CONWAY, S.C. — Appalachian State made a business trip to the beach and became bowl eligible.
Behind a dominant defensive performance and a strong rushing game that benefited sophomore quarterback
Jacob Huesman in his first start, the Mountaineers picked up their sixth win of the season with a 23-7 victory at Coastal Carolina on Saturday night. Bowl eligible for the fourth straight year, App State is the only FBS program with a bowl win in each of its first three seasons after the complete transition.
"If you've seen what they've been able to do on teams and how they score points, what (the defense) did tonight was phenomenal," App State head coach
Scott Satterfield said. "It may have been one of their better performances all year with the way they played against these guys. I've got a lot of respect for that offense, and if there's ever a night, we needed that tonight.
"We needed to be able to run the football and get them off the field, because they can grind it out. They're usually on the upside of (possession time), and that's huge with what happened. To have a young quarterback that's making his first start, you need those things to happen."
Darrynton Evans' 26-yard touchdown run and Huesman's 33-yard touchdown pass to
Corey Sutton gave the Mountaineers (6-2, 4-1 Sun Belt) a 14-7 halftime lead against the Chanticleers (5-4, 2-3). Coastal was still trailing by seven points when it took over at its 1-yard line following a play that was ruled a fourth-and-goal stop rather than an offensive touchdown early in the final quarter, but safety
Desmond Franklin and inside linebacker
Jordan Fehr led the way on a game-changing safety by App State's defense.
The end-zone tackle by Fehr,
Anthony Flory and several other defenders made it a two-possession game, and Appalachian moved ahead 23-7 when
Marcus Williams Jr. capped a three-play drive after the free kick with a 4-yard touchdown run.
"We knew we were going to face adversity," Fehr said. "To have us get pinned back on a call like that, we knew we had to come after them. We knew what they were running when they came out in that formation, We just took our shot, and it ended up being a safety. It was a great momentum change for the game. It was just what we needed."
Fehr added a career-high three sacks and
Josh Thomas intercepted a pass for an App State defense that surrendered zero points and limited Coastal Carolina to 178 total yards, including 72 on the ground, or 179.6 yards below an average that ranked ninth nationally. The Chanticleers' only points resulted from a 60-yard interception return in which a pass hit off the helmet of the intended receiver who was looking directly into the sun.
Offensively, Evans had 159 rushing yards on 27 carries and Williams Jr. added 103 yards on 19 attempts as the Mountaineers totaled 278 yards on the ground. The work up front and in the backfield provided help for Huesman, who completed 9 of 19 passes for 127 yards while starting in relief of an injured
Zac Thomas. Huesman's perfectly placed deep ball to Sutton put App State ahead for good with 1:40 left in the first half.
"Being the starter, of course that comes with responsibility," Huesman said. "To go out there and be able to get a win for the team, most importantly, get that sixth win and be able to go bowling, win in the conference, which is huge for us, it's just a really rewarding feeling."
Appalachian, which is one game out of first place in the Sun Belt's East Division, returns to action next weekend at Texas State (3-6, 1-4). Troy leads the division with a 5-0 league record, and Georgia Southern joined the Mountaineers at 4-1 with its loss at ULM.
App State finally took control Saturday on the teal turf of Brooks Stadium with its safety and touchdown in the span of 99 fourth-quarter seconds.
Its defense limited Coastal Carolina to 31 yards on its first 19 offensive plays, as the Mountaineers forced four straight three-and-outs and didn't allow the Chanticleers to pick up a first down until less than five minutes remained in the opening half. The score was tied at that point because of Derambez Drinkard's long interception return.
App State's special teams also played an important role, with Franklin downing one punt apiece from
Clayton Howell and
Xavier Subotsch at the 1-yard line. The Mountaineers maintained a 14-7 lead when
Tae Hayes tipped a 50-yard field goal early in the third quarter, and
Thomas Hennigan returned the post-safety free kick 23 yards to the Coastal Carolina 44.
Evans had appeared to either recover a Huesman fumble or take the ball away from Huesman before spinning into the end zone for a touchdown on a fourth-and-goal run from the 2 early in the fourth quarter, but the ruling of a defensive stop stood after a video review. Franklin burst into the backfield to make the first contact against running back CJ Marable, who was then wrapped up by Fehr.
App State recorded its first safety since Fehr was responsible for one against Savannah State last season, and Hennigan's return gave the Mountaineers good field position with a 16-7 lead. Evans' 39-yard run on first down preceded a pair of goal-line carries from Williams Jr., who scored from the 1 with 9:54 remaining.
"Beginning of the game," Evans said, "we both told each other, 'Let's try to both get 100 (yards) this game. We both got 100."
It was the second time App State accomplished that this season, as
Jalin Moore and
D'Andre Hicks both surpassed 100 rushing yards against Gardner-Webb. Huesman also had some key gains on keepers, and the success of the running game as a whole, coupled with more stingy defense, helped produce a critical road victory.
"We have a lot of running backs that have a lot of experience, like me and Darrynton," said Williams Jr., who is part of a group coached by
Stu Holt. "What you can do to help the quarterbacks who haven't had a lot of experience in the game, you can help them with protections or certain plays. (Holt) helped talk to us about letting the quarterback know you have their back and to be on top of things."
