After suffering a 52-14 defeat at Michigan last week, App State rebounded fast and struck quickly Saturday, routing Campbell 66-0 behind a stout Mountaineer defense at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
App State yielded just eight yards to the Campbell offense in the first quarter, and exploded for 45 first half points to put the game out of reach early on. The Mountaineers held Campbell to 95 total yards for the game.
“This week we had to focus on correcting last week,” App State head coach Scott Satterfield said. “All week we knew today’s game was not about our opponent, it was about us and correcting last week’s performance. This past week we’ve put in a lot of effort and we’ve been pouring it on.”
Only the weather slowed down App State Saturday. The game was delayed 52 minutes at halftime due to severe weather surrounding the Boone area.
Focus and execution were the Mountaineers’ focal points returning to play after the long delay.
“It was pretty tough to keep the guys focused, but I think that once coach told us that we were going back in everyone locked back in and were ready to go,” App State junior defensive back Doug Middleton said.
Middleton intercepted a pass by Campbell redshirt-sophomore quarterback Riley Gallaher and returned it 52 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.
The Mountaineer defense stayed strong throughout the game, forcing a fumble and three interceptions, which led to 21 converted points off of Campbell giveaways.
Sophomore running back Marcus Cox paced the Mountaineer offense, rushing for 114 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. It was the seventh game in Cox’s past 11 starts that he rushed for more than 100 yards. Junior running back Ricky Fergerson added 48 yards and two touchdowns in the second half.
Junior quarterback Kameron Bryant was 10 of 17 through the air, including two touchdowns and one interception.
Campbell head coach Mike Minter said he and his squad knew the game would be very challenging, even before the opening kickoff.
“When you can’t run the ball and you can’t throw the ball then you can’t play football,” Minter said. “At the end of the day it was tough. We couldn’t stop their offense. We learn from it and we thank God for the opportunity to come up here and play in a big game like this.”
App State (1-1) has a bye week now before traveling to play the University of Southern Mississippi (1-1), a Conference USA foe. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m., Sept. 20.
Story: Nick Joyner, Senior Sports Reporter