SAN MARCOS, Texas — Zac Thomas wasted little time announcing his return, even though Appalachian State chewed up plenty of clock with its scoring drives.
Thomas' 43-yard pass to
Collin Reed on App State's first offensive play triggered a productive day for the sophomore quarterback, and
Chris Willis' backfield pressure set up
Noel Cook's goalline interception that served as the biggest momentum swing in a 38-7 victory at Texas State on Saturday.
"It's a business-like approach what we've done the last two weeks," said App State head coach
Scott Satterfield, who improved his career record to 48-24, moving him into sole possession of third place for coaching victories at the school. "What we've done defensively, holding these teams to low yardage, creating turnovers today, and last week our special teams were outstanding. Today, our offense picked up, so we're finding ways to win football games as a complete team with the offense and defense really feeding off each other."
Thomas, who sat out last weekend's win after playing only one series in the previous game, completed 25 of 36 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns. With help from receiver
Mock Adams' downfield block,
Darrynton Evans reached the end zone for the second time with a 79-yard run that gave the Mountaineers a 28-0 lead just two plays into the second half, and Texas State finally ended the defense's shutout bid midway through the third quarter.
App State has allowed single-digit points in six of its last eight games, and its opponents have totaled 14 second-half points in the Mountaineers' seven victories.
"Everybody was out there just playing hard and doing their jobs," safety
Josh Thomas said. "That's all you can ask for."
Appalachian (7-2, 5-1) engineered scoring drives of 13, 13 and 17 plays in the victory, which, coupled with a road win for Troy (8-2, 6-0) at Georgia Southern (7-3, 4-2), left the Mountaineers with sole possession of second place in the Sun Belt's East Division. They close the regular season with home games against Georgia State and Troy over the next two weeks, meaning App State controls its chances of hosting the first Sun Belt Championship Game.
Austin Exford's recovery of a fumble forced by Thomas in the opening two minutes preceded App State's first touchdown drive, a three-play series that ended with
Dominique Heath gaining 16 yards and scoring from the 8-yard line on consecutive receptions.
A quick 3-for-3 start for 67 yards was the beginning of a solid day from
Zac Thomas, who completed throws to nine players and also rushed for 76 yards.
"It felt phenomenal just being out there helping the team," he said. "Being off those two weeks really helped me out, both in the physical and mental part of the game. I healed up, and I feel fantastic."
Thomas' 1-yard touchdown pass to Reed early in the second quarter pushed the Mountaineers ahead 14-0, and Texas State (3-7, 1-5) was in position to cut into its deficit when it reached the App State 2 midway through the second quarter.
Willis' pursuit of backup quarterback Tyler Vitt during a third-and-goal play from the 4 forced a desperate, fluttering throw that was intercepted by Cook at the 3, and App State responded with a 13-play, 95-yard touchdown drive to move ahead 21-0.
"We really focus on our position in the gaps and fitting like a puzzle," Willis said. "All day, the quarterback had been throwing the ball on time, and we were just focused on trying to get him down. There, he just held it too long and threw it out late."
The Mountaineers' 17-play scoring drive lasted more than eight minutes, concluding with a 29-yard field goal from
Chandler Staton early in the fourth quarter, and true freshman running back
Camerun Peoples scored the first touchdown of his young career on a 9-yard run behind a block from center
Noah Hannon. Peoples ranked third on the team with 42 rushing yards on five carries, all in the fourth quarter, and Evans had a team-high 86 rushing yards on his nine attempts.
Willis and
Okon Godwin recorded sacks for a defense that limited the Bobcats to 218 total yards, and
MyQuon Stout made App State's second fumble recovery of the game in the final 90 seconds. Inside linebackers
Anthony Flory and
Jordan Fehr tied for the team lead with nine tackles apiece.
