In 2007 Appalachian State, thanks to its stunning season opening win over Michigan, became the first FCS team to receive votes in the AP Top 25 poll.
Because of the magnitude of the win which still captures the imagination of college football fans the wire service tweaked its rules to let voters cast a ballot for the Mountaineers who went on that season to win their third straight FCS national championship.
One of Appalachian State’s two losses that season, incidentally, was a 38-35 setback to Georgia Southern.
This week Appalachian State (5-1, 3-0) became the first Sun Belt Conference team to be ranked in the Top 25 when it picked up enough votes to snare the No. 25 spot.
And, in a game that has irony written all over it all Coach Scott Satterfield’s team has to do to maintain that ranking is beat Georgia Southern (6-1, 3-0). And do it in Paulson Stadium before a national television audience.
The two arch-rivals square off in a key Sun Belt Conference East Division game Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
Appalachian’s national ranking is something Eagle fans passionately believed eventually would be theirs when the two teams joined the Sun Belt in 2014.
And, why not.
The Eagles swept through the conference, going 8-0, that first season and the following year won the Go Daddy Bowl in its first ever bowl game. The future looked bright.
Unfortunately following the 2015 season Coach Willie Fritz headed to Tulane and then came a regrettable hire in Tyson Summers who was fired in mid-season last year after a 0-6 start that ended in a 2-10 finish.
After two years wandering in the wilderness it looks as if Coach Chad Lunsford has Georgia Southern back on the road to respectability. The Eagles became bowl eligible last week with a 48-31 win at New Mexico State.
A win over the Mountaineers, who lead the series 19-13-1, would put Georgia Southern in a position to win the division and host the conference championship game.
Appalachian State is currently the premier program in the conference after having won or shared the last two championships, won three straight bowl games and posting a 35-10 record the last four seasons.
The Mountaineers’ lone loss this season was a 45-38 overtime decision at Penn State. They are coming off a 27-17 win over Louisiana and included among their victories is a 35-9 thrashing of Arkansas State.
Satterfield, 46-23 in his sixth season, is proud of the recognition being ranked brings, but he knows it won’t put any points on the board against the Eagles, a team Appalachian has dominated the last decade.
The Mountaineers will be looking for their fourth straight win over Georgia Southern and has won six of the last seven games, 11 of the last 15.
“It’s great recognition for the work we’re doing here,” Satterfield said. “I’m really happy for our school, the alumni and all the boys that have helped make this happen.
“The process of going from FCS to FBS (and being ranked) in such a short period of time is pretty awesome,” Satterfield said. “Having said that it is not going to win you any football games, it’s not going to beat Georgia Southern.”
What will beat Georgia Southern is the talent the Mountaineers put on the field.
Behind quarterback Zac Thomas and the running back Darrynton Evans the Mountaineers are averaging 44.8 points and 476 yards per game. Thomas has passed for 1146 yards and 11 touchdowns while completing 80 of 132 passes while Evans had 425 yards rushing.
Evans, a sophomore, had 203 all purpose yards against Louisiana and moved into the starting lineup when leading rusher Jalin Moore went out with a season-ending knee injury against Arkansas State. Moore finished his season with 400 yards.
“Darrynton is a big-play type player,” Satterfield said. “Darrynton is that kind of guy that can take it the distance at any point in time.”
The Mountaineers, who are a run first team as evidenced by the fact 63 percent of their plays have been rushing attempts, have four receivers with more than 10 catches headed by Corey Sutton with 17 for 366 yards.
