STATESBORO, Ga. – Taylor Lamb ran for 94 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 199 yards to lead Appalachian State to a 34-10 Sun Belt Conference football victory over Georgia Southern Thursday night at Paulson Stadium.  

The Mountaineer defense held the Eagles to 159 total yards, 65 rushing yards and nine first downs in the game with a bulk of that coming on the Eagles' final drive of the contest. Appalachian State had the ball for over 15 minutes longer than Georgia Southern (4-4, 3-2), and after falling behind 10-0 in the first quarter, the Mountaineers scored 34 unanswered points.

The Eagle defense held the Mountaineers in check for three quarters before wearing down. Ukeme Eligwe returned a fumble 90 yards for a touchdown and finished with 12 tackles and two pass breakups to lead Georgia Southern, while Jay Bowdry and Darius Jones Jr. each had an interception.

Jalin Moore rushed 15 times for 126 yards and a score, and Marcus Cox added 115 yards and a touchdown on the ground for Appalachian State (6-2, 4-0). Shaedon Meadors caught six passes for 126 yards.

Georgia Southern held the Mountaineers to 1-for-12 on third downs, but the Eagle offense managed to convert just 2-of-13 third downs.

The story
Appalachian State broke a 10-10 tie with a 28-yard field goal by Michael Rubino with 3:03 to go in the third quarter. The drive was kept alive by a roughing the punter call on fourth-and-24, and Lamb hit Meadors with a 17-yard pass on fourth-and-4. 

A.J. Howard picked off a Seth Shuman pass to give the Mountaineers the ball near midfield, and Lamb scampered for a 30-yard touchdown run two plays later to give App a 20-10 cushion.

Marcus Cox capped an 88-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown run as he took the late option pitch from Lamb, turned up field and broke a couple tackles to get into the end zone and make the score 27-10 early in the fourth quarter. Moore scored on a 15-yard run with 3:26 left in the game for the final margin.

An interception and a 22-yard return by Jones Jr. set GS up at the Mountaineer 29-yard line early in the contest. The Eagles moved the ball down to the App 1-yard line but had to settle for a 32-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo.

The Mountaineers were set to try a 31-yard field goal late in the first quarter, but the ball was snapped before holder Bentlee Critcher was ready. It caromed off his hands, and Eligwe scooped it up, took off down the left sideline, picked up block from Jones, Jr. and raced 90 yards for a touchdown and a 10-0 GS lead. 

The game featured a bizarre finish to the first half in which officials had to call the teams out of their locker rooms twice to finish the period. App got the ball at its own 34-yard line after a GS punt, and Moore picked up 18 yards on first down with seven seconds left. A Mountaineer offensive lineman's helmet came off during the play, prompting the officials to incorrectly rule a 10-second runoff and end the half. 

After bringing the teams back out, Lamb ran for 13 yards to the GS 35-yard line as the clock hit zeros, and the teams headed to the locker rooms again. The officials went to replay this time and ruled there were still time left because the clock should have stopped on the first down. Two seconds were put back on the clock, which was set to start on ready for play. The Mountaineers set up for a 53-yard field goal try but had to rush the snap, and the kick squibbed left. However, Georgia Southern called timeout before the kick, and App got another chance, this time with the clock starting on the snap. On the second try, Eagle defensive lineman Jonathan Battle Jr. broke free up the middle and blocked the kick to end the half.
    
Quotables
Head coach Tyson Summers
On message to the team after the game
"My message to the team was that I feel like I know where they are at. They are upset and frustrated, and I'm right there with them. I promised them that I would give everything I have to help us get better and that we need to continue to stay together and continue to work. We'll meet tomorrow, evaluate the tape and see what we can do better."

Junior linebacker Ukeme Eligwe
"It hurts. This is my first time playing App, but I felt the same emotions as the other guys in our locker room. It's a tough loss for us. As a defense we held our own the first half, and we're looking forward to doing the same thing against Ole Miss."

Senior running back Matt Breida
"We hurt ourselves in certain areas. We were down inside the 5-yard line and had a bad snap that could have changed the game. We have to look ahead now; we can't do anything about the past. We just have to get ready for Ole Miss."

Post-Game Notes
• Captains: #4 Kevin Ellison, #36 Matt Breida, #42 Nardo Govan, #51 Jamal Johnson

• Georgia Southern lost the toss and took the ball. It's the second time GS has lost the coin toss this year.

• Darius Jones Jr. recorded his third career interception, and his first of the season, in the first quarter. It led to a 32-yard field goal from Younghoe Koo.

• Ukeme Eligwe returned a fumble 90 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter. It was the second-longest fumble return in school history (97 yards, Rodney Oglesby, vs. Valdosta State, 9/1/90) and was the first fumble return for a touchdown for an Eagle since Caleb Williams returned a fumble 62 yards at Georgia last year.

• Redshirt freshman Jay Bowdry recorded his first collegiate interception late in the first half.

• With his field goal in the game, Younghoe Koo has now made all 14 of his field goal attempts this season. His 14 straight field goals extends the school record he set last week for the most consecutive field goals made in a season. Tim Foley made 12 straight in the 1985 season. Foley holds the school record for most consecutive field goals at 19 set during the 1995-96 seasons (last 12 of 1995, first seven of 1996).

• Joshua Moon recorded his second collegiate interception in the fourth quarter.

• Jonathan Battle Jr. blocked a field goal at the end of the first half. It was the first blocked kicked of his career and the second blocked field goal for the Eagles this year (R.J. Murray vs. ULM).

Next up
Georgia Southern plays its last non-conference game of the season when the Eagles travel to Ole Miss Nov. 5. Kickoff is set for noon ET.

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