QB Zac Thomas, App State cruise past South Alabama 52-7 in Sun Belt opener
Zac Thomas passed for two touchdowns and rushed for two more, leading Appalachian State past South Alabama 52-7 on Saturday in front of a homecoming crowd of 25,862 at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Appalachian State (3-1, 1-0 Sun Belt) had five consecutive touchdown drives in the first half, scoring 21 points in each of the first two quarters for a 42-7 lead. Thomas had scoring runs of 7 and 54 yards and throwing plays of 2 and 27 yards.
App State entered as the Sun Belt leader in scoring (51.7 points), total offense (525.7 yards) and total defense (265.7). Its high-powered offense racked up 517 yards to the Jaguars’ 308.
Thomas passed for 146 yards with two interceptions and he had 77 yards on six carries. Jalin Moore added 123 yards rushing with two scores. Three of App State’s 10 completions were for touchdowns.
Evan Orth had 225 yards passing with an interception for South Alabama (1-4, 1-1). Gus Nave and Travis Reed each made an interception.
Notes
▪ With his 17th career 100-yard game, Moore increased his App State total to 3,538 yards and moved past Chip Hooks, who ran for 3,472 yards from 1991-94. He is sixth App State's career rushing list.
▪ Clifton Duck had a 52-yard punt return to set up a touchdown and Tae Hayes recorded the program's first blocked field goal since a 2014 game against South Alabama.
▪ The Mountaineers have next weekend off before playing at Arkansas State on Tuesday, Oct. 9. The game will be televised by ESPN2.
Appalachian St. 52, South Alabama 7
South Alabama | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 |
Appalachian St. | 21 | 21 | 3 | 7 | — | 52 |
First Quarter
APP—Z.Thomas 54 run (Staton kick), 13:11
SAB—Baker 2 run (Patterson kick), 6:12
APP—J.Moore 7 run (Staton kick), 5:37
APP—Z.Thomas 7 run (Staton kick), 3:10
Second Quarter
APP—Sutton 2 pass from Z.Thomas (Staton kick), 12:22
APP—J.Moore 2 run (Staton kick), 4:45
APP—Mar.Williams 27 pass from Z.Thomas (Staton kick), 2:41
Third Quarter
APP—FG Staton 23, :46
Fourth Quarter
APP—C.Reed 3 pass from Derrick (Staton kick), 3:04
A—25,862.
SAB | APP | |
First downs | 16 | 28 |
Rushes-yards | 35-83 | 46-348 |
Passing | 225 | 169 |
Comp-Att-Int | 20-33-1 | 10-20-2 |
Return Yards | 37 | 88 |
Punts-Avg. | 9-29.55 | 2-45.0 |
Fumbles-Lost | 1-0 | 0-0 |
Penalties-Yards | 9-91 | 4-45 |
Time of Possession | 31:08 | 28:52 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—South Alabama, Minter 9-44, Baker 8-17, Miller 1-11, Harris 2-9, Mayo 5-6, D.Moore 2-5, Orth 5-4, (Team) 1-0, Sutherland 1-(minus 5), C.Johnson 1-(minus 8). Appalachian St., J.Moore 19-123, Z.Thomas 6-77, D.Evans 6-61, Mar.Williams 9-59, Hicks 5-22, Derrick 1-6.
PASSING—South Alabama, Orth 20-33-1-225. Appalachian St., Z.Thomas 8-18-2-146, Derrick 2-2-0-23.
RECEIVING—South Alabama, Way 7-63, Baker 4-89, McCray 3-43, Harris 1-15, C.Smith 1-13, Flenord 1-5, D.Moore 1-2, J.Taylor 1-(minus 2), Minter 1-(minus 3). Appalachian St., Hennigan 4-65, Sutton 2-46, Mar.Williams 1-27, Purifoy 1-20, Virgil 1-8, C.Reed 1-3.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—South Alabama, Patterson 28.