non-conference game at Buffalo where the Chanticleers escaped with a 28-25 win. Coastal Carolina has scored at least 50 points in four of the team’s six games.
The Chanticleers are led by quarterback Grayson McCall. The Charlotte native has completed 79.8% of his passes for 1,478 yards, 14 touchdowns and only one interception.
On the ground, Reece White and Shermari Jones led the rushing attack. White has 59 carries for 455 yards and seven touchdowns this season. Jones is not far behind with 45 carries for 401 yards and four touchdowns.
Through the air, Jaivon Heiligh is Coastal’s leading receiver with 29 catches for 573 yards and four touchdowns. Isaiah Likely has 27 catches for 513 yards and a team-high eight touchdowns. Kameron Brown has added 15 receptions for 248 yards and a touchdown.
Appalachian State leads the all-time series between the two schools with six wins in seven games, however, last year’s meeting went to Coastal Carolina by a 34-23 score. The Mountaineers were ahead 23-21 before the Chanticleers scored a go-ahead TD with 2:24 left, and an interception return for a TD on a fourth-down pass sealed the win for Coastal Carolina.
Playing in Boone has been a whole different story for these two Sun Belt rivals. The Mountaineers are a perfect 5-0 against the Chanticleers at Kidd Brewer Stadium, dating back to their FCS days.
Kickoff will be at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN 2. Anish Shroff will handle play-by-play duties while Tom Lugenbill will be serving as the analyst in the booth and Tiffany Blackmon will be on the sideline. The radio crew of Adam Witten, Noah Hannon and Molly Cotten will call the game on the Appalachian Sports Network.
Week 8 College Football Schedule
Wednesday, October 20
#14 Coastal Carolina at Appalachian State, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN 2)
Thursday, October 21
Tulane at #21 SMU, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Florida Atlantic at Charlotte, 7:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
Louisiana at Arkansas State, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN U)
San Jose State at UNLV, 11 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
Friday, October 22
Middle Tennessee State at UCONN, 6 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
Memphis at UCF, 7 p.m. (ESPN 2)
Colorado State at Utah State, 9:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
Washington at Arizona, 10:30 p.m. (ESPN 2)
Saturday, October 23
#2 Cincinnati at Navy, noon (ESPN 2)
#3 Oklahoma at Kansas, noon (ESPN)
Northwestern at #6 Michigan, noon (FOX)
Illinois at #7 Penn State, noon (ABC)
#16 Wake Forest at Army, noon (CBS Sports Network)
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Arkansas, noon (SEC Network)
UMASS at Florida State, noon (ACC Network)
Kansas State at Texas Tech, noon (FOX Sports 1)
Eastern Michigan at Bowling Green, noon (ESPN+)
Northern Illinois at Central Michigan, noon (ESPN U)
Syracuse at Virginia Tech, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN 3)
Kent State at Ohio, 1 p.m. (ESPN+)
Texas State at Georgia State, 2 p.m. (ESPN+)
Wisconsin at #25 Purdue, 3 p.m. (Big Ten Network)
#8 Oklahoma State at Iowa State, 3:30 p.m. (FOX)
#10 Oregon at UCLA, 3:30 p.m. (ABC)
LSU at #12 Ole Miss, 3:30 p.m. (CBS)
Clemson at #23 Pittsburgh, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Rice at UAB, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Maryland at Minnesota, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN 2)
Miami (OH) at Ball State, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Western Michigan at Toledo, 3:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
Buffalo at Akron, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
Colorado at California, 3:30 p.m. (Pac 12 Network)
BYU at Washington State, 3:30 p.m. (FOX Sports 1)
New Mexico at Wyoming, 3:30 p.m.
Mississippi State at Vanderbilt, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)
Liberty at North Texas, 4 p.m. (ESPN+)
Boston College at Louisville, 4 p.m. (ACC Network)
East Carolina at Houston, 4 p.m. (ESPN U)
Tennessee at #4 Alabama, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
#22 San Diego State at Air Force, 7 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)
#24 UT San Antonio at Louisiana Tech, 7 p.m.
Western Kentucky at Florida International, 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
Temple at South Florida, 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
South Alabama at UL-Monroe, 7 p.m. (ESPN 3)
Nevada at Fresno State, 7 p.m. (FOX Sports 2)
#5 Ohio State at Indiana, 7:30 p.m. (ABC)
USC at #13 Notre Dame, 7:30 p.m. (NBC)
South Carolina at #17 Texas A&M, 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network)
#18 NC State at Miami (FL), 7:30 p.m. (ESPN 2)
Georgia Tech at Virginia, 7:30 p.m. (ACC Network)
West Virginia at TCU, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN U)
Utah at Oregon State, 7:30 p.m. (Pac 12 Network)
New Mexico State at Hawaii, midnight
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