By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Just about any thing that could go wrong… well, it went wrong for App State in the first half of its Sun Belt Conference opener against South Alabama at Kidd Brewer Stadium on Sept. 19. Only a “Hail Mary” pass from quarterback Joey Aguilar to wide receiver Dalton Stroman as time expired before intermission prevented a first half shutout by the Jaguars. And it didn’t get any better in the second half for the Mountaineers.
South Alabama brought all the fight to the Rock on this night, leaving town with a 48-14 conference win in front of another sell out crowd of 34,133.
Again?
It has become an all too familiar story for the Mountaineers in 2024: go down big in the first half, even in the first quarter. Against Clemson, the App State trailed 35-0 at the end of the first quarter and 56-13 at halftime before losing, 66-20. Against East Carolina, the Mountaineers had to shrug off a 16-0 first quarter deficit and score 21 unanswered points to eke out a come-from-behind, 21-19 win in Greenville on Sept. 14.
The Mountaineers’ first half woes didn’t improve in Week 3, with South Alabama passing and running their way to a 28-0 lead until Stroman’s “Hail Mary” TD reception as time expired on the first two quarters. Then the Jaguars piled it on in the second half. For the night, just about any USA offensive player who touched the ball carved out big chunks of yardage, if not scores.
Defensively, App State missed tackles, left gaping holes for Jaguar ball carriers to run through, and blew pass coverage in the secondary. Offensively, the South Alabama defensive line controlled the line of scrimmage, offering few opportunities for App State’s purported stable of good running backs and kept pressure on Mountaineer quarterback Joey Aguilar.
Giving credit where credit is due
While App State fans can bemoan the missed tackles and lack luster execution, nobody should discount the performance of South Alabama. If nothing else, by scoring 48 points on offense and limiting the Mountaineers on defense, the Jaguars proved that last week’s 87-10 shellacking of FCS contender Northwestern State was not a fluke and might even have been a foreshadowing of things to come for head coach Major Applewhite’s team.
In the Jaguar’s first two games, a 58-32 loss to North Texas and a 27-20 loss at Ohio, South Alabama was without the services of starting QB Gio Lopez, a stout 6-0, 220-lb. redshirt freshman. When he wasn’t throwing laser-like passes (16-24, 154 yards, 2 TDs and 0 INTs), Lopez was bouncing off would-be tacklers and rambling for big gains on the ground. On QB keepers, the Jaguars’ field general tucked the ball and ran seven times for 105 yards, including three “chunk plays” of 50, 19, and a 31-yard scramble to the left for a TD, early in the second quarter.
To a large extent, South Alabama did what App State usually tries to do: control possession of the football, extend offensive drives, keep the opponent’s offense off the field and score touchdowns.
A lot of the work being done by the Jags came in the form of a 5-10, 219 lb. freshman running back, Fluff Bothwell, who pounded through the Mountaineer defense for 116 yards on 14 carries, including two TDs. His first touchdown came midway through the first quarter, a 22-yard romp that finished off what could only be described as a Bothwell-featured offensive possession. He preceded the TD rush with runs of 7 and 20 yards. It was a 6-play, 60-yard scoring drive that took just 2:01 of the clock and Bothwell accounted for 49 of those 60 yards. Credit Applewhite’s scheme and the O-line blocking, to be sure, but Bothwell was also running through would-be Mountaineer tacklers.
Bothwell’s second TD came midway through the third quarter, a 14-yard dash into the end zone to complete a 6-play, 67-yard drive, requiring 3:04 in terms of time. It formally put the game out of reach, the Laith Marjan PAT giving South Alabama a 41-7 lead. With that, there was a steady stream of black-and-gold clad Mountaineer fans already leaving the stadium. Bothwell’s Q3 TD featured not only the big freshman, but a balanced offensive possession with Lopez completing passes of 17 and 22 yards to go along with 4- and 20-yard rushes by Bothwell before his TD run.
App State will lick its wounds and hope to regroup before facing a talented Liberty University team in a non-conference encounter between what were expected to be two Group of 5 heavyweights.
South Alabama elevated its Sun Belt Conference title hopes with the win and will take its show on the road for a Sept. 28 test at LSU.
The Mountaineers were the widely touted, preseason favorite to win the East Division of the Sun Belt. They have a lot of work to do to keep those hopes alive after the opening loss to South Alabama.
All stats courtesy of StatBroadcast
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