Appalachian State football team has transformed from hunters to the hunted

Appalachian State’s football team has morphed from the hunter to the hunted — in just one week.

The Mountaineers added to their giant-killer reputation last Saturday by knocking off a Power 5 opponent, North Carolina.

This Saturday, they face an opponent whose coach says he wants his program “to be like ASU.”

Appalachian State, which has climbed higher in the “Others Receiving Votes” section of The Associated Press Top 25 poll, opens Sun Belt Conference play Saturday against visiting Coastal Carolina. The Mountaineers (3-0) and Chanticleers (2-1) will play at 3:30 p.m. before a sold-out crowd in Boone.

“App State has been the best in our conference for the last few years,” Coastal Carolina coach Jamey Chadwell says. “They are consistently good.

“We’ve got to get to that level and be consistent. The consistency that App State displays is what we have to work for.”

The Mountaineers, defending Sun Belt champions and coming off a 34-31 victory at North Carolina, don’t expect their conference competition to be awed by ASU’s nonconference accomplishments, coach Eli Drinkwitz says.

“We’re excited about it, but we’re moving on,” he says. “Our goal is to win the Sun Belt and go to a bowl game.”

Drinkwitz has reminded his team this week that Coastal Carolina also has a victory this season over a Power 5 opponent. The Chanticleers traveled to Kansas and beat the Jayhawks, 12-7. Kansas has been near the bottom of the Power 5 pecking order in recent years, but the Jayhawks turned around six days later and pummeled the ACC’s Boston College, 48-24.

“They’re really a good football team,” Drinkwitz says of the Chanticleers. “They’ve scored 100 points in their last two games.”

The Mountaineers’ coach says he knows other Sun Belt teams are pointing for them. Drinkwitz says he doesn’t focus on that, instead working to improve themselves.

“It’s our core values,” he says. “If you approach every day to be better than you were yesterday, you won’t think about what you’ve accomplished. You’ll be looking ahead to the next day, the next game.”

Honors for Taylor, but … ASU defensive lineman Demetrius Taylor won some national Defensive Player of the Week honors this week. He had 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble return for a touchdown and an interception all in Saturday’s game.

“I don’t know if I’ve seen anything like that from one player in a single game,” Drinkwitz says. “Obviously, he had a great game.”

But when asked if Taylor, 6-foot-1 and 276 pounds, might ask for some snaps at running back, — given his 20-yard return of a fumble for a touchdown — Drinkwitz said Taylor will concentrate on defense. “On the interception, he got tackled by the quarterback,” the coach said. “Sam Howell tackled him!”

Tandem Quarterbacks: Coastal Carolina, which uses an option-oriented offense, has alternated Fred Payton and Bryce Carpenter at quarterback this season. Chadwell says that will continue Saturday in Boone.

“I think we’re still trying to get a starter there,” he said. “Ideally, we’d like to have one guy. Until then, we’ll keep going with what we have.”

Freshman Grayson McCall, of Indian Trail Porter Ridge, is the No. 3 quarterback and also has seen some playing time this season.