App State Football opened its Sun Belt Conference schedule with a 48-14 home loss to South Alabama on Thursday night in Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Five days removed from a low-scoring, hard-fought win at East Carolina, the Mountaineers (2-2, 0-1) fell behind in the opening minutes and had a nine-game winning streak in Sun Belt openers snapped by an opponent coming off an 87-point performance the previous Thursday.
A crowd of 34,133 for the midweek ESPN game gave App State its seventh straight sellout at The Rock. The Mountaineers are off this Saturday and return to action Sept. 28 with a home game against Liberty.
Joey Aguilar threw for 266 yards, with a Hail Mary touchdown to Dalton Stroman as the first half ended, and Kaedin Robinson led the offense with six catches for 85 yards. Maquel Haywood scored on a 2-yard run in the final minute and led the team with 47 rushing yards.
Defensive end Santana Hopper forced a fumble on a sack for the second straight week, with Shawn Collins making the early recovery, and safety DJ Burks recorded a career-high 14 tackles in his first start.
With App State trailing 14-0 in the second quarter, Conner Maynard’s second punt inside the 10 backed up South Alabama’s offense, but a 95-yard touchdown drive gave the Jaguars (2-2, 1-0) a 21-0 lead with 5:30 left before halftime.
App State, set to receive the ball to open the second half, had a chance to get back in the game thanks to a drive inside South Alabama’s 10 in the final three minutes of the second quarter. Instead, Jordan Scruggs stepped in front of a pass at the goal line and sprinted 96 yards to the App State 4. Christan Horn’s touchdown-saving tackle briefly kept the Jaguars from extending their lead, but they scored two plays later.
The Mountaineers at least went into the break with momentum via Stroman’s 47-yard touchdown grab on the Hail Mary heave from Aguilar on the last play of the half.
App State received to begin the second half and approached midfield before a fourth-and-6 pass fell incomplete with the Mountaineers needing points to apply game pressure to the Jags. South Alabama reached the end zone three plays later to increase the margin to 34-7, and it took a 41-7 advantage to the fourth quarter.
{Information provided by Appalachian State Athletics}
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