Last Updated on November 30, 2019 9:31 am
TROY, Ala. — An unblemished road record secured, App State now turns its attention to hosting another Sun Belt Conference Championship Game.
Zac
Thomas threw for a career-high 326 yards while accounting for five
touchdowns, including four through the air, as the 25th-ranked
Mountaineers won 48-13 at Troy on Friday night. As the East Division
winner with the head-to-head tiebreaker against West Division winner
Louisiana, App State (11-1, 7-1) will face the Ragin' Cajuns (9-2, 6-1)
in Boone next weekend in a title-game rematch that begins at noon and
airs on ESPN.
With impressive victories at North Carolina,
Louisiana and South Carolina already in hand this season, App State
clinched its first perfect road record since 1995 by converting its
first 10 third-down chances, recording four sacks and intercepting two
passes against the Trojans (5-7, 3-5) at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The
Mountaineers' 6-0 away record includes the most wins for any of the
seven teams nationally without a road loss, and they're the first FBS
team to go 6-0 on the road since Western Michigan's Cotton Bowl team in
2016.
App State also tied the Sun Belt record for single-season
victories, as it has accounted for three of the four 11-win seasons in
league history.
In addition to the big night for Thomas, who
completed 28 of his 34 pass attempts, Darrynton Evans' three touchdowns
pushed his season total to 20 during a game in which he rushed for 82
yards on 13 carries. Thomas Hennigan set career highs with 11 catches
for 140 yards, Malik Williams caught two touchdown passes and Jalen
Virgil scored a long touchdown as part of his 95 receiving yards.
Defensively,
Nick Hampton produced one of the four sacks while amassing a team-high
eight tackles, and Desmond Franklin's interception return created a
short field for App State's third touchdown. Willie Edwards made his
first career interception in the fourth quarter.
After Troy
kicked a short field goal to end its game-opening drive, the
Mountaineers moved ahead for good on Thomas' 44-yard touchdown pass to
Virgil. Jordan Fehr's sack forced a three-and-out before Evans moved
into the top 10 on the program's career rushing list with a 52-yard
touchdown.
Franklin nearly intercepted a pass while standing in
the end zone as the Trojans' next series began at their 2-yard line, but
he came up with an interception on the very next play after cornerback
Shaun Jolly knocked the ball loose from the intended receiver.
Franklin's 20-yard return to the 8 set up a 5-yard touchdown run from
Thomas.
Hampton and Akeem Davis-Gaither recorded sacks early in
75-yard touchdown drive for Troy that trimmed App State's lead to 10
points entering the second quarter, and the Mountaineers increased their
advantage to 27-10 on Williams' 8-yard touchdown catch.
D'Marco
Jackson's third-down sack caused another three-and-out, and three
straight completions to Hennigan preceded a 9-yard touchdown run from
Evans for a 34-10 lead midway through the second quarter.
Malik
Williams hauled in his second touchdown of the night on a 6-yard pass
from Thomas early in the third quarter, and App State pushed the margin
to 48-13 on Thomas' 25-yard touchdown pass to Evans on the first play of
the fourth quarter.
