Last Updated on November 20, 2019 6:01 pm
BOONE, N.C. — Sandwiched around nearby lightning
strikes, Appalachian State put up plenty of offensive fireworks to win
its Sun Belt Conference opener.
Zac Thomas
had two touchdown passes while throwing for 246 yards and App State's
three primary running backs accounted for a combined five rushing
touchdowns in a 56-37 home win against Coastal Carolina on Saturday. The
sold-out game at Kidd Brewer Stadium featured a two-hour, three-minute
weather delay late in the first quarter.
“It was a unique game today with the delays and having to deal with the lightning,” head coach Eliah Drinkwitz
said. “I thought our guys handled the adversity well. We also had the
factor of where we spent a lot of energy last week against UNC, so to be
able to come back and sustain that energy for as long as we did today
made me real proud of our guys.”
Thomas ended up completing 19 of his 23 pass attempts against the league's top-ranked defense, and walk-on Matthew McQuinn
delivered a huge special teams play to help the Mountaineers (4-0, 1-0)
turn a tie game late in the first half into a 42-21 lead midway through
the third quarter.
The Chanticleers (3-2, 0-1) had cut their deficit to 42-30 late in the third quarter before cornerback Shaun Jolly
returned his second career interception 24 yards for a touchdown with
11:59 remaining to help clinch the win, which included the biggest
margin of victory in three Sun Belt matchups with Coastal.
Akeem Davis-Gaither had a sack among his team-leaading eight tackles for App State's defense, which had three first-time starters, and Demetrius Taylor
followed up a starring performance against North Carolina with a batted
down pass, one stop behind the line of scrimmage and a partially
blocked punt.
Daetrich Harrington rushed for one touchdown and a team-high 71 yards on 11 carries, Darrynton Evans scored twice while adding 60 rushing yards and Marcus Williams Jr. had two rushing TDs in a 43-yard outing. In the passing game, tight end Collin Reed scored the 10th touchdown of his career in support of productive receivers Malik Williams (six catches for 75 yards), Thomas Hennigan (five catches for 89 yards) and Corey Sutton (five catches for 76 yards and a touchdown).
“We spent a lot of time in the film room this week, and I thought we did
a good job of realizing this was a real good defense,” Thomas said. “We
had to make a statement on offense. We put up some pretty good numbers
the last few weeks, but I think this game really set us apart as an
offense. We were clicking, and even when stuff wasn't clicking, we were
still making plays. This offense is really, really good.”
The back-and-forth game turned in App State's favor late in the first half.
The Chanticleers used a 14-yard touchdown pass to pull even at 21-all
with 3:52 remaining before halftime, and Thomas' 55-yard pass to
Hennigan on the next play from scrimmage set up a scoring opportunity.
Williams Jr. followed his 13-yard run to the 1 by scoring a touchdown
with 1:59 left in the half, and App State kicked off from midfield
because of a penalty during Chandler Staton's
extra point. McQuinn forced a fumble with a big hit at the 17-yard
line, and Coastal Carolina recovered the ball at its own 3 before going
three and out on offense.
Hennigan's punt return to the Chanticleers' 29 preceded Thomas' 15-yard
touchdown pass to Sutton with 45 seconds left before the break, and the
Mountaineers received to begin the second half. They increased their
advantage to 21 points on a 22-yard touchdown run from Harrington, who
scored for the first time since the 2017 regular-season finale, before
he suffered a torn ACL in the spring of 2018.
Coastal Carolina put together a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to eat
up the first five minutes of the game, and App State responded
immediately with a 65-yard touchdown drive that included Williams'
35-yard reception on a third-and-7 play.
Evans capped that series with an 8-yard touchdown run, and the
Mountaineers quickly regained possession with a three-and-out stop that
included a batted down pass from Taylor, a quarterback pressure from Elijah Diarrassouba and Taylor getting his hand on the Coastal punt.
Sutton gained 48 yards to the Coastal 10 on an acrobatic catch of a deep
first-down throw from Thomas, and Reed scored on an 11-yard pass.
Thomas completed his first nine pass attempts for 126 yards, and the
two-hour delay began with the Mountaineers ahead 14-7. Once play
resumed, the Chanticleers quickly responded with a 42-yard touchdown
run, but App State regained the lead on Evans' second touchdown run of
the day and his ninth rushing touchdown of the season. His 1-yard score
came during a drive in which Thomas found Hennigan for a gain of 13
yards on a fourth-and-5 pass from the Coastal 28.
The game had similarities to a 56-41 win against Charlotte on Sept. 7,
when App State scored twice in the last two minutes of the first half to
gain separation and Jolly made a game-sealing interception. His second
career pick resulted in his first touchdown.
“In the first half, I jumped the shallow route, and we held them to a
field goal that drive,” Jolly said. “After we got off, coach (Ted) Roof
made the adjustments and got into me a little bit. He told me about
understanding what coverage we were in and not having to jump the short
eye candy. Just coming back, it was a similar play with somebody in the
flat and somebody on the deeper route, and I was just ready and patient.
As soon as he threw it, I was ready to make the play.”
App State returns to action on Wednesday, Oct. 9, at Louisiana. That game will be shown on ESPN2.
