The ledger cuts both ways, and that's the honest read on 2 Sun Belt teams with matching question marks. App State is 3-2 overall but 0-1 in conference, has lost 2 straight as of this week, and the loss to NC State was a 41-31 game where the defense gave up plenty. Coastal is 2-4 but 1-1 in league play. They've given up 22 or more in each of their 4 games against FBS opponents, but they just showed they can win a game by taking the ball away.
Maine55-3
Fordham45-7The matchup to watch is Lee-Knicely against an App State front that just did its job. The Mountaineers held ODU to 10 points and still lost, because the offense never gave them anything to defend. If Coastal can run the ball the way it did in Huntington, they control the clock and App State's offense gets even fewer chances. If App State's defense keeps Lee-Knicely in check and the offense finds even half of what it had in September, the Mountaineers are the more complete team on paper.
Weather won't be an excuse. The early forecast for Brooks Stadium is 71 degrees, mostly sunny, 7 mph wind and a 5 percent chance of rain, so both offenses get a clean night. That puts it all on App State's offense, which had a week to sort out what went wrong against ODU, and on Coastal's ability to protect the ball the way Marshall couldn't. Neither team lists an injury in the data right now. The report will fill in as Friday gets closer.