A classic rivalry will be renewed Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at Kidd Brewer Stadium, as App State football looks to keep its bowl game hopes alive against Georgia Southern University following a 24-21 loss to Old Dominion University on Oct. 25 after a late rally by the Mountaineers fell short.
App State heads into the game with a 4-4 record, needing 2 more wins to guarantee bowl eligibility. Heightening the stakes is the rivalry deemed “Deeper Than Hate,” which dates back to 1934 and stems from the universities’ similar history of beginning as teaching colleges. The Mountaineers have dropped their last 2 games, though both losses were within 1 score.
The rivalry between the Mountaineers and Eagles has been back-and-forth in recent years, with App State winning three of the last five meetings. However, the Eagles triumphed in their most recent clash, a 29-20 victory over the Black and Gold in Statesboro, Georgia last season.
Georgia Southern hasn’t fared much better, as the Eagles will fly into Boone with a 3-5 record and coming off a 10-point defeat at the hands of Arkansas State University.
There’s been plenty of discussion around the quarterback position after redshirt sophomore JJ Kohl was benched for redshirt junior AJ Swann in the fourth quarter against Old Dominion. Kohl struggled against the Monarchs, throwing 2 costly interceptions. Swann came in and threw 2 touchdown passes in his first action since Sept. 27 against Boise State but fell short of a comeback victory.
Head coach Dowell Loggains said during his pregame press conference Monday that Thursday’s starter has not yet been determined.
“We’re not in the position to name a starting quarterback right now, but I’ve told both those guys in the competition, ‘This is up to you guys to separate yourself,’” Loggains said. “We’re looking for someone to separate themself with consistency.”
Loggains said he wanted all of his players, but particularly his quarterbacks, to not be “movie trailer players” who “wow” with highlight-reel plays but can’t routinely deliver results.
“If I make a trailer of this movie, it’s unbelievable; it could be so good, but then you watch the movie, and it’s awful. And the other 65 minutes of the movie were terrible, but those 5 minutes were elite,” Loggains said. “That’s where consistency comes in, and that’s what we want from AJ and JJ.”
Regardless of who starts under center, App State will likely lean on its running backs against the Eagles, who have the second-worst run defense in the country, giving up 240.9 yards a game on the ground. Georgia Southern’s defense allows 469 yards a game, the fourth most in the FBS.
The Eagles’ strength is their passing attack. Georgia Southern has a good quarterback in JC French IV, who’s thrown for 1,677 yards and 14 touchdowns this season, and a talented wide receiver in Camden Brown, who’s caught 9 touchdowns. The Mountaineers’ pass defense will have to step up, as they are ranked in the bottom 15 in the nation, averaging nearly 262 yards allowed in the air per game.
App State and Georgia Southern have not played each other on a Thursday night since 2019, when the Eagles defeated the No. 20 Mountaineers 24-21 in Boone, which was App State’s only loss of the season.
The eyes of the college football world will descend on Boone once more for this nationally-televised matchup. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and the game will be aired on ESPN2.
