South Alabama takes dominant road win at Appalachian State, 48-14

On Thursday night, South Alabama treated the Sun Belt Conference preseason favorite like just another average player.

The Jaguars routed Appalachian State 48-14 at a sold-out Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, N.C., in arguably the most important conference road win in program history. South Alabama (2-2 overall, 1-0 Sun Belt) rushed for 320 yards and played mostly blocking defense to beat the Mountaineers (2-2, 0-1) for the first time since 2014.

“I think everyone on our team knew we had the ability to do this, but to be able to do it on the road against a good opponent — a traditional, really good program, kind of a poster child for our conference along with a few other schools — there’s a lot of excitement in our locker room,” said first-year South Alabama head coach Major Applewhite. “There’s still a lot of time left in the season, but it’s great for everyone to come out tonight and get a win like that.”

Gio Lopez had 259 yards and three touchdowns for South Alabama, rushing for 105 yards and a TD and throwing for 154 yards and two scores on 16-of-24 passing. Rookie running back Fluff Bothwell had 116 yards and two scores on 14 carries for the Jaguars, while Kentrel Bullock and Iverson Celestine also scored touchdowns and DJ Thomas-Jones and Jamaal Pritchett caught scoring passes.

South Alabama’s defense held App State and Preseason Sun Belt Player of the Year Joey Aguilar in check for most of the night and forced a pair of red-zone turnovers. The Mountaineers’ two touchdowns came on the final drive of the first half and against the Jaguars’ second-team defense with 52 seconds left in the game.

It was the second consecutive victory on Thursday night for South Alabama, which set a Sun Belt Conference record for points scored when it beat Northwestern State 87-10 on Sept. 12. The Jaguars’ 135 points over the past two weeks is a conference record in two games.

“It means a lot to go to someone’s house and not only win but execute the whole game,” Lopez said. “It was a good team win, our first away win of the season.”

South Alabama — the team with a seven-point lead in the bookmakers’ rankings — led 28-7 after a near-perfect first half. The Jaguars drove 75 yards to the end zone on their first possession, capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Lopez to Thomas-Jones for a 7-0 lead at the 11:59 mark of the first quarter.

South Alabama scored again after forcing an App State punt, this time on Bothwell’s 22-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 with 7:10 left in the first half. The Jaguars drove 95 yards in 13 plays, scoring their third score on Lopez’s 31-yard run with 5:30 left in the first half.

Late in the first half, South Alabama held off App State on the goal line when Jordan Scruggs intercepted Aguilar at the 1-yard line and returned it to the Mountaineers’ 5-yard line. Two plays later, Bullock scored on a 2-yard run to make it 28-0.

“We were in a zone where I had to play between No. 1 and No. 2,” Scruggs said of his interception and 96-yard return. “I just read what the quarterback was thinking and made the play. I tried to score, but I was too tired and he caught me.”

App State scored in dramatic fashion on the final play of the half, with Aguilar diving deep and Dalton Stroman slicing through two South Alabama defensive backs for a 47-yard touchdown to make it 28-7 at halftime.

South Alabama’s defense forced App State into a turnover early in the second half and converted it into instant points for a 34-7 lead. Lopez passed to Pritchett, who dove into the end zone for an 18-yard score with 11:08 left in the third (Laith Marjan’s extra point hit the upright).

After an App State punt, South Alabama scored another touchdown. Lopez passed to Jeremiah Webb for 22 yards on third-and-11, and Bothwell ran into the end zone from 14 yards out to give the Jaguars a 41-7 lead.

Bothwell has rushed for 359 yards and six touchdowns on 37 attempts this season, an average of 9.7 yards per attempt. He credited the Jaguars’ offensive line of quarterbacks Jordan Davis and Malachi Carney, running backs Kenton Jerido and Reed Buys and center Malachi Preciado for poking big holes in App State’s defense all night long.

“Every week, the offensive line creates a lot of holes for our running backs,” Bothwell said. “So I give them props, every time we get in the (end) zone, just let them know they did what they needed to do.”

South Alabama pulled most of its offensive starters with 10:15 left in the game but still found itself in the end zone. Celestine scored on a 6-yard run with 4:15 left to give the Jaguars their final points.

App State scored its final points of the game with 52 seconds left on a 2-yard run by Marquel Haywood. The touchdown came only after South Alabama was penalized for pass interference on fourth-and-goal.

Aguilar finished the night 21-for-40 for 266 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Blayne Myrick led the Jaguars defense with nine tackles, while Courtney McBride had a sack, Aakil Washington and Carlos Johnson each had two quarterback hurries and Darius McKenzie recovered a fumble.

South Alabama remains on the road next week, playing LSU on September 28. The game kicks off at 6:45 p.m. and will be televised on the SEC Network.