BOONE, N.C. — Quarantined at the team hotel the previous night,
Jalin Moore found himself surrounded by Appalachian State teammates at the back of a Malone Stadium end zone.
They had raced downfield to celebrate his long touchdown against ULM. He was hunched over, unable to hold in the fluids he had ingested leading up to the Sun Belt Conference matchup.
Flu-like symptoms put Moore's availability for the ULM game in serious doubt. His sickness wasn't evident on the stat sheet, as Moore came off the bench to score three touchdowns while rushing for 114 yards and posting a career-high 84 receiving yards.
"The first couple days of having flu symptoms, it felt like I was in a box," said Moore, who reported that he's feeling better in advance of Thursday's home game against Georgia Southern. "You have a fever, are waking up with cold chills, have a cough, a headache. It's pretty tough feeling like that.
"The main thing was doing what you're told and getting medicine in, getting liquids in. I followed directions. I had just enough energy to come out and perform and try to help the team."
After rushing for 1,402 yards and being recognized as the Sun Belt's Offensive Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2016, Moore has battled through injuries and illness to rush for 563 yards and average 5.0 yards per carry this season. He's played only the first half in three games, and he missed the entire UMass game on Oct. 28.
Moore didn't practice in advance of the UMass or ULM trips, meaning he had been sidelined for two full weeks before taking the field for the first time with App State facing a 14-0 deficit against the Warhawks.
"We tried not to play him," App State head coach
Scott Satterfield said, "but things were happening, and he wanted to play, so we said, 'Go ahead; go for it.' He played awesome and provided that spark offensively for us. That's the best he's played all year, and we needed it. Just a gutsy performance."
It was the second 100-yard rushing game of the season for Moore, who had 241 yards in a 45-31 victory against New Mexico State, making him one of two active FBS backs with three career games of at least 240 rushing yards. Moore's effort also helped open up the passing game, as
Taylor Lamb threw for 339 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions.
If Moore had been feeling sick before App State left Boone on Friday morning, there was a possibility of him flying to Monroe separately, but he didn't have a fever. It returned Friday night, and while a team meal was being held in a hotel conference room, Moore sat alone at a table in a relatively dark common area in the middle of the hotel.
Moore made his first in-game appearance Saturday with 5:59 left in the first quarter, and the Mountaineers trailed 28-17 late in the first half when he caught a drive-starting swing pass from Lamb near the right sideline. Moore used downfield blocks from receiver
Thomas Hennigan and 300-pound right tackle
Beau Nunn, who was 17 yards beyond the line of scrimmage, to run free for a 75-yard touchdown.
"Two-minute drill, I'm just supposed to catch it, get what I can and get out," Moore said. "As soon as I caught it, I see it's one-on-one with me and the guy, and when you see Beau coming and wash him up, I had to cut it up across the field. If I don't score there, I might get cussed at, but I had to take the chance."
By the time Moore reached the end zone, he was back to feeling rough again. Cameras caught him struggling to stay upright once the play ended, and he received fluids at halftime.
"I felt it coming within 10 yards of the touchdown," Moore said. "After I got all that out, it felt good to be back out there making plays for the team."
Moore helped App State take third-quarter leads of 31-28 and 38-35 with touchdown runs of 2 and 5 yards. With the Mountaineers driving for a tying touchdown in the final three minutes of regulation, he gained 2 yards on a fourth-and-1 carry from the ULM 34 and helped turn a potentially negative play into a 9-yard gain to the 20 on a third-and-7 pass from Lamb, who was under heavy pressure.
Ike Lewis hauled in a 20-yard touchdown pass two plays later.
With four-year starter
Marcus Cox also serving as a productive receiver out of the backfield from 2013-16, Moore didn't have to catch many passes in his first two seasons. He had no receptions as a freshman and five catches for 32 yards as a sophomore.
He has 10 catches for 154 yards as a junior, and the 75-yard play at ULM was his first receiving touchdown.
"I feel like I've really improved catching out of the backfield," Moore said. "It's something I always knew I could do, but Marcus did a great job. Now my role has increased, and I'm kind of filling those shoes and showing everybody I have the ability to catch the ball."
There's no questioning his toughness after Saturday.
