Appalachian State welcomes back seven starters from a stout defense that averaged allowing 15.5 points per game last season and was a key reason the Mountaineers won the Sun Belt Conference championship and reached the program’s first-ever national ranking.

Senior linebacker Jordan Fehr, a first-team All-Sun Belt player last fall, leads a group broken down with three linebackers, two defensive linemen and two defensive backs among the seven returning starters.

With the season two months away, here is a little appetizer, as we look at the returning starters as well as three key returning special teams starters with a couple of notes to go with each Mountaineer:

Returning Defensive Starters By The Numbers

DE, No. 90 Chris Willis, Jr. - Started five of the final six games at DE and had sacks in three of those wins.

DE, No. 57 Elijah Diarrassouba, Jr. - Started all 13 games at one defensive end spot and had key sack against Troy.

ILB, No. 59 Jordan Fehr, Sr. - First-team All-Sun Belt selection led App State with 5.5 sacks and had 86 tackles.

OLB, No. 24 Akeem Davis-Gaither, Sr. - Second-team All-Sun Belt choice had seven PBUs and a team-high 105 tackles.

OLB, No. 20 Noel Cook, Sr. - Started last 12 games at outside linebacker and led App State with 11.5 TFLs.

SS, No. 7 Josh Thomas, Sr. - Team captain in 2018 had 43 tackles and ended four-INT season with bowl INT.

FS, No. 6 Desmond Franklin, Sr. - All-Sun Belt first-team selection tied for No. 2 in league with four interceptions.

Returning Specialist By The Numbers

PK, No. 91 Chandler Staton, Jr. - Went 12 of 16 on field goals and 61 of 61 on PATs to total 97 points last season.

P, No. 30 Clayton Howell, So. - Freshman All-American ranked No. 8 in FBS with a 41.9 net punting average.

H, No. 39 Xavier Subotsch, Jr. - Starting holder on field goals/extra points and backup punter during 2018

Note: Other returning player that started at least one game, OLB Tim Frizzell (1)

Statistics courtesy of App State Athletics