The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Georgia Southern upends Appalachian State again,
When Georgia Southern quarterback Shai Werts kept the ball on an option play instead of pitching out, he looked up to see one thing.
“Field, just field,” Werts said of his 55-yard touchdown run.
There was plenty of open field for Eagles ball carriers Thursday night at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, N.C.
Wesley Kennedy ran for 145 yards and two touchdowns, Werts ran for 87 yards, and Georgia Southern racked up 335 yards on the ground behind their triple-option offense to upset No. 20 Appalachian State for the second straight season, 24-21.
The Eagles defense held the country’s ninth-highest scoring offense in check most of the night on a rainy, windy Halloween night where temperatures dipped into the 20s.
Georgia Southern (5-3, 3-1 Sun Belt) ended Appalachian State’s 13-game winning streak, handing the Mountaineers their first loss since knocking them out of the Top 25 more than a year ago with a 34-14 victory.
Appalachian State again struggled defending Georgia Southern’s triple-option offense.
Kennedy struck the biggest blow when he took an option pitch from Werts and raced 68 yards for a touchdown on the first possession of the second half. Werts blew through a huge hole in the line and raced 55 yards for a score on the ensuing possession to give the Eagles a 24-7 lead, sending the vast majority of the crowd heading to the exits.
“This is a good milestone for us beating a Top 25 team, but we have to keep going,” Werts said. “But we are going to enjoy this one for the next few days.”
Kennedy, who didn’t play in Georgia’s Southern’s losses to No. 1 LSU and No. 13 Minnesota, averaged 11.2 yards per carry. He did most of his damage getting around the corner behind solid blocking.
“The O-line just opened up the holes, and I was just hitting them,” Kennedy said.
Appalachian State (7-1, 4-1) came in averaging 41 points but struggled to get any momentum going for the first three quarters other than a 92-yard touchdown drive in the final 2 minutes of the first half.
Zac Thomas tried to rally App State with two fourth-quarter TD passes to Corey Sutton, but the Mountaineers’ final two drives ended without any points. Thomas finished with 272 yards passing and three touchdowns.
“It hurts,” said Thomas, who fell to 17-3 as the Mountaineers starting QB. “But I don’t think a ranking defines a team. I mean I wish we went higher (in the polls), but obviously we will fall. But it doesn’t matter at this point. We just have to keep fighting. We still have a lot of ballgames to play.”
(At) No. 12 Baylor 17, West Virginia 14: Charlie Brewer threw for 277 yards and two touchdowns, and John Mayers kicked a go-ahead 36-yard field goal to help No. 12 Baylor win its 10th game in a row.
The Bears (8-0, 5-0 Big 12), who two seasons ago won only one game, are the league’s only undefeated team — and one of eight remaining among FBS teams.
Mayers’ kick with 10:19 left broke a 14-all tie and put Baylor ahead to stay after a 13-play drive that took more than 6 minutes off the clock on an often frustrating night offensively for the Bears.
West Virginia (3-5, 1-4) had eight sacks. With secondand-goal from the 1 late in the second quarter, Baylor was stuffed for no gain on three consecutive plays and had to settle for a 7-0 halftime lead.
Still, the Bears avoided what happened last Saturday, when while they had an open date the Big 12’s other three ranked teams that did play lost. That included Oklahoma’s loss at Kansas State that left Baylor alone atop the conference standings.