Postgame Notes from App State's Win at Troy

POSTGAME NOTES: App State 45, Troy 7

With a 6-1 record in league play, App State clinched the Sun Belt East Division for the third time in four years since the conference split into divisions in 2018. The Mountaineers have won six or more league games every year since joining the Sun Belt in 2014. 
 
The Mountaineers have earned a berth as the East's representative in the 2021 Sun Belt Championship Game, to be played at West champion Louisiana on Dec. 4. App State won the league's first two championship games in 2018 and 2019. Last year's game was not played between Louisiana and Coastal Carolina due to COVID issues.
 
Trailing 7-3 until the closing seconds of the first half, App State reeled off 42 straight points and racked up 27 first downs while allowing only six to the Trojans for the game.
 
At 9-2, App State is one of three programs that have won nine or more games every year since 2015, along with Alabama and Oklahoma. Clemson has a chance to join them if the 8-3 Tigers win one more game this season.
 
Since App State joined the FBS in 2014, its 31 road wins are tied for No. 2 nationally, behind just Boise State's 33. Clemson and Ohio State also have 31 road wins in that span. App State's 55-10 record against Sun Belt teams includes a 25-6 mark in league road games.
 
The Mountaineers have now won 16 of their last 17 games in the month of November.   

Super-senior wide receiver Thomas Hennigan extended his FBS record for career starts to 62. The previous record of 57 was held by Clemson OL Mitch Wyatt (2015-18) and Alabama OL Ross Pierschbacher (2015-18).
  
Three App State players – Thomas Hennigan, Caleb Spurlin and Xavier Subotsch – played in their 63rd career game and broke the old school record of 62 set previously by Pierre Banks.

App State improved to 7-3 all-time against Troy, including a 6-1 mark since the Mountaineers joined the FBS ranks. This was App State's fourth win in six tries playing at Troy.
 
Shawn Clark's 19 wins are the most by an App State head coach in his first two seasons. His 79.2 winning percentage (19-5) ranks sixth among active FBS head coaches.
 
App State's 79 wins (to 22 losses) since its 2014 transition to FBS are the sixth-highest total nationally, behind just Alabama (101-9), Clemson (97-13), Ohio State (92-10), Oklahoma (85-18) and Georgia (83-20).

DEFENSE
 
App State gave up only seven points for the second straight game. The Mountaineers held Troy to 142 total yards, 109 passing yards and 33 rushing yards, all season bests for the App State defense. The 142 total yards and 109 passing yards were season lows for the Trojans.
 
This was the fourth time this year the Mountaineers held a team below 300 total yards and the sixth time holding an opponent under 100 rushing yards.
 
After Troy's touchdown with 6:15 left in the first quarter gave it a 7-3 lead, the App State defense allowed only one more first down and 19 total yards over the final 51 minutes as App State turned the four-point deficit into a 38-point lead.
 
T.D. Roof had a monster game with four tackles, 2.0 TFLs, a sack and an interception. His crushing sack when the Mountaineers trailed 7-3 started a string of events that produced 21 points in a rapid-fire span of 3 minutes and 21 seconds. His interception and run back to the Troy 10-yard line set up an App State touchdown on the next play to give the Mountaineers a commanding 24-7 lead early in the third quarter.
 
App State's 117 interceptions since the start of the 2015 season are the most in the nation in that span, ahead of Alabama's 113. 

Trey Cobb, who had two interceptions and a 100-yard touchdown a week ago, forced and recovered a fumble on Troy's first drive.
 
Senior Bowl invitee D'Marco Jackson, who entered the weekend as the only FBS player in 2021 with at least 90 tackles (91), 10 TFLs, 5.0 sacks and one INT, had a team-high five tackles with one for loss against the Trojans.

Logan Doublin recorded his first career sack in the fourth quarter.
 
OFFENSE
 
Led by a stout offensive line, App State piled up 445 total yards and 233 rushing yards, while not allowing a sack, against a Troy defense that entered the weekend as the nation's leader in TFLs per game and third in sacks per game.
 
With 102 rushing yards on the day (with one touchdown), Sun Belt rushing leader Nate Noel eclipsed 1,000 yards on the season to extend App State's nation-best streak of consecutive years with a 1,000-yard rusher to 10. Among current FBS programs, Minnesota and Buffalo share the second-longest active streak of three years.
 
Daetrich Harrington scored his first touchdown since Oct. 22 of last year (vs. Arkansas State). This was his third game played this season after tearing his ACL on Nov. 7 last year at Texas State.
 
Chase Brice finished the day with 212 yards on 17 of 24 passing with three touchdowns and two interceptions.
 
Thomas Hennigan caught seven passes for 85 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown catch was his fourth this year and the 21st of his career (sixth-most in school history).
 
Corey Sutton caught four passes for 76 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown catch was his sixth this year and the 24th of his career (third-most in school history).
 
Tight end Eli Wilson had two catches for 13 yards and his first career touchdown (one play after T.D. Roof's interception).
 
Notre Dame transfer Jahmir Smith scored his first App State touchdown on a 1-yard run in the fourth quarter.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Chandler Staton's school-record streak of field goals made ended at 18 after he made a 24-yarder and then missed a 30-yarder in the first quarter.
 
With one field goal and six PATs in the game, Staton's career scoring total of 443 points is one shy of the school record of 444 set by running back Kevin Richardson from 2004-07.
 
Staton's total of 443 points moved him up to 11th place in FBS history for points by a kicker.