By David Rogers. HARRISONBURG, Va. — It can be argued that few programs in college football history deserve a feared reputation as much as upset-minded giant-killer Appalachian State. Yet again, the gridiron’s Cardiac Kids are singing, “Oops, I did it again.”
The Mountaineers’ 26-20, overtime win over previously undefeated and No. 18-ranked James Madison merely adds to App State’s football folklore over the last two decades. Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas A&M — all Power 5 stalwarts with storied FBS traditions — previously succumbed to Yosef’s clutches. Tennessee, Wake Forest, Miami and North Carolina (twice more) escaped by the skin of their proverbial teeth. Looking for an early season or even late season “cupcake” game in your Power 5 schedule? Best not to call App State.
The Winning TD That Almost Wasn’t
In his post-game press conference, App State head coach Shawn Clark said that after his defense held James Madison to a go-ahead field goal in overtime and the Mountaineers faced 3rd-and-8 on the JMU 8-yard line, the coaching staff’s mindset was to use the third down play and the fourth down play, if needed, to go for a winning TD.
“I told (offensive coordinator) Coach (Frank) Ponce,” said Clark, “that we had two plays to get (the TD). We weren’t playing for double overtime. We came here to win a football game. People might criticize that but we came here to win. Things worked out. It was a great play call. Joey (Aguilar) went through his progressions and Kaedin Robinson made a great play to get the ball over (the goal line) and the rest is history.”
And yet, the Mountaineers came within a few anxious moments of video review of not getting that “if needed” fourth down play — but losing. On 3rd-and-8, quarterback Joey Aguilar found wide receiver Kaedin Robinson over the middle. Crossing from the right side, Robinson gathered it in at the 5-yard line, and kept pushing to the left, shook off a couple of would-be tacklers, and met another at the goal line.
Robinson said after the game he was confident that he had crossed the goal line with the ball firmly in his hands. He turned out to be right, but mere milliseconds after breaking the plane of the goal line, Robinson lost control of the ball and James Madison argued that he had lost control first with the loose ball exiting the end zone.
Video review confirmed the TD but what if it had gone the other way? The loose ball exiting the end zone would have been ruled a touchback and it would have been “game over.” The Mountaineers wouldn’t get that 4th down opportunity and the Dukes preserve the overtime victory (and unblemished record) instead.
The Stars Were Aligned
Among the first words spoken by Clark at the beginning of his press conference were aimed at dispelling the idea that the win was unusual.
“This was not an upset,” Clark declared. “This was the next game on our schedule.”
Be that as it may, coming into the game James Madison was ranked No. 18 in the FBS, nationally, and undefeated. The Mountaineers’ win spoiled any hope the Dukes might have harbored for a perfect season, even if they remain ineligible for a bowl game or the Sun Belt Conference championship game.
There are plenty of individual and unit accolades to go around with this App State win, but perhaps none more compelling than what the Mountaineer defense accomplished. Even after the loss, James Madison is still among the Sun Belt Conference leaders in both offense and defense. Then again, so is App State. In fact, this could arguably have been billed as the battle of Sun Belt juggernauts.
As evenly played as this game was, statistically, three defensive stats stand out:
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- App State had an 11-4 advantage in Tackles for Loss
- App State had a 5-1 advantage in Sacks
- App State had a 3-1 advantage in Forced Fumbles
Even where the Dukes might have been moving the football, Tackles for Loss, Sacks and Forced Fumbles are drive killers.
For App State, JMU’s remaining year of being ineligible to play in the Sun Belt Conference championship game or bowl game after moving up from FCS to FBS last year takes on even greater significance. And the respective outcomes of next week’s last regular season games loom large.
At 6-1 in conference, James Madison remains in first place in the SBC East Division. With the Dukes being ineligible for the championship game, the “duty” for representing the East falls to the second place team. Right now, App State and Coastal Carolina are tied for No. 2 with 5-2 conference records but CCU won their head to head matchup on Oct. 10, 27-24, so according to the Sun Belt tie-breaking rules, CCU would advance.
The Mountaineers need to win next week vs. Georgia Southern and hope that James Madison rebounds to beat Coastal Carolina. If those stars align, then App State should be the East representative in the Sun Belt Conference championship game, probably at Troy, the apparent winner of the West.
If Coastal Carolina beats JMU next week and App State defeats Georgia Southern, then technically there would be a 3-way tie for the No. 1 spot in the East. App State, Coastal and JMU would all have 6-2 records. Based on head-to-head records, Coastal Carolina would advance to the SBC championship game.
It Was Time
In the fourth quarter against James Madison, Watauga high school alum Anderson Castle was called on to shoulder the load at running back for the Mountaineers. As a result, his 10 carries for 42 yards made him the game’s leading rusher, including a longest carry for 27 yards and a couple of key first downs. He also caught three of four passes coming out of the backfield, good for 20 yards and, again, a couple of key first downs.
Afterwards, Clark deflected a question about why normally featured running back Nate Noel, who through the first four games of the season was among the FBS rushing leaders, all but disappeared in the second half against JMU. “We can talk about that later,” Clark said before launching into the myriad of reasons why Castle should have been on the field, including a rehash of the former high school quarterback’s journey to being the No. 2 RB on the App State roster.
Drama Aplenty
Early in the fourth quarter, App State led by as many as 12 points, 17-5, after Aguilar hit tight end Eli Wilson for a 16-yard TD. The way both defenses were playing in what can only be described as the slugfest of a conference grudge match, a two-touchdown lead seemed too much of a deficit for just about any team to overcome so late in the game.
But the Dukes have a history of shaking off deficits, holding off opponent rallies and winning games with their fourth quarter play. Against App State, James Madison seemed the team of destiny when they rallied to score two 4th quarter TDs and a 2-point conversion, That tied the game at 20-20 with only 57 seconds remaining. The JMU defense prevented the Mountaineers from getting into field goal range for junior placekicker Michael Hughes, sending the game into OT.
With JMU’s defense stacking the box to all but take away the Mountaineer rushing attack (Castle’s 27-yard jaunt late in the fourth quarter the only significant rushing play), the Joey Aguilar offense took to the air. With some halftime adjustments by offensive coordinator Frank Ponce, seven of the Mountaineers’ nine aerials of over 15 yards occurred in the second half. Two-thirds of Aguilar’s 318 total passing yards (216 yards, to be exact) came in the second half and he was coming at the Dukes from all directions with different personnel on the receiving end of his big plays, including Dashaun Davis (17 yards), Makai Jackson (16), Kanye Roberts (17), Eli Wilson (16 and a TD), Milan Tucker (20), Dalton Stroman (19). Aguilar hit Stroman again on App State’s first play in overtime, for 17 yards, to set up the 3rd down finisher to Robinson.
In answer to a High Country Sports question afterward, Clark stated that the Mountaineers had pragmatically achieved what they set out to do.
“Our goals were to One, to start fast. They had scored first in nine out of their 10 games. The second goal was to lead at halftime. (JMU) had never trailed at halftime and we have. The third was to win the red zone. We hit all three of our goals,” Clark summarized. “We scored first, we led at halftime and we won the red zone. There was never a doubt in my mind that this game was over at halftime.”
App State now turns their attention to Georgia Southern, finishing the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 25, at Kidd Brewer Stadium with a 3:30 p.m. kickoff. James Madison travels to Conway, S.C., planning for a rebound win against Coastal Carolina.
SELECTED TEAM STATS
- Net Total Offense: APP 387, JMU 350
- Net Rushing Yards: APP 69, JMU 61
- Net Passing Yards: APP 318, JMU 249
- Passing TDs: APP 3, JMU 1
- Rushing TDs: APP 0, JMU 1
- Avg. Yards per Play: APP 5.3, JMU 4.4
- Red Zone Attempts: APP 4-4, JMU 3-4
- Red Zone Points: APP 20, JMU 18
- Penalties: APP 5-50, JMU 8-65
- 3rd Down Conversions: APP 7-16. JMU 6-15
- 4tj Down Conversions: APP 0-0. JMU 1-1
- Time of Possession: APP 27:23, JMU 32:37
SELECTED INDIVIDUAL STATS
Passing
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- APP – Joey Aguilar 28-46-318, 3 TDs, 1 INT
- JMU – Jordan McCloud 27-46-289, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing
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- APP – Anderson Castle 10 carries, 42 yards
- JMU – Ty Son Lawton 13 carries, 37 yards
- JMU – Kaelon Black 6 carries, 28 yards
- APP – Nate Noel 10 carries, 21 yards
Receiving
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- JMU – Elijah Sarratt 8 catches, 128 yards, 1 TD
- APP – Kaedin Robinson 4 catches, 68 yards, 2 TDs
- APP – Eli Wilson 4 catches, 61 yards, 1 TD
- JMU – Ty Son Lawton 5 catches, 50 yards
- APP – Makai Jackson 5 catches, 49 yards
- JMU – Reggie Brown 3 catches, 49 yards
- APP – Dalton Stroman 2 catches, 36 yards
- APP – Dashaun Davis 3 catches, 24 yards
- JMU – Zach Horton 5 catches, 24 yards
- APP – Anderson Castle 3 catches, 20 yards
- APP – Milan Tucker 1 catch, 20 yards
POST-GAME NOTES FROM APP STATE SPORTS
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- App State won its fourth straight game to move to 7-4 overall and 5-2 in Sun Belt Conference games. It’s the longest winning streak since the Mountaineers won six straight to close the 2021 regular season.
- App State needs a win over Georgia Southern and a James Madison win over Coastal Carolina next week to earn a berth as the East’s representative in the Sun Belt championship game.
- This was the Mountaineers’ third win over an AP Top 25 team in their last five tries – one per season under head coach Shawn Clark in 2021, 2022 and 2023. App State is 3-10 against top-25 opponents since moving up to the FBS ranks in 2014.
- App State improved to 2-0 in games that were visited by ESPN’s College GameDay. Both wins, including last year’s in Boone against Troy, were decided by a final-play App State touchdown.
- App State’s all-time series lead against JMU improved to 13-5 overall and 6-2 in Harrisonburg.
- App State improved its road record to 3-3 this season. The Mountaineers’ 35 road victories since 2014 are tied with Oklahoma for fifth-most in the FBS over that span. Only Ohio State, Boise State, Clemson and Alabama have more.
- This was the Mountaineers’ first overtime victory since 2015 (44-41 in 3OT vs. Troy). They had lost five straight OT games and nine of the last 10.
- App State and JMU tied with two turnovers apiece. Under head coach Shawn Clark, the Mountaineers are 17-1 when winning the turnover battle, 6-11 when losing, and 10-4 when they have the same number of turnovers as the opponent.
- App State’s 86 wins since 2015 are sixth-most in the FBS behind Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State and Oklahoma.
OFFENSE
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- On a day when the Mountaineers couldn’t get much going on the ground, Joey Aguilar led the way by completing a season-high 28 passes on a season-high 46 attempts for 318 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.
- Aguilar completed passes to 11 different receivers and threw multiple touchdowns for the 10th time in 11 games. He increased his Sun Belt lead to 29 touchdown passes, which ranks him top 10 in the nation.
- Wide receiver Kaedin Robinson scored the game’s first touchdown on an 8-yard slant route for his team-leading seventh touchdown catch of the year, and then scored the game winner in overtime by breaking multiple tackles on his way in for another 8-yard score. He finished the game with four catches for a team-high 68 yards.
- Tight end Eli Wilson caught a 16-yard touchdown from Aguilar on the first play of the fourth quarter to give App State a 17-5 lead. It was the second straight game that the Mountaineers scored on the opening play of the fourth quarter.
- Running back Anderson Castle took over primary ball carrying duties in the fourth quarter and overtime, finishing with 10 carries for a season-high 42 yards.
DEFENSE
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- App State held JMU to just 61 rushing yards and allowed one of the country’s most prolific passers in Jordan McCloud just one touchdown pass, while also intercepting a pass and forcing a fumble in the first half.
- App State’s defense racked up a season-high 11 tackles for loss and a season high-tying five sacks, which were both the most allowed by the Dukes’ offense this season.
- Outside linebacker Thomas Davis forced the McCloud fumble that was recovered by safety Nick Ross and led to the game’s first touchdown by the Mountaineers.
- Cornerback Ethan Johnson snagged his first interception of the season (and the team’s 12th) after a JMU receiver tipped the ball in the air. He also had five tackles, a tackle for loss and two pass breakups.
- Sacks came from outside linebacker Nate Johnson (2), defensive end Michael Fletcher (2) and defensive end Kevin Abrams-Verwayne.
SPECIAL TEAMS
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- Michael Hughes was 2-for-2 on field goals. His first was a 22-yarder that gave App State an early 3-0 lead. His second was a 30-yarder that gave the Mountaineers a 20-12 advantage with 3:55 left in the fourth quarter.
SUN BELT SCORES, NOV. 18
- Appalachian State 26, @James Madison 23
- @Ole Miss 35, ULM 3
- @Lsu 45, Georgia State 14
- @Army 28, Coastal Carolina 21
- @Mississippi State 41, Southern Miss 20
- @Arkansas State 77, Texas State 31
- @Troy 31, Louisiana 24
- @South Alabama 28, Marshall 0
- Old Dominion 20, @Georgia Southern 17
