Upon Further Review: App State

DE Hardrick Willis pops up after a play during the 2020 contest versus App State. Willis was a force upfront in the Panthers’ loss to the Mountaineers. Photo: Todd Drexler for Sideline Sports

It was a clear, sunshiney day on Saturday afternoon at Kidd Brewer Stadium, but Georgia State’s game with Appalachian State played out like a game beset with the snow Boone often sees every winter. It was a defensive slobberknocker where neither offense could find their footing and it was the best challenge that App State had faced at home – and in Sun Belt play – all season. In the end, despite the Panthers defense’s best performance of the year, one team had to win and one team had to lose and the home team gritted it out late. Where did it go wrong? This is Upon Further Review.

The shortest answer of where it went wrong is just a simple matter of timing. Georgia State’s best offensive drive of the day was their 13-play opening drive that ended in a Sam Pinckney 16-yard touchdown catch. App State’s best drive was their 11-play, 77-yard drive in the 4th quarter that resulted in Cam Peoples’ ultimately game-winning touchdown run with 4:55 to go. Neither offense had any extended success, as evidenced by the 30 combined points on the afternoon. But down 3 late in the game, the Mountaineers found a way to unlock a stymying Georgia State defense. The normally electric Appalachian rushing attack had just five rushes of 10+ yards on the day – the final two were the last two plays on the go-ahead scoring drive, a Peoples carry for 12 and then Peoples’ 10-yard score. The Panthers’ best drive gave them an important early foothold in the game, but App State’s best drive gave them a late lead that got them over the top when the clock showed all zeroes.

A Georgia State fan could be forgiven for expecting a comfortable win if they were to know in advance the defense would allow just 17 points given the offense’s excellent track record the past two seasons, but the defensive stoutness went both ways on Saturday. Appalachian State has playmakers at every level and it showed on Saturday. DE Demetrius Taylor and LBs Trey Cobb and D’Marco Jackson (the Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week) led the charge to stuff the run and to make Quad Brown uncomfortable in the pocket. Those three combined for 7 of App’s 9 TFLs and 2.5 of their defense’s 3 sacks and generally conspired to make it tough sledding for the Georgia State offense. Outside of the opening touchdown drive, their scoring drives only came when they were able to spring a big play. A 48-yard Tucker Gregg run just before the half and a 40-yard Sam Pinckney snag on the first play of the 4th quarter each eventually led to a Noel Ruiz field goal, but that was the sum of the Georgia State offense after the first drive. The Mountaineer defense didn’t let the Panthers get into any kind of offensive rhythm, keeping their offense in striking distance the whole 60 minutes until they finally pounced.

The game plan worked to a T for Georgia State. This was the formula to take down a deserving double-digit home favorite in App State and they were in it until the bitter end. But when the lights got that little bit brighter and the stakes got ever so higher, the team and the players that have been in that moment more were the ones to come out victorious. Appalachian State has built their identity as a program by being able to grind out wins like that. The players on the field had been there before too and have won in those games. QB Zac Thomas and even his eventual injury replacement – Jacob Huesman, a senior – have been battle-tested before. For all his upside, Quad Brown hasn’t been through the wars like that, nor has the whole Panther roster grown accustomed to winning like that. It’s disappointing but it’s still progress for a program on the cusp of taking that next step. Georgia State being in that moment shows how far they’ve come. App State winning in that moment shows where they’re still trying to go.