BOONE, N.C. — The main takeaways from App State Football's dramatic 28-20 win against Old Dominion on Saturday: the Mountaineers produced plenty of big ones.
App State's defense recovered three fumbles and sealed the victory with a fourth turnover via
Zyeir Gamble's last-minute interception against the Monarchs, who led 17-7 in the second quarter but added only a chip-shot field goal the rest of the way. A fourth-and-short stop also was part of a strong defensive effort that included five sacks from the Mountaineers (4-4, 2-3 Sun Belt) in front of 34,954 fans at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Joey Aguilar's four touchdown passes resulted in scores by
Kaedin Robinson,
Dalton Stroman,
Kanen Hamlett and
Max Drag — the final two to tight ends making their first career starts with two veterans sidelined. Drag flipped into the end zone with 2:29 left to score from 11 yards out on his first career catch, capping a drive in which workhorse back
Ahmani Marshall rushed for 38 of his 120 yards.
The first defensive takeaway came from sixth-year veteran
Brendan Harrington, who had saved a touchdown by making one of his team-high nine tackles a few moments before recovering a fumble inside the 10.
Defensive tackle
Joshua Donald recorded two sacks among his 3.0 tackles for loss and combined on a fourth-and-1 tackle for no gain with defensive end
Michael Fletcher, who finished with 1.5 sacks. Defensive end
Shawn Collins knocked the ball loose on a fourth-quarter sack, leading to a
Thomas Davis recovery at the App State 36 with the Mountaineers holding a one-point lead to set up their final touchdown drive — a 10-play, run-based march that took more than five minutes.
From there, ODU (4-5, 3-2) picked up two first downs to reach the App State 42 with 1:13 remaining. Donald's second sack of the night, with Fletcher joining the party, put the Monarchs behind the chains and set up a fourth-and-11 scenario. Gamble intercepted an overthrown pass at the 22-yard line, putting the finishing touches on a half in which ODU managed only 24 rushing yards on 14 attempts.
App State followed a 33-26 win against Georgia State in its post-Helene return to The Rock with another home victory against an East Division opponent. Every team in the East has at least one conference loss as the Mountaineers prepare for the quick turnaround of playing at Coastal Carolina on Thursday night in a nationally televised ESPN contest.
ODU took the opening kickoff and quickly moved into the red zone, but Harrington recovered a mishandled exchange involving quarterback Colton Joseph at the Mountaineers' 7-yard line.
App State flipped the field when Aguilar hit Robinson for a 46-yard gain on the next play, and three runs that totaled 26 yards put the Mountaineers in scoring position before Aguilar completed a 23-yard touchdown pass to Robinson on a third-and-12 throw.
Eight straight ODU runs moved the Monarchs inside App State's 10 on the next series, and a third-and-5 incompletion from the 8 set up a short field goal. The Mountaineers had a chance to increase their margin to 14-3 as Aguilar delivered a deep throw to the end zone on a fourth-and-6 play from the ODU 33, but defensive back Daevon Iles knocked the ball free from Robinson at the last moment.
The Monarchs scored touchdowns on each of their next two possessions, getting scoring throws of 14 and 28 yards from Joseph. App State quickly cut into the 17-7 deficit on Aguilar's 46-yard pass to a streaking Stroman down the right sideline with 3:09 remaining before halftime.
App State forced a punt after the two-minute timeout but had to punt after a three-and-out series, giving the Monarchs one more chance to score before the break. Fletcher, who had a first-half sack, recovered a fumble forced by a Donald sack at the Mountaineers' 36-yard line to end that threat.
Aguilar was intercepted on a deep throw just two plays into the second half, but the fourth-and-1 stop by Donald and Fletcher at the ODU 44 gave the Mountaineers a short field while trailing 17-14. They moved ahead for good on a 4-yard touchdown reception by Hamlett, who had scored a go-ahead touchdown late in the previous win and extended this go-ahead drive with a third-and-6 reception for 19 yards to the ODU 4.
The Monarchs responded with a 14-play scoring drive that lasted more than seven minutes, but they had to settle for their second 25-yard field goal of the game despite having a first down at the App State 5.
Nick Taylor's breakup preceded a stop for no gain by
Santana Hopper and
Nate Johnson, who combined with Fletcher for a third-down sack.
That stand allowed App State to keep the lead — albeit a small one — entering a tense fourth quarter. Both ODU drives in the final period ended with a turnover in App State territory.
