Appalachian State Mountaineers fall at GSU 34-14

You knew there would be trouble early in this one. Georgia Southern, an option team, found big holes in the Appalachian State Mountaineers defense and pushed Matt Breida through one of them for a big touchdown run early in the first quarter. Option teams are hard enough to manage, but giving up home run shots is a recipe for disaster. Georgia Southern would control the game from there to put the game out of reach at 34-14 by the end. Without those two big plays, the Mountaineers might have come back in this one. As it stands they are now 0-1 in Sun Belt play.

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The Eagles running attack was effective all game with Breida running for 137 yards and quarterback Kevin Ellison running for more than that.

Play of the Game

Georgia Southern blocked the punt in the second quarter. That led to the next important play, when second running back Alfred Ramsay pushed into the end zone with 13:08 to go in the second quarter. That gave Georgia Southern a 17-0 lead and no clear sign that the Mountaineers had figured out the option running attack. That margin would ultimately hold up from there. There may have been flashier plays, but the Eagles simply got the job done on offense with plays like this.

Were You There When…
Seemingly every play by Appalachian State receiver Malachi Jones ended in a review. One time there was some question whether he had gotten a first down, and they ruled it short on review. Then there was the time that he trapped the ball and it was ruled a completion only for the review to correct the mistake. Jones played a pretty efficient game over all.

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I Want Him On My Team

Simms McElfresh WR

McElfresh had seven catches for 65 yards, but it was the quality of those catches that puts him in this slot. One of those catches was a catch by the sideline, and McElfresh barely had a look at the ball. He still managed to turn his body, catch it, and get TWO feet inbounds to give Appalachian the first and goal that would lead to Marcus Cox’s touchdown run.

Final Thoughts

Georgia Southern certainly appears like the team that was more ready for the jump to FBS than App State right now. Clearly App needs to address its run defense, but also needs to generate a rushing attack of its own. Cox and Upshaw have been quiet for much the year so far. The move to Lamb seems to have created another running option, but the offense still lacks consistency. The Mountaineers get South Alabama next week, and they lost to GSU by a greater margin than App did. That’s a good thing, right?