For the first time in 37 days, App State ran out of the tunnel to 33,783 screaming fans at The Rock to enter a dogfight against fellow Sun Belt rival Georgia State. Both teams entered Saturday at the bottom of the Sun Belt East division at 0-3 in conference play.

Fifth-year senior running back Ahmani Marshall starred on multiple sides of the ball as he rushed for 118 yards on 18 attempts and a touchdown while blocking a punt that went through the back of the endzone for a safety. Marshall’s performance on Saturday was his best of the season and the second time in two weeks that an App State running back went over 100 yards on the ground after a less-than-ideal start to the season for the Mountaineers’ backfield. 

“Ahmani is a big kid and a powerful runner,” said head coach Shawn Clark.

The Panthers won the coin toss and elected to receive. They did nothing with their first drive and went three and out and were forced to punt from their own 15-yard line. As the ball was snapped, Marshall burst past all the blockers and blocked the Panthers’ punt, which went out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

After the safety, the Black and Gold took their first drive into plus territory after senior quarterback Joey Aguilar found fifth-year senior wide receiver Christan Horn on two straight passes, one for 22 yards and the next for 15. The drive stalled as redshirt sophomore running back Kanye Roberts was stopped short of the first down, leading to a missed 34-yard field goal from redshirt freshman kicker Jackson Moore. 

The Mountaineers finished the game 4/7 on red zone attempts, which was a concern for Aguilar in the postgame. 

“I would just say that’s on me when it comes to decision making,” said Aguilar. “I know for sure I missed two reads in the red zone and for us as a whole it comes down to execution.”

The rest of the opening quarter saw the two teams get down the field but were unable to get past the opponents’ 40-yard line and both ended up punting.

The Panthers opened the second quarter with a convincing drive that led down to the Mountaineers’ four-yard line, but the App State defense was able to hold and force a field goal which gave Georgia State an early 3-2 lead. 

Marshall continued to power the Mountaineers’ offense as he capped the next App State drive off himself with a 1-yard touchdown run that saw him and the offensive line jump on the Miller Hill wall to celebrate with the students. The celebration caused a 15-yard penalty that was enacted on the following kickoff. 

The teams traded touchdowns to end the half as Georgia State used a mix of tough running and big passing plays to score their first two touchdowns of the game. Aguilar answered back on both of the Mountaineers’ scoring drives to end the half finding his two favorite receivers, sixth-year redshirt senior Kaedin Robinson and junior Makai Jackson for big plays and an eventual touchdown for Jackson.

“Those guys just find a way to get open. They make it really easy on me when I know that I can just throw it up and they’re gonna come down with it,” Aguilar said about Jackson and Robinson.

Moore finished the second quarter scoring barrage, kicking a 33-yard field goal to take the Mountaineers into halftime with an 18-16 lead. 

The teams traded three and outs to open the second half and it seemed the App State offense had reverted to the scoring struggles from weeks ago but a surprising triple option play to redshirt junior running back Anderson Castle gave the Mountaineers a jolt of offense. Castle was injured after the play and did not return to the game. The team executed a tough, grimy drive after the Castle rush and ended it with a touchdown from redshirt junior wideout Dalton Stroman. 

Georgia State answered the touchdown with a score of their own as they rushed for 72 yards on this drive alone to bring the game to a 25-23 score. App State broke off a few big rushes of their own to end the third quarter. 

Between the third and fourth quarters, the team honored the first responders who helped with the devastating Hurricane Helene relief efforts and those who are in need because of it. This was the first home game since Helene. 

“We’re playing for something bigger than ourselves the last couple of weeks and winning is living,” Clark said. “In this profession, you’re judged on wins and losses. Just like our community has battled their tails off to get some normalcy in their lives, so has our team.”

The fourth quarter started with the Mountaineers in scoring position as Marshall continued to be a force to be reckoned with on the ground. The team lined up at the Panthers’ 15-yard line and handed it off to Marshall again but he fumbled the ball away at the 10-yard line, giving Georgia State the ball back. 

The Panthers drove 70 yards down the field using a mix of runs and passes, as they had all game, to tire out the Mountaineers’ defense. The Panthers continued to try the ground game but as they made it to the App State 30-yard line, the short field disallowed the ability to run downhill so the team had to settle for three and put themselves up 26-25 with six minutes left in the game.

With the game on the line, the offense went back out and found good runs from Roberts after a tough start to the game. After a couple of good runs from Roberts, Aguilar looked deep and threw an interception but a pass interference call brought the pick back and the Mountaineers had another chance to win the game.

Aguilar and Roberts continued to ease App State down the field as they set up for a game-winning score. Aguilar found Robinson in the middle of the field to put them in the red zone and Roberts’ downhill speed to put them inside the 15. After the two-minute timeout, the team came out and found redshirt sophomore tight end Kanen Hamlett to take the lead and put App State up 33-26 after Aguilar completed the two-point conversion. The touchdown catch was Hamlett’s second career catch and first touchdown.

“It feels great, it feels good,” Hamlett said when asked about his touchdown catch. “I’m really just blessed to be put in that situation.”

After the score, the defensive line came at the Georgia State quarterback like their lives depended on it, busting through the offensive line on all four of the Panthers’ final plays, sacking him once. Redshirt junior linebacker Thomas Davis and redshirt sophomore defensive end Santana Hopper were the two players in on the sack and both made their marks on the game with Hopper getting two sacks and Davis in coverage taking most of the duties on Georgia State’s star running back. 

The sack forced the Panthers back to their own five and were unable to get the pass game going and eventually turned the ball over on downs. The Mountaineers got the ball back and went into victory formation for their first win since Sept. 14 against ECU.

The devastating defensive line was a theme in the fourth quarter as the Panthers went 1-8 on third downs throughout the game and were unable to break off the big plays they had been able to in the first and second quarters.

“We just get after the quarterback,” Hopper said when asked about the Mountaineers’ third down defense. 

App State is back in action on Saturday as they take on the Old Dominion Monarchs at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.