The Lindenwood Lions (0-2) went back out on the road this weekend to face the Appalachian State Mountaineers (2-0) of the Sun Belt Conference, marking their second-ever matchup against a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponent. Despite a strong performance and a tightly contested game, the Lions came up just short in a 20-13 loss.
“Coming out of last week we challenged our guys to respond to adversity, show fight and grit,” said head coach Jed Stugart.
The Lions traveled out to Boone, North Carolina, to a hostile environment at Kid Brewer Stadium as the Mountaineers came in as heavy favorites, favored by 31.5 points and fresh off a week one win over Charlotte, while the Lions came in hungry for their first win of the year.
App State received the opening kickoff and on their first play from scrimmage, quarterback AJ Swann hit a streaking Dalton Stroman for a 72-yard touchdown to put the Mountaineers 7-0. Swann finished the game 19/34 for 294 yards, two touchdowns, and one pick. He also picked up 15 yards on the ground.
Lindenwood got the ball for the first time and began to motor down the field using a 19-yard pass from Nate Glantz to Jared Rhodes to move the Lions into Mountaineer territory. Rhodes was the workhorse for Lindenwood as star running back Steve Hall left with an injury after just tallying one carry for negative three yards.
Rhodes struggled to find running lanes all game as he only finished with 20 yards on 11 carries, and as a team, the Lions were held to -1 total rushing yards on 33 combined carries with their longest run being only eight yards.
The drive would turn sour for Lindenwood, though as on third and seven from the App State 42-yard line, Glantz would overthrow his receiver and have his pass picked off by DJ Burks for his first interception of the season.
Glantz would finish the game 20/36 for 217 yards with one touchdown and two picks while also getting sacked eight times. It was a rough go for the Lion offense, who were outgained by the Mountaineers 503-216.
App State got the ball back following the interception and began to motor down the field again leading to Swann hitting Stroman for a 47 yard gain and appeared to have App State’s second touchdown in as many drives but after review he had the ball punched out before he crossed the goal line for a fumble and touchback taking points off the board and giving the ball back to Lindenwood.
After a quick punt from the Lions, App State would find the end zone, extending their lead to 14-0 after Swann hit three consecutive passes of 10+ yards, capped off by a 13-yard strike to Jaden Barnes with 3:32 left in the first.
Lindenwood would get on the board early in the second quarter on an eight-play 54-yard drive capped off by Glantz rushing in from one yard out, but the ensuing extra point from Will Graham would be blocked, making the score 14-6.
That score would remain the same heading into half as the Mountaineers would threaten late, but an Eric Gant interception would put an end to any chance of App State extending their lead.
App State would commit their third turnover of the game on their opening drive of the second half as Rashod Dubinion took a first-and-10 handoff from the App State 45-yard line and rumbled 18 yards before having the ball punched out at the Lindenwood 37-yard line and pounced on by Zach Lewis, giving the ball back to the Lions.
The Lions would struggle to contain Dubinion and the Mountaineers’ rushing attack as Dubinion carried the ball 25 times for 194 yards, a part of the 209 total rushing yards App State had as a team.
App State would extend its lead late in the third quarter to 17-6 after a Dominic De Freitas 29-yard field goal and then drive 61 yards on 11 plays, ending with another De Freitas field goal early in the fourth, putting the Mountaineers up two touchdowns at 20-6.
The Lindenwood offense continued to get stuffed up front by the App State defense, but the Lions’ defense would continue to make big plays as they would force their fourth turnover of the game, again punching the ball out from the arms of Dubinion, his second fumble of the game, setting the Lions up nicely with some momentum late in the game.
Glantz would hit Drew Krobath and Darrin Fugitt for passes of 13 and 14 yards to set the Lions up inside Mountaineer territory before the App State defensive line would get home on back-to-back plays, forcing a fourth and 14 from the Mountaineer 24-yard line.
On fourth down, the Mountaineers would again pressure Glantz, forcing him to scramble all the way back to midfield before chucking the ball as far as he could throw it deep into the corner of the endzone, before finding the arms of redshirt freshman Rico Bond for one of the unbelievable touchdown passes ever, cutting into the Mountaineer lead at 20-13.
Bond had a coming-out party with John Anthony sidelined due to injury as the St. Louis native hauled in a career high seven passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. The connection from Glantz to Bond made it to ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10 #7 play of the day.
Following the touchdown, Lindenwood lined up for an onside kick and Graham executed it to perfection, hitting a low-bouncing kick that careened off an App State upman and shot back upfield 15 yards before Lindenwood punter, A.J. Vinatieri, pounced on the loose ball, giving the ball back to the Lions offense with a chance to tie.
However, the App State defense would be up to the challenge as they would force Lindenwood into a fourth and seven situation before Glantz trying to play hero ball again airmailed a pass that was intercepted by Elijah Mc-Cantos giving the ball back to the Mountaineers needing just one first down to seal the win and they would get it as Dubinion would rumble for nine yards sealing the 20-13 win for App State and leaving Lindenwood searching for their first win of 2025 and their first win over an FBS opponent.
“All we wanted to see was effort every snap. That’s exactly what we saw tonight. We had our opportunities to win tonight, and we have to still clean that up, but effort is what kept us in it,” Stugart said after the loss.
Lindenwood heads back out east next week to Charleston, South Carolina, to take on the Charleston Southern Buccaneers in their first OVC-Big South conference game of the year. Lindenwood will be looking to replicate its performance from 2024 against the Buccaneers, where the Lions won 29-14. Kickoff from Charleston will happen at 3:00 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+ or listened to on the radio on 89.1 KCLC: https://streamdb3web.securenetsystems.net/cirrusencore/index.cfm?stationcallsign=KCLC
