By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — A whopper of a 3-week, non-conference series beckons High Country football aficionados in September, judging by the just-released 2023 Appalachian State schedule.
Before getting to that all-BCS level series, the Mountaineers host an in-state, FCS rival in Gardner-Webb, on Sept. 2. The Bulldogs are not to be taken lightly after winning the Big South Conference championship in 2022, going undefeated (5-0) in league play. Overall, they were 7-6, but that also included narrow losses to the likes of Coastal Carolina (31-27), Elon (30-24), and Liberty (21-20). There is also a roundabout connection between GWU and App State: the Bulldogs head coach is Tre Lamb, whose cousin, Taylor Lamb was a record-setting quarterback for the Mountaineers and is now the QB coach at University of Virginia.
After hosting Gardner-Webb, App State gets into a challenging 3-game series starting with a visit to North Carolina on Sept. 9. Who can forget the woulda-coulda-shoulda comeback rally and narrow loss to the Tar Heels in their last encounter, in Kidd Brewer Stadium?
On Sept. 16, the Mountaineers welcome East Carolina to The Rock. It was only a couple of years ago (2021) that App State all but walked over the Pirates at Bank of America Stadium in the nationally-televised, season-opening Duke’s Mayo Classic, 33-19. The Pirates will be looking for revenge in what is likely to be a sold-out, standing room only encounter at Kidd-Brewer Stadium.
One of the more interesting matchups on the 2023 schedule comes on Sept. 23, when App State goes on the road to play Wyoming, in Laramie, Wyo. Founded in 1886 as a public land-grant institution, Wyoming has a storied athletic history with some notable football alumni, including current Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen, former San Diego Chargers WR Malcolm Floyd, former Miami Dolphins RB Jim Kiick, former New York Giants safety Derrick Martin, former Dallas Cowboys tight end Jay Novacek, among several others.
No sooner do the Mountaineers return home from Wyoming than they have to make another road trip, this one to the Deep South and a Sun Belt Conference season opener at Louisiana-Monroe. Other Sun Belt road games include at Old Dominion (Oct. 21) in Norfolk, Va., at Georgia State (Nov. 11) in Atlanta, and at James Madison (Nov. 18), in Harrisonburg, Va.
Home Sun Belt games include the only mid-week contest, on Tuesday, Oct. 10, vs. Coastal Carolina. The Mountaineers host “Homecoming” on Oct. 28 vs. Southern Miss and a week later have Marshall coming to town, on Nov. 4. They close out the regular season with a home game vs. Georgia Southern.
2023 SCHEDULE
Sat., Sept. 2 vs. Gardner-Webb
Sat., Sept. 9 at North Carolina
Sat., Sept. 16 vs. East Carolina (Family Weekend)
Sat., Sept. 23 at Wyoming
Sat., Sept. 30 at ULM*
Tues., Oct. 10 vs. Coastal Carolina*
Sat., Oct. 21 at Old Dominion*
Sat., Oct. 28 vs. Southern Miss* (Homecoming)
Sat., Nov. 4 vs. Marshall*
Sat., Nov. 11 at Georgia State*
Sat., Nov. 18 at James Madison*
Sat., Nov. 25 vs. Georgia Southern*
HOME GAMES IN BOLD
* Denotes Sun Belt Conference game
