There may be a variety of shared historical past between the soccer groups at Appalachian State and Georgia Southern.
On Monday, a brand new chapter within the rivalry either side name “Deeper Than Hate” will probably be written because the Mountaineers and Eagles meet on a impartial discipline for the primary time on the Birmingham Bowl in Alabama.
App State (5-7) and Georgia Southern (6-6) have performed at the least as soon as each season relationship again to 1993 when the Eagles had been new members of the Southern Convention on the FCS stage. After each received a number of FCS nationwide championships, they made the soar to FBS collectively in 2014 by becoming a member of the Solar Belt.
All of their earlier 40 conferences had been performed on their respective campuses in Statesboro, Ga. or Boone, N.C., together with their two earlier postseason conferences, each coming in FCS playoff video games.
Sometimes, groups that end with a regular-season report under .500 do not get the chance to play in bowl video games. Nonetheless, when groups corresponding to Notre Dame, Iowa State and Kansas State opted out of the postseason, there was a trickle-down affect that left bowl organizers scrambling for worthy opponents. In years the place not sufficient groups end 6-6 to turn into bowl-eligible, 5-7 groups can turn into eligible if they’ve a excessive Tutorial Progress Fee. Because it turned out, App State’s rating was ok.
First-year App State coach Dowell Loggains thought the season was over after the Mountaineers misplaced by a single level to Arkansas State within the regular-season finale. Then, his cellphone rang a number of hours after the School Soccer Playoff bracket was unveiled and bowl opt-outs began to turn into public.
“My athletic director referred to as me on Sunday night and requested me about enjoying in a bowl,” Loggains stated. “I stated sure, we’ll play in a Walmart parking zone.”
Having pivoted his focus to offseason recruiting and roster administration earlier than he came upon the Mountaineers could be enjoying in a bowl sport, Loggains then confronted the problem of getting gamers again on campus and determining who will or will not play. Loggains instructed gamers who’ve intentions of getting into the switch portal that they’re nonetheless welcome to compete for App State within the Birmingham Bowl.
“That is the 2025 staff and so they’re a part of it. I believe you may be stunned at a few of the guys who will play,” Loggains stated. “The youngsters are shut, the buy-in is there. They care about one another, they care about their college and so they care concerning the block A, so we’re enthusiastic about it.”
The Mountaineers misplaced 4 video games this season by eight factors or fewer. Certainly one of them was at house to Georgia Southern — a 25-23 house setback on Nov. 6.
The Eagles jumped out to a 19-0 lead earlier than App State mounted a comeback, however Georgia Southern held on for a victory. Eagles quarterback JC French IV threw for 352 yards and a landing whereas additionally dashing for 18 yards and a rating.
That win helped the Eagles attain bowl eligibility for the fourth consecutive season underneath fourth-year head coach Clay Helton. Thus far, Georgia Southern is 0-3 in bowl video games in his tenure. Getting his first postseason win — and doing so over App State — could be significant to him and the Eagles fanbase.
“We all know how particular this sport is and the chance to do one thing that has by no means been performed,” Helton stated. “That is one other probability for these seniors to depart a legacy. They turned the primary Georgia Southern gamers in historical past to play in 4 straight bowl video games, and now they’ve an opportunity at profitable a hoop.”
–Subject Degree Media
