SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 15, 2014
Appalachian State 37, Arkansas State 32: Marcus Cox rushed for 229 yards and a pair of scores as the Mountaineers won a shootout with the host Red Wolves.
Taylor Lamb passed for 255 yards and two touchdowns and contributed 46 rushing yards and another score for Appalachian State (5-5, 4-2 Sun Belt). Cox added two catches for 54 yards while Montez McGuire had four receptions for 55 yards and a score.
Fredi Knighten finished 14-of-28 for 147 yards and three touchdowns for Arkansas State (6-4, 4-2), which was outgained 549-314. Michael Gordon rushed 15 times for 87 yards and Tres Houston had four catches for 58 yards and a touchdown.
Arkansas State jumped ahead early as Knighten ran for a 1-yard touchdown and follow it with Blaise Taylor's 38-yard punt return for a score to make it 13-0 midway through the first quarter. Cox got Appalachian State on the board with a 1-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter and, after Knighten found Houston from 12 yards out for a 14-point advantage, Lamb hit Shaedon Meadors from 24 yards away with five seconds left in the half to cut the deficit to seven at the break.
Three straight touchdowns by the Mountaineers — Lamb's 1-yard run, Cox's 14-yard scamper and Lamb's 16-yard pass to McGuire — put Appalachian State up 34-20 early in the fourth. Bentlee Critcher added a 24-yard field goal with just over four minutes to play but, thanks to a fumble and a recovered onside kick, Arkansas State made a late run, scoring twice in the final 2:17 on Knighten’s final two TD passes before the Mountaineers recovered another onside kick attempt to end the comeback attempt.