Appalachian State (4-3, 1-2 Sun Belt) @ Old Dominion (4-3, 1-2 Sun Belt)
Saturday, October 25th, 2025 12pm EST
TV/Video: ESPNU
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)
S.B. Ballard Stadium
Capacity: 21,944
Surface: AstroTurf Gameday Grass 3D
Jeff Sagarin Ratings
App State: 57.88
Old Dominion: 68.16
Home: 4.37
Old Dominion is favored by the Sagarin ratings by 14.65 points
VegasInsider Consensus: Old Dominion -13.5
Series: App State leads 4-1
Last Meeting: App State 28 Old Dominion 20, November 2, 2024, Boone, NC
The hard part about learning how to ride a bike is realizing there will be moments where it feels good, and there will be moments where you lose your balance and fall off. The hope is that last week was just a minor setback, but it does not mean that you won’t have some bruises or a scrape that will leave a mark. The difference is all about whether you decide to get back up and face those same challenges. Last week seems like it left a mark and has some staying power that has only grown worse each day. It hurts to hear a coach talk about having to learn how to win. If you are reading this, you probably know what winning looks like and what winning feels like. But there is a group of players on a team that we sometimes forget are half our age, and besides learning how to win, they are still learning about each other. I’ve hesitated to use the word rebuild when referring to this program we love, because it seems like we are always just waiting to reload. That is where the history, passion and tradition build those expectations. As fans we have a choice. We can moan and groan about where we are, or we can be the reason we get back to where we belong.
Welcome to back to the annual roller coaster that is Old Dominion football. It seems every year, they will garner your attention by playing above their weight against some teams that they shouldn’t, and then eventually, will fall flat against some teams you think they should beat. In week one, ODU fought valiantly before falling to then #20 Indiana by a score of 27-14. That is now #2 Indiana to you, and no this isn’t basketball season. That loss looks better and better each week. The Monarchs then won four games in a row which included a win in Blacksburg over Virginia Tech, who has already fired their head coach this season. Old Dominion also picked up wins over North Carolina Central, Liberty, and Coastal Carolina. The Monarchs beat Coastal by 40 in Norfolk. That really gets you excited for this weekend, doesn’t it? Then suddenly, the calendar flipped to October, and the Monarchs started turning the ball over. They had 3 turnovers last week against James Madison and five turnovers the week before in Huntington. Old Dominion is -7 in turnover ratio in just the last two weeks, which led to them allowing 111 points in those two road games.
For the second week in a row, the App State defense will be challenged by another quarterback friendly offense that runs the show through their signal caller. Colton Joseph has already eclipsed last years totals as a passer as he sits at 1,690 yards passing with 16 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Seven of those eight interceptions came in three games – all Monarch losses. Twelve of those sixteen touchdown passes came in the Monarch victories. So as you can see, Old Dominion’s successes and struggles seem to follow that quarterback play. Joseph ran for 179 yards against Indiana, which one can assume, caught the Hoosiers off guard. Since then, Joseph has continued to perform on the ground, with at least 49 yards on the ground each week. However, James Madison shut down Joseph, limiting him to just four yards on eight carries. Madison is the conference’s top team against the run. Joseph also struggled throwing the ball on JMU as well, as he was held to his lowest passing total since the first game against Indiana.
The concern from the App State defense was that they were decent against the run, but the question was always about their opponents. Boise ran at App State all day long and Coastal stuck with their plan. Essentially, it’s a matchup problem that has slowly reared its head. Those same issues could be at risk this weekend. On the other side of the ball, the Mountaineer offensive line is battered and beaten, which had led to some inefficiencies running the ball coupled with Rashod Dubinion nursing some bruises after a heavy workload in the early season. That offensive line surrendered four sacks this past Saturday, which were the most since giving up five sacks to Boise and Southern Miss, which were both negative game scripts. Still the Mountaineers did not lose the turnover battle, and were flagged seven times for seventy yards, and could not get in the end zone enough. All three field goals the Mountaineers made were under 31 yards. Obviously, one of those field goals came at the end of the first half, and was a gift from Coastal, but the two second-half field goals occurred after drives that consumed a total of 27 plays, 152 yards, and consumed a lot of clock. Those field goals killed the Mountaineers and were wins for Coastal.
There are a lot of things to clean up. We’ve heard that phrase a lot this season. There is a lot to clean up from last week, and I am sure Old Dominion is feeling pretty good about where they stand. They beat this Coastal team pretty handily and are sure to steal some concepts from what Coastal did and use them against the Mountaineers. That is the copy cat nature of this sport, and with that game being so recent, its bound to be the focus. The other side of that is that the Mountaineers are vary aware of what they were unable to do last week and they know that the Monarchs must be thinking the same thing. Ricky Rahne is going to stick to what has worked for his team. They run a spread out offense and they want to thin out the defense and force one-on-one matchups. Where the Mountaineers missed a ton of tackles last week, that will be a major emphasis in practice this week. You cannot miss tackles against Old Dominion. They will put you on a island and force you to be true to your coverage. One step in the wrong direction on a pre-snap read and they will capitalize. And very much like Coastal, or any run-based offense, you have to match the Monarchs possession-for-possession. You cannot find yourself in a situation like last week where you are chasing touchdowns with field goals. The Mountaineers have only managed 24 points in the fourth quarter this season, which is by far their lowest scoring quarter. On the flip side, the Mountaineers have given up 65 fourth quarter points on defense, which has been another underrated storyline this season. Coach Loggains came out after the Charlotte game and spoke to being outscored in the fourth quarter and how that did not make him happy. App State has been outscored in every fourth quarter this season, even if by the slimmest of margins. Somehow, they have to find a way to finish ball games. They played with fire against Lindenwood and Oregon State, but held on. A fourth quarter touchdown last week might have changed the outcome of the game. If the Mountaineers cannot outscore Old Dominion in the fourth quarter this week, they’ll find themselves on the short end of the stick again. Of course that is assuming the Monarchs can avoid the turnover trend as they return home where they have not lost this season.
The First Pick
Muscadine Monarchs 35
Mountaineers 28