App State has a roster full of NFL talent, but a return to Sun Belt glory won’t be easy

Shawn Clark knows what everyone expects from the Appalachian State offense.

“In recent years, we’ve been a run-heavy team,” the Mountaineers’ head football coach said.

That might change this year.

Chase Brice, who played at Clemson and Duke earlier in his career, is expected to start at quarterback this fall in Boone, and that could signal a change in the Appalachian State offense.

“Offensively, we’ll try to get the ball into our playmakers’ hands,” Clark said.

And if opponents try to stop the Mountaineers from running?

“We’ll do what we have to do,” he said. “We won’t try to put a square peg in a round hole. If need be, we’ll line up five wideouts and throw the ball.”

Clark said Brice has “a very strong arm” and has dazzled the coaching staff in early practices.

But some change might be necessary. Appalachian State ruled the Sun Belt Conference in recent years, but Louisiana emerged as a serious contender in 2019 and Coastal Carolina became the flavor of the season last fall.

In fact, App State was missing from the Sun Belt title game last year for the first time in the game’s three-year existence. Instead, Coastal Carolina and Louisiana qualified for a game that eventually was canceled due to COVID-19 and the Chanticleers were crowned champions by default.

App State finished 9-3 and concluded the season with a bowl game victory — a 56-28 rout of North Texas in the inaugural Myrtle Beach Bowl. That game saw then-sophomore running back Cameron Peoples rush for an NCAA bowl record 317 yards. Still, the two Sun Belt losses and a setback at Marshall were disappointments.

The Mountaineers are ready to be nationally relevant again.

“I know it’s a cliché, but we worry about us,” Clark said.

The pieces are in place. The Mountaineers have 17 returning starters (10 on defense) and 85% of their lettermen back. Wide receiver Corey Sutton, an NFL prospect who opted out of the 2020 season, returns.

“We’ve worked our butts off,” Hunter said. “We want to get back to where we feel we should be.”

Clark, the only first-year FBS coach to reach the nine-victory mark last fall, said he doesn’t want to make excuses for 2020, with its disappointing losses to Marshall, Louisiana and Coastal Carolina. His team made mistakes, like too many penalties, but he said there was more to the story.

“We had a lot of injuries last year,” he says. “Some of them, outsiders didn’t know about it.

“We played a lot of young guys. We learned a lot. And we’re looking forward to this year.”

Carrying the load

▪ RB Camerun Peoples, redshirt junior. A 6-2, 220-pounder, Peoples is expected to be the main cog in App State’s ground game, which is typically the key to the offense. In 15 career games, Peoples has averaged 7.0 yards per carry and totaled 1,124 yards in 11 games (five starts) last fall. Injuries and illness cost him almost all or parts of the 2019 and 2020 seasons, so staying healthy is key. Having a healthy Peoples would go a long way to helping the Mountaineers improve their red-zone efficiency.

▪ OL Baer Hunter, super senior. His real name is John Luther Hunter III, but this 6-2, 300-pounder who goes by “Baer” was a first-team All-Sun Belt pick last fall. He was a key part of the offensive line that helped the Mountaineers average 264.9 rushing yards per game — seventh in FBS. Hunter is on the Rimington Trophy watch list and considered a fairly high NFL draft prospect. He was moved from tackle to center and says the switch went well. “I’m ready,” he said.

▪ CB Shaun Jolly, senior. He’s a preseason All-Sun Belt pick and is also on the watch list for the Bednarik Award, given to college football’s top defensive player. In two seasons, Jolly has 86 tackles and 19 passes successfully defended.

Areas of concern

▪ Quarterback. Zac Thomas is gone, and Duke transfer Chase Brice is taking over. Brice was one of the nation’s top recruits, coming out of high school. He started at Clemson but left for Duke when Trevor Lawrence arrived. Then he threw for 2,170 yards last season at Duke but is looking for a fresh start in Boone. The Mountaineers need a solid hand at quarterback.

▪ Red zone scoring. After converting on more than 75 percent of their red-zone opportunities in 2018 and 2019, the Mountaineers slipped below 60 percent last fall. In a tough conference like the Sun Belt, that has to improve.

▪ Penalties. Clark says the coaching staff studied last year’s red-zone problems carefully and discovered that the offense operated efficiently, except in one area – pre-snap penalties. “The pre-snap penalties cost us frequently,” he says. “Those penalties put you behind the chain. We’ve worked hard to change that.”

Can’t-miss game

▪ vs. Coastal Carolina, Oct. 20

The Mountaineers’ schedule is loaded with big games — the Sept. 2 opener at Bank of America Stadium against East Carolina; Sept. 11 at nationally-ranked Miami; Sept. 23 at home against Marshall, which beat App State last year; and an Oct. 12 (Tuesday night) nationally televised game at two-time Sun Belt West champion Louisiana.

But the big game comes on a Wednesday night on ESPN2 at home against Coastal Carolina. The winner likely goes to the Sun Belt championship.

A successful season is …

With the rugged schedule, a 10-3 record (which would include a bowl victory) would be solid. Beating either Coastal Carolina or Louisiana would be nice. And there are bigger goals — beating both Sun Belt powers, getting to the conference title game, and maybe even knocking off Miami. But let’s stick with that 10-3 record.

App State projected starters

App State football schedule

This story was originally published August 30, 2021 at 1:30 PM.