Appalachian State's football schedule for 2012 will include a state Football Bowl Subdivision team, a recurrent Football Championship Subdivision power and another former FCS playoff team.
East Carolina, Montana and Coastal Carolina will be the nonconference opponents on the schedule, which includes six home games and was announced Wednesday.
Coach Jerry Moore of the Mountaineers said it is a stronger schedule than this past season's, and that's fine with him.
"I don't think there's ever been any question about the fact that we like to play good football teams," Moore said Wednesday from Atlanta, where he was recruiting. "And we have three really good (nonconference) football games on this schedule."
The much-anticipated Montana game is the first regular-season meeting between the FCS powers. The Mountaineers and Grizzlies have five national titles between them, and are the winningest FCS programs since 2005.
"It gives us something to look forward to, particularly Montana coming to our place," said Moore, whose team will open the season at home against the Grizzlies on Sept. 1. "A lot of our fans haven't seen Montana play."
The Mountaineers and Grizzlies have played twice, both times in the FCS semifinals in Missoula, Mont. The Griz won both down-to-the-wire games, 19-16 in overtime in 2000 and 24-17 in 2009.
ASU is scheduled to play at Montana in 2013 as part of a home-and-home agreement.
The Mountaineers will play at East Carolina on Sept. 8. The teams last met in 2009 in Greenville. The Pirates, who now are coached by former ASU defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill, hung on for a 29-24 victory after leading 24-0.
"I like the opportunity to play East Carolina, and I know our fans do," Moore said. "From a personal standpoint, I like Ruffin — he's a good coach — and they've got a fine program. It will be a great atmosphere to play in just like it was a year ago down there. I hope someday we can get that game in Boone."
ASU has played Coastal Carolina twice, winning a regular-season game 30-3 in 2005 and a playoff game 45-28 in 2006.
The Mountaineers' first Southern Conference game will be at home against The Citadel on Sept. 15.
ASU's open date next season is on the final week of the regular season. If the Mountaineers were to get a first-round bye in the FCS playoffs, as has been the case the past two seasons, it would have a three-week gap between its final regular-season game Nov. 10 and playoff opener Dec. 1.
Moore said it's too early to tell how much of a plus or minus such a situation would be, but often there isn't a choice of dates in scheduling.
"I don't think you can help that," Moore said. "That's something you can't really control. It's been hard for us to schedule, and you can't have everything exactly like you want it. If we're good enough to have a bye, we'll take advantage of the extra time. We'll use those to work.
"You never know how that might work out. There have been times we've had open dates in the middle of the season when I wish we could have kept on playing. You don't know until the time comes, and it's not something you can really pick and choose anyway."
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