BOONE, N.C. - No. 3 Appalachian State University's defense not only limited Chattanooga's high-powered offense to just 12 points but also provided all of Appalachian's scoring in a heart-stopping 14-12 win over the 13th-ranked Mocs on Saturday afternoon at jam-packed Kidd Brewer Stadium.
With Chattanooga threatening to stretch a 6-0 lead to a two-score advantage on the final play of the third quarter, Appalachian's Rodger Walker scooped up an errant snap on a UTC field-goal attempt and returned the fumble 73 yards for a touchdown that gave ASU an improbable 7-6 lead going into the final period. Just 1:22 later, linebacker Jeremy Kimbrough intercepted a pass by Chattanooga's B.J. Coleman and rumbled 46 yards for what proved to be the winning points.
Buoyed by great field position after ASU was flagged for excessive celebration following Kimbrough's score, Coleman bounced back from the costly interception to engineer a nine-play, 53-yard drive that culminated with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Sloan Allison that cut the Mountaineer lead to 14-12 with 9:51 to go. However, on the ensuing two-point-conversion attempt, UTC's Marlon Anthony couldn't overcome tight ASU coverage to catch a pass from Coleman and the Mountaineers maintained their two-point advantage.
From there, Appalachian's offense was able to pick up four crucial first downs over its final two possessions and run nearly seven-and-a-half minutes off the clock. The Mountaineers punted the ball back to Chattanooga with 42 seconds remaining in the ballgame but on the first play of the Mocs' ensuing drive, true freshman cornerback Doug Middleton intercepted a wobby pass from Coleman at the UTC 40 yard line to seal the thrilling victory.
In all, ASU's defense limited UTC to 302 yards, nearly 50 below its average coming in, including just 32 yards on the ground, almost 100 fewer than it averaged over its first three games. Using a multitude of blitzes, Mountaineers punished Coleman throughout the afternoon, sacking him four times and hurrying him on seven more occasions. Appalachian also broke up 10 passes, as Coleman completed just 22 of his 42 attempts.
Kimbrough led the stellar defensive performance with 11 tackles, two sacks, two-and-a-half tackles for loss, two pass break-ups and a quarterback hurry to go along with his first interception and touchdown of his career. Fellow junior linebacker Brandon Grier also tallied 11 tackles and cornerback Demetrius McCray had three pass break-ups to go along with a sack, forced fumble and a quarterback hurry.
Offensively, the Mountaineers squandered a number of opportunities to put points on the board throughout the afternoon. ASU had at least one first down on eight of its 11 possessions (not counting when it took a knee on the final play of the game) and was in Chattanooga territory six times. However, three turnovers and a missed field goal stymied ASU, which did not score an offensive touchdown for the first time since a 24-0 loss at LSU in 2005.
Despite throwing two interceptions for only the fourth time in his career, DeAndre Presley totaled 195 yards of offense (143 passing, 52 rushing) to lead Appalachian offensively. Travaris Cadet led all rushers with 63 yards and Brian Quick caught five passes for 65 yards.
The win was ASU's seventh-straight over Chattanooga but its second that required a late rally. The Mountaineers came back from a 21-point fourth quarter deficit to down the Mocs, 42-41, in last year's season opener. In addition, Appalachian extended its home winning streak over the Mocs to 14 games and won for the 24th time in the last 27 meetings between the two squads.
Things don't get any easier for the Mountaineers, as they travel to No. 9 Wofford next Saturday for another much-anticipated Southern Conference clash. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. and the game will be televised across the Southeast on the SoCon Sports Network.
NOTES: Appalachian won its fourth SoCon opener in a row and its 18th-straight conference opener played at home (ASU's last SoCon-opening loss in Boone was a 27-21 setback to Furman in 1982) ... ASU is 32-8 all-time in SoCon openers ... UTC has not won in Boone since a 30-9 triumph over the Mountaineers at then-Conrad Stadium on Oct. 8, 1983 ... Appalachian moved to 58-4 in its last 62 home games ... ASU is 34-10 in its last 44 games against nationally ranked FCS opponents, dating back to 2003 ... ASU's scoreless first half was its first against an NCAA Division I FCS opponent since Oct. 16, 2004 at Georgia Southern ... Appalachian's defense held an opponent to fewer than 50 rushing yards for the second-straight week (Savannah State had only 41 last Saturday against ASU) and the seventh time in last 44 games (dating back to the second game of the 2008 season) ... FCS opponents are averaging just eight points per game against the Mountaineers this season ... prior to this season, the last time that three-consecutive Appalachian opponents combined to score fewer than 25 points was Nov. 1-15, 1997 when Chattanooga, VMI and Western Carolina managed just 21 total points (seven apiece) in ASU victories ... Quick moved ahead of former teammate Matt Cline into third all-time at ASU with 155 career receptions ... Quick is just 45 catches shy of the ASU record of 200, set by DaVon Fowlkes from 2001-04 ... Middleton made his first-career start at free safety in place of Patrick Blalock, who was not dressed due to a thigh injury.
