Appalachian State was made known with their upset of No. 5 Michigan in the Big House back in 2007. They were a little-known FCS program in Boone, NC.
That was then, and this is now. Mountaineer’s kicker Chandler Staton put through a 24- yard field goal with no time left on the clock to stun the 14th ranked Chanticleers.
After Coastal took a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, it looked like the rout might be on. However, Chase Brice had other plans, leading a 6-play, 79-yard touchdown drive, highlighted by consecutive 30+ yard completions to Malik Williams.
Then an onside kick took everyone except App State by surprise as they recovered the kick. Three plays later, Brice connected with Williams for a 47-yard touchdown to tie things up at 14.
Coastal would add two Massimo Biscardi field goals (50 and 47) to send Coastal into the half with a 20-14 lead over App State.
In the second half, it would be App State drawing first blood. After CCU mustered up only 13-yards of total offense on their first drive of the half, Brice got back to work. This time it was a 5-play, 75-yard drive, which Brice capped with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Corey Sutton, giving the Mountaineers their first lead of the game at 21-20.
Costal would answer with a nine-play, 83-yard drive, their lone scoring drive of the second half. Running back Shermani Jones with cap this drive on a one-yard TD run to make it 27-21 with 4:36 left in the 3rd. Jones finished the night with ten carries for 28-yards and two touchdowns.
In response, App State went back in the attack, this time serving up a heavy dose of the ground game. A 43-yard Camerun Peoples touchdown highlighted six straight runs to tie things up at 27 with 1:43 left in the third. A failed two-point conversion would leave the score as is.
Then when the Chanticleers came back out, they were flat the rest of the night. Their final three drives of the game would tally only 17 total yards of offense.
With 3:50 left to play, App State took over possession and started a methodical March down the field. It was a nine-play, 55-yard drive, and it would get as close as the six-yard line, where People’s slid to a knee with just over a minute left to play to keep the clock running.
This would set up the game-winning 24-yarder from Staton to empty the stand on the field and put an end to an undefeated season for Coastal Carolina.
Grayson McCall finished the game completing 15 of 23 passes for 291-yards and a touchdown. While Brice completed 18 of 28 passes for 347-yards and two touchdowns for App State.
The Chanticleers were just 3-of-9 on 3rd down, compared to the Mountaineers, who converted on 6 of 11 tries from 3rd down. A big factor in that was a total lack of production on the ground for Costal.
App State had the ground game moving better than UPS, with 228-yards compared to just 55 from Coastal.
CCU now heads back home to prep for a Thursday game next week against Troy. On the flip side, App State will play host to UL Monroe next Saturday.
Written by Adrian Beecher
