BOONE, N.C. — App State's Senior Day streak continued thanks to a second-half surge on a rainy, division-clinching afternoon at The Rock.
Darrynton Evans' three touchdown runs after halftime allowed the 24th-ranked Mountaineers to break free and claim a 35-13 victory against Sun Belt foe Texas State. Senior linebacker
Noel Cook made a key interception against the Bobcats for the second straight year, and his third-quarter pick followed a pass deflection from senior defensive tackle
E.J. Scott, who recorded two sacks.
The win for App State (10-1, 6-1 Sun Belt) and Georgia Southern's loss at Arkansas State means the Mountaineers have clinched the East Division title and a spot in the Sun Belt Championship Game on Dec. 7. If they win at Troy on Friday night, they'll host the championship game in Boone against Louisiana, which clinched the West Division title Saturday night.
"We've got a fun team, so any time we get to come out here and play with these guys is always fun," senior offensive tackle
Victor Johnson said. "I'm definitely going to miss playing at The Rock, so hopefully we get one more here."
Evans rushed for 154 yards and
Zac Thomas threw two touchdown passes to lead the offense Saturday for App State, which won on Senior Day at Kidd Brewer Stadium for the 22nd straight year. Seventeen players were honored before the game, and the fifth-year quintet of Johnson,
Akeem Davis-Gaither,
Desmond Franklin,
Collin Reed and
Josh Thomas improved their career records to 51-12 overall, 35-5 against Sun Belt programs and 26-4 at home.
In addition to being No. 24 in the College Football Playoff rankings, the league-leading Mountaineers are No. 22 in the Amway Coaches Poll and No. 23 in the AP Top 25.
"It's always good to win on Senior Day," App State head coach
Eliah Drinkwitz said. "It took us a little bit to get going.
Noel Cook's interception in the third quarter was a huge momentum boost for our team. We were able to capitalize there and finish it off. I'm proud of the way our guys fought and hung in there."
Texas State (3-8, 2-5) used a 48-yard field goal to cut its second-half deficit to 14-13 before Evans scored on runs of 13 and 10 yards in the final six minutes of the third quarter. He added a 13-yard touchdown run with 6:26 remaining as App State finished with a 468-208 advantage in total offense.
The Bobcats regained possession trailing by just one midway through the third period, but Scott deflected the first-down throw, and Cook intercepted the ball at the Texas State 39 before returning it 10 yards. He had barely missed an interception off a deflected pass earlier in the game.
"I kind of just felt like I needed a redemption for missing the first one, so it just felt really good to go out there and provide the momentum we needed," Cook said. "But I have to credit that to E.J. right here because if he didn't deflect the ball, then that play wouldn't have happened."
Four plays later, Evans raced into the end zone to help push the Mountaineers ahead 21-13. Scott's first career sack and a tossing tackle from
D'Marco Jackson forced another Texas State punt, and Evans capped a six-play, 67-yard drive with a touchdown on the final play of the third quarter.
App State took the lead for good on its first drive, with
Zac Thomas completing a third-and-7 throw to
Malik Williams for 28 yards and then hitting
Corey Sutton in stride for a 45-yard touchdown.
Texas State converted a 48-yard field goal early in the second quarter, and the Mountaineers increased their advantage to 14-3 on Thomas' 19-yard touchdown pass to
Keishawn Watson with one minute remaining before halftime. Evans' 47-yard run set up the pass to Watson, a graduate transfer who scored for the first time in an App State uniform.
"It's always good to get the first one," Watson said, "but it was easy because it was just me doing my job."
The Bobcats did manage to answer before the break, as Tyler Vitt threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Javen Banks with three seconds left in the half, and they briefly drew closer after halftime.
The running of Evans and defensive work from several seniors made sure that App State secured a win in its last regular-season home game. Cook, like Scott, began his college career as a walk-on.
"There were times when I felt like I didn't know if I was going to make it to this day," Cook said, "so just being able to grind it out and seeing all the hard work that me and E.J. and all the other seniors have put in to show up on the field, it just means the world to me."
