BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University football handed Georgia Southern its first-ever Sun Belt Conference defeat with a 31-13 thumping on Thursday evening at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
An electric, overflow crowd of 24,121 and a national-television audience saw Appalachian State (6-1, 3-0 Sun Belt) thoroughly dominate Georgia Southern (5-2, 3-1 Sun Belt) to snap the Eagles' 11-game Sun Belt winning streak and extend its own conference winning streak to nine games.
With the victory, the Mountaineers also became bowl eligible in their first full-fledged season as a member of NCAA Division I FBS. Appalachian State is the 20th team nationally to become bowl eligible this season and the first from North Carolina.
Appalachian beat Georgia Southern at its own game, outrushing the nation's No. 1 rushing team, 231-188. The Eagles' season-low 188 rushing yards were 211 yards below their average coming in.
The Mountaineers also limited Georgia Southern running back Matt Breida, the nation's No. 3 rusher with a 146.7 yards-per-game average coming in, to just 78 yards. Breida only managed 52 yards through three quarters before picking up a third of his total yardage after the game was decided in the final period.
Breida recorded more than half of his yardage on the opening series of the game, as he accounted for 44 of the Eagles' 86 yards on an eight-play drive that culminated with quarterback Kevin Ellison's 12-yard touchdown run that gave Georgia Southern an early 7-0 lead.
However, after the opening series, it was all Mountaineers. After surrendering 86 yards on Georgia Southern's opening possession, Appalachian State outgained the Eagles, 227-29, over the rest of the first half to take a 17-7 halftime lead.
App State scored on three of its five first-half possessions. Zach Matics opened the scoring for the Mountaineers with a 44-yard field goal on its first offensive series. After being forced to punt on its second possession, Appalachian put together back-to-back touchdown drives, capped by an 18-yard run by Marcus Cox and a nine-yard pass from Taylor Lamb to Simms McElfresh that gave the Mountaineers the 10-point lead at the break.
After being forced to punt following each of its first two series to open the second half, junior cornerback Mondo Williams pulled momentum firmly back into Appalachian's corner midway through the third quarter when he intercepted Ellison to give the Mountaineers the ball at midfield. Three plays later, Lamb found wide-open tight end Barrett Burns down the right sideline for a 33-yard touchdown that gave Appalachian State a commanding 24-7 lead.
The Mountaineers erased any doubt about the final outcome with 6:33 to go in the final period when Cox scored from six yards out to make it 31-7.
Georgia Southern marched 75 yards to score a meaningless touchdown with 3:31 to go and Appalachian State took a knee at the Eagles' two yard line in the final minute to account for the final margin.
Senior defensive end Ronald Blair led the Mountaineers' dominating defensive effort with a team-high-tying eight tackles, including a game-high three for loss. Sophomore linebacker Eric Boggs also recorded eight tackles and junior safety Alex Gray added six tackles, one tackle for loss and an interception.
As a team, Appalachian State made 10 stops behind the line of scrimmage for a total of 29 yards. The Mountaineers tallied 10 tackles for loss for the second time this month — they also had 10 TFL against Wyoming on Oct. 3.
Lamb headlined the Mountaineers' efficient offensive performance by completing 14-of-20 passes for 202 yards and two touchdowns. His favorite target was McElfresh, who caught six passes for 66 yards.
Cox ran for a game-high 90 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries and also caught two passes for 36 yards. Redshirt freshman Jalin Moore and sophomore Terrence Upshaw added 53 and 48 yards on the ground, respectively.
Appalachian State returns to action on Oct. 31 when it hosts Troy at 3:30 p.m. at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
NOTES: Appalachian State beat Georgia Southern for the fourth time in the last five meetings, sixth time in the last eight meetings and ninth time in the last 13 meetings ... the Mountaineers beat the Eagles at Kidd Brewer Stadium for the fourth-straight time and moved to 12-3-1 all-time against Georgia Southern in Boone ... Appalachian now owns the Sun Belt's longest winning streak in conference games at nine, five games better than Arkansas State's four-game winning streak in league games ... the Mountaineers' six wins this season have come by an average score of 43-7 ... Appalachian State's defense has not allowed more than two touchdowns in any of its six victories ... Appalachian State moved to 74-14 in its last 88 home games ... the Mountaineers played in front of an above-capacity crowd for the 56th time in the last 61 regular-season home games.
