Coastal Carolina won’t go undefeated for a second consecutive regular season.
The No. 14 Chanticleers lost 30-27 at Appalachian State on Wednesday night. The win is App State’s second over a ranked team in program history. The first came in one of the most famous upsets in college football history when App State — then an FCS team — beat Michigan 34-32 in 2007 after blocking a game-winning field goal attempt.
Wednesday night, kicker Chandler Staton made a 24-yard field goal as time expired to beat the Chanticleers. Appalachian State (5-2) got the ball back from Coastal with 3:53 to go and was able to run the clock down as it moved down the field. The game-winning drive helped make up for a red zone fumble on App State’s previous possession. The Mountaineers were driving for a go-ahead score with less than seven minutes left, but a fumbled handoff gave the ball back to Coastal.
Coastal Carolina (6-1) jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. But App State tied the game in the span of less than a minute in the second quarter. Camerun Peoples scored a one-yard TD early in the quarter and 42 seconds later, Chase Brice hit Malik Williams for a 47-yard TD that tied the game at 14-14.
That TD pass was set up by a beautiful onside kick by Staton, who tied the school record for career field goals with his game-winning kick.
Brice finished the game 18-of-28 passing for 347 yards and two touchdowns while the Mountaineers ran 41 times for 228 yards.
Coastal’s offense wasn’t nearly as productive. Appalachian State shut down CCU’s run game as the Chanticleers had just 55 yards on 29 carries. QB Grayson McCall was 15-of-23 passing for 291 yards and a score, but the lack of a rushing attack hurt the Chanticleers in the second half.
App State now also has the tiebreaker over Coastal Carolina for the Sun Belt’s East division title. The two teams are tied with Troy at 2-1 atop the East. Troy is yet to play both Appalachian State and Coastal.
