Andrew Carter (with the Charlotte Observer) brought up an interesting thought a few days ago with his article titled, “Don’t Fight the New Rivalry, App State. Give in to Coastal and Forget Georgia Southern.” So intriguing, in fact, I decided to write my opinion on the subject matter. So, here is the response to that article from an App State alum.

Carter’s article started out by saying a poll was shared on Twitter, via The Observer, comparing the rivalries between Appalachian State (football) and Coastal Carolina/Georgia Southern. With the emergence of Coastal Carolina football in recent years, The Observer wanted to know who fans thought was the better rivalry. Carter then went on to state the response was overwhelmingly in favor of the App State-Georgia Southern rivalry, with Twitter users pretty much claiming how you can’t even compare the two. Basically, “App State-Georgia Southern is what it always was, and App State-Georgia Southern is what it will always be,” is what they commented. Which I presume is what led Andrew Carter to write his article.

I wholeheartedly agree with the Twitter users on this one. Appalachian State-Georgia Southern is an intense rivalry game that I, and other alumni/students/fans, look forward to every year. I remember the Black Saturday games in Boone against Georgia Southern during my time as a student there, and just how much fun they were, and how much hatred went towards Georgia Southern. Both sides love to hate each other and it’s been that way for a long time.

The first meeting between the two teams took place way back in 1932, when both schools had “Teacher’s College” on the end of their names. Because of a long period of Georgia Southern not having a football program in following decades, the two schools have only played 34 more times since (App State leads the series 19-15-1). But they’ve played each other every single year since 1993 when Georgia Southern joined the Southern Conference. In 2014, both schools jumped up into the Sun Belt Conference together, where they both found immediate success. So, the rivalry definitely has some history. And results have been pretty even as well.

Coastal Carolina football has really jumped onto the scene in recent years, coinciding with Georgia Southern having some bumpy years. This is one of Andrew Carter’s biggest arguments for a new rivalry. But although Coastal is indeed trending up and Georgia Southern down, that doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way. Just three years ago Georgia Southern compiled a 10-win season. They just haven’t done very much since. But you know for a fact they won’t stay on the bottom for too long. That’s because we all know they are too proud of a football program to do so. And just the same, we are not certain that Coastal Carolina is here to stay either. If we try to establish a new rivalry now, just because the App-Coastal games are really fun right now, then what happens in a few years when Georgia Southern is good again and Coastal is having a rough time. We wouldn’t be able to pretend that the big rivalry is still with Coastal. And we can’t just flip-flop rivalries either, depending on which team is better.

With all that being said, Carter made some good points. The fact that App State and Coastal are both in the Carolinas is a huge plus for a rivalry. It would be a little closer of a distance, too. Also the fact that the geographies of the two schools are completely different makes things a lot of fun. One is a mountain school, while the other is a beach school. I think that would definitely help lend to a great rivalry. And it still could be a great rivalry for many years to come. There are plenty of schools with more than one rivalry. But it will never be THE rivalry. Because that’s with Georgia Southern and it has been for way too long not to be.

Again, props to Andrew Carter for writing the article in the first place, and I would love to hear more opinions, though it sounds like with The Observer’s Twitter Poll’s response we don’t necessarily need to.

Garett

Response to Charlotte Observer Article About App State Rivalry With Georgia Southern/Coastal Carolina