For the first time in program history, Appalachian State enters a game ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll. The No. 25 Mountaineers (5-1) travel to face Georgia Southern (6-1) Thursday in a game between two of the three remaining undefeated teams in Sun Belt play.

Everyone knows about Appalachian State’s historic upset of Michigan in the Big House in 2007, but there’s so much more to appreciate about the program and its rise than one game that was played more than a decade ago.

Here’s what you need to know about Appalachian State, by the numbers:

• 2014 – Appalachian State’s first season back in the FBS, after a 32-year hiatus.
• 265 – The Mountaineers’ average rushing yards per game, the seventh-best average nationally.
• 44.8 – Appalachian State’s average points per game, the fifth-highest mark in the country. Only Alabama, Houston, Oklahoma and Utah State average more per game.
• 42 – Wins since the start of the 2014 season. Granted the conference affiliations, schedules and statures of the programs are different, but just for perspective, that’s the same number as USC. It’s more than Penn State (41) and Auburn (38), and slightly behind Washington (43) and Georgia (47).
• 15.7 – The average points allowed by Appalachian State’s defense, the 11th-best mark in the country, one spot ahead of Alabama.
• 11  – Power 5 programs that haven’t been ranked since Appalachian State joined the FBS in 2014. Fans of Maryland (2013), Oregon State (2013), Vanderbilt (2013), Rutgers (2012), Illinois (2011), Virginia (2011), Kansas (2009), Wake Forest (2008), Purdue (2007), Syracuse (2001) and Indiana (1994) have endured longer AP poll droughts than the Mountaineer faithful.
• 7 – Power 5 teams we’re putting on upset alert for the future. Appalachian State has future games against North Carolina, South Carolina, Wake Forest, Wisconsin, Miami (FL), Texas A&M and Clemson currently scheduled.
• 5 – Number of Appalachian State’s 15 losses since 2014 that have come against AP Top 25 teams.
• 3 – Number of losses by seven points or less against FBS opponents since 2014. Appalachian State lost 20-13 in overtime at No. 9 Tennessee in 2016, 20-19 against Wake Forest last year and 45-38 in overtime at No. 10 Penn State this season.
• 3 – Bowl wins in the last three seasons. Only Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Wisconsin, Utah, Mississippi State and Louisiana Tech can also claim that distinction – and the first three schools had the benefit of playing multiple bowl games in a season by making the College Football Playoff.
• 2 – Conference championships in its first four FBS seasons.
• 0.50 – The average number of kicks/punts blocked per game by Appalachian State this season, the fourth-best average in the country.