TROY, Ala. — Chase Brice threw three touchdown passes and Appalachian State rode a dominating defense to a 45-7 rout of Troy on Saturday.
The Mountaineers play Georgia Southern Saturday in their regular season finale, but have already secured a berth in the Sun Belt Conference championship game Dec. 4 against Louisiana-Lafayette.
Appalachian State (9-2, 6-1) held Troy (5-6, 3-4) to just 33 yards on the ground and 142 yards overall.
Brice hit Corey Sutton with a 21-yard touchdown pass with 21 seconds left in the first half to put Appalachian State up 10-7, then found Thomas Hennigan and Eli Watson with touchdown passes just seconds apart to start the third quarter, pushing the Mountaineers’ lead to 24-7.
Brice was 17 of 24 passing for 212 yards for the Mountaineers, but also threw two interceptions. Nate Noel carried 15 times for 102 yards and a touchdown. Hennigan had seven catches for 85 yards and a touchdown and Sutton caught four for 76 yards and a score.
Noel’s 102 yards pushed him over 1,000 yards for the season, giving App State a 1,000-yard back for the 10th straight year. Entering this season, the second-longest streak among current FBS programs was three apiece from Buffalo and Minnesota.
Troy’s Gunnar Watson fired a 37-yard touchdown pass to Deshon Staudemire, who made an acrobatic grab at the goal line.
Marshall 49, Charlotte 28
CHARLOTTE — Rasheen Ali rushed for 203 yards and three touchdowns and Marshall beat Charlotte to keep the 49ers one win short of bowl eligibility.
Marshall (7-4, 5-2) will face division leader Western Kentucky (7-4, 6-1) next Saturday with the winner earning a trip to the C-USA championship on Dec. 3.
Ali’s 25-yard run opened the scoring for Marshall and he added a short touchdown run in the second quarter for a 14-7 lead. Ali’s 4-yard score late in the third capped a string 28 unanswered points for a 42-14 lead.
Sheldon Evans added 68 yards on the ground with two TDs for Marshall.
Chris Reynolds was 19-of-34 passing for 176 yards and three scores for Charlotte (5-6, 3-4). Cameron Dollar caught two TD passes.
Gardner-Webb 35, NC A&T 27
GREENSBORO — Bailey Fisher threw three touchdown passes and Gardner-Webb scored 28 points in the fourth quarter to defeat North Carolina A&T 35-27 on Saturday.
Trailing 20-7 early in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs (4-7, 2-5 Big South) scored four consecutive touchdowns. First came some deception, as wide receiver Justin Franklin threw a 76-yard touchdown pass to Justin Jordan. Fisher followed with a short touchdown run and two TD passes to Narii Gaither for a 35-20 lead.
A&T (5-6, 3-4) was held to 168 yards but built its 20-7 lead on a pair of field goals, a 52-yard fumble return TD by Stephan Davis and an 11-yard run by Kingsley Ifedi, the Aggies’ only offensive touchdown. Aaron Harris returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown following Gardner-Webb’s last score.
NC Central 34, Delaware State 28 (OT)
DURHAM — Davius Richard tossed an 8-yard touchdown pass to Latrell Collier in overtime and NC Central held on for a 34-28 victory over Delaware State on Saturday.
Delaware State forced overtime when Jared Lewis connected with Trey Gross for a 16-yard TD with 24 seconds left in regulation.
Richard completed 16 of 27 passes for 150 yards with an interception for the Eagles (6-5, 4-1 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference). He led Central with 77 yards rushing on 12 carries — adding a 10-yard TD run in the second quarter that gave the Eagles a 14-7 lead at halftime.
Robert Morris 20, Campbell 17 (OT)
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Nick Bisceglia kicked a 25-yard field goal to give Robert Morris a 20-17 overtime victory over Campbell in the teams’ season finale on Saturday.
After Bisceglia’s kick, Isaac Riffle missed a 24-yard field goal attempt to end the game.
Campbell (3-8, 2-5 Big South) had a chance to win the game in regulation before being thwarted on the final play of regulation that involved three field goal attempts.
Campbell reached the Colonials 17 with two seconds remaining after a drive set up by Keshawn Thompson’s interception. Riffle missed on a 34-yarder but an offsides penalty gave him another chance 5 yards closer. He kicked it through the uprights and the Camels rushed the field. But Campbell was called for a facemask penalty and Riffle’s 44-yard attempt went wide right and the teams went to overtime.
George Martin passed for 173 yards and a touchdown and Alijah Jackson rushed for 132 on 23 carries for the Colonials (4-6, 3-4).
Dylan Earney passed for 300 yards with two touchdowns and an interception for Campbell with Dontae Crow collecting 104 yards receiving with a score.
Bowie State 31, Lenoir-Rhyne 10
Ja’Rome Johnson and Calil Wilkins combined for three rushing touchdowns as Bowie State (11-1) rolled up 247 yards on the ground to eliminate Lenoir-Rhyne (8-3) in a first-round Division II playoff game.
Lenoir-Rhyne outgained Bowie State 446-323, but couldn’t overcome four turnovers, including a critical fumble as it was driving inside the 10 on the way to a potential touchdown. Another of the tournaments cost the Bears six points when Tevin Singleton returned an interception for a Bowie State touchdown.
