BOONE, N.C. — Stephen Burns, Kennan Gilchrist and Doug Middleton combined to smother a fake field-goal attempt in triple overtime and Zach Matics followed with a 24-yard game-winner to lift Appalachian State University football to a 44-41 victory over Troy on Saturday in the longest game in Kidd Brewer Stadium history.
With the victory, Appalachian State (7-1, 4-0 Sun Belt) remained unbeaten in Sun Belt Conference play, setting the stage for a colossal Sun Belt showdown versus Arkansas State (4-3, 3-0 Sun Belt going in to Saturday night's home game versus Georgia State) on Thursday night at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
Saturday's App State-Troy barn-burner was tied at 31-31 going into overtime and the teams traded touchdowns in the first extra period and field goals in the second to send it to the third overtime knotted at 41 apiece.
Troy (2-6, 1-3 Sun Belt) got the ball first in the third overtime and marched 20 yards to the five yard line. Facing fourth-and-two, the Trojans took a timeout then came out in field-goal formation, apparently content to try to take a 44-41 lead. Instead, holder John Johnson took the snap and shoveled a quick pass to Clark Quisenberry. However, the trio of Burns, Gilchrist and Middleton was not fooled and met Quisenberry at the line of scrimmage to snuff out the fake attempt and force the turnover on downs.
Needing only a field goal to win, Appalachian State drove all the way to the five yard line on its ensuing possession, thanks in large part to a 15-yard run by Marcus Cox on third and four from the 19. Three plays later, Matics split the uprights from 24 yards out to set off a raucous celebration at The Rock.
The Mountaineers pulled out the three-OT win despite being outgained (450-432) for only the third time this season.
The contest was a tight affair throughout, featuring six ties and neither team ever leading by more than seven points. Despite being unable to put the pesky Trojans away, Appalachian State never trailed in regulation — its only deficit came when Troy scored first in the opening overtime.
Offensively, App State was led by Cox, who ran for 140 yards on a season-high 30 carries and quarterback Taylor Lamb, who was responsible for a career-high-tying four touchdowns (two rushing, two passing). Senior wideout Bobo Beathard was Lamb's favorite target with four catches for 62 yards.
Defensively, the Mountaineers were once again led by senior defensive end Ronald Blair, who had seven tackles, a game-high 2.5 tackles for loss and a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown that gave Appalachian a 7-0 lead just 55 seconds into the game.
Sophomore linebacker Eric Boggs led all tacklers with a career-high 14 while junior cornerback Mondo Williams also set a new career high with nine stops.
Troy quarterback Brandon Silvers completed 27-of-41 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown, but was intercepted twice, with both pickoffs leading directly to Mountaineer touchdowns.
NOTES: Appalachian State moved to 6-6 all-time in overtime games, but snapped a four-game skid in overtime affairs ... the Mountaineers had not won a game in extra time since winning at The Citadel, 30-27, on Oct. 3, 2009 ... App State won an overtime game at home for the first time in school history (the Apps were 0-3 in OT games at Kidd Brewer Stadium prior to Saturday) ... Appalachian State won its 10th-straight Sun Belt Conference game, which is tied for the fourth-longest conference winning streak in Sun Belt history ... the Mountaineers also won for the 13th time in the last 14 games overall ... Blair's interception return for a touchdown was Appalachian's fourth defensive touchdown of the season ... the Mountaineers intercepted at least one pass for the ninth-straight game ... Cox's 100-yard game was the 20th of his career, which moved him into a tie with Damon Scott (1993-96) for the second-most in school history ... just 32 games into his career, Cox is just two shy of the program record of 22 100-yard rushing performances, set by John Settle (1983-86) ... Cox also became the fifth student-athlete in Appalachian State history to rush for 3,500 yards in a career, finishing the day with 3,582 career yards.
