Football
BOONE, N.C. — With regional rivalries and high-profile matchups in September, October and November giving App State Football an exciting 2023 football schedule from start to finish, the Sun Belt Conference on Friday announced the order and dates for every league game to go with the Mountaineers’ previously announced nonconference foes.
Gardner-Webb, East Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Southern Miss, Marshall and Georgia Southern are all coming to The Rock this season. All six opponents traveling to Boone made postseason appearances a year ago.
Tickets will again be in high demand after App State set school and Sun Belt records for season attendance in 2021 only to shatter them again last fall. Fans with 2022 season tickets have until March 31 to renew their tickets for the upcoming season.
Fans interested in purchasing new season tickets can fill out this online form to be added to the 2023 new season ticket waitlist. They will be notified of seating options (if available) after the renewal process is complete.
Following a nonleague schedule that is comprised of a Sept. 2 opener against Gardner-Webb, a Sept. 9 trip to North Carolina, East Carolina’s long-awaited return to Boone on Sept. 16 (Family Weekend) and a Sept. 23 appearance at Wyoming, App State begins Sun Belt play at West Division foe ULM on Sept. 30.
The only non-Saturday game on App State’s schedule falls 10 days later — a nationally televised, Tuesday night home game against Coastal Carolina. Eleven days after hosting Coastal, the Mountaineers face Old Dominion to play a conference game in Norfolk, Va., for the first time.
The West Division team coming to Boone in 2023 is Southern Miss, and App State will host the Golden Eagles for Homecoming on Oct. 28. That game will be played five years after the hurricane-related cancelation of an App State-Southern Miss game that was scheduled to be held at Kidd Brewer Stadium in 2018.
The only instance of back-to-back home games occurs as Marshall travels to Boone for a Nov. 4 game at The Rock one week after the Southern Miss visit. The Mountaineers then have back-to-back road games for the second time in 2023, with a Nov. 11 game at Georgia State and their first Sun Belt Conference game at James Madison in Harrisonburg, Va., on Nov. 18.
App State wraps up the regular season against Georgia Southern in Boone on Nov. 25.
Game times and television networks will be announced later. Details for the Family Weekend and Homecoming games, as well as announcements of other home game promotions and celebrations, will be announced later.
Two years ago, when Marshall, Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern all played in Boone, fans witnessed one of the most exhilarating home slates in App State history. That fall included a 31-30 home win against the Thundering Herd and a game-ending field goal in a 30-27 home victory against the Chanticleers.
Those games were on a Thursday and Wednesday, respectively, and the next App State-Coastal game occurs on a Tuesday. The Mountaineers played Tuesday road games at Louisiana in 2021 and at Arkansas State in 2018, but this will be the first Tuesday game contested in Kidd Brewer Stadium.
This will also be the first time since 2017 that App State begins a season with only one midweek game on the schedule. As an FBS program, the Mountaineers played one midweek game in 2014 and 2017, then played only one in 2020 despite having two on the original schedule leading into a season that featured several COVID-related adjustments.
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
