POSTGAME NOTES: App State 26, No. 18 James Madison 23 (OT)
App State won its fourth straight game to move to 7-4 overall and 5-2 in Sun Belt Conference games. It's the longest winning streak since the Mountaineers won six straight to close the 2021 regular season.
App State needs a win over Georgia Southern and a James Madison win over Coastal Carolina next week to earn a berth as the East's representative in the Sun Belt championship game.
This was the Mountaineers' third win over an AP Top 25 team in their last five tries – one per season under head coach
Shawn Clark in 2021, 2022 and 2023. App State is 3-10 against top-25 opponents since moving up to the FBS ranks in 2014.
App State improved to 2-0 in games that were visited by ESPN's College GameDay. Both wins, including last year's in Boone against Troy, were decided by a final-play App State touchdown.
App State's all-time series lead against JMU improved to 13-5 overall and 6-2 in Harrisonburg.
App State improved its road record to 3-3 this season. The Mountaineers' 35 road victories since 2014 are tied with Oklahoma for fifth-most in the FBS over that span. Only Ohio State, Boise State, Clemson and Alabama have more.
This was the Mountaineers' first overtime victory since 2015 (44-41 in 3OT vs. Troy). They had lost five straight OT games and nine of the last 10.
App State and JMU tied with two turnovers apiece. Under head coach
Shawn Clark, the Mountaineers are 17-1 when winning the turnover battle, 6-11 when losing, and 10-4 when they have the same number of turnovers as the opponent.
App State's 86 wins since 2015 are sixth-most in the FBS behind Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State and Oklahoma.
OFFENSE
On a day when the Mountaineers couldn't get much going on the ground,
Joey Aguilar led the way by completing a season-high 28 passes on a season-high 46 attempts for 318 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
Aguilar completed passes to 11 different receivers and threw multiple touchdowns for the 10th time in 11 games. He increased his Sun Belt lead to 29 touchdown passes, which ranks him top 10 in the nation.
Wide receiver
Kaedin Robinson scored the game's first touchdown on an 8-yard slant route for his team-leading seventh touchdown catch of the year, and then scored the game winner in overtime by breaking multiple tackles on his way in for another 8-yard score. He finished the game with four catches for a team-high 68 yards.
Tight end
Eli Wilson caught a 16-yard touchdown from Aguilar on the first play of the fourth quarter to give App State a 17-5 lead. It was the second straight game that the Mountaineers scored on the opening play of the fourth quarter.
DEFENSE
App State held JMU to just 61 rushing yards and allowed one of the country's most prolific passers in Jordan McCloud just one touchdown pass, while also intercepting a pass and forcing a fumble in the first half.
App State's defense racked up a season-high 11 tackles for loss and a season high-tying five sacks, which were both the most allowed by the Dukes' offense this season.
Outside linebacker
Thomas Davis forced the McCloud fumble that was recovered by safety
Nick Ross and led to the game's first touchdown by the Mountaineers.
Cornerback
Ethan Johnson snagged his first interception of the season (and the team's 12th) after a JMU receiver tipped the ball in the air. He also had five tackles, a tackle for loss and two pass breakups.
Sacks came from outside linebacker
Nate Johnson (2), defensive end
Michael Fletcher (2) and defensive end
Kevin Abrams-Verwayne.
Special Teams
Michael Hughes was 2-for-2 on field goals. His first was a 22-yarder that gave App State an early 3-0 lead. His second was a 30-yarder that gave the Mountaineers a 20-12 advantage with 3:55 left in the fourth quarter.
