Ahead of this new-found Sun Belt rivalry, App State may be without starting quarterback Malachi Singleton, who is questionable with an ankle injury sustained during their weather-filled loss to Old Dominion last week. If he's unable to go, Henry Hasselbeck will likely take over -- a junior transfer from UCLA. I'm not going to dock App State too much because of that, as Coastal has a redshirt freshman under center in Deuce Bailey. Looking at Bailey’s body of work, his ball-security issues have been fairly consistent. In fact, he’s fumbled twice in two games after fumbling twice in his lone start last year and also put one on the ground against Delaware. It’s worth noting these are just fumbles, not necessarily fumbles lost, but it’s all the same when it comes to quarterback ball security. I won’t put all the blame on Bailey – his offensive line isn’t very good, and that could rear its ugly head again against this App defense.
The Mountaineers haven’t played a difficult row of opponents, but they’re top-30 in yards per play allowed, turnover margin, PPA per pass and havoc generated. That’s the type of profile that can make Bailey a turnover machine. Combine that with the fact that the Mountaineers are in a quadruple revenge spot in what is now a heated Sun Belt rivalry, and App should have the upper hand.
App State vs Coastal Carolina prediction: Appalachian State ML (-111) available at time of publishing. Playable to -125 or -1.5 on the spread.
