App State vs Arkansas State: Preview & Prediction

Game Time: Tuesday, October 9th 2018

Game Location: Centennial Bank Stadium, Jonesboro, Arkansas

Coverage: ESPN2, Appalachian IMG Sports Network

Spread: -9 App State

Series History: 1-1 all time meeting record between the two schools.

Previous Meeting: Arkansas State won 40-27 in 2015

Preview

After extra time off between games the stage is set for a showdown of the potential Sun Belt title game participants come December as the Mountaineers of Appalachian State travel to take on Arkansas Sate under the Tuesday night lights.

Two top tier quarterbacks will take center stage as Zac Thomas and Justice Hanson will continue to strive for the throne left by Taylor Lamb. The offenses as a whole will be the focal point on both sides.

Arkansas State is coming off a gut-wrenching loss to Georgia Southern on a last second trick play but the Red Wolves have the advantage of playing in the Sun Belt West division where one loss wont hurt quite like it would in the East division. Hansen continues to show why he is the best QB in the Sun Belt as he is 118/182 passing for 1,329 yards with 11 touchdowns and only 2 interceptions.

When diving deeper into the stats Appalachian State is putting up 51.8 points per game, good enough for the second best scoring offense in the country. Along with the stellar offense App State has put up, the defense under new coordinator Bryan Brown has been really good as they are giving up 17 points per game good which is 15th in the country. If I am being honest this App team has surpassed a lot of expectations to this point in the season considering they are the second youngest team at the FBS level.

Prediction

In my season preview I picked an Arkansas State victory here against a “young” App State team continuing to grow but things have went a little different than what preseason predictions foretold for this group. Arkansas State has shown a tendency to start slow in all of its games in 2018 and aside from Alabama, this is the most talented and best team the Red Wolves have played to date.

This game is a chance for this young App State squad to stamp their mark as true contenders in the Sun Belt conference and further cement their chances to host the first ever Sun Belt Championship Game in Boone come December.

Arkansas State is going to be focused and prepared fully coming off the heartbreaking loss to Georgia Southern but could the extra days off have allowed them to think about that last play more?

App State 38-28