By David Rogers. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — It may have been one of the loudest, most audio-effective bowl games of the college football season given the JLab sponsorship of the Birmingham Bowl, but an arguably short-handed App State was unable to make enough noise of their own as Sun Belt Conference rival Georgia Southern celebrated with a 29-10 win in Protective Stadium on Dec. 29.
The Eagles’ O.J. Arnold led a quintet of ball carriers rolling up 252 yards rushing, the 5-9, 195 lb. senior running back accounting for 152 of those yards.
Meanwhile, Georgia Southern’s junior quarterback J.C. French IV spread the ball around to six different receivers in completing 72 percent of his passes (18-of-25) for 171 yards, including one TD vs. one pass interception.
The real story in this game and, arguably, the real difference was in the number of turnovers yielded by the Mountaineers. With the three most veteran QBs on the roster opting out of the bowl game (AJ Swann, JJ Kohl and Billy Wiles), App State head coach Dowell Loggains and his offensive staff were forced to put the ball in the hands of true freshman Noah Gillon and redshirt freshman Matthew Wilson. While that posed a defensive challenge for the Eagles in preparing for the young QBs for which there was little in the way of tape, Georgia Southern came away with four pass interceptions, two each by Gillon and Wilson. Three of them came with the Mountaineers driving, inside or near the proverbial “red zone,” and all of them came inside the GSU 40-yard line.
Turnovers aside, there were noteworthy performances that stood out among the Mountaineers:
- Senior wide receiver Dalton Stroman had among the best games of his App State career, with three catches for 96 yards — and all three grabs were highlight-reel worthy.
- QB Matthew Wilson turned in quite a story. Initially recruited as a QB, his tenure in the crowded QB room this year didn’t materialize as expected, so he spent this season converting to defensive back, a position where he also starred at Rock Hill High School (SC). With the three veterans opting out of the bowl game, Loggains brought him back to the offensive side and he ended up producing some remarkable numbers for his first meaningful Mountaineer appearance at the QB position: completing 12 of 22 passes for 128 yards and recording a team-high rushing with 12 carries for 110 yards and a TD.
- Senior defensive back Ethan Johnson intercepted a Georgia Southern pass late in the first half, giving the Mountaineers good field position just inside the Eagles’ territory. Early in the fourth quarter, Johnson tackled a GSU receiver for a loss.
- Sophomore linebacker Colton Phares had a busy day, accounting for 12 total tackles (six solo), while sharing credit for a tackle for loss with teammate Kevin Abrams-Verwayne in the second quarter.
The Mountaineers’ appearance in the JLab Birmingham Bowl for its second meeting in 53 days with “deeper than hate” rival Georgia Southern was all but surprising. Finishing the regular season 5-7 and not technically bowl eligible, the App State players had already had their season exit meetings with head coach Loggains. With the fall academic semester drawing to a close, many were already scattering home for the holidays, some to faraway locales. But when the Birmingham Bowl had seven invitations rejected to face 6-6 Georgia Southern, App State may have been late-to-the-party, but was quick to say, “yes.”
With some notable exceptions, a majority of the Mountaineer roster returned to campus to prepare for the bowl game. Seniors were excited to extend their collegiate playing careers. All who returned looked forward to one more chance to compete, especially in a bowl game with its special atmosphere in an unfamiliar venue.
The 41,000-plus capacity Protective Stadium is the recently built home of the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Its modern facilities, especially with the JLab-sponsored audio and entertainment enhancements, made for a first class football stage for these two Sun Belt rivals.
