Coming off a 9-5 season that ended in a 13-9 Cure Bowl victory over Miami (OH), head coach Shawn Clark and his Mountaineers squad set their sights on the 2024 season and on East Tennessee State. 

These teams last met week one of the 2019 season, where App State defeated the Buccaneers 42-7.

A lot has changed in five years for ETSU. Last November they cleaned house and hired Tre Lamb, former Gardner-Webb head coach from 2020-23. 

The Mountaineers are no stranger to a Lamb-led team, as they opened the 2023 season with a 45-24 victory over the Runnin’ Bulldogs. With him, Lamb brought 24 players from Gardner-Webb to ETSU.

Clark singled out sophomore quarterback Jaylen King as a point of emphasis for this weekend. 

“Their quarterback, he’s very elusive, and we have to do a great job keeping the pocket,” Clark said. “He can really hurt you when he gets outside the pocket and becomes a dual threat quarterback.”

King started nine games for the Runnin’ Bulldogs last year, passing for 1,223 yards and 11 touchdowns as well as rushing for 401 yards and five scores en route to a Ohio Valley Conference/Big South Championship.

Clark also emphasized the return of Offensive Coordinator Frank Ponce and Defensive Coordinator Scot Sloan. 

“That goes a long ways,” Clark said. “Our kids weren’t learning a different scheme, we were trying to improve on what we had built last year.”

Also returning this season are many of the crucial pieces from last year’s team. Senior quarterback Joey Aguilar, sophomore defensive end Nate Johnson, redshirt sophomore running back Kanye Roberts and redshirt senior wide receiver Kaedin Robinson all return in hopes of chasing a Sun Belt Conference title. 

“It definitely does help to have that kind of continuity because we’re familiar with one another,” Clark said. “You look at it across the country, we’re probably one of the schools with the least amount of transferring out.”

In his Monday press conference, Clark was asked about the progression of the offensive line, a questionable position group heading into the season. 

“I’ve been impressed with the line thus far,” Clark said. “Again, we are replacing several starters that were here last year, a lot of new faces, but we were fortunate enough to get some players in the spring.”

Clark singled out Thomas Shrader, Garner Langlo, and Jack Hollifield, all three being redshirt junior offensive lineman, who transferred in from power five programs in the offseason.

“That group has probably made the biggest strides throughout fall camp and that was evident in our last scrimmage,” Clark said. 

The Mountaineers will look to move to 11-1 against FCS opponents since their move to the FBS level back in 2014. 

The game will kick-off at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. For those wanting to watch from home, the game will be broadcast live on ESPN+.