Appalachian State hammers Troy, will host Sun Belt title game

Zac Thomas passed for a career-high 326 yards Friday night and 25th-ranked Appalachian State rolled over host Troy 48-13, clinching home-field advantage in the Sun Belt Conference championship game.

The Mountaineers (11-1, 7-1) scored touchdowns on their first five possessions and held Troy quarterback Kaleb Barker in check most of the night.

Appalachian State, the Sun Belt East champion, will defend its conference title next Saturday in Boone against West champion Louisiana. The Mountaineer beat the Ragin’ Cajuns 17-7 in a regular-season meeting.

The title game is set for noon and will be aired by ESPN.

As has been the case several times this season, the Mountaineers fell behind early, as Troy (5-7, 3-5) took a 3-0 lead on a 26-yard field goal by Tyler Sumpter three minutes into the game.

But Appalachian State didn’t need long to recover. The Mountaineers drove for an opening touchdown at the 10:10 mark of the first quarter, scoring on a 44-yard pass from Thomas to Jalen Virgil. They made it 13-3 four minutes later when Darrynton Evans dashed 52 yards for a touchdown.

On Troy’s next possession, Mountaineer defensive back Desmond Franklin picked off a Barker pass at the 28 and returned it to the Troy 8. Three players later, Evans ran 5 yards for a score, and Appalachian State led 20-3.

A touchdown pass from Thomas to Malik Williams and another scoring run by Evans helped the Mountaineers build a formidable 34-10 lead at halftime.

THE GAME CHANGED WHEN ...

Appalachian State’s Desmond Franklin intercepted a Troy pass at the Trojans’ 28 and returned it 20 yards. The Mountaineers scored three plays later, taking a 20-3 lead late in the first quarter.

HELMET STICKERS

Zac Thomas: The Mountaineers’ starting quarterback completed 28-of-34 passes for 326 yards and four touchdowns. He was intercepted once. His previous career high in a game was 295 yards against Charlotte in 2018.

Thomas Hennigan: He caught 11 passes for 140 yards. Hennigan is the first Appalachian State receiver with 10 or more receptions since Andrew Peacock caught 10 passes in a 2013 game against Georgia Southern. His performance came one game after standout wide receiver Corey Sutton was lost for the season with a knee injury.

Nick Hampton: A linebacker, Hampton led the App State defense with eight tackles, five of them solo, a sack, two tackles for lost yardage and two quarterback hurries.

MAKING SENSE OF THE NUMBERS

100: Appalachian State’s third-down conversion rate into the early part of the fourth quarter. The Mountaineers were 10-for-10.

35: Rushing yards for Troy. The Trojans averaged 1.5 yards per rush. Appalachian State averaged 5.7.

6: Mountaineers’ road victories this season. They are the first FBS team to go 6-0 on the road since Western Michigan’s Cotton Bowl team in 2016..

NEXT UP

Troy’s season is finished. Appalachian State hosts Louisiana at noon next Saturday in the Sun Belt Conference championship game. The Mountaineers then will play in a bowl game somewhere.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle

This story was originally published November 29, 2019 at 9:59 PM.