BOONE, N.C. — Led by a defense that limited UL Lafayette to 246 yards and pitched a shutout until the final minute of the game, Appalachian State University football closed the home portion of its 2015 schedule in style with a 28-7 romp over the Ragin' Cajuns on Saturday afternoon at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Highlighting the dominant defensive effort, Appalachian State (9-2, 6-1 Sun Belt) surrendered just 42 rushing yards on 36 carries (1.2 yards per attempt), tallied nine tackles for loss, sacked UL Lafayette quarterback Brooks Haack six times and hurried him eight times.
The Mountaineers allowed just 171 yards, forced eight punts and blocked a field goal through UL Lafayette's first nine possessions, but the Cajuns spoiled the shutout bid by marching 75 yards against mostly Mountaineer reserves and scoring their only points with 57 seconds to go in the ballgame.
Senior defensive lineman
Ronald Blair and sophomore linebacker
Eric Boggs led the Mountaineers' spectacular defensive effort. Blair tallied a team-high eight tackles with a tackle for loss and a quarterback hurry while Boggs finished with a career-high three sacks among his six tackles. Playing in his final game at Kidd Brewer Stadium because he has elected to forego his final season of eligibility after graduating, fourth-year junior
Tashion Singleton added a sack and two tackles for loss.
Offensively, Appalachian State quietly racked up 402 total yards. The Mountaineers gashed the Cajuns for 230 yards and 5.0 yards per rush on the ground and completed 14-of-21 passes for 172 yards through the air.
Appalachian scored one touchdown in each quarter to account for its 28 points. Playing for the first time in 23 days, running back
Marcus Cox scored on nine- and one-yard runs to give the Mountaineers a 14-0 halftime lead. Freshman
Jalin Moore made it 21-0 with a career-long 54-yard run in the third quarter and walk-on tight end
Michael Moll closed the scoring with his first-career touchdown catch, a two-yarder in the final period.
Moore and Cox combined for 182 rushing yards — 104 for Moore and 78 for Cox. Quarterback
Taylor Lamb added 36 yards on the ground to go along with his 14-for-21, 172-yard passing performance. Seniors
Malachi Jones,
Simms McElfresh and
Montez McGuire led the receiving corps by totaling eight catches for 139 yards — three for 58 for Jones, three for 44 for McElfresh and two for 37 for McGuire.
With the win, Appalachian stayed in contention for the Sun Belt Conference championship heading into the final week of the season. Appalachian is one game behind league-leading Arkansas State (8-3, 7-0 Sun Belt) with one game to play. The Mountaineers travel to South Alabama (5-6, 3-4 Sun Belt) while A-State hosts Texas State (3-8, 2-5 Sun Belt) next Saturday.
The Mountaineers' season finale at South Alabama is set for 7:30 p.m. ET at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. The Sun Belt Network Game of the Week will be carried nationally on ESPN3.
NOTES: Appalachian State won for the 15th time in its last 17 games overall and 12th time in its last 13 Sun Belt games ... the Mountaineers' nine wins are their most in a season since they finished 10-3 in 2010 ... Appalachian finished 5-1 at home this season, good for its most home wins since it went 6-1 at Kidd Brewer Stadium in 2011 ... the Mountaineers won for the seventh time in their last eight games that immediately followed a regular-season bye .. App State fell just 57 seconds shy of recording its third-straight shutout following a bye — the Mountaineers blanked Georgia State, 44-0, following their second bye of last season (Nov. 1) and whitewashed Old Dominion, 49-0, following their first bye this season (Sept. 29) ... in two all-time games against UL Lafayette, Appalachian has totaled 12 sacks and 16 tackles for loss ... the Mountaineers' six sacks were their most since they had six in last season's 35-16 win at UL-L ... on his nine-yard touchdown run in the first half, Cox became the first student-athlete in school history to rush for 1,000 yards as a freshman, sophomore and junior ... Cox has run for 1,069 yards through 10 games this season.
