Last Updated on May 2, 2025 2:11 pm
BOONE, N.C. — Renewing an in-state rivalry that once included annual showdowns as conference foes, App State Football will play host to current SoCon member Western Carolina on Sept. 2, 2028 at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
The two schools, which are separated by less than 140 miles in the North Carolina mountains, faced off on the football field every year from 1932-1941 and 1946-2013. App State made the FCS-to-FBS transition from the SoCon to the Sun Belt Conference in 2014, and the 2028 date would mark the first matchup between the Mountaineers and Catamounts in 5,398 days.
App State's current 2028 schedule includes nonconference home games against in-state opponents Western Carolina, Charlotte (Sept. 16) and NC State (Sept. 30).
Since App State moved up to the FBS level, it has played at least one FCS opponent every year with one exception: in 2016. Following a 2024 nonconference home win against East Tennessee State, the next two seasons include scheduled matchups at The Rock against FCS programs Lindenwood (2025, traveling from Missouri) and South Carolina State (2026), so the 2028 meeting with Western Carolina brings an in-state opponent to Boone with less than a three-hour bus trip required.
App State holds a 59-18-1 lead in the series with the Catamounts, and Western Carolina's 1976 arrival to the SoCon coincided with the introduction of the Old Mountain Jug as a trophy possessed by the head-to-head winner. The Mountaineers' 48-27 home win in their final SoCon game, which closed the 2013 regular season, gave App State its ninth straight victory over the Catamounts and a 31-7 record in Jug games. That includes a 27-2 run in the last 29 matchups.
The Catamounts led entering the fourth quarter of a 38-21 loss at NC State in 2024, when they completed a 7-5 season with a 6-2 record in the SoCon, and they are scheduled to play at Wake Forest this season. They have played an FBS opponent from either the ACC, SEC or Big 12 every season since 2013, including three in-state FBS games against North Carolina and two against NC State.
Since moving to the Sun Belt in 2014, App State has previously played FCS games against former SoCon rivals ETSU, Elon and The Citadel.
