Appalachian State College Football Preview 2024: Key Players, Game Schedule, Season Predictions

Appalachian State College Football Preview 2024

Appalachian State is the winningest program in college football over the playoff era to not make the CFP.

It’s not like it was all that close over the last ten years, but the 95 wins beat Boise State (94), Wisconsin (90), and Oklahoma State (89) for that dubious honor.

But now there’s an expanded College Football Playoff, there’s a spot for the top Group of Five champion to get in, and no one deserves it more.

Since rising back up into the FBS world in 2014 - it just so happened to be the first season of the CFP - App State has yet to have a losing season. It’s 7-1 in bowl games, is 2-2 in Sun Belt Championships, and has maintained a high level of success most programs can only dream of.

It’s all about to continue in Year Five under Shawn Clark. The Mountaineers have a few parts to replace, but they have more returning producers than most of the Sun Belt teams. The starting 22 is dangerous, and it all continues.

And maybe, just maybe, everything will click the right way and the team will get a shot in the big tournament.

NOTE: The previews were published early this summer. We tried to catch the changes, but if we missed anything, please let us know at @ColFootballNews and we'll fix it right away.

Appalachian State Football Preview 2024: Offense

- The offense was well balanced, finished second in the Sun Belt in yards and scoring, and it all started with an offensive line that was great in pass protection and pounded away for 4.5 yards per carry.

Thornton Gentry is a veteran at left tackle and Jack Murphy is a senior on the other side, but the interior is relatively new. The transfer portal is a big help, with Thomas Shrader (Florida State) in at guard and Michael Marotta (Valdosta State) taking over at center.

- The offensive backfield is once again loaded, too. Leading rusher Nate Noel is off to Missouri, but Kanye Roberts leads another deep group - the top backs will average over five yards per carry - and QB Joey Aguilar can move, too.

The 6-3, 220-pound veteran took over the job and was terrific, throwing for 3,757 yards and 33 touchdowns and added 245 rushing yards and three scores. The depth is there with Charles Wright coming in from Texas.

- The receiving corps is in place, too. Kaedin Robinson led the team with 67 catches for 905 yards and ten scores, and Christian Horn returns to the outside averaging 15.7 yards and six scores. In all, the top four receivers are back along with TE Eli Wilson.

Appalachian State Football Preview 2024: Defense

- The defense did a great job at coming up with takeaways and had a few nice moments, but there were a few strange meltdowns including in the Sun Belt Championship loss to Troy. The front six is young, but good, and the secondary gets three new parts from the transfer portal to take over.

- Ethan Johnson will be an All-Sun Belt talent at one corner and Jordan Favors and Ronald Clarke are back after rotating in at safety spots. Getting S Myles Farmer from Syracuse and North Carolina A&T Avarion Cole will be all over the place as a statistical star. Seth Robertson was a nice get from Georgia Southern on the other side of Johnson.

- The linebacking corps loses leading tackler Andrew Parker in the middle, but Caden Sullivan leads another good group. It’s young, but there are plenty of options for the rotation with good size - this is a bulky bunch that can hit. When it comes to the pass rush, though, hybrid Nate Johnson is the star on the outside, leading the team with 7.5 sacks.

The line isn’t massive, but it’s active. 255-pound Santana Hopper makes up for his lack of bulk on the nose with his quickness, but Marcus Clark is a big veteran who rotates in. There might not be elite stars on the front three, but the depth and rotation make it all work.

Key To The Appalachian State Football Season

Stop the run and come up with takeaways.
The schedule is tough and the Sun Belt overall is deep. The difference is when the Mountaineers come up with big plays and can stuff the run.

They were 8-1 when allowing fewer than 5.6 yards per carry and 1-4 when they didn’t, and they were 8-0 when forcing two or more takeaways and 1-5 when they didn’t.

Appalachian State Key Player

Michael Marotta, C Jr.
The line is filling in three starting parts, but it should once again be fine. There’s depth at tackle, less at guard, and center is questionable outside of the new guy.

Marotta is a 6-5, 310-pound veteran from Valdosta State, and he needs to be great. If he locks down the position, the rest of the line - and offense - should be business as usual.

Appalachian State Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Myles Farmer, S Sr.
He started out his career at Nebraska, and in his fourth year made 73 tackles as one of the team’s best defensive backs. Last year he went to Syracuse and came up with just 21 stops, and now the sixth-year veteran should be one of App State’s leading tacklers.

Top Transfer Out: Nate Noel, RB Sr.
Appalachian State always has backs who produce, and Noel was among the better ones. He ran for over 3,000 yards and scores 18 touchdowns in his four years, and he caught 50 passes. Now he’ll be part of the Missouri backfield.

Appalachian State Key Game

at Coastal Carolina, Nov. 7
The Mountaineers were a problem for Coastal Carolina in 2021 and were good at controlling the series, but they’re now 1-3 in the last four years, including a 27-24 home loss last year.

This time around, it’s a road game before getting a week off to prepare for James Madison. Win this, and the date with the Dukes will probably be for the East.

10 Best Appalachian State Football Players

1. Nate Johnson, LB Soph.
2. Joey Aguilar, QB Sr.
3. Kaedin Robinson, WR Jr.
4. Ethan Johnson, CB Jr.
5. Kanye Roberts, RB Soph.
6. Jordan Favors, S Jr.
7. Santana Hopper, DT Soph.
8. Myles Farmer, S Sr.
9. Christan Horn, WR Sr.
10. Thornton Gentry, OT Jr.

Appalachian State 2023 Fun Stats

- Passing Yards: Appalachian State 3,830, Opponents 2,804

- App State 1st Quarter Scoring: 67, 2nd Quarter Scoring 143

- 2 Point Conversions: Opponents 3-for-6, Appalachian State 0-for-5

Appalachian State Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect

There’s too much talent to not make it four Sun Belt Championship appearances in six years.

There are plenty of nasty games—having to go to Marshall and Louisiana is tough, and going to Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern will be dangerous—but James Madison is a home game, Old Dominion—the Monarchs won last year’s meeting—is also in Boone, and missing Troy, Texas State, and Arkansas State from the West is a plus.

It would be nice to have an extra layup of a non-conference game outside of East Tennessee State, but East Carolina is a road game and Liberty will be almost as good as the 2023 version

There will be a loss at Clemson early on, and App State will lose how App State loses when the turnover battle flips and the defense has an off day or two in Sun Belt play, but it’ll have a shot at getting back to the Sun Belt title game going into the last two games against JMU and Georgia Southern.

Set The Appalachian State Win Total At … 8.5

Likely Wins: East Tennessee State

50/50 Games: at Coastal Carolina, at East Carolina, at Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, Liberty, at Louisiana, at Marshall, Old Dominion, South Alabama,

Likely Losses: at Clemson

2024 Appalachian State Football Schedule

Aug 31 East Tennessee State
Sept 7 at Clemson
Sept 14 at East Carolina
Sept 19 South Alabama
Sept 28 Liberty
Oct 5 at Marshall
Oct 12 at Louisiana
Oct 19 OPEN DATE
Oct 26 Georgia State
Nov 2 Old Dominion
Nov 7 at Coastal Carolina
Nov 16 OPEN DATE
Nov 23 James Madison
Nov 30 at Georgia Southern

Missing: Arkansas State, Southern Miss, Texas State, Troy, ULM