By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Whatever sense of rivalry lingered from the days long gone by when Appalachian State and The Citadel battled yearly for Southern Conference supremacy… well, that faded into the early autumn night on Oct. 1 with the Mountaineers’ 49-0 shellacking of the Bulldogs.
It was a balanced performance by App State, in all three phases of the game: offense, defense, and special teams. After last week’s embarrassing second half collapse vs. James Madison, this week’s performance was a necessary respite from the angst wrought just seven days ago against the Dukes.
While Saturday’s victimization of the Bulldogs demonstrated the Mountaineers’ resilience, even suggesting that the prior week’s performance was a one-off sort of thing, it did more, too, than the nail biter games against North Carolina, Texas A&M, Troy, and JMU in the season’s first four weeks. The lopsided outcome allowed the banged-up front-liners to rest and gave App Nation a chance to see at least a little bit of the future.
And, judging by the 4th quarter performance of the mostly younger and reserve players, the future is bright.
AppFANtastic Slideshow
More on that later. First, the Mountaineer offense looked like its same old self. Junior running back Camerun Peoples rushed for 102 yards on just four carries in the first half. A 73-yard trek around the left side was his longest TD run since facing North Texas in the Myrtle Beach Bowl on Dec. 21, 2020, and was the second longest of his career.
Quarterback Chase Brice completed 12 of 18 passes for 265 yards and four TDs, with no interceptions. Wide receiver Christan Horn, who electrified App Nation with his 53-yard “Hail Mary” reception for the comeback win against Troy in Week 3, caught three Brice passes for 132 yards and 2 TDs against The Citadel.
All totaled, the App State offense rolled up 545 yards of total offense, equally balanced with 298 passing and 247 yards rushing. The defense limited The Citadel to just 223 yards of total offense, a performance that featured two QB sacks, 9 tackles for loss, 1 interception, a quarterback hurry, and three forced fumbles.
The Mountaineers got on the board early, scoring a TD on the first offensive possession to start the game, and never let up. Just over two minutes into the game, Brice hit Deshaun Davis for a wide-open catch-and-run that covered 44 yards. Then Brice & Co. orchestrated the longest Mountaineer drive of the day, covering 75 yards in 8 plays, ending with a 1-yard QB keeper to the right side.
The second quarter was not even three minutes old when Brice hit tight end Eli Wilson for an 8-yard passing TD, followed by Peoples’ 73 yard scamper with still 9:31 remaining in the first half.
Horn wowed the crowd with the next two TD pass receptions, together serving as bookends to the halftime intermission. The second quarter passing TD was 22 yards, the second an 80-yard catch near the right sideline in the third quarter, evading would be tacklers before sprinting the rest of the way down the sideline, to the end zone.
The final TD came in the 4th quarter, the offense filled with reserves marching 60 yards in 7 plays before freshman running back Kanye Roberts plowed across the goal line from four yards out.
In his post-game press conference, Peoples had rave reviews for both Castle, as well as Roberts.
“I love A.C.,” said Peoples, explaining that he had watched Castle, the former Watauga High School quarterback, grow into the position after first being recruited as a defensive back and outside linebacker. “He is one of my favorite people on the team.”
Of Roberts, Peoples reminded the media representatives in the room that the freshman RB came to App State as one of the most prolific rushers in the nation out of high school. “We’re lucky to have him. If you didn’t know his name before, you will.”
Now 3-2 overall, 1-1 in Sun Belt Conference play, App State goes on the road for an Oct. 8 game in San Marcos, Texas, at Texas State before returning home for a Wednesday night encounter on Oct. 19, against Georgia State.
SELECTED TEAM STATS
- Total Offense: APP 545, CIT 223
- Net Passing Yards: APP 291, CIT 51
- Net Rushing Yards: APP 247, CIT 172
- Passing TDs: APP 4, CIT 0
- Rushing TDs: APP 3, CIT 0
- Penalties: APP 3-28, CIT 4-25
- Forced Fumbles: APP 3, CIT 0
- Fumbles Recovered by-Interceptions by: APP 1-1, CIT 0-0
- Time of Possession – APP 20:09, CIT 39:51
- 3rd Down Conversions: APP 0-5, CIT 5-18
- 4th Down Conversions: APP 2-3, CIT 3-5
SELECTED INDIVIDUAL STATS
Passing
- APP Chase Brice 12-18, 265 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs
- CIT Peyton Derrick 2-7, 45 yards, 0 TDs, 1 INT
- APP Brady McBride 2-3, 33 yards
- CIT Ahmad Green 1-1, 6 yards
Rushing
- APP Camerun Peoples 4 carries, 102 yards, 1 TD
- APP Kanye Roberts 7 carries, 70 yards, 1 TD
- CIT Sam Llewellyn 10 carries, 41 yards
- CIT Jay Graves-Billups 9 carries, 36 yards
- APP Anderson Castle 4 carries, 28 yards
- APP Daetrich Harrington 5 carries, 26 yards
- CIT Cooper Wallace 7 carries, 21 yards
- CIT Johnny Crawford 5 carries, 19 yards
- CIT Logan Billings 7 carries, 17 yards
- CIT Orlando Jones 6 carries, 15 yards
- APP Ahmani Marshall 3 carries, 12 yards
- CIT Braden Walker 4 carries, 11 yards
- CIT Peyton Derrick 8 carries, 10 yards
- APP Chase Brice 2 carries, 6 yards, 1 TD
- APP Brady McBride 1 carry, 3 yards
- CIT Ahmad Green 3 carries, 2 yards
Receiving
- APP Christan Horn 3 catches, 132 yards, 2 TDs
- APP Dashaun Davis 2 catches, 47 yards, 1 TD
- APP Michael Hetzel 2 catches, 44 yards
- CIT Jay Graves-Billups 2 catches, 42 yards
- APP Kaedin Robinson 1 catch, 26 yards
- APP Dalton Stroman 2 catches, 21 yards
- APP Tyler Page 1 catch, 10 yards
- CIT Christian Hilton 1 catch, 9 yards
- APP Eli Wilson 1 catch 8 yards, 1 TD
- APP Ahmani Marshall 1 catch, 5 yards
- APP Camerun Peoples 1 catch, 5 yards
INDIVIDUAL DEFENSIVE HIGHLIGHTS
- APP Kesean Brown 10 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss, 2 forced fumbles
- APP Dexter Lawson Jr. 1 interception
- APP Nick Ross 9 tackles, 1 forced fumble
- APP Tyler Bird 8 tackles, 1 tackle for loss
