Appalachian State athletic director Doug Gillen has announced a three game series for Appalachian State to play the North Carolina Tar Heels. This make the Tar Heels the fourth ACC team Appalachian has added since announcing its move to the Sun Belt. App State played Miami in Boone a season ago, falling to the Hurricanes 45-10. App played in “Death Valley” in 2015, falling to Clemson 41-10.

Appalachian announced the addition of a home and home series with Wake Forest in 2014, a team App State had moderate success against in its SoCon days (WF leads all time series 14-7-1). App State and Carolina are only separated by 164 miles, so the trek for Mountaineer fans to Chapel Hill and Heel fans to Boone is less than three hours.

Series Lineup

UNC will host App State on Saturday, September 21st 2019.

App State will host UNC on Saturday, September 3rd 2022.

UNC will host App State on Saturday, September 9th 2023.

Series History

Appalachian State and Carolina have only played once on the gridiron in the schools’ histories. UNC defeated ASU 56-6 all the way back in 1940.

Meaning Within The State

I believe when it comes to passionate college football fan bases inside the state of North Carolina, you always have to look at Appalachian State and Carolina as two of the best. Without a shadow of a doubt I believe a great number of App State fans will flow inside Kenan Memorial Stadium in 2019 to support the Mountaineers. Much to the same token I believe a great number of Heel fans will flock into Kidd Brewer Stadium in 2022 when App hosts Carolina.

This is a matchup many Appalachian State fans (myself included), have been craving to see. Meeting UNC on the field could help the Mountaineers on the recruiting trail. Just think what this would do for App State within the state of North Carolina if they were able to pull off one or two wins in this series. Appalachian is already a respected G5 school after the wins they had at the FCS level and their record since moving to the FBS.

This series, much like the Wake Forest series, are two very intriguing sets of games for Appalachian State. Here is hoping we see more of these series set. Maybe future games against Duke and NC State could eventually happen? App State also has future series set up with East Carolina (one game in Charlotte), and UNC Charlotte.

Series Prediction - (Carolina 2-1)

Just for fun, I thought it would be cool to give my honest prediction for the three game series between Appalachian State and Carolina. I give Carolina the series win 2-1, with App State winning the 2019 matchup at Chapel Hill, setting the tone for a fun high-octane series of games, not just on the field but in the crowd as well.