No. 10 Appalachian State University football begins its quest for a fifth-straight Southern Conference championship on Saturday when it hosts the league's newest member, Samford, for the first time in 39 years on Saturday at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.

NOTING SATURDAY'S MATCHUP
•    Appalachian (0-2) has suffered back-to-back five-point losses to open the season — a 29-24 defeat at defending Conference USA champion East Carolina and a 40-35 setback versus NCAA Division I FCS power McNeese State in the home opener on Sept. 12.

•    Samford (2-1) dropped a hard-fought 28-24 decision at FBS foe Central Florida to open the season and has rebounded with back-to-back home triumphs over Jacksonville (27-0) and Miles (31-12).

•    ASU is 0-2 for the first time since beginning the 2003 campaign with road defeats versus Hawaii and Eastern Kentucky.

•    The Mountaineers have not been 0-3 since 1993, when they lost their first four games en route to a 4-7 campaign, the Apps’ only losing season in 20 years under head coach Jerry Moore.

•    The Mountaineers are 15-1 in their last 16 games that immediately followed a same-season loss. Under Moore, the Apps are 47-14 following a same-season loss.

•    Despite losing back-to-back home games for the first time since it fell to Florida A&M in the 1999 I-AA playoffs and Troy State in the 2000 home opener, ASU still sports an impressive 42-3 record in its last 45 home games, including a 21-1 mark against SoCon foes.

•    Appalachian is 29-8 all-time in SoCon openers, including a 16-4 mark under Moore.

•    ASU has won 12-consecutive conference games, which is tied for the third-longest winning streak in league games by any SoCon team since 1974, the fourth-longest since 1959 and the fifth-longest since World War II.

•    Saturday’s game marks just the fourth all-time between between Appalachian and Samford and only the second played in Boone. ASU leads the series, 2-1.

•    Samford joined the SoCon prior to last season and the Mountaineers served as the foe in the Bulldogs’ first-ever home conference game on Oct. 11, 2008. However, the Apps didn’t cooperate with the occasion, as they defeated the ‘ Dogs, 35-24.