| Appalachian State Mountaineers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
 | |||
| First season | 1928; 96 years ago | ||
| Athletic director | Doug Gillin | ||
| Head coach | Shawn Clark 6th season, 38–22 (.633) | ||
| Stadium | Kidd Brewer Stadium (capacity: 30,000) | ||
| Year built | 1962 | ||
| Field surface | FieldTurf | ||
| Location | Boone, North Carolina | ||
| NCAA division | Division I FBS | ||
| Conference | Sun Belt Conference | ||
| Division | East | ||
| Past conferences | SoCon | ||
| All-time record | 666–361–29 [1] (.644) | ||
| Bowl record | 7–1 (.875) | ||
| Playoff appearances | Div. I FCS: 20 | ||
| Playoff record | Div. I FCS: 24–17 | ||
| Claimed national titles | Div. I FCS: 3 (2005, 2006, 2007) | ||
| Conference titles | 22 | ||
| Division titles | 3 | ||
| Rivalries | Georgia Southern (rivalry) Marshall (rivalry) Coastal Carolina Western Carolina - dormant (rivalry) | ||
| Colors | Black and gold[2] | ||
| Fight song | Hi Hi Yikas | ||
| Mascot | Yosef | ||
| Marching band | Marching Mountaineers | ||
| Outfitter | Nike | ||
| Website | appstatesports.com | ||
The Appalachian State Mountaineers football team is the intercollegiate American football team representing Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina.[3] The Mountaineers have competed in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the Sun Belt Conference since 2014.[4] Appalachian plays its home games in Kidd Brewer Stadium, named after former head coach Kidd Brewer, whose 1937 squad was unbeaten and unscored upon during the regular season, outscoring opponents 206–0.[5]
Through its history, the Appalachian State football program has won some 661 games, claimed three NCAA Championships, and appeared in either a bowl game or, alternatively, the Division I FCS playoffs, some 35 times. The Mountaineers have 22 conference championships and have one of the nation's best home field advantages by winning percentage. The program boasts a back-to-back Walter Payton Award winner, Armanti Edwards, the first ever to win in consecutive years (2008, 2009).[6] Appalachian's all-time winning percentage of .646 ranks 16th among all programs.[7]
The Mountaineers competed in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) from its founding in 1978 to 2013. They won three straight national championships from 2005 to 2007, the first FCS team to do so since the playoffs began in 1978. Appalachian is also the first Division I program to win three consecutive national championships since Army accomplished the feat from 1944 to 1946,[8] and the first Division I school in the modern era to claim three straight undisputed national titles.[9] When FCS Appalachian State defeated No. 5 Michigan in 2007, it was the first time an FCS team had defeated any ranked FBS program. Appalachian State then tallied votes itself and became the first FCS team to receive votes in a final Associated Press (AP) college football poll.[10] The Mountaineers received five points in the poll.[11]
Appalachian State moved on from FCS to FBS in 2014, and has already enjoyed AP Top 25 rankings during several of its seasons (e.g., 2018, 2019, 2020) in FBS.[12] The Mountaineers finished the 2019 season with a final AP poll ranking at No. 19 (and Coaches No. 18) after winning its fifth straight bowl game, third straight Sun Belt Championship, and statement victories over both UNC and USC in out-of-conference matchups at Chapel Hill and Columbia.[12] With a 7–1 record in modern NCAA-sanctioned bowl games, Appalachian has the highest bowl winning percentage of any football program to have played in five or more.
- ^ NCAA Statistics https://stats.ncaa.org/teams/history?utf8=✓&org_id=27&sport_code=MFB&commit=Search
- ^ "University Colors :: University Communications Toolbox :: Appalachian State University". Retrieved March 28, 2016.
- ^ "Appalachian State: About the University". Appalachian State University. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
- ^ Bowman, Tommy (March 25, 2013). "Appalachian State to leave SoCon for Sun Belt". Winston Salem Journal.
- ^ Flynn, Mike (2008). 2008 Appalachian Football: Kidd Brewer Stadium (PDF). Appalachian Sports Information. p. 194. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 17, 2012. Retrieved August 26, 2008.
- ^ "App. State's Armanti Edwards wins Walter Payton award". ESPN. Associated Press. December 19, 2008. Archived from the original on February 7, 2009. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
- ^ "Winsipedia - College football ALL-TIME RECORD (WINNING %) (*minimum 100 games) rankings". Winsipedia. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
- ^ Appalachian Sports Information (December 14, 2007). "Thrice is Nice: Apps Rout Delaware For Third-Straight National Title". AppStateSports.
- ^ Army's three consecutive national titles were all split championships. The only other Division I school to claim three consecutive national titles in the 20th century was Minnesota, with a consensus title in 1934 and split titles in 1935 and 1936. The last school with three consecutive undisputed national titles in Division I or its predecessors was Yale, retroactively designated by the Helms Athletic Foundation as national champions in 1886 through 1888. For sourced lists of past national champions in Division I FBS and its predecessors, see College football national championships in NCAA Division I FBS.
- ^ Appalachian Sports Information (January 8, 2008). "Mountaineer Football Notebook: ASU Receives Votes in Final AP Poll". AppStateSports.
- ^ "2007 NCAA Football Rankings – Final (Jan. 8)". ESPN. Associated Press. January 8, 2008.
- ^ a b "Appalachian State Mountaineers Football Record By Year". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 29, 2022.