No. 20 Mountaineers heading back to New Orleans Bowl to face UAB

Lynette Files

App State came away victorious in the 2019 Sun Belt Championship game against the University of Louisiana 45-38. This is the Mountaineers fourth consecutive Sun Belt championship. Junior running back Darryton Evans has three total touchdowns and junior quarterback Zac Thomas threw for 149 yards and two touchdowns.

Silas Albright, Reporter
December 8, 2019

After coming in at No. 20 in the AP, Coaches and CFP polls that came out after Championship Saturday, App State accepted an invitation to the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Saturday, Dec. 21. The Mountaineers will take on the Blazers of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

UAB finished the season with a 9-4 record out of Conference USA. The Blazers started the season by going 6-1 and went 3-3 over their last six games. UAB won the C-USA West Division with a 6-1 regular season record, but lost 49-6 in the championship game against Florida Atlantic. The Blazers’ other three losses came to Western Kentucky, Tennessee and Southern Miss.

App State became the first Sun Belt and FBS team from North Carolina to record 12 wins in a season with a 35-38 win over Louisiana in the Sun Belt Championship. The Mountaineers recorded six wins over teams in ESPN’s Top 40, beat two Power Five opponents on the road and achieved the highest rankings in the AP and Coaches polls in school and Sun Belt history. App State also became the first Sun Belt team to ever receive a ranking in the College Football Playoff poll, peaking at No. 20.

Last year, the Black and Gold moved to 4-0 in bowls with a 45-13 victory over Middle Tennessee State in the New Orleans Bowl. The Blue Raiders were the C-USA’s runner-up a season ago.

The 2019 New Orleans Bowl between App State and UAB will kick at 9 p.m. ET/8 CT and will air on ESPN.

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