NORFOLK, Va. — Appalachian State University football outgained Old Dominion, 501-175, and handed the Monarchs their first-ever shutout in a 49-0 romp on Saturday afternoon at rainy Foreman Field.
The shutout win was Appalachian State's second in three games this season and its fourth in its last 14 games overall. However, it had been 16 years since the Mountaineers' last road shutout at The Citadel in 1999 (51-0 on Sept. 25, 1999).
Terrence Upshaw opened the scoring with a six-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter but the tide of the game turned in the second period when
Taylor Lamb threw three of his career-best four touchdown passes and linebacker
Devan Stringer returned a fumble 77 yards for a score to help the Mountaineers grab a commanding 35-0 halftime lead.
Bobo Beathard,
Shaedon Meadors and
Marcus Cox hauled in touchdown passes of 53, 41 and 24 yards from Lamb in the second quarter but the highlight of the period came when Stringer scooped up a fumble by Old Dominion quarterback Shuler Bentley and showed game-breaking speed to pull away from all 11 Monarchs. The 77-yard touchdown was the first of the sophomore's career.
In all, Appalachian State (2-1) scored on four of its six offensive possessions and outgained ODU (2-2), 296-116, en route to the 35-0 halftime lead.
After the break, the Mountaineers picked up where they left off in the first half, as a one-yard touchdown catch by tight end
Hunter Nunn and a 22-yard touchdown run by
Jalin Moore stretched the advantage to 49-0 and signaled the end of the day for most of App State's starters with more than four minutes still to go in the third quarter.
While Appalachian State took the foot off the pedal offensively in the final 19 minutes of the ballgame, the defense kept the Monarchs off the board to preserve the shutout. In fact, the Mountaineers' defense was even more stingy in the second half than it was in the first, limiting ODU to just 59 yards after the break.
Linebacker
John Law led the defensive effort with a team-best seven tackles, a tackle for loss and his second interception of the season. Defensive end
Nate Norwood added six stops, including a sack and one-and-a-half tackles for loss, and cornerback
Latrell Gibbs picked off his third pass in as many games this season.
Appalachian's defense limited ODU running back Ray Lawry, the nation's No. 4-leading rusher, to 22 yards on eight carries (129 yards below his 151.0-yard average coming in).
One game after throwing a career-high three interceptions during a four-pass stretch at No. 12 Clemson, Lamb was nearly flawless in a steady rain on Saturday. The sophomore completed 11-of-15 passes without an interception for 187 yards and the career-high four touchdowns in less than three quarters of work. His 266.05 pass-efficiency rating shattered his previous career high of 206.93 set in the Mountaineers' season-opening win versus Howard.
Cox rushed for 107 yards on 23 carries and a score to go along with his 24-yard touchdown reception. The 100-yard rushing effort was the junior's sixth-straight and his 17th in 27 career games. He also moved into sixth on Appalachian State's all-time rushing list with 2,976 career yards.
Meadors and Beathard led the Mountaineers' receiving corps with 68 and 60 yards, respectively. Both totals came on only two receptions and included a touchdown catch.
Appalachian State returns home for the first time in a month next Saturday when it hosts Mountain West Conference opponent Wyoming. Kickoff for the homecoming contest at Kidd Brewer Stadium is set for 3:30 p.m.
NOTES: Appalachian State's 35-0 halftime lead was its largest in a road game since it led 35-0 at the half at Chattanooga on Oct. 7, 2006 ... prior to Saturday, Old Dominion had never been shutout in an opening half, much less an entire game ... the margin of defeat was ODU's biggest ever at home, surpassing its 42-point home loss at the hands of Conference USA champion Marshall on Oct. 4 of last season (56-14) ... the win was the first by a Sun Belt Conference team over a C-USA opponent since UL Lafayette beat Tulane, 24-21, in the 2013 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl ... Appalachian moved to 20-13 all-time versus current members of C-USA ... however, the win was the Mountaineers' first-ever over an active member of C-USA — App State was 0-3 previously against teams that were C-USA members at the time of the contest (29-24 and 35-13 losses at East Carolina in 2009 and 2012, respectively, and a 21-20 loss at Southern Miss last season) ... Stringer's 77-yard scoop-and-score was Appalachian State's first defensive touchdown of the season ... all three passes caught by App State tight ends this season have been touchdowns (
Barrett Burns – 2 ; Nunn – 1).
