‘Gamechanger for our entire university’: App State relishes ESPN College GameDay spotlight

By Anjali Patel

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    BOONE, North Carolina (WLOS) — This weekend, all eyes are on Appalachian State University in a way they’ve never been before. College football’s premier pregame show, ESPN’s College GameDay, is in Boone for the first time in the show’s history, spotlighting the Mountaineers’ Sun Belt Conference opener against Troy University on Saturday, Sept. 17.

The opportunity to be in the limelight came after a momentous start to App State’s football season, which began with a nail-biter against UNC, followed by an upset of a highly ranked Texas A&M team in week two.

“I saw the reaction, post-A&M game, the parade mentality, like charging into the downtown city, that was frickin’ fantastic,” said David Pollack, an ESPN College GameDay analyst. “So, I was like, this is going to be awesome.”

On Friday, Sept. 16, the set for the national broadcast was all set up in the heart of campus at Sanford Mall. Students and faculty gathered around in awe, relishing an opportunity some feel is long overdue.

“This is absolutely insane. I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Rachel Fleig, a senior at App State. “The atmosphere this whole week, it’s just been really a game-changer for our entire university.”

“Whenever they announced that GameDay was coming, I lost it,” said sophomore J.P. Neri. “People just don’t know how to act, and I don’t know how to act.” App State is the 77th different school and only the second Sun Belt Conference school that College GameDay has visited.

“They call us the ‘fun belt’ for a reason, so we like to have fun. We have a great culture. Our fans are rowdy,” Neri said.

“It’s so exciting — I can’t even contain my excitement,” said senior Jacob Cantrell.

It’s an opportunity to showcase the school and all it has to offer. ESPN analyst Desmond Howard said the broadcast will be like “a 3-hour infomercial for App State.”

“We love coming to places we’ve never been before and giving these programs the type of attention that we feel as though they deserve, and Appalachian State, they’ve earned the opportunity to have GameDay on their campus,” Howard said.

ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis said they were initially planning to take their show to Texas A&M this week to showcase their game against Miami University. But it was App State’s huge win over the Aggies last week that instead had show organizers considering heading to the mountains.

“Appalachian State’s been a story for two weeks — why not go there?” Davis said. “There’s nothing more exciting than to take the show to a place where it hasn’t been and a place that’s really excited to have us.”

Davis said he expects the Mountaineers to beat Troy this weekend, describing App State football as “top-flight, hard-nose football, able to compete with the upper echelon.”

Pollack said the landscape of college football is changing, and it’s often the trips to the smaller schools that seldom get spotlights like this that are the most memorable for him.

“It’s just different. It’s a different feel. It’s a different vibe,” Pollack said. “We like great football, but we also like great atmospheres, so we can get both now with App State.”

The analysts spoke highly of App State’s consistency over the years, noting how they’ve remained a force to be reckoned with in their conference, no matter the team’s leadership.

“We understand what they’ve been building here at App State for years and years and years, and now the rest of the college football world gets to get a glimpse of it, too,” Howard said. North Carolina-native country singer, and former App State student, Luke Combs will join the show as the Week 3 guest picker.

The three-hour show will be live from Sanford Mall on campus from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Sept. 17, ahead of the matchup between Troy and App State, which kicks off at 3:30 p.m.

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