App State Football Continues To Rack Up Accolades in Leaving FCS Behind

xxBy Jesse Wood

Just as the former Voice of the Mountaineers and current Boone Chamber President David Jackson tweeted after App State’s bowl victory last weekend, the Mountaineers players and coaches have accomplished “so much … in a short time” as members of the FBS.

Even App State head coach Scott Satterfield said as much Saturday night

“Our fifth-year guys won the Southern Conference five years ago and now they’re Sun Belt champions and two-time Camellia Bowl champions. What they’ve been able to do, they transitioned us. Maybe the most successful team in the history of a transition to FBS with what we’ve been able to do the last two years.”

It seems like just yesterday that folks – on the athletic front – preferred App State being the big fish in a little pond (FCS) – as opposed to a little fish in the big pond (FBS). But that’s nearly a forgotten memory after 11-win and 10-win seasons in ‘15 and ’16 and two consecutive Raycom Media Camellia Bowl wins in Montgomery, Ala.

Here are some notable stats and records compiled after the Saturday’s victory against Toledo:

  • App State becomes first FBS team to win bowl games in first two bowl eligible seasons
  • App State becomes first FBS team to post back-to-back double-digit win seasons in first two bowl-eligible FBS seasons
  • Senior running back Marcus Cox becomes 9th player with four 1,000-yard rushing seasons
  • Cox becomes 22nd player to top 5,000 rushing yards in career, alongside icons like Tony Dorsett and Herschel Walker. Finished 16th on the career rushing list
  • Cox becomes all-time leading rusher at Appalachian State
  • Led Sun Belt in attendance in 2016
  • Currently ranked as top football team in North Carolina
  • Over the last 32 games, only the top 3 ranked teams in the country, Alabama (30-2), Ohio State (30-2) and Clemson (29-3), have a better record than the Mountaineers (27-5)
  • Freshman defensive back Clifton Duck named USA Today’s Freshman All-American Team and Sun Belt’s Freshman of the Year. Catalyst for App State ranking third in the nation in interceptions
  • Sophomore running back Jalin Moore named 2016 Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year
  • App State earns first Sun Belt Conference Championship (with Arkansas State)