NEW ORLEANS – Appalachian State senior linebacker Kennan Gilchrist (Abbeville, S.C.) has been named the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week. 

Gilchrist had two sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss in App State's 35-10 win over Texas State on Saturday. The senior had a team-high eight tackles and, after Texas State took a brief 3-0 lead, was a big part of the Mountaineers forcing six Bobcat punts and an interception on their next seven drives. 

The Mountaineers finished with 13 tackles for loss and four sacks in the win, holding Texas State to only 197 yards of total offense. 

Gilchrist is sixth in the Sun Belt in conference play in sacks with three and second in tackles for loss with 11. He is second on the team with 65 stops this season.  

App State leads the Sun Belt in scoring defense allowing 8.4 points per game and has held back-to-back opponents under 200 yards of total offense.  

App travels to Troy, Ala. to face Troy (7-1, 4-0 Sun Belt) in a battle of conference unbeaten on Saturday. Kickoff is at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN3. App won a 44-41 thriller in three overtimes last season at The Rock.