Appalachian State and East Carolina are set to meet on the gridiron for the 33rd time Saturday when the Mountaineers (1-1) host the Pirates (0-2) at Kidd Brewer Stadium at 3:30 p.m.
The game will mark ECU’s first trip to Boone since 1979 as the Pirates — entering the matchup as a 9.5-point underdog — are desperately looking for their first win of the season. They will face a Mountaineers team that nearly knocked off the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill last Saturday.
Although App leads the all-time series 20-12, ECU has won eight of the last 11 meetings between the two teams going back to 1972.
This year’s Pirates, however, suffered a 30-3 loss at No. 2 Michigan in Week 1 and then fell to Marshall in a 31-13 their home opener last week.
App State opened its season with a 45-24 home win over Gardner-Webb, fueled by 31 second-half points. The Mountaineers then hung with the Tar Heels through four quarters and the first overtime before falling 40-34 in double OT.
“We expect to win, but we didn’t come here for moral victories,” App State coach Shawn Clark said following his team’s loss at UNC. “We came up short, but there’s never any second-guessing anybody on our football team. It wasn’t a lack of effort, it was a lack of execution. And I know we’d love to have these back. But we’ll learn from this and get back for East Carolina on Saturday.”
The biggest difference between the two teams through two games has been offense.
The Mountaineers have averaged 39.5 points per game — rushing for 183 yards and throwing for 261 yards per game. Juco quarterback Joey Aguilar thrown for 449 yards, six touchdowns and one interception in the first two weeks, while running back Nate Noel has 50 carries for 242 yards and three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, the Pirates have only scored one offensive touchdown and are averaging just 252 yards per game.
Defensively, both ECU and App have surrendered yardage in bunches with 397 yards and 443.5 yards allowed, respectively.
ECU fans knew there would be some growing pains after losing several key players, including quarterback Holton Ahlers, running back Keaton Mitchell and wide receiver Isaiah Winstead after last season.
But coach Mike Houston’s rebuild appears to be more extensive than predicted as quarterback Mason Garcia has struggled to pass the ball effectively to a wide receiver group that lacks the game-breaking ability for which ECU wideouts are known.
“You started (Garcia) because he gave you the best chance to win tonight,” Houston said after the Pirates’ loss to Marshall, acknowledging his choice to feature Garcia rather than backup quarterback Alex Flinn. “He gave us a great chance to win for a lot of the ball game. No matter which quarterback you go with, you’re going to have to go through some stuff as they get acclimated. He made some mistakes, but some of the other guys out there on the field did, too. We’ve got a lot to clean up.”
Against the Thundering Herd, the Pirates led 13-10 in the fourth quarter before Marshall scored three touchdowns in five minutes to pull away for the win.
“We know a lot about Mason Garcia from the recruiting process,” Clark said at App State’s Monday press conference. “He has a big-time arm, he’s very accurate, he has the ability to run the football, and they have some designed runs for him.”
Saturday’s matchup in Boone could very well come down to which quarterback has a better performance, with Garcia getting another opportunity to prove he’s the man for the job with ECU and Aguilar looking to show his success so far is not a fluke.
Houston, meanwhile, is looking to avoid his first 0-3 start since taking over the Pirates in 2019, while Clark is hoping to avoid his first 1-2 start since taking the reins at App in 2019.
