On a cold and cloudy Homecoming Saturday in the High Country, Appalachian State rolled past the Colonials of Robert Morris and came away with a dominant 42-3 win.
To the surprise of most fans, App State’s offense struggled early. After having to punt on their first two drives, the Mountaineers finally found the end zone on a 31-yard connection from Chase Brice to Deshaun Davis with 8:15 in the first quarter.
However, the next App State touchdown wouldn’t come until 4:51 left in the quarter when Brice hit Redshirt Senior Tyler Page to increase the lead to 14-3. This came after the Colonials scored their only points of the day, a 45-yard field goal by kicker Jayson Jenkins. The Mountaineers would find the end zone one more time before the half on an athletic catch from wide receiver Dalton Stroman, increasing the score 21-3.
Despite their struggles in the first half, the Mountaineer offense found their rhythm in the second half and they didn’t look back. Tight end Miller Gibbs kicked off the second half scoring for the Mountaineers with a nine-yard touchdown reception to grow the Mountaineer lead to twenty-five. The Mountaineers would tack on two more touchdowns before time expired on the game. The first came on a 17-yard run for Sophomore running back Anderson Castle with 5:56 to go in the third quarter. The other came on a short run for Freshman Kanye Roberts with 11:57 to go in the fourth quarter. App State worked to run out the clock the remainder of the game and secured the 42-3 victory.
Chase Brice finished the game throwing touchdowns on four of 17 pass completions with a total of 185 yards through the air for the App State offense. The offense as a whole finished with 512 total yards with 287 yards rushing. The Mountaineer defense also stepped up big, allowing the Colonials to pass for only 70 yards. This was the fourth time this season that App State has held their opponent to fewer than 100 passing yards.
The win was also an opportunity to showcase players who don’t see the field that often. In total, 83 players played in the action for App State, 11 were true freshmen and 20 were players that made their debuts for the team.
In a shortened week, App State will travel to Conway, South Carolina to take on Sun Belt rival Coastal Carolina on Thursday night. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 pm and the game will be televised nationally on ESPN.