Appalachian State: 2023 Cure Bowl Champions

 
What do you get when the skies open up and two teams battle in a monsoon? App State and Miami Ohio delivered one of the wildest bowl game performances in recent memory, for all the wrong reasons.

First off, congratulations to App State for winning the Cure Bowl 13-9 in Orlando, Florida. After scoring the game’s only touchdown, we found out this was going to be a muddy mess. I feel for both teams in this postseason outing.

On a positive note, ESPN analyst Booger McFarland pointed out postgame that neither team needed a bathroom break during the downpour. Rather than run to the sideline tent or locker room, Booger jokingly pointed out that the conditions gave each player an opportunity to just ‘Let It Flow’ on the field.

Imagine being part of one of these teams and finding out you’re headed to sunny Florida for a bowl game. Disney World, Universal Studios, laying out by the pool with a side of football, it was all part of the plan. But this game turned into the muddiest bowl game in recent history and viewers were treated to players slipping around all over the field.

Not only were fans of both teams prepared for a wonderful afternoon of football in Florida, but the players were hoping to have a turnover free game. Nope, that wasn’t going to happen on Saturday afternoon, with a record being snapped in the process.

For the first time since 1988, both teams combined to tie the record for most fumbles in a game. In the announcers booth, Robert Griffin III made it a point to say he wasn’t born the last time something like this happened in a college football game.

Only 5 of the 13 fumbles were lost, but this was a sight to behold.

Postgame Slip-N-Slide Celebrations For App State

Thanks to the fantastic field conditions for this type of celebration, App State took full advantage of the flooded field. Covered in paint and ready to party, Appalachian State players immediately started their own slip-n-slide party as the clock ticked down to zero.

What a great way to close out the 2023 season for App State, winners of its last five of seven games.

I hope the coaching staff gives the players a few days off following the win in Orlando, because they should be headed straight for Disney World on Sunday.

Appalachian State: 2021 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Champions

Ken Davis sat in his living room on Monday, watching Appalachian State on its way to a title.

The men’s basketball team clinched its first Sun Belt Conference championship, and more importantly, the first NCAA Tournament berth for the program in 21 years and only the third in the school’s history.

His phone started to buzz with 15 minutes remaining in the game, and he looked down to find himself in a group text. The starter of the chat? Bobby Cremins, the former Mountaineers head coach under whom Davis served as a student manager.

“You talk about memories flooding,” Davis, 64, said.

That was the case for many Mountaineers fans, from the moment App State beat Georgia State, 80-73, to cap a stretch of four wins in four days that included two overtime victories. The championship came after a regular season in which App State lost six of its last seven games.

Naturally, some fans harkened back to the school’s previous NCAA trips.

Cremins led App State to its first, a Southern Conference championship year during the 1978-79 season. Davis, who graduated from App State in 1980 and earned his master’s the following year, ultimately followed Cremins to Georgia Tech as a graduate assistant.

Davis said he looks at the game with a coach’s eye. And he said on that front, there’s no way the Mountaineers should be here. But he saw a team that played harder than their opponents, a trait that can carry a team at the right time. He drew similarities between Cremins’ team and this one. For starters, a short bench that leaned heavily on a few – for example, four players played 34 minutes or more in the Sun Belt title game – but it was also the way the team just wore down Georgia State.

““I relate what Coach (Dustin) Kerns is doing to what Coach Cremins did back in the ‘70s,” Davis said. “They have bought into his system. And when players buy into a system, and they believe in that coach and that system, they’re going to perform.

“So I would say, yeah, I’m surprised, but I’m not surprised because of how they reacted and adjusted to his system.”

Trevor Owens hopped into the App State fan base at the right time. A student from 1997 to 2003, he saw three 20-win seasons. He saw the program move from Varsity Gym, in the center of campus, to its current home at Holmes Convocation Center in 2000. That stretch hooked him.

“I just remember trying to keep my balance at Varsity Gym because those bleachers were rocking because they were so excited about their basketball team back in the day,” Owens, 41, said.

The App State program saw other bright spots, but for the better part of the 2010s, it remained stuck. The Mountaineers had one winning season during that stretch, a 16-15 season in 2010-11. Owens called the results and sparse crowds disappointing, especially with the intense passion he saw during his time at the university.

That changed with Kerns, hired in April 2019. He authored a winning season, 18-15, last year before this season’s 17-11 campaign. Two years of progress have helped a program overcome nearly a decade of struggles. And the season included struggles, too: a COVID-19 pause stopped the Mountaineers during conference play for two-plus weeks.

The team traveled back to Boone on Tuesday, welcomed back into by a socially distanced gathered. That followed a night on which fans took to King Street and celebrated. David Jackson said he could hear fireworks in his neighborhood the moment the game ended, lasting for roughly 20 minutes.

Jackson’s perspective on this moment is unique. The play-by-play voice of the Mountaineers from 2000 to 2016, he’s now the president/CEO of the Boone Chamber of Commerce.

This is going to bring national exposure to App State and Boone. And any positive attention, he said, is wonderful during a time where a pandemic is still ongoing.

But it’s also the next installment of special memories for a fan base. Students, those who celebrated in the streets last night and the fans that have populated home games, have a new high point. One that, like the other two berths in the Big Dance, will resonate.

“I remember everything — I’m serious,” Jackson said. “I remember everything because that’s what these moments do.

“They make you soak it all in and pay attention to little details because of the magnitude of it all.”

Appalachian State: 2020 Myrtle Beach Bowl Champions

Camerun Peoples ran for a bowl-record 319 yards and tied a record with five rushing touchdowns as Appalachian State beat North Texas 56-28 Monday in the inaugural Myrtle Beach Bowl to start college football’s pandemic-affected bowl season.

Peoples, a sophomore, surpassed the 307 yards rushing of Georgia Tech’s PJ Daniels in the 2004 Humanitarian Bowl. Peoples also became the seventh player to run for that many scores in a bowl game, a list that includes Oklahoma State’s Barry Sanders and Toledo’s Kareem Hunt, as the Mountaineers (9-3) remained a perfect 6-0 in bowls since joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2014.

North Texas (4-6) of Conference USA fell behind 28-7 and had no answer for Peoples or the App State rushing attack, which finished with 508 yards.

It was a powerful performance by App State and a somewhat normal start to a bowl schedule with few guarantees about how things will play out.

Most years, the Mean Green, who came in with a losing record, would’ve had their lockers cleaned out until spring practice. But this isn’t most years.

The NCAA waived victory minimums for bowl eligibility — how else could 2-8 South Carolina be playing this time of year? — because of COVID-19. The Frisco Bowl, set to start bowl season last Saturday, was canceled when the virus struck SMU, one of the scheduled participants.

So instead, it was the Mountaineers returning to Coastal Carolina’s teal-colored field for the second time this season after losing to the Chanticleers 34-23 in November.

This time, Appalachian State was in control from the start.

Tight end Henry Pearson had first-half TD catches of 22 and 11 yards before the Mountaineers put things out of reach with a 70-yard touchdown run by Marcus Williams Jr. and Peoples’ 64-yard burst to the end zone to lead 35-14 at the half.

Peoples piled on with a 62-yard scoring run in the third quarter. He finished the period with a 76-yard run, but was caught just shy of the end zone. No matter. Peoples went in from a yard out, then added an 11-yard touchdown run around the left side in the final period.

Peoples was still running hard with a 7-yard gain midway through the fourth quarter that moved him atop the NCAA record book for bowl rushing yards.

App State senior running back Marcus Williams, Jr., recorded 101 rushing yards and one touchdown on six carries, including a 70-yard TD run.

Peoples and Williams combined for 420 rushing yards, the second-highest rushing total by a pair of teammates in NCAA bowl history. Baylor’s Johnny Jefferson (299) and Devin Chafin (161) combined for 460 rushing yards against North Carolina in the 2015 Russell Athletic Bowl.

“That’s our bread and butter on offense to set up the play-action pass,” ASU coach Shawn Clark said. “That was a good defense. The offensive line blocked well. Our receivers blocked well. We got a lot of key blocks that produced some long runs.”

North Texas (4-6) had success on the ground as well, rushing 59 times for 242 yards. Tre Siggers had 17 carries for 120 yards, while teammate Oscar Adaway added 26 carries for 97 yards and one touchdown.

ASU (502) and North Texas (242) combined for 742 rushing yards, the fourth-most combined rushing yards in NCAA bowl history. North Texas played the game without six offensive weapons, including receiver Jaelon Darden, who opted out for the NFL Draft. Darden led the FBS with 19 touchdown catches this season.

THE TAKEAWAY

Appalachian State: The Mountaineers are at their best in the postseason. Throw in Sun Belt title game victories the previous two seasons and Appalachian State is 8-0 following the regular season since moving to the conference in 2014.

North Texas: The Mean Green didn’t have their usual firepower against Appalachian State. They were already without their best player in receiver Jaelon Darden, who entered the NFL draft earlier this month after having 74 catches for 1,190 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. Before the game, North Texas announced leading rusher DeAndre Torrey and second-leading receiver Deonte Simpson would not play against the Mountaineers.

UP NEXT

Appalachian State, which won four Sun Belt titles from 2016-19, will open at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina, facing East Carolina on Sept. 4, 2021.

North Texas: The Mean Green, who open with Northwestern State in September, won nine games in both 2017 and 2018, but just four in each of the past two seasons. Coach Seth Littrell will look to turn that around in 2021.

Appalachian State: 2019 New Orleans Bowl Champions

Four series in, it appeared we had an upset brewing on the Bayou. Underdog UAB took the ball to open the game and rolled 75 yards in four snaps, scoring on a 25-yard pass from Tyler Johnston III to Hayden Pittman. The Blazers’ defense then forced a three-and-out, allowing UAB to best its previous drive: four plays for 79 yards, capped by another 25-yard Johnston scoring strike, this time to Austin Watkins. Appalachian State’s offense then went three-and-out again on its second possession. By that point the scoreboard read 14-0 Blazers, and the box score read 154-8.

From that point forward, though, it was the blowout the experts expected. No. 20 Appalachian State closed the New Orleans Bowl on a 31-3 run, running away from an overmatched UAB team to close the best season — degree of difficulty included — not only in school history, but in Sun Belt history as well, as the Sun Belt first team to knock off two Power 5 foes in the same season and the first Sun Belt team to start 11-1 closed a 13-1 season in style on Saturday night.

The Mountaineers finally got on the board a minute into the third quarter with a 34-yard Chandler Staton field goal, then found the end zone on their next drive thanks to a 17-yard connection between Zac Thomas and Thomas Hennigan.

After the halftime break, App State took the ball and rolled 75 yards in seven plays, scoring on a play no offensive coordinator would ever draw up: on a 4th-and-1 sneak from the UAB 30, Thomas fumbled the under-center snap, which running back Darrynton Evans scooped and scored, giving the Mountaineers their first lead.

UAB (9-5) tied the game with a 49-yard Nick Vogel field goal, but Appalachian State regained the lead on another fumble, and this time it wasn’t their own. Johnston was sacked by Nick Hampton and lost the ball on the process, which Trey Cobb raced 24 yards to the house, giving App State a lead it would not relinquish.

After a UAB three-and-out, App State put the game away with a 9-play, 85-yard drive punctuated by another Thomas-to-Thomas toss, this one a 27-yarder where Hennigan Moss-ed the UAB defender.

What glimmer of hope UAB had of a comeback was flushed out when Watkins fumbled away a reception at the App State 41-yard line with 1:25 to play.

Following the 14-0 UAB start, App State out-gained UAB 403-184, while the Mountaineers won the ground game 262-40.

The win completes easily the best season since moving to FBS for App State, and begins the Shawn Clark era at 1-0.

Appalachian State: 2018 New Orleans Bowl Champions

NEW ORLEANS -- While the future of Appalachian State interim coach Mark Ivey is unknown, Mountaineers players left no doubt about how much they appreciated the way he handled his lone game in charge, carrying him off the field in triumph.

"It was an honor," said Ivey, a former Appalachian State player who took over when Scott Satterfield left for Louisville two weeks ago. "I'm glad that the kids think enough about me to want to celebrate with me and have fun because I love every one of those kids. They are exceptional."

Appalachian State receiver Malik Williams passed for two touchdowns on trick plays, quarterback Zac Thomas caught a scoring pass and threw for three more, and the Mountaineers routed Middle Tennessee 45-13 in the New Orleans Bowl on Saturday night.

Camerun Peoples had a 63-yard touchdown run for the Mountaineers (11-2), who gave Ivey, a former Appalachian State player, a victory in what might have been his only chance to coach his alma mater.

Ivey -- who'll soon be replaced by North Carolina State offensive coordinator Eli Drinkwitz -- looked determined to make his lone game as interim coach a memorable one.

"I had a blast," Ivey said, noting that one of his "core values" is to have fun amid the work of preparing to play. "If you can't make this fun, if you can't love what you do, there's no purpose of being here."

Appalachian State even tried a surprise onside kick in the first half -- and it might have worked if Clifton Duck had not snatched the high-bounding ball just before it had covered the mandatory 10 yards for a legal touch by the kicking team.

That was one of few things that didn't go right for the Mountaineers, but Middle Tennessee (8-6) could not take advantage of it. Three plays later, Tae Hayes' interception and 27-yard return set up Appalachian State on the Blue Raiders 41. Soon after, Williams connected on his second TD pass, which the former high school QB threw to Thomas after taking a pitch from running back Darrynton Evans on a reverse.

"Coach Ivey's done a phenomenal job with this team," Thomas said. "We owe a lot to that man."

Middle Tennessee's Brent Stockstill was 25-of-37 passing for 330 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

"We couldn't get open. We couldn't protect. We couldn't run the ball. For an offense, that's tough sledding," Middle Tennessee coach Rick Stockstill said. "You've got to give them credit. They didn't give us much breathing room."

APPALACHIAN AIR

Williams' first TD passing came after he caught a backward pass from Thomas near the right edge of the field and launched a 30-yard strike down the sidelined to Thomas Hennigan.

Thomas threw his first touchdown pass in the final minute of the first half, when he found Henry Pearson from a yard out. In the second half, he hit Corey Sutton for TDs of 17 and 11 yards. He finished 15 of 24 for 177 yards, but also was intercepted twice by safety Reed Blankenship.

THE TAKEAWAY

Middle Tennessee: Brent Stockstill was under constant pressure from an Appalachian State defense that has allowed fewer than 16 points per game. He was hit as he threw on his second interception and sacked six times. The Blue Raiders couldn't get their ground game going, either, finishing with just 62 yards rushing.

Appalachian State: The Mountaineers finished with 448 total yards, including two runs of more than 60 yards. Evans' 62-yard run set up Thomas' first TD pass and stood as the third-longest run in New Orleans Bowl history until it was eclipsed by Peoples' blazing scoring run down the right sideline. Evans finished with 108 yards.

QUOTABLE

"What he has done, what he has meant to this program, what he has meant to this team, words don't do him justice," Rick Stockstill said of his quarterback son, whose college career ended with the bowl game. "He's just a phenomenal human being, fantastic player, fantastic leader. I'm just very, very humbled to be his coach -- and now I get to be his dad."

UP NEXT

Middle Tennessee: Rick Stockstill has to settle on a new QB after seeing his son, Brent, set most meaningful Blue Raiders passing records during the past four years, including career TDs with 106. The Blue Raiders have to replace seven offensive starters while six starters are set to come back on defense.

Appalachian State: The Drinkwitz era begins. After three seasons as offensive coordinator at NC State, the 35-year-old Drinkwitz takes over a team that won the past three Sun Belt titles. The Mountaineers will be loaded with experience next season, losing only one starter on offense and just three on defense.

Appalachian State: 2017 Dollar General Bowl Champions

MOBILE, Ala. -- Appalachian State's improved defense was a huge reason the program closed the regular season on a three-game winning streak and won a share of the Sun Belt Conference title.

The Mountaineers saved the best for last in a Dollar General Bowl blowout.

Appalachian State's swarming, opportunistic defense was the catalyst for an impressive 34-0 victory over Toledo on Saturday night. The Rockets came into the game averaging nearly 40 points per game, but fell behind early and looked completely overmatched. They managed just 146 total yards while turning the ball over four times.

"When we get a little bit of a lead, that's when we're really dangerous," Appalachian State coach Scott Satterfield said. "Once we get that lead and our defense has their bearing straight, the other team starts forcing the ball down the field and that's when we get turnovers."

Appalachian State's defense had improved during the season's final few weeks, giving up just 10 points per game in wins over Georgia State, Georgia Southern and Louisiana-Lafayette. The performance against the Rockets was even better. Linebacker Anthony Flory led the Mountaineers with eight tackles and intercepted a pass in the first quarter that helped shift the momentum.

"The defense has just been really solid," Satterfield said. "They've tackled well over the last month and haven't given up the big play."

The Mountaineers' offense had a good night as well, especially on the ground. Jalin Moore, who was the game's Most Valuable Player, ran for 125 yards and a career-high three touchdowns to lead a running game that finished with 327 yards.

"It meant everything sending these guys out with a `W' like this," Moore said. "I stressed a lot about it. I knew what was at stake. I just tried to play a perfect game for myself and for my boys. It's kind of emotional."

Senior quarterback Taylor Lamb, who was starting his 49th straight game, threw for 131 yards.

Appalachian State (9-4) won its third straight bowl game since making the complete transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2015.

It was the second straight year the two programs had met in the postseason. Appalachian State beat Toledo in a hard-fought 31-28 victory in the Camellia Bowl in 2016 just a few hours up the interstate in Montgomery, Alabama.

The rematch in Mobile turned out to be a dud.

Toledo's Logan Woodside threw for 124 yards and three interceptions. He had just five interceptions through the season's first 13 games before Saturday.

"I feel like I let my team down a little bit," Woodside said. "Give App State a lot of credit, they had me force a couple balls downfield that were uncharacteristic of myself. But overall, you can't take away what we did this season."

THE TAKEAWAY

Appalachian State: It was an impressive performance for the Mountaineers, especially on defense. Even during the rare moments when Toledo would have some success on offense, Appalachian State always seemed to force a turnover at a crucial juncture.

Toledo: This was one to forget for the Rockets. The offense looked out of sync all night and Appalachian State's running game methodically picked apart Toledo's defense.

UP NEXT



Appalachian State: The Mountaineers lose several seniors, including their four-year starting quarterback. But Appalachian State has firmly established itself as one of the elite teams in the Sun Belt since making the transition from FCS to FBS and that's unlikely to change any time soon as long as coach Scott Satterfield is leading the way.

Toledo: The Rockets will have a lot of rebuilding to do, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Toledo will have to find a new quarterback and rebuild its offensive line, which will lose four starters. The good news is 38-year-old coach Jason Candle is coming back after leading the program to an 11-win season.

Appalachian State: 2016 Camellia Bowl Champions

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- Marcus Cox, Taylor Lamb and the Appalachian State kicker came through again in the Camellia Bowl.

Cox rushed for 143 yards and a touchdown, Lamb ran for 126 yards and Michael Rubino kicked the go-ahead 39-yard field goal to lift the Mountaineers to a 31-28 victory over Toledo on Saturday night.

"We're getting used to this Camellia Bowl trophy right here," said Satterfield, adding that it rode next to him on the return flight last year and probably would again.

"We have so much fight and so much integrity in our football team. They do things right on and off the field. You can't win close games like this if you don't do things right on and off the field."

The Mountaineers got a couple of fourth-quarter reprieves after failing on a fake field goal.

Cox became the ninth FBS player with four 1,000-yard seasons and the 22nd to top 5,000 in his career. Game MVP Lamb passed for 119 yards and a touchdown and ran for a score and some key third- and fourth-down conversions.

Kareem Hunt covered 42 yards on four straight rushes to propel Toledo (9-4) down the field after the field goal. Damion Jones-Moore was stopped on third down.

Toledo took a delay of game penalty to line up the potential tying kick. Jameson Vest pushed his 30-yard field goal attempt wide right with 1:48 remaining.

"If we had to go out and do it again, I'd kick the field goal again," first-year Rockets coach Jason Candle said. "I trust in our kicker and I trust in our protection. That was not the reason why we lost the game."

Each of the first three Camellia Bowls have gone down to the final minutes, decided by a combined 10 points.

Rubino, a freshman, opened the season with two missed field goals and a missed extra point attempt in an overtime loss to Tennessee. He finished in much better fashion.

"He's come a long way," Satterfield said.

The teams traded a pair of touchdowns each an 8-minute span of the third quarter, forging a deadlock heading into the fourth.

The Mountaineers converted two fourth-down plays to jump ahead the first time, including Lamb's 13-yard run off a play fake to Cox.

"All 11 guys on defense went to Marcus," Lamb said. "I just went around the edge and there was nobody in sight."

They also got a 94-yard kick return down the right sideline by freshman Darrynton Evans, who skipped away from the grasp of one final diving defender.

Toledo answered with Thompson's 4-yard touchdown catch and a 1-yard plunge by Hunt. Woodside set up the second touchdown with a 58-yard bomb to Thompson.

"This senior class had a storied career," Candle said. "Guys like (senior safety) DeJuan Rogers have no reason to hang their head."

On the Mountaineers' fake, holder Bentlee Critcher's pass to Collin Reed fell incomplete.

THE TAKEAWAY

Toledo: Logan Woodside completed 18 of 26 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns. He came in leading the nation with 42 TD passes. Hunt broke Chester

Taylor's school career rushing mark.


Appalachian State: Gained 297 rushing yards. Held Toledo, which came in averaging 529 yards, to 374 total yards

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Appalachian State reached 10 wins, at least making a case to finish in the rankings.

UP NEXT

Toledo loses five starters on each side of the ball, including Hunt. But the potent passing duo of Woodside and Thompson will both be seniors next season. Opens 2017 season at home against Elon Phoenix on Aug. 31.

Appalachian State must replace Cox, but gets back Lamb and has a number of underclassmen returning who are either starters or backups. Opens at Georgia on Sept. 2.

Appalachian State Mountaineers: 2015 Camellia Bowl Champions

Despite taking the two middle quarters off, Appalachian State won its first ever bowl game in its first ever bowl appearance, beating Ohio, 31-29, in the Camellia Bowl, with a last-second field goal from Zach Matics, who missed his first two field goal attempts on the day.

The Mountaineers were ecstatic.

Appalachian State dominated the first quarter and most of the second quarter, scoring a touchdown and missing two field goals that could have put the Mountaineers up 13-0, but they were down by 10 at halftime after Ohio scored 17 unanswered points in the final 1:11 of the first half. After an Ohio field goal, the Bobcats got a pick-six to go up, 10-3. Then, five plays after the next kickoff, Ohio forced a fumble, then took two more plays to get into the endzone again.

Things kept going south for the Mountaineers in the second half, as Ohio linebacker Jovon Johnson just flat out took the ball from Appalachian State quarterback Taylor Lamb for a touchdown.

Then the Mountaineers came back, scoring a touchdown early in the fourth quarter and turning two straight interceptions into touchdowns.

Ohio came back with five straight points to take the lead again, but with the game on the line, Lamb stepped up, using both his feet and his arm to get the Mountaineers in field goal range. Then, Zach Matics hit a field goal to win it.

1. Appalachian State won its first bowl game

Appalachian State was an FCS team just two years ago, and despite being bowl eligible last season, the Mountaineers couldn't go to a bowl game because they were still a "transitional" team. However, they got to go this year after going 7-1 in the Sun Belt and 10-2 overall. Now, they end the season with 11 wins.

The future is certainly bright for App State, which will be among the Sun Belt favorites again next year, but this will be a memory to cherish for a long time. Winning a bowl game is the ultimate "we're here" moment for a former FCS team.

2. This was a game of runs.

This was essentially a basketball game, with lots of runs. Here's a closer look:

RUN 1: Appalachian State dominated the beginning of the game, scoring a touchdown and missing two field goals that could have made it 13-0. Ohio gained just four yards on its first four drives, and the Bobcats had -3 yards on their first three drives.

RUN 2: Everything changed quickly when Ohio scored 17 unanswered points in 1:11 before halftime. That came with a field goal, a pick-six, then a touchdown off a fumble. After halftime, the Bobcats returned a strip for a touchdown to go up 24-7

RUN 3: Appalachian State roared back with a touchdown, then two straight touchdowns off interceptions to go up 28-24.

Run 4: Ohio got a safety to make it a two-point game, then drove down the field to get a field goal and go up by one.

Run 5: Appalachian State drove back down the field to win the game.

3. There are not too many bowl games

Why aren't there too many bowl games? Because the Camellia Bowl was an awesome game. It featured two teams that absolutely deserved to be there, and two teams that got to face opponents in similar leagues. Moreover, it was an entertaining game, with big plays and huge momentum swings. This game won't be remembered forever, but it was a lot of fun for everyone involved.

The Second-Best Bowl Team That Never Was

BOONE — The NCAA informed Appalachian State University on Tuesday evening that Appalachian’s request for a waiver from its NCAA-mandated football postseason ineligibility in 2014 was denied.

Appalachian State is in the second year of a two-year transition period from NCAA Division I FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) to Division I FBS (Football Championship Subdivision). Per NCAA policy, programs are not permitted to compete in postseason play during the two-year transition, thus App State was barred from participating  in the FCS playoffs in 2013 and a bowl game this season.

Appalachian, which posted a 7-5 record in its first season as a member of NCAA Division I FBS and the Sun Belt Conference, requested the waiver on the basis that it had completed or is on an appropriate timeline to complete all requirements for full FBS membership.

“We thank the NCAA for considering our request for a waiver and respect its decision to deny the request. We’ve known since we accepted the invitation to join the Sun Belt Conference and NCAA Division I FBS last year that postseason ineligibility is part of the two-year transition process,” Appalachian State Interim Director of Atheltics Rick Beasley said. “However, we felt like we owed it to our student-athletes to pursue any avenues available to try to reward them for a terrific season with the opportunity to compete in a bowl game.

After a 1-5 start, the Mountaineers won their final six games in 2014 to not only finish 7-5 overall but also 6-2 in Sun Belt play, good for third place in the final conference standings.

Appalachian State will be eligible to compete for a bowl bid in 2015, when it returns 20 starters (10 offense, 10 defense) from this year’s squad.

“The fact that we are not going to a bowl game does not diminish one bit the accomplishments of this year’s team, particularly its 14 seniors,” said Beasley. “The last two senior classes may not have had the opportunity to participate in the postseason but they built the foundation for a program that will compete for Sun Belt championships and bowl bids for years to come. We couldn’t be more grateful to them for the sacrifices that they made or more proud of them for what they achieved.

“We’re looking forward to 2015 when we’ll have 20 starters back to compete for a Sun Belt championship and a bowl bid!”