Appalachian State let one get away against Southern Mississippi. The Mountaineers returned form Hattiesburg, Mississippi, with a 21-20 loss that included a missed chance in the red zone, two missed field goals, a blocked field goal, and a blocked extra point.
“We just didn’t finish it out,” Mountaineers coach Scott Satterfield said.
Then there was the truncated schedule of this week for the Mountaineers (1-2) as they prepare for a familiar foe in their first league game in the Sun Belt Conference. App State and Georgia Southern — both former members in the Southern Conference — kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Statesboro, Georgia.
“I think it’s extremely difficult, especially having back-to-back road games,” Satterfield said, “and they are road games that are not a couple hours away.”
Georgia Southern comes into this game with a pair of losses on its record. Though the Eagles (2-2, 1-0) could be undefeated. They opened the season with a one-point loss at N.C. State. Two weeks ago, they lost by four points at Georgia Tech.
“If you look at how they’re playing, Georgia Southern has played some of the better teams in the country and, basically, they’d be 4-0 if they finished a couple of games,” Satterfield said.
The Mountaineers will turn to Taylor Lamb to be their starting quarterback for the second straight game. Lamb replaced Kam Bryant as the starter last week at Southern Miss.
“These guys battled through camp and coming out of the Campbell game, we basically looked at decision making and felt Taylor had better decision making,” Satterfield said.
Lamb was 28 for 40 for 264 yards and two touchdowns through the air, and he ran for 39 yards on eight carries.
Satterfield said Lamb’s ability to move the chains with his legs and his arm is something the Mountaineers need in their offense.
Follow Adam Houston on Twitter at @AdamRHouston.