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Mountaineers Hit the Road to Take on Arkansas State this Saturday

By Nathan Ham

Appalachian State looks to extend its Sun Belt Conference win streak to three games when they take on Arkansas State at 2 p.m. this Saturday. 

The Mountaineers (6-2, 3-1 SBC), who are in first place in the Sun Belt East Division, are coming off of a dominating Homecoming win over UL-Monroe, 59-28. 

Senior quarterback Chase Brice completed 20-of-30 passes for 256 yards and four touchdowns. Two of those touchdown passes were one-yard tosses to defensive lineman Caleb Spurlin, who got a chance to have a little fun on the offensive side of the football. Corey Sutton led the team with five catches for 77 yards and a touchdown and Malik Williams added three grabs for 72 yards and a score. Henry Pearson had four catches for 45 yards and Thomas Hennigan had four catches for 29 yards. 

The ground attack kept clicking for the Mountaineers. Nate Noel had 17 carries and a game-high 132 yards and one touchdown. Camerun Peoples had 17 carries for 82 yards and two touchdowns. 

The season has been a struggle for Arkansas State as they currently hold an overall record of 1-7 and are 0-4 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Red Wolves won their first game of the season over Central Arkansas, 40-21, but have since lost seven straight contests. They have had several close games, including a 55-50 loss at Memphis, a 41-34 loss to Tulsa and a 28-27 loss to Louisiana after nearly pulling the upset over the Ragin’ Cajuns. 

Arkansas State has used two quarterbacks throughout the season with both good and bad results for each. James Blackmon, a Florida State transfer, leads the team in passing with 1,334 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions while completing 59% of his passes. Layne Hatcher has thrown for 1,292 yards, 12 touchdowns and six interceptions while completing 55% of his passes. In the team’s most recent game, a 31-13 loss to South Alabama, Blackmon didn’t take a single snap while Hatcher struggled, completing 19-of-37 passes for 186 yards and three interceptions. 

The Red Wolves throw the ball a lot more than they run it, as is evident by the rushing statistics on the season. As a team, they have run the ball for only 628 yards at an average of 2.8 yards per carry. Lincoln Pare is the team’s leading rusher with 49 carries for 230 yards. Johnnie Lang Jr. has 51 carries for 182 yards and Alan Lamar has 43 carries for 126 yards. 

The passing game has been a much bigger success for Arkansas State. Corey Rucker has a team-high 39 catches for 602 yards and eight touchdowns. Te’Vailance Hunt has 37 receptions for 585 yards and four touchdowns and Jeff Foreman has 25 catches for 436 yards and two touchdowns. 

Kickoff is at 2 p.m. from Centennial Bank Stadium and the game will be aired live on ESPN+ with Brad Bobo handling play-by-play duties, Pete Cordelli handling the analyst role and Cori Keller patrolling the sidelines. 

Week 10 College Football Schedule

Thursday, November 4

Georgia State at Louisiana, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Friday, November 5

Virginia Tech at Boston College, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN 2)

Utah at Stanford, 10:30 p.m. (FOX Sports 1)

Saturday, November 6

Army at Air Force, 11:30 a.m. (CBS)

Missouri at #1 Georgia, noon (ESPN)

#5 Ohio State at Nebraska, noon (FOX)

#9 Wake Forest at UNC, noon (ABC)

Liberty at #16 Ole Miss, noon (SEC Network)

Illinois at #20 Minnesota, noon (ESPN 2)

#25 Pittsburgh at Duke, noon (ACC Network)

Louisiana Tech at UAB, noon (CBS Sports Network)

Kansas State at Kansas, noon (FOX Sports 1)

SMU at Memphis, noon (ESPN U)

Georgia Tech at Miami, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN 3)

North Texas at Southern Miss, 3 p.m. (ESPN+)

Temple at East Carolina, 3 p.m. (ESPN+)

UL Monroe at Texas State, 3 p.m. (ESPN+)

California at Arizona, 3 p.m. (Pac 12 Network)

#3 Michigan State at Purdue, 3:30 p.m. (ABC)

Tulsa at #6 Cincinnati, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN 2)

Navy at #10 Notre Dame, 3:30 p.m. (NBC)

#11 Oklahoma State at West Virginia, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN)

#12 Baylor at TCU, 3:30 p.m. (FOX)

#13 Auburn at #14 Texas A&M, 3:30 p.m. (CBS)

Idaho State at #15 BYU, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN 3)

#21 Wisconsin at Rutgers, 3:30 p.m. (Big 10 Network)

Rice at Charlotte, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Middle Tennessee State at Western Kentucky, 3:30 p.m.

Penn State at Maryland, 3:30 p.m. (FOX Sports 1)

Rhode Island at UMASS, 3:30 p.m.

South Alabama at Troy, 3:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Colorado State at Wyoming, 3:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)

#17 Mississippi State at Arkansas, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)

#19 NC State at Florida State, 4 p.m. (ACC Network)

Tulane at UCF, 4 p.m. (ESPN U)

Utah State at New Mexico State, 4 p.m.

Marshall at Florida Atlantic, 6 p.m.

Coastal Carolina at Georgia Southern, 6 p.m. (ESPN+)

LSU at #2 Alabama, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

Tennessee at #18 Kentucky, 7 p.m. (ESPN 2)

#22 Iowa at Northwestern, 7 p.m. (Big 10 Network)

Boise State at #23 Fresno State, 7 p.m. (CBS Sports Network)

Old Dominion at Florida International, 7 p.m. (ESPN 3)

Oregon State at Colorado, 7 p.m. (Pac 12 Network)

UNLV at New Mexico, 7 p.m.

#4 Oregon at Washington, 7:30 p.m. (ABC)

Indiana at #7 Michigan, 7:30 p.m. (FOX)

Florida at South Carolina, 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network)

Clemson at Louisville, 7:30 p.m. (ACC Network)

Texas at Iowa State, 7:30 p.m. (FOX Sports 1)

Houston at South Florida, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN U)

San Jose State at Nevada, 10 p.m. (FOX Sports 2)

UTSA at UTEP, 10:15 p.m. (ESPN 2)

USC at Arizona State, 10:30 p.m. (ESPN)

#24 San Diego State at Hawaii, 11 p.m. (FOX Sports 1)