By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — Punch, counterpunch. It was a gridiron chess match played around key injuries on both teams’ offensive lines. In the end, though, App State was checkmated by Coastal Carolina in the fourth quarter, the Mountaineers losing, 45-37.
The casinos and sportsbooks had the over/under total for this game at a seemingly generous 47.5 points. What materialized almost immediately was an offensive showcase wanting for defense. The longtime Sun Belt rivals combined for not only the betting line but more than half again as much, at 82 total points.
App State took an early, 7-0 lead on the opening possession with a 15-yard TD pass from quarterback J J Kohl to wide receiver Davion Dozier. It came at the end of a 10-play, 75-yard drive that took almost five minutes off the game clock. When Coastal Carolina responded with a scoring drive of their own, albeit a 43-yard field goal, the tone was set for the remainder of the game: the teams’ alternating scores.
After Kohl completed his second TD pass early in the second quarter, a 6-yarder to Jaden Barnes to finish an impressive, 15-play, 75-yard possession, the Mountaineers took a 21-10 lead. Undaunted, Coastal Carolina’s redshirt senior quarterback Samari Collier responded by leading the Chanticleers on an 11-play, 75-yard possession, finished off with a 4-yard keeper by Collier up the middle of the line of scrimmage. It closed the gap to 21-17.
A Special Teams Showcase, Too
Did we mention this game was an offensive showcase? Well, you could call it a special teams showcase, too. After closing the gap to 21-17 and hoping to take the lead before halftime, Coastal Carolina executed a successful onside kick, getting the ball back with under four minutes remaining before intermission and the ball near midfield.
On this occasion, however, App State’s defense rose to the occasion and forced a three-and-out. After receiving the punt and a 23-yard return by Barnes, the Mountaineers started their possession from their own 35 but, like the visitors from Conway, S.C., could do nothing with it.
The ensuing CCU drive was short-circuited when Collier was intercepted by App State DB Elijah Mc-Cantos and returned the ball 33 yards, to the Chanticleers’ 13-yard line but with only four seconds remaining before the break. A 31-yard field goal by APP’s freshman placekicker Dominic DeFreitas ended the first half scoring and gave the Mountaineers a still tenuous, 24-17 lead.
Things looked more promising for the Mountaineers early in the second half. The defense held Collier & Co. to another three-and-out, and then junior wide receiver Jaden Barnes found a crease in CCU’s punt coverage, swerved to the outside and outran everyone for a 77-yard punt return TD, the first punt return to paydirt for the Mountaineers since Clifton Duck managed it way back in 2018 against Gardner-Webb in an early season, non-conference game.
The score (and DeFreitas PAT) gave App State a more comfortable, 31-17 lead and something positive for the Homecoming crowd to enjoy.
One of the key considerations coming out of halftime, given the offensive performances of the two teams, was which defense would make the best adjustments during intermission. It turned out, Coastal Carolina won the day with those defensive adjustments. In the second half, the Chanticleers held App State’s offense to two field goals to pair with Barnes’ opening punt return TD. Meanwhile, Collier led the Coastal offense to two TDs in the third quarter and added two more in the final period. The visitors didn’t take their first lead until just 3:19 remained in the contest.
After CCU’s second TD of the fourth quarter, App State trailed 45-37, making it a one possession ball game with just under two minutes left on the clock. The Mountaineers needed a TD and 2-point conversion.
Kohl, who was masterful for most of the game, chipped off chunks of gridiron real estate with consecutive short passes to running back Jaquari Lewis and Barnes. Then he appeared to complete a pass for a first down to tight end Izayah Cummings, who was pushed out of bounds at the Coastal 25-yard line — but away from the ball fellow wide receiver Dalton Stroman was flagged for pass interference, putting the Mountaineer offense back to midfield.
After successive incomplete passes and facing 3rd-and-25 from the CCU47 and just 43 seconds showing on the clock, Kohl was sacked, the ball punched out by Ezekiel Durham-Campbell, recovered by the Chanticleers’ Noah Arinze.
A big bugaboo for App State in its early games — that seemed to have gotten fixed the past two weeks — were penalties, but Mountaineer infractions in this contest again were costly drive killers. The Mountaineers were flagged seven times and set back a net of 70 yards.
Some of the game stats point to just how close this contest was. Both had 410 yards of net total offense. The Chanticleers dominated on the ground, churning out 246 rushing yards to the Mountaineers’ 132. App State’s offense rolled up 276 yards through the air, compared to 164 by CCU.
Now all but eliminated from the Sun Belt Championship Game race to represent the East Division, the Mountaineers are 4-3 overall and 1-2 in conference play. Next, the travel to Norfolk, Va., to take on Old Dominion also 4-3, 1-2. The Monarchs have notable wins over NC Central, Liberty, Virginia Tech and Coastal Carolina, with losses to Indiana, James Madison and Marshall.
Difference makers in App State vs. Coastal Carolina
- The aforementioned penalties. The Mountaineers were flagged seven times for 70 yards, the Chanticleers three times for 35 yards.
- The CCU defense recorded 7 tackles for loss (-22 yards) vs. just 3 TFLs for App State (-9 yards).
- CCU posted 6 QB hurries, APP just 2.
NOTEWORTHY INDIVIDUAL STATS
Coastal Carolina
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- QB Samari Collier rushed 17 times for 74 yards and 2 TDs, while completing 12-of-19 passes for 118 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT
- MJ Morris, who started the season as the starting QB, came on to complete 2-of-2 passes for 39 yards and a TD.
- RB Dominic Knicely rushed 5 times for 51 yards and a TD.
- RB Jevon Edwards rushed 6 times for 41 yards and a TD.
- Collier and Morris completed passes to 9 different receivers, including TDs to Tucker Jameson and Malcolm Gillie.
App State
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- QB J J Kohl completed 27-of-41 passes for 278 yards, 2 TDs and no INTs, but one fumble
- The Mountaineers’ rushing attack was evenly spread between freshman RB Jaquari Lewis (15 carries, 43 yards) and senior Rashod Dubinion (10 carries, 38 yards, 1 TD).
- Kohl completed passes to 8 different receivers, including TD passes to Jaden Barnes and Davion Dozier.
- Dozier was the leading receiver with 4 catches for 70 yards and the TD, while tight end Izayah Cummings had 6 catches for 60 yards,
