App State rolls South Alabama 52-7 in Sun Belt opener

App State scored early and often in the first half and turned a 42-7 halftime lead to a 52-7 win over South Alabama on Saturday afternoon.

Zac Thomas got things rolling on the opening drive as he would use his legs to score from 54 yards out to grab a early 7-0 lead. South Alabama would follow suit and Evan Orth would move the ball down the field and Kawaan Baker took it in from 2 yards out.

South Alabama would then attempt a surprise onside kick and would fail with a 15 yard penalty being added on giving App State excellent field position at the USA 38 yard line. App would score two plays later when Thomas hooked up with Thomas Hennigan down to the USA seven yard line where Jalin Moore would take it in to give App a 14-7 lead.

Zach Thomas would add two passing scores along with a score from Jalin Moore in the 2nd quarter to carry a 42-7 halftime lead. Zac Thomas finished the game 8/18 for 146 yards with two scores and two interceptions. Meanwhile Jalin Moore added 123 yards on the ground with 19 carries with two touchdowns.

Evan Orth was an effective 20/33 passing for 225 yards but had one interception and no scores. Penalties hurt the Jags throughout the game as they had 91 penalty yards on nine penalties, with multiple being of the 15 yard variety. Jamarius Way had seven catches for 43 yards with 34 yards on one grab.

App State ou-tgained South Alabama 517 to 308 in the total yards department and held the Jags to just 83 yards on the ground. USA would win the turnover battle as they grabbed to INTs to just one for the Mountaineers.

With the win App State advances their record to 3-1 on the season and 1-0 in Sun Belt play. South Alabama now falls to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in Sun Belt play. App State will now have 10 days to prepare for a Tuesday night showdown in Jonesboro on October 9th against Arkansas State. South Alabama will now move forward to a showdown with the Georgia Southern Eagles next Saturday in Statesboro with kickoff for that set for 3:30.