Appalachian State (1-0, 0-0) vs Lindenwood (0-1, 0-0)
Saturday, September 6th, 2025 3:30pm EST
TV/Video: ESPN+
Radio: FLAGSHIP 97.3 FM (North Wilkesboro), 730 AM & 97.5 FM (Charlotte), 950 AM & 92.7 FM (Greensboro), 980 AM & 96.7 FM (Winston-Salem), 107.7 FM & 1450 AM (Hendersonville), 97.3 FM & 790 AM (Johnson City, TN) 87.7 FM (In-Stadium)
Kidd Brewer Stadium
Capacity: 30,000
Surface: FieldTurf
Jeff Sagarin Ratings
App State: 61.44
Lindenwood: 42.84
Home: 3.73
App State is favored by the Sagarin ratings by 22.33 points
VegasInsider Consensus: n/a
Series: First Meeting
Last Meeting: n/a
It’s fair to say that a lot of happy Mountaineers walked out of Bank of America Stadium on Friday feeling pretty good about themselves. If you asked a lot fans before they walked in, if they would take a 34-11 victory, every last one of them would have nodded quickly. Charlotte did not look the part. There is still work to do on Highway 49. Was that all their fault, or did the Mountaineers have something to do with it? The answer lies somewhere in the middle. Appalachian did a lot of good, but by no means were they perfect. That’s the beauty of the college football, in that perfection isn’t required, and it’s rarely obtained. But, you can beat an in-state opponent and feel pretty perfect after the game. There is a new challenge this week, and perhaps the game is less the opponent and more within yourself to be a little bit better, make a few less mistakes and have a better result. There are a lot of new players on this roster that are playing their “first” home game at Kidd Brewer Stadium. It might as well feel to them like just another game, but there are plenty of their teammates that will tell them differently, and they’ll know themselves by the end of Saturday night.
You might be wondering just where Lindenwood is located. You might actually wonder a lot of things about Lindenwood. They have been playing football since 1990 where they spent 21 seasons in NAIA. In 2011, they moved to Division II until 2021. Since 2022, the St. Charles, Missouri private school has competed at the FCS level in the Ohio Valley Conference, which merged with the Big South in 2023. We have discussed Gardner-Webb’s adjustment over the past couple seasons into the OVC/Big South. Last year, the Lions finished the season with a 5-7 record, going 4-4 in conference play, reeling off wins against St. Thomas, Eastern Illinois, Western Illinois, Charleston Southern and SE Missouri State. Last year, Lindenwood defeated St. Thomas by a score of 64-0, but lost last Thursday night to St. Thomas by a score of 35-13. Lindenwood’s first three drives last week advanced inside the St. Thomas red zone, but the Lions missed three field goals on those possessions.
Lindenwood’s starting quarterback Nate Glantz returns for his senior season for the Lions, which is a major advantage in college football. Glantz started his career in junior college at Iowa Western, where he was the player of the year in 2020. He was 18-2 in two seasons as a starter. From Iowa Western, Glantz moved onto Iowa State for a season where he did not play. Glantz went from Iowa State to McNeese State where he played sparingly in 2023 before landing at Lindenwood in 2024. Last season, Glantz started in all 12 games. He threw for 2333 yards and 17 touchdowns, but also added 11 interceptions. Glantz rushed for 297 yards and scored six touchdowns. In the loss this past weekend, Glantz threw for 318 yards and one scoring pass. Despite the failed first three possessions to start the game, Lindenwood was still in the game at halftime, tied at 7-7. Lindenwood’s issue was the failure to stop the St. Thomas ground game, which rolled to 275 yards on the day.
Friday night was somewhat surreal. Nobody had an idea what to expect. Although it took awhile to get points on the board, the production was there. The Mountaineers gained 143 yards in the first quarter on just fourteen plays, possessing the ball for just five minutes. It was the penalties that held them back and killed some eventually scoring chances. Appalachian added another 196 yards of offense in the second quarter, and with it, scored 17 points, which included a field goal as time expired in the first half after an interception by Ja’Den McBurrows. Ten more points were added in the third quarter to essentially put the game away. Slowly the pass-happy AJ Swann gave way to bruising runs by Rashod Dubinion who gained thirty-five yards in the third quarter on six carries. Although the offense provided a more even run-pass split in the second half, Swann still dropped back eleven times and threw a touchdown pass to Kanen Hamlett for a score. Charlotte managed a late score to draw the the deficit to 16 points, but App State responded on the next drive, ending the hopes of the 49ers fans.
This week against Lindenwood is somewhat of a different FCS game than App State has played in the past. More recently, the Mountaineers faced the likes of East Tennessee State and Gardner Webb, who had the same coach, and was quite familiar with the Mountaineer program. Even Campbell and Elon were in-state schools where history came into play. The Elon coach was a pupil of Curt Cignetti, who coached at James Madison before he ran to Indiana. Campbell’s coach was Mike Minter, who played professionally for the Carolina Panthers, and was certainly familiar with App State. I am fairly certain that Lindenwood head coach Jed Stugart has never run into App State on the field. He has worked closely with Eli Drinkwitz recently, so there is some more knowledge there than some might expect. You can be certain that Drinkwitz and Stugart have had conversations about what to expect when coming to Boone. Despite the unfamiliarity with Lindenwood as a whole, the Lions have goals in mind. They are in their fourth season of FCS football, and their goals have been set on making the playoffs and they have a Walter Payton candidate in running back Steve Hall that might get them there. With some experience at quarterback as well, the Lions seem pretty formidable on the offensive side of the ball. However Lindenwood gave up 186 yards a game on the ground a season ago, and just let a team they beat by 60 points last year run for 275 yards on them last week. Something happened. Either Lindenwood got a lot worse on that side of the ball or St. Thomas got a lot better. That’s not to say that Appalachian is just going to sit back and run the ball and try and out-muscle Lindenwood. As much as last week felt great and looked the part, there are plenty of parts of App State that are not where Coach Loggains wants them to be at this point. The last thing any coach wants is a team that gets too high on one win and rests. The season is a constant evolution of who and what you are and what you can become. I don’t think that this staff is the type that will let that happen. For one, I am looking forward to see what this team builds on, because they certainly felt like they left some meat on the bone last Friday night.
The First Pick
Lioness 12
Mountaineers 45