Rivalry returns as Appalachian State visits Georgia Southern
It’s not quite the equivalent of 40 days and 40 nights wandering in the desert, but when Georgia Southern faces Appalachian State on Thursday night, it will mark 40 days since the Eagles have played in Paulson Stadium.
The two longtime rivals will kick off at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in a key Sun Belt Conference game that will be televised nationally on ESPNU, the third straight year the two have played in a Thursday night televised game.
Georgia Southern (4-3, 3-1 Sun Belt) is coming off a 22-19 win at New Mexico State last Saturday night that snapped a three-game losing streak. Appalachian State (5-2, 3-0) on the other hand, is now riding a four-game winning streak after it beat Idaho 37-19 last Saturday afternoon at home.
That gives the Mountaineers, who are a four-point favorite, a definite travel advantage as Georgia Southern flew home approximately 1,700 miles from El Paso, Texas, on Sunday, having bused there from Las Cruces, New Mexico, following the win over the Aggies.
Having played in the afternoon, Appalachian State got a normal night’s sleep. The Mountaineers will bus to Statesboro.
The Eagles last played at home on Sept. 17 when they beat Louisiana-Monroe before beginning a pilgrimage which saw them play at Western Michigan, Arkansas State, Georgia Tech, and New Mexico State.
Georgia Southern needs to beat the Mountaineers to remain relevant in the Sun Belt Conference race.
Conference leader Troy (6-1, 4-0) and Arkansas State (2-4, 2-0) are also unbeaten in conference play. The Eagles have lost to Arkansas State and meet the Trojans in their final game of the season on Nov. 3 at Paulson.
A win would make the Mountaineers, who were 11-2 last year, bowl eligible. Georgia Southern’s bowl outlook is more perilous, with games at Mississippi and Georgia State, plus the matchup with Troy.
“This is an important game for us for a lot of reasons,” Georgia Southern head coach Tyson Summers said. “It’s important to the team because who we are playing this week. It’s a special deal when we play App State. We are excited to be back in Paulson Stadium. It’s been five weeks since we’ve been here, and it’s nice to play on a national stage in our home stadium.”
The Eagles’ goals of winning the Sun Belt and securing a “good” bowl game are still attainable, Summers said.
The Sun Belt has five bowl tie-ins, but going into this week, only three of its 11 teams have a winning record, and Idaho is 4-4.
“Beating New Mexico State was huge,” Summers said. “For our team to come back in the fourth quarter and get a good win … . Our special teams play helped out and gave us a chance to continue on with some of our goals for the season.
“We were glad to get out of there with a win. A win is a win and we’re glad to have one.”
The Eagles have gone with a two-quarterback system all year, alternating Kevin Ellison and Favian Upshaw. That all changed against the Aggies.
With Upshaw missing the game with an undisclosed injury, the Eagles decided to burn freshman Seth Shuman’s redshirt year.
Shuman, who played for co-offensive coordinator Rance Gillespie last year at Valdosta, got into the game with 4:20 left in the first quarter and got off to a great start as he completed three of his first four attempts for 37 yards.
Shuman struggled from there, however, as he finished the night 4-of-12 for 56 yards and an interception. Nevertheless, he impressed with a strong arm, and Summers said he will play against the Mountaineers even if Upshaw is available.
Koo Up The Kicker
Georgia Southern senior kicker Younghoe Koo is this week’s Sun Belt special teams player of the week after kicking three field goals against the Aggies to set a program record for most consecutive field goals made to start the season. He has hit on his first 13 attempts.
Koo broke Tim Foley’s record of 12 straight set in 1985 when Foley made 16-of-17 on the season for the Eagles’ first national championship team. Koo entered the season with 12 field goals in 15 attempts for his career, and now is 25-for-28.
Summers knows the value of having a reliable place-kicker going back to the 2006 season when he was an assistant on Brian Van Gorder’s staff.
That season, Georgia Southern kickers missed nine field goals and five extra points as the Eagles (3-8) lost five games by four points or fewer. In each loss, an Eagles place-kicker missed extra points or failed on a field goal attempt from 35 yards or closer.
Koo’s last miss was against Georgia State last year, a 37-yard second-quarter attempt when the Panthers rolled to a 34-7 win.
Lamb Update
Appalachian State quarterback Taylor Lamb will be making his 31st consecutive start for the Mountaineers, and he became the fourth player in program history to go past 7,000 yards total offense when he had 210 yards total offense against Idaho.
Lamb, whose father, Bobby, is the head football coach at Mercer, now has 7,008 yards, and needs 121 against Georgia Southern to pass Steve Brown for third place on the ASU all-time list.
This story was originally published October 26, 2016 at 7:55 PM with the headline "Rivalry returns as Appalachian State visits Georgia Southern."