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As Clark manned the sidelines at Kidd Brewer Stadium Saturday for the first time as the Mountaineers’ head coach, he drew from his football DNA to direct App State to its 35-20 victory over Charlotte in the 2020 season opener for both teams.
Clark’s incredible journey came full-circle on Friday afternoon when he was introduced as the 22nd head football coach at Appalachian State.
Evans scampered 58 yards with a screen pass from quarterback Zac Thomas on a third-and-15 play less than two minutes into the game and Appalachian was on its way to the decisive 45-38 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette in the second consecutive meeting between the two teams in the conference title clash at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
The Bobcats may have been 30-point underdogs against one of the elite teams in the Group of Five, but TSU trailed just 14-13 midway through the third quarter. At that point, Appalachian finally unleashed tailback Darrynton Evans, who rushed for 154 yards on 21 carries and three second-half touchdowns to finally lift the Mountaineers (10-1 overall, 6-1 in the SBC) to their comfortable 35-13 win.
It is hard to believe that 24th-ranked Appalachian State could play so badly early in its Sun Belt Conference football showdown Saturday night at historic Turner Field and still find time to engineer its 56-28 victory over the Panthers.
It seems like nothing ever comes easy for Appalachian State when it is playing a Power-5 Conference football team. So why would Saturday night before 80,849 fans be any different for the Mountaineers in its 20-15 nail-biter over South Carolina at Williams-Brice Stadium?
BOONE, N.C. — In the wind, the cold and the snow of Kidd Brewer Stadium on Thursday, 20th-ranked Appalachian State seemingly watched the cotton boll of its Cotton Bowl hopes wither and die on the vine as arch-rival Georgia Southern held on for a 24-21 victory before 18,796 brave spectators and the national-television, Halloween-night audience.
There was no doubt that No. 24-ranked Appalachian State had a couple of extra helpings of motivation heading into Saturday afternoon’s homecoming football game at Kidd Brewer Stadium and the Mountaineers turned that incentive into their convincing 52-7 Sun Belt Conference rout of Louisiana-Monroe. Remembering last season’s 34-14 loss to Georgia Southern four days following.
One of the longest days in Appalachian State football history gravitated well into the evening as the Mountaineers opened their Sun Belt Conference opener against Coastal Carolina.
But even a two-hour and three-minute lightning delay couldn’t slow down the ASU attack in the 56-37 victory over the Chanticleers.
When Akeem Gaither-Davis partially blocked Noah Ruggles’ 56-yard field goal attempt on the final play of the game, the Mountaineers completed their first win over a Power-Five conference team for the first time since the historic 34-32 stunner over Michigan.
As sprinters, Darrynton Evans and Jalen Virgil would make a fine start to building a successful track relay team.
And at Kidd Brewer Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Appalachian State needed all of that speed and more to hold off upset-minded Charlotte, 56-41 in a non-conference football game.
Eliah Drinkwitz wasn’t shy about savoring the benefits of his first victory as a college football head coach following Appalachian State’s hard-fought, 42-7 win over former Southern Conference rival and Football Championship Subdivision squad East Tennessee State Saturday afternoon before a home-opening crowd of 25,147 at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
National championships are hard to come by at any level, particularly team titles. Stop and reflect for a few seconds that it has been nearly 12 years since any Appalachian squad has won a national crown in any sport.
The Cavaliers delivered a huge statement to the rest of the field in Sunday night’s second round with their 63-51 dismantling of No. 9 Oklahoma. This Virginia team is ready for the long haul.
The Blue Devils survived two tantalizing UCF shots at the end for their incredible 77-76 victory in one of the most memorable second-round contests in tournament history.
Already 0-2 after the first week of Sun Belt Conference play and facing the daunting stretch of a contest against one of the league’s best teams — Texas State (13-3, 2-1) — on Saturday before embarking on a three-game road swing, the last thing the struggling Mountaineers needed was a loss at home against an SBC bottom feeder.
“We’re not coming here to shock the system, but to enhance the culture,” Drinkwitz said. “This is not a stepping-stone job. This is a top-25 job.”
BOONE, N.C. — There was a sense of symmetry for Darrynton Evans on Saturday afternoon as Appalachian State played in the first Sun Belt Conference football championship game against Louisiana-Lafayette before 14,960 fans at a rainy Kidd Brewer Stadium. “I kind of had a flashback,” said Evans, as he scooped up a bouncing kickoff and.
Gardner-Webb probably couldn’t have picked a worse time to roll into Kidd Brewer Stadium than Saturday afternoon as the opponent in Appalachian State’s hurricane-delayed, football home opener. Coming off a cancelled contest last weekend, when Southern Mississippi used every excuse necessary to back out of a scheduled non-conference encounter, the Mountaineers were firing on all.
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA. — The one thing that Appalachian State needed from redshirt sophomore quarterback Zac Thomas in his first college start was a performance close to error free in the crucible of 105,232 fans Saturday at Penn State’s Beaver Stadium. Coming into the biggest game of his life, this Trusville, Alabama product had thrown.
MOBILE, Ala. — Nate Woody was genuinely worried about the health of his defense when he met a group Mountaineer fans Saturday morning at the team’s hotel several hours before the Dollar General Bowl. Woody quickly rattled off a list of his walking wounded. But the veteran defensive coordinator and his Mountaineer cohorts had little.
FARGO, N.D. — It might have been a few weeks past Halloween on Friday night at the Fargo Dome, but for the third time in four years, the orange-clad Sam Houston State Bearkats turned into pumpkins in the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals. Of course, second-seeded North Dakota State (13-1) might have had something to do.
HARRISONBURG, VA. — James Madison knew the road to the defending its Football Championship Subdivision title would be arduous, but the top-seeded Dukes didn’t just how tough it could be until they survived a quarterfinal test from Weber State Friday at Bridgeforth Stadium for a 31-28 victory. Ethan Radke’s second field goal of the final.
BOONE, N.C. — For any college football player, it is the ultimate fantasy — scoring a touchdown on your senior day. But for rarely-used Appalachian State quarterback Curtis Fitch, his highlight moment in his first game of the season went beyond his wildest dreams. Fitch was summoned from his normal game-day duties of signaling in.
BOONE, N.C. — For the first two plays Saturday afternoon, things couldn’t have gone better for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in their battle for football bowl eligibility against first-place Appalachian State. Starting quarterback Jordan Davis scrambled for a season-long 47 yards on first down and then fired a 28-yard scoring strike to senior Devin Scott.
ATLANTA – Appalachian State was rested and motivated on Saturday afternoon at the former Turner Field and it showed as the Mountaineers torched Georgia State 31-10 in a Sun Belt Conference first-place showdown. Coming off a 17-day break since its 27-6 home victory over arch-rival Georgia Southern on Nov. 9, ASU overcame a few shaky.
BOONE, N.C. — The task facing the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision committee this weekend may have been the most difficult that any committee had faced in the 40-year history of this postseason tournament to determine a true national champion. Committee chairman Richard Johnson said as much in his comments Sunday morning on the.
DAVIDSON, N.C. — For University of San Diego coach Dale Lindsey, Saturday’s 63-7 victory over Davidson that clinched the Toreros’ third automatic playoff berth in four years and another Pioneer Football League championship was just the culmination of months of hard work. “We’ve been working toward this goal since the first day of practice in.
BOONE, N.C. — Just like Elle Woods in the movie “Legally Blonde,” the Appalachian State football team was looking forward to a perfect day Thursday against its arch-rival from Georgia Southern. Unlike Woods, the Mountaineers pulled off that accomplishment with their convincing 27-6 Sun Belt Conference victory over the winless Eagles before 23,110 fans and.
MONROE, La. — Appalachian State has made a habit of poor starts during the 2017 college football season, but an even worse finish sent the Mountaineers tumbling to their costliest loss of the year Saturday as Louisiana-Monroe scored a 52-45 knockout in Sun Belt Conference action. ULM quarterback Caleb Evans escaped pressure, stepped up in.
After playing just well enough to win several football games earlier this season, Appalachian State performed just poorly enough to lose 30-27 in double overtime Saturday at Massachusetts. Senior Logan Laurent kicked three field goals, including a 45-yarder to force extra time and a 36-yard boot in the second overtime period to lift UMass to.
As Ian Anderson sang in Jethro Tull’s first hit single, “Nothing is Easy,” and Appalachian State proved that again Saturday by scratching and clawing its way to a 37-29 Sun Belt Conference victory over scrappy Coastal Carolina before 30,179 fans at Kidd Brewer Stadium. After sprinting to its 17-3 second-quarter lead, the Mountaineers turned the.
Things had come with only a modicum of difficulty last season as Appalachian State marched to its share of the Sun Belt Conference football championship, but little has been easy about the Mountaineers’ attempt to retain its throne in 2017. That was illustrated again on Saturday afternoon as ASU rallied from a 20-0 deficit to.
SAN MARCOS, Texas — It isn’t uncommon for a college football team to overlook weaker opponents as it peaks ahead to more important games. But such an oversight on Saturday night nearly cost Appalachian State dearly in its heart-stopping, 20-13 victory over Texas State in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both squads. Coming in.
ATHENS, Ga. — The neglect to execute the little things cost Appalachian State in a big way Saturday evening before 92,46 fans at Sanford Stadium as the Mountaineers lost 31-10 in their season-opening football game to No. 15-ranked Georgia. Freshman quarterback Jake Fromm (10-of-15 for 143 yards passing and one TD) sparked the Bulldogs off.
FRISCO, TX. — There is little doubt that James Madison University has been one of the special programs through the history of the Football Championship Subdivision. So it was only appropriate that the Dukes’ special teams provided the momentum early to get JMU rolling towards a 28-14 NCAA Division I FCS national title victory Saturday.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Excuse Appalachian State’s football team for feeling like it was reliving Groundhogs’ Day all week in preparation for the Raycom-Camellia Bowl. But in the end, the Mountaineers took an eerily similar victory over Toledo to their 31-29 win against Ohio University here last year. Freshman Michael Rubino’s clutch, 39-yard field goal with.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — In a game between two unseeded teams that had more twists and turns than the blustery wind that howled through the Ice Castle on Saturday afternoon, Youngstown State outlasted Wofford for a 30-23 victory in double overtime that vaulted the Penguins into the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs for the first time since.
HARRISONBURG, Va. — For one play, everything seemed to be going Sam Houston State’s way in its quarterfinal-round, Football Championship Subdivision playoff game at James Madison. After tipping a pass and forcing an interception on JMU’s first offensive play, the roof caved in on the previously unbeaten and No. 1-ranked Bearkats in a shocking 65-7.
LAS CRUCES, N.M. — From the beginning to an end of the regular season in college football seems to pass like the soft whisper of the wind. Wasn’t it just a few weeks ago that we were gathering in Neyland Stadium for a landmark game between Appalachian State and Tennessee before over 100,000 orange-clad fans.
BOONE, N.C. — The wind was howling through Kidd Brewer Stadium, the temperature had plummeted from the 70s on Friday to near freezing by game-time Saturday afternoon and snow flurries danced through the air. But for tailback Marcus Cox and the Appalachian State football team, senior day at the rock couldn’t have been much more.
BOONE, N.C. — The last time Louisiana-Monroe coach Matt Viator showed up at Kidd Brewer Stadium, he and his team left Appalachian State with broken hearts. As the Mountaineers (7-3 overall, 5-1 in the Sun Belt Conference) host Viator and Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m., Appalachian is hoping this rising young coach won’t.
BOONE, N.C. — If there was one thing that the Appalachian State men’s basketball team needed on Thursday night after a pair of competitive, but tough losses on the road to Davidson and Tennessee, it was a shot of confidence. And the Mountaineers (1-2) earned that in record-breaking fashion with a 119-51 victory over Warren.
TROY, Ala. — Victory and a likely Sun Belt Conference football championship were one play away from Appalachian State on Saturday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Stadium. But Troy University turned a fourth and five at its own 47 into a life-preserving first-down catch and Jordan Chunn’s 11-yard scoring burst on the next play lifted the.
TROY, Ala. — It was probably the most important game of the Scott Satterfield coaching era, two years ago when Appalachian State played Troy at Veteran Memorial Stadium. Coming off a 4-8 campaign in Satterfield’s first year as a head coach, the Mountaineers had dropped five of their first six games during the 2014 season.
BOONE, N.C. — Earlier this week, Appalachian State quarterback Taylor Lamb reflected on the lessons that the Mountaineer football team had learned from last year’s unsuccessful run at a Sun Belt Conference championship. He insisted that his squad would have better focus as it faced underdog Texas State, before embarking on a potential title-settling showdown.
BOONE, N.C. — The coaching profession has taken Everett Withers a lot of places, but it will bring this former Appalachian State football star back to Kidd Brewer Stadium on Saturday. Withers, the first-year coach at Texas State, will bring his struggling Bobcats back to a place where he helped ASU move into its modern.
STATESBORO, GA. — A local D.J. spun the Allman Brothers tune “Statesboro Blues” for tailgaters before Thursday night’s Sun Belt Conference football showdown between Appalachian State and Georgia Southern. And the GSU offense definitely had the blues after another dominating performance by the Mountaineer defense keyed ASU’s 34-10 victory before a Paulson Stadium crowd of.
STATESBORO, Ga. — The modern history of the Appalachian State-Georgia Southern football rivalry started on one of the coldest days in Kidd Brewer Stadium history, with a snow and ice-slicked field helping the top-ranked Mountaineers end the two-year I-AA championship run of the Eagles, 19-0, in the quarterfinals of the playoffs. There won’t be.
BOONE, N.C. — The answer for some Appalachian State football friends was blowing in the wind as the Mountaineers treated a homecoming crowd of 26,931 to a 37-19 victory over Idaho Saturday afternoon at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Struggling to finish drives in a contest peppered with exchanged field goals, a wind-blown pass from Idaho.
