Can Appalachian State win the Sun Belt?

The Appalachian State Mountaineers were voted to win the Sun Belt East in the preseason coaches’ poll, claiming 12 of 14 first-place votes. But after an up-and-down start to the season, the Mountaineers are looking to lock in for their conference slate.

They’ll open up Sun Belt play against South Alabama (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) with a 2-1 record, and hopes of recapturing their first conference title since 2019.

To get here, App State has traveled a winding road.

After winning at least nine games from 2015 to 2021, 2022 was a roller coaster. The Mountaineers opened with a 63-61 loss to North Carolina, followed by a 17-14 road upset of No. 6 Texas A&M in College Station. That win prompted a “College GameDay” visit for their game vs. Troy, which they won 32-28 on a Hail Mary.

Then they lost nine of their next 16 games. That stretch was out of character for App State, a program that has had only one losing season since 1983 and has the sixth-most wins of any program in the country since 2014.

“When I look back at it now and you really don’t realize it then — our players were mentally exhausted in three weeks,” head coach Shawn Clark said. “And I didn’t do a good job of getting them back mentally. Physically, we were fine. Mentally, we weren’t there, just the outside noise happening, and then with kids and social media, etc., they feel the pressure to go out and win. And then things didn’t work out.”

The Mountaineers would go on to finish the 2022 season 6-6.

Clark said the team called the next season “Reset ’23” to show it was going to get back to its core values. But even that took some time after a 3-4 start. Following a 28-21 loss to Old Dominion and a seven-hour bus ride back to Boone, North Carolina, Clark was trying to find the right message.

Looking through his phone, Clark found an image of a man digging with a mattock. In the image, the man needed just another inch before he struck diamonds, but instead walked away just short of what he was looking for.

He showed the image to his team, brought in a mattock and said, “You’re so close to breaking through and making a run at this thing. If you believe in it, we can still be champions.”

So, the Mountaineers kept digging. They didn’t have a choice. In their next game, against Southern Miss, they played from behind until taking the lead with just under seven minutes to play. They managed to pull out that win, and then four more in a row (one at James Madison with “College GameDay” in Harrisonburg, Virginia) to reach the Sun Belt title game.

Despite the turnaround, the Mountaineers finished a game short of their goal in a 49-23 loss at Troy. But it was clear Clark had managed to reset his program.

Part of that was because of the improvement of quarterback Joey Aguilar, the 2023 Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year and an All-Sun Belt second-team honoree. Aguilar, a Diablo Valley Community College transfer, struggled in his first four games after replacing Ryan Burger, who initially had won the starting quarterback job before suffering a season-ending finger injury in the opener. Per ESPN’s Bill Connelly, Aguilar had a 58% completion rate, 12.2 yards per completion, 240.8 yards per game and was 50th nationally in Total QBR. In the nine games after, he had a 67% completion rate, 13.1 yards per completion, 295.1 yards per game and was 19th in Total QBR.

In 14 games, Aguilar completed 63.7% of his passes for 3,757 yards, 33 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also had 245 yards on the ground and three scores.

The things that kept Aguilar from being the starter from day one were things he ended up improving as the season progressed.

“He tried to force so many plays,” Clark said. “We tell our quarterbacks all the time if you can take care of the football and score touchdowns, you’ll be the starting quarterback.”

He added, “He can throw every ball. But he learned how to check down to the running back, he learned how to throw it away, and to end every possession with a kick. That’s why I say it’s OK to punt sometimes, let our defense play. You don’t have to win the game for us, but you can’t lose it for us.”

When asked what created the change in his game, Aguilar said, “Game reps, film reps, and just not trying to force things. Just taking what the defense gives me.” It’s why he was voted Sun Belt Preseason Offensive Player of the Year in 2024.

He’s also the type of leader the team — Clark included — needs. “Joey is California cool, man. If he throws a pick, he’ll tap you on the butt and say, ‘I got you coach,'” Clark said. “Or if he throws a touchdown, he’ll tap you on the butt and say, ‘I got you coach.’ That’s just who he is. He was good for me last year; he calmed me down.”

“Things happen,” Aguilar said. “I just try to make more plays than the other player and learn from my mistakes. I go out there and have fun and try to make less mistakes than they do.”

This season, Clark is hoping App State is the team that keeps digging, and not the one that walks away. In Week 1, App State cruised past ETSU at home 38-10, only to fall 66-20 at Clemson the following week. After falling behind 16-0 in the first quarter to East Carolina in Greenville this past Saturday, they turned things around and won 21-19.

The Clemson and East Carolina games proved road trips won’t be simple. Another out-of-conference matchup with a Group of 5 power in Liberty will be a test. Conference road games against Marshall and Louisiana follow in October, as well as November trips to Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern, with a home game against James Madison sandwiched between.

“Our schedule is not easy, we know that,” Clark said. “We tell them, we have to play great football early, then you have to finish strong in November. And they know these conference games are going to be tough. But it’s all about how you prepare in the offseason.”

Clark kept his practices physical this offseason. “I’m an old-school guy,” he said. That meant more tackling in practice. “That gives you the scars you need for those tough games in October and November, ones you got to win. That’s what we’re about here at App.”

His team also runs Howard’s Knob Park during the offseason, which is 2.2 miles, all uphill. They also run App Ski Mountain during the summer, which is a black diamond ski run known for its steep terrain.

“It was tough, but that’s what we did. This is what separates us from other programs,” Clark said.

On Thursday, App State will be going up against a South Alabama team coming off an 87-10 win over Northwestern State for their first win of the season — a game that finished with just 54 minutes of play after both coaches agreed to shorten the fourth quarter by six minutes.

“It’s not going to be easy,” Clark said of the game on a short week. “But the good thing is we’re playing at home and there should be a sold-out crowd. And that always gives us an advantage. We have one of the best atmospheres in all of college football.”

Said Aguilar: “That first conference game we want to set the tone and let everybody know that we’re out here and we’re not only voted for first, but we’re actually coming to get that first place and make it legit.”