Appalachian State (2-0, 0-0 Sun Belt) vs UNC-Charlotte (0-2, 0-0 American)
Saturday, September 19th, 2026 6:00pm 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), 93.7 FM & 790 AM (Johnson City, TN) 87.7 FM (In-Stadium)
Kidd Brewer Stadium
Capacity: 30,000
Surface: Astroturf
Jeff Sagarin Ratings
App State: 64.21
UNC-Charlotte: 47.02
Home: 2.41
UNC-Charlotte is favored by the Sagarin ratings by 19.6 points
VegasInsider Consensus: App State -17.5
Series: App State leads 4-0
Last Meeting: App State 34, UNC-Charlotte 11, August 29, 2025, Charlotte, NC
Now that is how you start a season. That was the first sentence I posted last week. I think we should all take a moment and not get too far over our skis. Several things can be true. East Carolina has taken a step back with a lot of new starters and very few returners. They have also lacked continuity with their coordinators. East Carolina will probably get better every week. They could make a bowl game but there is a lot of football to be played. App State could also be back? I’m not there yet. Do we want App State to be back? You bet. Nobody wants it more. But last week is just that, and now we face a team that is foaming at the mouth. Well, at least the online fans are anxious to say bad things about us. That is the big difference from this week to last. We play a different role. The overwhelming favorite. It’s really easy to place loose with nothing to lose when everyone in a stadium is working against you. Well, at least those that showed up. It’s different when the expectations have shifted slightly. Two weeks ago, beating Charlotte might have been enough. Now some style points will expected. And what a better venue. Kidd Brewer under the second half lights on a late September night. Can you ask for more?
Since the last time we ran into Charlotte 49er football, they have won one football game. They beath Monmouth last year at home on September 13th. So yes, it has been a year since they have a won a football game. Second year coach Tim Albin does not have an FBS win under his belt in Charlotte. Following the win over Monmouth, the closest they have come to beating an FBS team was the following week when they lost to Rice by eleven points. Charlotte infamously lost to The Citadel in triple overtime to start the season. A game in which the 49ers led at home in the second half and allowed the Bulldogs to force overtime late. To make matters worse, The Citadel is not 3-0 or 2-1 even. They beat Charlotte, and then in turn lost to Charleston Southern in double overtime. And that was after getting stomped by Wofford by four touchdowns to start the year. Charlotte’s perception problem is not that they lost to an FCS team, but they lost to a bad one. Now it appears Charlotte might have rebounded with a narrow 41-9 loss to Ole Miss on the road. The Niners managed three field goals in the second half long after the game was decided and after the Rebels were interested in putting up a fight.
It’s still a little early to dive into statistics and find trends for a season but we can certainly talk about who is providing the production for the Niners. These names will sound familiar. Jaden Barnes is tied for the team leads in receptions with eleven with Jaylen Hampton. Barnes spent his 2025 season in Boone before finding himself adjacent to the Queen City. Hampton leads in yards with a 142-110 advantage over Barnes and also two touchdowns receptions. Barnes has not scored a touchdown yet because he probably dropped the ball before he crossed the goal line. It’s only funny because its true. Khamani Alexander is also a former Mountaineer and he leads the Niners with 150 yards rushing on twenty attempts. Chance Williams also has twenty carries on the season and he has gained 116 yards. Charlotte’s roster lists Alexander at 6’1″ and 210 pounds while Williams stands at 5’8″ and 190 pounds. All that information about Chance Williams is now moot. He was kicked off the team. Cole Gonzalez accounted for five total touchdowns against The Citadel, which was slightly inflated due to overtime, but still threw for three and ran for two. He added 322 yards passing against The Citadel but was held to just 128 yards passing against Ole Miss. He’s thrown three interceptions in the early part of the season. Two of those came against The Citadel and one against Ole Miss.
The Mountaineers were able to grind out a win against East Carolina once again after falling behind in the first quarter. The Pirates put together two fantastic opening drives but came away with just seven points after missing a field goal on their opening possession. App State responded immediately after the touchdown and were able to get a field goal through the uprights despite some poor game management and having to burn a couple timeouts. The Mountaineers took command of the game after East Carolina fumbled on their first play from scrimmage, and the Mountaineers punched it in for a 10-7 lead. App State never trailed again after that touchdown. The defense forced several short drives and assisted the offense to ground the clock before bending without breaking late in the fourth. Malachi Singleton had another good afternoon throwing the football. I am fine with him taking sacks because the most important statistic, once again, no interceptions. The sacks take away from the total rushing total, but he found the end zone on the ground along with Trigg Lewis and Treyaun Webb. The offense was perfect in the red zone, and needed every single one of those points. East Carolina’s failed red zone chance turned out to be the difference in the ball game.
This early in the season, teams are measured by their ceilings and their floors, and how much space is in between. If that space is tight, then you are playing with consistency, but that does not necessarily mean you have found success. If the area between your floor and ceiling is substantial, then your team is inconsistent, and could have a great win, but also a bad looking loss. Charlotte and App State both opened the season at home playing FCS schools. Charlotte lost their game in overtime, but in reality, were maybe only a play or two away from winning that game. Does that matter? Of course it does, but still, Charlotte’s floor is playing level with an FCS school that is likely not making the playoffs. With that, App State’s floor is much higher than Charlotte’s is right now. The Mountaineers beat a fringe FCS playoff team by over 50 points. Additionally, that does not mean App is considered a good or great team based off one or two games. Did anyone check Maine’s score last week? Oh, they lost to Merrimack College. I wish I was joking. Merrimack is 195th in the Sagarin Ratings. Maine is now 206th in Sagarin. Charlotte is 208th, which is the lowest rated FBS school. Seems like we found the floor. If App State and East Carolina played again this week, the Pirates would be favored by more than they were last week. Not a lot more, literally a couple points. As we all know, the games are not played on paper. Ratings and rankings are fun and they give us something to talk about until the game is played. You still have to play the game. What few plays I witnessed from Charlotte’s game against The Citadel is that they have a difficult maintaining the edge on defense. The Niners are giving up close to 200 yards a game on the ground and have surrendered nine rushing touchdowns. The Citadel and Ole Miss have combined to convert nine red zone possessions into nine touchdowns. The Citadel ran for 268 on Charlotte. That is not a recipe for success if its the first game of the season or at anytime. Ole Miss ran for 127 yards but they seemed disinterested in doing so with only twenty-four attempts. I could see a gameplan similar to what we saw against Maine. It is clear that running back carries will be shared when needed although Trigg Lewis ran the ball 17 times last week. The Mountaineers will probably spread it around and slowly work their way inside the numbers to the hashes to slowly put Charlotte away.
The First Pick
Picks and Sticks 16
Mountaineers 41