TROY, Ala. – Appalachian State University football put together a dominating performance and picked up its first-ever Sun Belt Conference victory with a 53-14 rout over five-time Sun Belt champion Troy on Saturday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
After falling into an early 7-0 hole, Appalachian State (2-5, 1-2 Sun Belt) scored 53 of the game's final 60 points – including 29 unanswered to close it out – and finished with a 551-308 advantage in total yardage in the win, its first over an NCAA Division I FBS opponent since its historic 34-32 win at No. 5 Michigan in 2007.
Aided by two penalties and a conversion on fourth-and-eight, Troy (1-6, 1-2 Sun Belt) scored on its opening possession to grab the early 7-0 lead but it was all Mountaineers from there.
App State needed exactly one play to draw even as, for the second-straight game, the Mountaineers scored on their first offensive snap when Taylor Lamb found Malachi Jones for a 59-yard touchdown pass to knot the score at 7-7.
The Mountaineers' touchdown on their first offensive play opened a 24-point onslaught over the next 15 minutes that gave App State a commanding 24-7 lead less than six minutes into the second quarter. The early scoring barrage included a 37-yard field goal by Bentlee Critcher, defensive end Olawale Dada's 20-yard return of a fumble forced by outside linebacker Osvaldo Sombo and the first of three touchdown runs by Marcus Cox, a two-yarder that gave Appalachian the 17-point advantage with 9:56 still left to play in the first half.
Troy cut the Apps' advantage to 24-14 on a 99-yard kickoff return by Chandler Worthy (his second kickoff return for a touchdown in as many games) but that would be the last points the Trojans' would score.
App State took a 26-14 lead into halftime thanks to a bizarre safety on the final play of the first half. With 13 seconds to go in the half and Appalachian on Troy's eight yard line, Lamb completed a pass to wideout Montez McGuire near the goal line. As McGuire tried to stretch the ball into the end zone for a touchdown, he fumbled into the arms of Troy defensive back Mark Wilson. When he caught the ball, Wilson ran back into Troy's end zone where he was tackled by App State center Graham Fisher that stretched the Mountaineers' lead to 12 points with one second remaining on the first-half clock.
As dominant as Appalachian State was in the first half, it was even more so after the break when it outscored the Trojans, 27-0, to finish off the romp. Cox scored on runs of 33 and one yard, Lamb ran it in from 16 yards out and backup quarterback Kameron Bryant closed out the scoring on a three-yard run with 10:22 still left in the ballgame.
Appalachian State's 551 yards included a whopping 441 on the ground, good for the Mountaineers' highest rushing total since they ran for 448 yards against Jacksonville on Sept. 6, 2008.
For the second-straight week, Appalachian's ground attack featured two 100-yard rushers in Cox (123 yards on 16 carries) and junior Ricky Fergerson, who came off the bench to amass 107 yards on 10 carries. The Mountaineers nearly had four 100-yard rushers, as Lamb ran for a career-high 98 yards on eight carries and Terrence Upshaw rushed 11 times for 82 yards before leaving the game with a minor lower-body injury in the third quarter.
Defensively, Appalachian State forced four turnovers, limited Troy to a 7-of-20 conversion rate on third and fourth downs and surrendered just one touchdown in the win. The Mountaineers also held the Trojans, who rushed for 360 yards in last week's 41-24 win over New Mexico State, to just 79 yards on 32 carries (2.5 avg.).
True freshman cornerback Latrell Gibbs headlined the stout defensive performance with career-high eight tackles and the first two interceptions of his career, the first of which set up an Appalachian State touchdown. Inside linebacker D.J. Ward led the Mountaineers with a career-high nine tackles.
Appalachian State has a bye next Saturday before returning home to host Georgia State on Saturday, Nov. 1. Kickoff for App State's Family Weekend contest is set for 3:30 p.m. at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
NOTES: Appalachian State, which is in its first season as a member of NCAA Division I FBS, beat an FBS team for the first time since its historic 34-32 victory over Michigan on Sept. 1, 2007 … the win snapped Appalachian's 10-game losing streak against FBS opponents … the Mountaineers snapped a four-game losing streak with the win and avoided dropping five-straight games for the first time since 1977 … App State moved to 2-2 all-time against Troy and 2-1 at Veterans Memorial Stadium … the Mountaineers' 39-point margin of victory was its largest in a conference game since it toppled Wofford, 70-24, in a Southern Conference matchup on Oct. 31, 2008 … the 39-point margin of victory was also the second-largest in a Sun Belt game this season, behind only Arkansas State's 52-10 win over Georgia State last Saturday … the Mountaineers' 441 rushing yards were the second-most by a Sun Belt team this season, behind only Georgia Southern's 564 rushing yards against Savannah State on Sept. 6 … only a sophomore, Cox moved into Appalachian State's all-time top 10 on Saturday for rushing touchdowns in a career … his 24 career rushing touchdowns are tied for seventh in school history with Alvin Parker (1980-83) … with three touchdown runs on Saturday, Cox surpassed D.J. Campbell (22 – 1989-92), Richie Williams (22 – 2002-05) and current head coach Scott Satterfield (23 – 1992-95) on Appalachian State's all-time rushing touchdowns list … Fisher, a senior that has never played a position outside of the offensive line during his collegiate career, has a safety and a reception to his credit – in addition to Saturday's safety, he had a 13-yard catch on a deflected pass against Montana in 2012.
