Last Updated on September 27, 2026 5:19 am
RALEIGH, N.C. — App State Football showed plenty of fight during a dramatic fourth-quarter rally on the road, but NC State responded to the Mountaineers' game-tying touchdown by regaining the lead for good with 5:08 left in a 41-31 victory Saturday night.
App State (3-1) fell behind 21-0 in its final nonconference game and trailed 31-17 entering the final quarter in a sold-out Carter-Finley Stadium. The Mountaineers, who had given up 10 of those points after potential forced fumbles and recoveries resulted in the Wolfpack offense maintaining possession, used a pair of undisputed takeaways to score back-to-back touchdowns in a span of 107 seconds to improbably tie the game.
NC State (2-2) answered with a 75-yard touchdown drive to move ahead 38-31, then regained possession at the App State 33 with 3:59 left following incompletions on a third-and-2 throw and fourth-and-2 pass. The Wolfpack achieved important separation when it ended the next drive by making a 35-yard field goal with 1:51 remaining.
“I think our guys believe and I think they've got a lot of fight in them,” App State head coach Dowell Loggains said. “I'm super proud of the team. They got put in a tough spot. They battled, they fought. So I'm really pleased with that part of it. But we came here to try to win the football game, and we didn't get that done.”
With App State trailing by 14 points early in the fourth quarter, edge rusher Keaton Braddock drilled NC State quarterback CJ Bailey in the back as he looked to pass, propelling the ball forward. Defensive tackle Aaron Clark caught it in a crowd for an interception, and receiver Sam Pickett III adeptly maneuvered around a defender in the end zone to haul in an 18-yard touchdown pass from Malachi Singleton with 11:28 remaining.
James London then caught the Wolfpack off guard by dribbling an onside kick straight ahead, and Joe Reddish's recovery gave App State possession at the Wolfpack 36.
Singleton's 18-yard pass to Jaquari Lewis put the Mountaineers in the red zone, and they faced a third-and-1 scenario when another aggressive call surprised the Wolfpack. Singleton faked a handoff and found true freshman tight end Gavin Barber alone in the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown with 9:41 remaining. Barber had lost yardage on his only catch through the first three games, but his touchdown and London's extra point knotted the score at 31-all.
NC State running back Duke Scott's 17-yard touchdown run and Kanoah Vinsett's late field goal gave the Wolfpack a two-possession lead. App State moved inside the NC State 25 in the final minute and, needing two scores with time fading, missed a 42-yard field goal in a fourth-and-1 situation with 47 seconds left.
Singleton completed 26 of 38 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for a touchdown, and Lewis added a touchdown on the ground.
Alex Mitchell led App State with nine tackles, and Carson Sloan had a key third-and-1 sack among his eight tackles. Colton Phares, Keshawn Thomas and Devin Henderson made seven stops apiece.
NC State opened the game with a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, scoring on Bailey's 5-yard keeper just two plays after Phares stuffed a first-down run from the 5, ripped the ball out of back Scott's hands and raced 49 yards the other way into Wolfpack territory. Instead of App State forcing a big turnover and flipping the field in the opening minutes, officials ruled that the play was over because Scott's forward progress had been stopped.
The Mountaineers fell behind 14-0 late in the first quarter and moved into NC State territory early in the second before being stopped on a fourth-and-1 run from the Wolfpack 39. NC State responded with a nine-play, 61-yard touchdown drive that was capped by Bailey's 10-yard touchdown pass on a third-and-7 throw.
App State responded with a five-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that took less than two and a half minutes. Completions of 27 and 30 yards to Darrin Fugitt, sandwiched around Ja'Quez Cross' 13-yard run, moved the Mountaineers to the Wolfpack 5 before Singleton scored on a second-down keeper.
App State quickly regained possession thanks to the third-and-1 sack from Sloan, who received support from Jehchys Brown and Clark in bringing down short-yardage, run-first specialist Will Wilson, but the Mountaineers gave the ball back with their own three-and-out punt.
NC State started its last possession of the half with 2:18 remaining and marched 69 yards on eight plays to move ahead 28-7 on Bailey's 17-yard touchdown pass with 39 seconds remaining before the break. The Mountaineers made the most of what time remained, as Singleton put together four straight completions (including the first three to Nate Branch, closing with a 30-yard gain) to set up London's 48-yard field goal as the half expired.
With possession to begin the third quarter, Singleton immediately connected with Pickett on a 54-yard pass to the NC State 21. After Singleton completed a fourth-and-1 pass to Chris Lofton, Lewis scored on a 2-yard run to pull the Mountaineers within 28-17.
App State nearly had another momentum-swinging turnover, as Mitchell joined a gang-tackling effort on a pass toward the NC State sideline, pulled the ball loose and then scooped it up. After an officials' review, it was ruled that the ball was touching the receiver when he was out of bounds, so the Wolfpack maintained possession again and settled for a 23-yard field goal thanks to stingy red-zone defense from the Mountaineers.
The three points meant App State faced only a two-score deficit, setting the stage for a wild fourth quarter.
App State, which doesn't play next weekend, opens Sun Belt Conference play at home on Oct. 10 against Old Dominion.
