NCAAF Game Recap - Appalachian State at South Carolina
Sat Nov 9, 2019 7:00 PM EST

LSU
46
Bama
41
F
MD
14
OSU
73
F
Clem
55
NCSt
10
F
PSU
26
MIN
31
F
MIZ
0
UGA
27
F
IASt
41
Okla
42
F
Vand
0
Fla
56
F
Bayl
29
TCU
23
F(2OT)
ND
38
Duke
7
F
Iowa
22
Wisc
24
F
UConn
3
Cin
48
F
K St
24
Tex
27
F
Wyo
17
Boise
20
F OT
Wake
17
VaTec
36
F
ECU
51
SMU
59
F
NEV
17
SDSU
13
F
Kent
33
Toled
35
F
Ball
31
WestMI
35
F
MiaOH
24
Ohio
21
F
ULLaf
48
CoCar
7
F
Temp
17
SoFL
7
F
UCF
31
Tuls
34
F
Wash
19
OreSt
7
F
Purd
24
NW
22
F
W Ky
45
Ark
19
F
TxTch
38
WVU
17
F
FlaSt
38
BC
31
F
UMass
7
Army
63
F
GATec
28
UVA
33
F
UTSA
24
OD
23
F
JacSt
27
TnTec
37
F
SoAl
28
TxSt
30
F
UNCC
28
UTEP
21
F
Stan
13
Colo
16
F
GaSo
28
Troy
49
F
UNH
16
JMU
54
F
USC
31
AzSt
26
F
UAB
2
SMiss
37
F
Ill
37
MSU
34
F
Lou
27
MiaFL
52
F
SamHu
24
Abil
10
F
NMS
3
Miss
41
F
NorTx
17
LT
52
F
GASt
31
ULMon
45
F
FLInt
7
FlAtl
37
F
UtSt
37
Fres
35
F
WaSt
20
Cal
33
F
App
20
SCar
15
F
Lib
24
BYU
31
F
Tenn
17
KY
13
F
SJSU
40
Hawaii
42
F
E Mi
42
Akr
14
F
WestMI
37
Ohio
34
F OT

Nov 9, 2019, 7:00 PM EST

Final

1

2

3

4

T

Appalachian State (8-1)

3

10

7

0

20

South Carolina (4-6)

6

0

3

6

15

Appalachian St beats Gamecocks 20-15 for 2nd Power Five win
Sun Nov 10, 2019 12:19 AM

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Appalachian State just keeps adding to its rich, college football history.

The small school champions that took down mighty Michigan in the Big House 12 years ago has now beaten two Power Five programs - and its first Southeastern Conference opponent - after a 20-15 victory at South Carolina on Saturday night.

"Yeah, definitely means a lot," said Zac Thomas, the Mountaineers junior quarterback. "It's remarkable coming from a Group of Five conference. A lot of people don't do that. It makes you feel good."

Thomas ran for a 1-yard touchdown and safety Nicholas Ross scored on a 20-yard interception return for a 20-15 win at South Carolina, the program's second Power Five win this season.

Chandler Staton added field goals of 40 and 47 yards and Appalachian State's defense held off the Gamecocks' late rally.

Appalachian State's time in the college football spotlight looked finished after last week as it lost its national ranking, its undefeated start and a chance at the Cotton Bowl with a 24-21 home loss to Georgia Southern.

Instead, they bounced back the best way possible and added this Power Five takedown to their to their 34-31 victory at North Carolina on Sept. 21.

The Gamecocks (4-6) rallied from 20-9 down in the final quarter on Bryan Edwards' 23-yard touchdown with 2:58 left and drove to the App State 11 in the final seconds. But Ryan Hilinski pass to Edwards in the end zone was too high, touching off the latest improbable celebration for the Mountaineers.

"This team is something special," Mountaineers tight end Collin Reed said. "We've been building for a long time."

South Carolina's chances of making a bowl took a serious hit. The Gamecocks now must win at Texas A&M (something they've never done) and No. 4 Clemson in their final two games to make their fourth postseason trip under coach Will Muschamp.

Things turned right before halftime when Hilinski's hard throw over the middle bounced off Xavier Legette's hands and was intercepted by safety Nicholas Ross and returned 20 yards for a touchdown to put Appalachian State ahead for good 13-6.

Hilinski, the Gamecocks freshman, had not thrown a pick in his past five games until Ross got the deflected ball and took it in for the score.

Appalachian State defense took away what was expected to be the Gamecocks biggest edge in the run game. Season starter Rico Dowdle, who had missed the previous two games with an ankle sprain, had zero yards on 10 first-half carries in his return.

The Gamecocks came in averaging 184 yards a game on the ground but gained just 21 on 27 carries. South Carolina played without leading rusher Tavien Feaster, who sustained a groin injury last week.

"When we don't have the ability to run the ball, we're going to struggle," South Carolina coach Will Muschamp said.

Edwards finished with nine catches for 90 yards, the senior surpassing Alshon Jeffery for the school's all-time receiving yardage mark. Asked about his record, Edwards said simply, "We lost."

THE TAKEAWAY

Appalachian State: The Mountaineers made a strong case to re-enter the national rankings. They also made a strong impression on Power Five athletic directors about not wanting to add Appalachian State to future schedules.

South Carolina: Muschamp had touted this as his deepest, most talented group this summer. But the Gamecocks continue to confound as they struggled to make plays on both sides of the ball. It was the third time in four games, South Carolina was outplayed in the second half of losses with a chance to win the game. Florida outscored the Gamecocks in the fourth quarter while Tennessee had a 24-0 advantage in the second half. Add the Mountaineers to the list.

BACK IN CHARGE

Appalachian State coach Eliah Drinkwitz said his team wanted to win against South Carolina. They really want to capture the Sun Belt Conference crown and play well in top-flight bowl game. The Mountaineers were tied with Georgia Southern and Georgia State with only one conference defeat coming into the week. But Georgia Southern and Georgia State both fell in league play to give Appalachian State control of its Sun Belt destiny when it returns to conference play next week.

ALL THIS AND MORE

Along with the victory, Appalachian State left with $900,000 for coming to South Carolina. The teams will play twice more, including a game in Boone, North Carolina in 2025.

UP NEXT

Appalachian State plays at Georgia State on Saturday night.

South Carolina closes Southeastern Conference play at Texas A&M on Saturday night.

---

More AP college football coverage: https://apnews.com/Collegefootball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Passing

App Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
Z. Thomas 15 9 60.0 0 105 24 1 53.5
M. Williams 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 39.6
SCar Att Cmp % TD-Pa Yds-Pa LgPa Int Rat
R. Hilinski 57 32 56.1 1 325 29 1 71.2

Rushing

App Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
D. Evans 23 85 3.7 11 0
M. Williams Jr. 7 19 2.7 6 0
SCar Att Yds-Ru Avg LgRu TDRu
D. Joyner 3 14 4.7 6 0
D. Fenwick 4 9 2.3 6 0

Receiving

App Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
C. Sutton 3 38 12.7 23 0
D. Evans 2 32 16.0 24 0
SCar Rec Yds-Rc Avg LgRc TD-Rc
B. Edwards 9 90 10.0 23 1
R. Dowdle 5 67 13.4 26 0

Fumbles

SCar F FL
R. Hilinski 1 0

Returning

App KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
J. Virgil 2 38.0 0 57 0 0 0
D. Evans 1 41.0 0 41 0 0 0
SCar KR Avg KRTD LgKR PR Avg TD LgPR
X. Legette 1 14.0 0 14 1 -1.0 0 0
J. Robinson 2 19.0 0 22 0 0 0

Punting

App Punt Yds Avg LgPu
X. Subotsch 7 316 45.1 57
SCar Punt Yds Avg LgPu
J. Charlton 5 262 52.4 59

Takeaways

App Int Yds InTD
N. Ross 1 20 1
SCar Int Yds InTD
E. Jones 1 1 0

Team Stats Comparison

App SCar
Points For 20 15
Total Yards 202 346
Rushing Yards 97 21
Passing Yards 105 325
Passing Completions / Attempts 9/16 32/58
Turnovers 1 1
Interceptions Thrown 1 1
Fumbles - Lost 0/0 2/0
First Downs 11 22
Penalties - Yards 8/46 8/50
Time Of Possession 50:50 10:10
Third Down Conversions/Attempts 2/13 4/18
Fourth Down Conversions/Attempts 1/1 4/5
Punts - Average Yards 7/45 5/52

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter App SCar
SCar 06:09 FG Parker White 41 yd FG 0 3
App 09:50 FG Chandler Staton 40 yd FG 3 3
SCar 13:38 FG Parker White 25 yd FG 3 6
2nd Quarter App SCar
App 06:31 FG Chandler Staton 47 yd FG 6 6
App 13:09 TD Nicholas Ross 20 yd interception return (Chandler Staton kick) 13 6
3rd Quarter App SCar
SCar 03:52 FG Parker White 50 yd FG 13 9
App 07:50 TD Zac Thomas 1 yd run (Chandler Staton kick) 20 9
4th Quarter App SCar
SCar 12:02 TD Bryan Edwards 23 yd pass from Ryan Hilinski (failed 2pt pass) 20 15

Game Information

Stadium: Williams-Brice Stadium, Columbia, South Carolina
Attendance: 80,849
Game Time:
Weather: