ATLANTA, Ga. — A complete team effort propelled App State Football to a dominant road win in its first game this season against an opponent from the Sun Belt Conference's East Division.
The Mountaineers posted a 41-20 victory at Center Parc Credit Union Stadium, building a 31-0 lead on Saturday and improving their series record against Georgia State to 12-0. App State (4-2, 1-1 SBC) evened its league record after not winning a Sun Belt road game last season.
JJ Kohl needed to play only three quarters in his second consecutive start, as his fourth touchdown pass gave the Mountaineers a 38-6 advantage over the Panthers (1-5, 0-2) in the third quarter. Scoring connections with
Davion Dozier,
Jaden Barnes,
Dalton Stroman and
Izayah Cummings contributed to a mistake-free Kohl completing 21 of his 32 passes for 309 yards.
Ten different players caught a pass from Kohl, with tight ends accounting for 161 of the 309 yards, highlighted by Cummings' six timely receptions for 94 yards.
Rashod Dubinion and
Jaquari Lewis both rushed for more than 50 yards, and Lewis reached the end zone during a second-half flurry that turned a 17-0 halftime lead into a one-sided affair.
An interception early in the second half from linebacker
Colton Phares began that flurry, as the Mountaineers held Georgia State scoreless for the first 40 minutes of game action.
Thomas Davis,
Aiden Benton and
Caleb Sandstrom recorded sacks, while
Ronnie Porter made a key fourth-down stop in the first half for a defense that limited the Panthers to 78 rushing yards.
Dominic De Freitas drilled two field goals, including a 46-yarder that gave him his fourth make of 45-plus yards this season, and an early special teams play prevented App State from ever trailing.
Pregame captain
DeNigel Cooper's head-first helmet block of a 28-yard field goal stopped Georgia State from ending its second drive with points, and App State was facing the possibility of a third straight three-and-out series late in the first quarter before Kohl completed a third-and-9 pass from the Mountaineers' own 3 to Dozier for 18 yards.
That ignited a 13-play, 98-yard drive that included another third-and-9 completion to Dozier — a 12-yard touchdown to give the pair of newcomers a scoring connection for the second straight week.
Several minutes after Porter stuffed Georgia State's fourth-and-2 run from the App State 34, Kohl led a 10-play, 83-yard touchdown drive that started with less than seven minutes remaining before halftime, as Dubinion's gain of 11 yards on a fourth-and-1 run from the App State 41 extended that series. Back-to-back completions of 17 and 18 yards to Cummings set up Kohl's 11-yard touchdown pass to Barnes with 2:37 left before the break.
Looking to cut into its deficit, Georgia State advanced to its 43-yard line after the two-minute timeout, but a sack from Davis changed the tenor of that series. The Mountaineers regained possession on a punt into the end zone with 1:18 left before halftime, and Cummings' 26-yard reception into Georgia State territory helped set up De Freitas' 32-yard field goal as time expired.
Trailing 17-0 at the break, Georgia State received to open the second half, but Phares' interception and a fourth-down stop by the App State defense led to two touchdowns that pushed the margin to 31-0.
Phares made a leaping pick while positioned near the line of scrimmage on the fifth play of the half, and Dubinion moved the ball inside the red zone with a first-down carry of 21 yards before Lewis scored on a second-down run from the 14.
The Panthers advanced past midfield on their next series, but a fourth-and-8 pass from the App State 41 fell incomplete, and Cummings hauled in a catch for 24 yards on the next play. Tight end
Kanen Hamlett's 27-yard reception set up Kohl's third touchdown pass, a 6-yard connection to Stroman in the back-left corner of the end zone.
Georgia State scored for the first time with 4:40 remaining in the third quarter, but App State needed less than a minute to answer back after recovering an onside kick. Tight end
David Larkins' tackle-breaking, sideline-sprinting gain of a career-long 40 yards preceded back-to-back catches from Cummings, including a 3-yard touchdown for his first score in what has been a strong season to date.
App State returns to action next weekend with a Saturday home game against Coastal Carolina. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
