Appalachian State has been on the extreme ends of the spectrum in the win and loss columns this season. The Mountaineers opened the season Aug. 30 with a 52-14 loss at Michigan, and they rebounded from that with a 66-0 thrashing of Campbell on Saturday at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Now, App State (1-1) gets a break. The team has a bye this week ahead of its nonconference game at Southern Mississippi. It’s early in the season, but head coach Scott Satterfield still sees the timing of the bye week as a positive.
“Actually, I think it’s at a good time,” he said Monday. “We’ve played two games, and we got a good feel for where the team is headed. ,,,This is a good week for us to work on a few things.”
Against Michigan, the Mountaineers were down 14-0 in the second quarter. Then the Wolverines, who were shut out last week against No. 11 Notre Dame, scored three touchdowns in the final four minutes of the half to essentially seal the opening-weekend victory.
Wolverines quarterback Devin Gardener was 13 of 14 on passes for 173 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Derrick Greene carried the ball 15 times for 170 yards and a touchdown. Michigan racked up 560 yards in total offense.
The Mountaineers managed less than 300 yards of total offense in the season opener.
App State was the aggressor Saturday in its shutout of Campbell. The Fighting Camels were held to just 95 yards on offense and had only six first downs.
In Southern Miss, App State will see an opponent more in its weight class.
“I think of Michigan as a big-time level and, of course, we’re above Campbell,” Satterfield said. “For us, it’s going to give us a good gauge playing a peer institution. We’re getting ready to get into the meat of our schedule.”
Following the road game against the Golden Eagles, there is a Thursday night game against Georgia Southern on Sept. 25 that kicks off Sun Belt Conference play.
Satterfield said the Mountaineers planned to spend two days this week working on Southern Miss and another on Georgia Southern. But the Mountaineers will mostly use it to turn the attention on themselves instead of focusing on an opponent.
“For us, this week, it’s more about us and the fundamentals,” Satterfield said.
Follow Adam Houston on Twitter at @AdamRHouston.