MOBILE, Ala. — Appalachian State University football earned its Sun Belt Conference-record-tying 10th win of the season with a heart-stopping 34-27 victory over South Alabama in Saturday evening's regular-season finale at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Appalachian State (10-2, 7-1 Sun Belt) became the fourth team in Sun Belt history to win 10 games and only the second to accomplish the feat during the regular season. Appalachian also reached the 10-win mark in the regular season for only the fourth time in its 86-year program history.
Saturday's historic win did not come easy. Due mainly to a season-high-tying four turnovers, App State squandered a 24-7 halftime lead and fell behind, 27-24, on a 41-yard field goal by South Alabama's Aleem Sunanon with with 9:48 to go in the ballgame.
However, Appalachian answered with a 50-yard field goal by
Zach Matics to knot the score at 27-27, got a huge three-and-out from its defense, then put together perhaps the biggest drive of the season when it marched 65 yards in eight plays and took the lead on
Jalin Moore's 18-yard touchdown run with 1:16 left on the clock.
South Alabama (5-7, 3-5 Sun Belt) made it interesting when it returned the ensuing kickoff 46 yards to near midfield but, four plays later, true freshman and Alabama native
Tae Hayes broke up a pass on fourth-and-three to seal the nail-biting triumph.
Appalachian State had chances to put the game away in the first half, as it outgained South Alabama by a whopping 344-155 margin before halftime. However, the Mountaineers fumbled into the end zone twice and the Jaguars recovered both times to keep App State from blowing the doors off the contest before the break.
The Mountaineers' inability to put the game out of reach in the first half nearly came back to bite them in the second. South Alabama dominated the action for the first 20 minutes after halftime, and aided by two more Appalachian turnovers, scored 20 unanswered points to take the three-point lead on Sunanon's field goal with less than 10 minutes to play.
From the beginning of the second half until South Alabama's go-ahead field goal, the Jaguars outgained the Mountaineers, 198-31. However, with their backs to the wall, the Mountaineers outgained USA, 107-12, over the final 9:48 of the ballgame.
Moore, a redshirt freshman, ran six times for 57 yards on the game-winning drive, including a four-yard gain on fourth-and-two from the USA 46 yard line, followed by 24 and 18-yard runs that capped the Mountaineers' biggest possession of the season.
Despite Moore's late-game heroics, the story of the game for Appalachian State offensively was junior running back
Marcus Cox, who ran for 192 yards on just 14 carries (13.7 avg.). The 100-yard game was the seventh of the season and the 21st in 35 career games for Cox, who moved within one 100-yard game of the school record of 22, set by Appalachian Hall-of-Famer John Settle from 1983-86.
Defensively, sophomore linebacker
Eric Boggs and senior defensive lineman
Ronald Blair both registered career highs with 15 and 11 tackles, respectively. Boggs also recorded his third interception of the season while Blair added 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks to lead the Mountaineers' defensive effort.
Appalachian State now awaits its first-ever NCAA bowl bid, which is expected to come on Sunday afternoon.
NOTES: Appalachian State finished alone in second place in the 2015 Sun Belt Conference standings, one game behind conference champion Arkansas State (9-3, 8-0 Sun Belt) … Appalachian has won 16 of its last 18 games overall and 13 of its last 14 Sun Belt games … the Mountaineers won their sixth-straight game in the state of Alabama … App State hasn't dropped a game in the Yellowhammer State since a 22-15 defeat at Auburn in the 1999 season opener … Appalachian State's five road wins are its most in a regular season since it went 6-0 on the road in 1995 ... Appalachian's four turnovers matched the season high it committed in a 41-10 loss at Clemson on Sept. 12 … Matics' 51-yard field goal in the first half matched his season long, originally set on Oct. 3 vs. Wyoming … before he made two 50-yarders on Saturday, the 51-yard field goal against Wyoming was the lone 5-harder of Matics' career … with his perfect 2-for-2 night, Matics moved to 13-for-14 this season … his .929 field-goal percentage ranks second nationally … with a 74-yard run on the first play from scrimmage, Cox moved into fourth on Appalachian State's all-time rushing list, surpassing Damon Scott (3,800 yards - 1993-96) … Cox finished the evening with 3,926 career rushing yards … with an 18-yard touchdown reception, Cox also became only the fourth student-athlete and third non-kicker in Appalachian State history with 400 career points … with a 58-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter, senior
Simms McElfresh moved alone into eight place in Appalachian State history with 13 career touchdown receptions … with two touchdown passes, sophomore quarterback
Taylor Lamb upped his season total to 29, just one shy of the single-season school record of 30, set by Armanti Edwards in 2009.
