Postgame Notes from App State's Win vs. Old Dominion

POSTGAME NOTES: App State 28, Old Dominion 20
 
App State won for the second straight week to improve its record to 4-4 overall (for the second straight year) and 2-3 in Sun Belt play.
 
The Mountaineers improved to 4-1 all-time against the Monarchs, dating back to 2015. App State has won all three matchups in Boone.
 
For the first time this season, App State won the turnover battle, snapping a streak of six straight games in which it had a negative turnover margin. Since Shawn Clark became head coach, App State is 19-1 when it wins the turnover battle.
 
Attendance at Kidd Brewer Stadium was 34,954, the sixth-largest crowd in stadium history.
 
Legendary national championship-winning quarterback Armanti Edwards was recognized at halftime with an On-Campus Salute by the National Football Foundation ahead of his upcoming induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. He was joined on the field by fellow App State members of the Hall, Dexter Coakley and Jerry Moore. Edwards will be officially inducted on Dec. 10 at the NFF awards dinner in Las Vegas.
 
App State improved to 99-39 since joining the FBS ranks in 2014. The only FBS programs with more wins in that span are Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia, Oklahoma, Notre Dame and Boise State.
 
The Mountaineers' home winning percentage of .836 (56-11) since 2014 ranks top 10 in the FBS and leads non-power conference teams.
 
In his 33rd game as a Mountaineer and 45th as a collegian, running back Ahmani Marshall started for the first time in his career. Sophomore tight end Kanen Hamlett and freshman tight end Max Drag also earned their first career starts (and made key impacts on the final score).
 
App State scored first for the second straight game and for the third time in eight games this year.
 
OFFENSE
 
Joey Aguilar completed 13 of 24 passes for 212 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. He added a season-high 61 rushing yards with several key first-down runs. It was Aguilar's fourth game with four touchdown passes as a Mountaineer and his first this season.
 
For the second straight week, two of Aguilar's touchdown passes resulted in App State taking back a lead. Last year, he led the country with 15 touchdown passes to either tie a game or give his team a lead.
 
With App State holding on to a 1-point lead with less than three minutes left in the fourth quarter, redshirt-freshman tight end Max Drag's first career catch was an 11-yard touchdown from Aguilar that gave the Mountaineers their final winning margin at 28-20.
 
Kaedin Robinson, who led the Mountaineers in receiving yards (78) for the eighth time in eight games, caught his first touchdown of the season with a 23-yard dime from Aguilar to give App State an early 7-0 lead.
 
Robinson has caught a pass in 33 consecutive games, which ranks top 15 among all FBS players. He entered the game ranked 10th nationally and first in the Sun Belt in receiving yards per game.
 
Dalton Stroman caught his fifth touchdown in the last five games with a 46-yarder late in the second quarter. It was one of his two catches for a total of 55 yards.
 
Sophomore tight end Kanen Hamlett scored a touchdown on his fourth career catch, his second touchdown in the last two games. It was two plays after he hauled in a 19-yard catch on a third down to get the Mountaineers down to the ODU 4-yard line.
 
With two running backs out with injury and another (Kanye Roberts) injured during the game, Ahmani Marshall took the entire brunt of the running game on his shoulders and responded with 120 yards on a career-high 23 carries in his first career start. He valiantly rushed seven times for 38 yards on App State's final fourth-quarter drive that ended with a touchdown and an eight-point lead.
 
Marshall went over 100 rushing yards for the second straight game.
 
DEFENSE
 
The App State defense produced season highs with 5.0 sacks and four takeaways, while allowing just three second-half points and 24 second-half rushing yards to the Monarchs.
 
Against an ODU offense that had scored touchdowns on 74% of its red zone trips entering the game, the Mountaineers allowed the Monarchs to cross the goal line on just one of four red zone visits.
 
Nose Joshua Donald led an inspired defensive line with season highs of 2.0 sacks and 3.0 TFLs, while forcing a fumble. Ends Michael Fletcher (1.5 sacks) and Shawn Collins (1.0 sack) combined with outside linebacker Nate Johnson (0.5 sack) to live in the ODU backfield throughout the game.
 
Collins' fourth-quarter strip sack (fumble recovered by Thomas Davis) with App State ahead 21-20 was a pivotal turnover that led to the final eight-point margin.
 
Brendan Harrington led the team with a season-high nine tackles and recovered a fumble on ODU's opening drive.
 
Redshirt-freshman safety Zyeir Gamble made the two biggest plays of his young career with a third-down pass breakup before intercepting a fourth-down pass on ODU's final drive to cement the victory.