BOONE, N.C. – Zac Thomas accounted for four scores and Jalin Moore ran for 123 yards Saturday to help lead Appalachian State to a 52-7 Sun Belt Conference football victory over the University of South Alabama at Kidd Brewer Stadium.

Thomas scored on runs of 54 and 7 yards in the opening quarter, then added a pair of second-quarter scoring throws as the Mountaineers (3-1, 1-0 Sun Belt) built a 42-7 advantage at the break; the quarterback posted 223 yards of total offense.  Moore also reached the end zone twice in the first half as part of an effort that saw App State finished with 348 yards on the ground and 517 total.

Evan Orth threw for 225 yards while completing 20-of-33 attempts for the Jaguars (1-4, 1-1 Sun Belt), with Jamarius Way catching seven balls for 63 yards and Kawaan Baker adding four receptions for 89 yards.

The Mountaineers' Akeem Davis-Gaither led all players with eight stops — including 1½ behind the line of scrimmage — while the quartet of Nigel Lawrence, Nick Mobley, Spencer Perry and Taji Stewart paced South with seven tackles each.

Appalachian State 52, South Alabama 7 (final stats)
South Alabama/Appalachian State photo gallery

GAME FACTS
-The Mountaineers jumped out to a 21-7 lead at the end of the opening period, which included a pair of scoring drives that started in Jag territory and took 35 seconds or less off the clock.
-App State tacked on three more touchdowns in the second quarter as the Mountaineers scored on five straight possessions in the first half.
-The two teams combined to turn the ball over three times in the third period, with the only points coming on a 23-yard Chandler Staton field goal that extended the App State advantage to 45-7.
-The Mountaineers' tacked on a touchdown in the final quarter with a 13-play, 95-yard march that took nearly eight minutes off the clock.
-App State held a 348-83 advantage in rushing yards while outgaining the Jaguars by 209 yards overall.
-The Mountaineers were successful moving the chains on 4-of-8 third downs while limiting South to 4-of-17 on third-down conversions.

NOTES
-This was the first meeting between the two programs since 2015, and the first matchup in Boone since the 2014 season.
-It marked the first time the home team has won in the series.
-App State recorded the most points against South in the first half since North Carolina State posted 42 prior to the intermission on Sept. 26, 2015.
-The Mountaineers' 348 rushing yards were the most recorded against the Jaguars this fall.
-Kawaan Baker has scored at least once in four of the Jaguars' first five outings this fall and now has eight touchdowns on the year after posting USA's lone touchdown on a 2-yard run midway through the first quarter.
-The sophomore had a career-high 89 yards receiving after hauling in four passes, finishing with over 100 all-purpose yards for the first time this season.
-It marked the fourth straight outing that Way has led the Jags in catches.
-Jordan McCray had a season-long 34-yard catch late in the second quarter, posting a season-best 43 on three receptions.
-The Jag defense recorded two second-half takeaways, with Gus Nave intercepting his first pass of the season and Travis Reed collecting the first pick of his career in the third quarter.
-Orth posted 225 yards passing, the first time a Jag quarterback has surpassed 200 yards in three straight contests since Dallas Davis accomplished the feat in the final three outings of the 2016 campaign.
-Stewart and Perry both recorded career-high tackle totals after finishing with seven apiece, and Sean Grayer was credited with career-best five tackles as well for South's defense.
-Corliss Waitman punted nine times — one shy of his career high set at Oklahoma State earlier in the month — with three of those efforts ending up inside the APP-20 as he matched his best mark of the season in the category.

THEY SAID IT
South Alabama head coach Steve Campbell
Opening statement: "We didn't play well on offense, defense or in the kicking game. I was proud of the defense in the second half holding [Appalachian State] to 10 points.  We didn't play well in any phase of the game and had too many penalties; our discipline is bad. Offensively we had some opportunities early and weren't able to get points to keep track with App State.  On special teams, we gave up a big punt return and had a field goal blocked.  There are just a lot of things we need to work on and get better at." 
On the turning point of the game: "It was the on-side kick; from that point on things went bad.  I thought we were going to be able to execute the on-side kick, get it and that would give us some momentum.   They are a good football team though. They took Penn State to overtime and could have won the game, so I knew that we needed to do something.  If I could take [that decision] back, I would.  We also got the 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty on top of that and they scored two plays later to make it 14-7; It went downhill from there.  We have to learn to bounce back and not let one bad play turn into a couple terrible plays.  Right now that's not what we're doing and we have to get that fixed."
On bouncing back next week: "We need to move the ball better offensively, run the ball better and block better for the quarterback.  We need to keep our feet up when we run the ball.  Defensively, we need to work on our tackling; we're still ducking our heads on some things. We had some young guys like Gus Nave as well as some other guys get in there and do some good things.  We need to work on our field goal unit.  We had worked hard this past week on that part of our game, but we still are having a hard time in that area.  We'll keep working on that.  That's my job as the head coach to figure that out."

Senior DE Sean Grayer
On tonight's game: "We have to tackle better. There were plenty of times tonight where we had them stopped for a short game, but they would break the tackle for a big gain.  We also have to do better on penalties.  There were too many times where we stopped them or had a big play like the interception, but we had a roughing the passer penalty.  There were too many dumb penalties committed by us and that's our fault."
On putting this game behind them: "We have to have a short memory.  This game is in the past now and we have to keep on moving forward and move to Georgia Southern which is our next opponent.  We're going to look at the film and game-plan for them."

Senior QB Evan Orth
On what the team needs to do to move forward: "We need to come in better prepared offensively.  We got that first score quick and I thought that we were going to be able to get another one.  I thought we moved the ball at times, but it's hard to throw when they are dropping eight [defenders] so you need to be able to run the ball whether it's me or the running backs.  There are a lot of things we need to do better and Georgia Southern is real good, so we need to be ready to be balanced on offense.  As a quarterback I need to make sure that everyone else is ready to go."
On what stalled drives after the offense moved the ball: "Penalties.  We had stupid penalties, some random personal fouls.  I thought they could've called roughing the passer on me a couple of times when they hit me low.  But at the end of the day 52-7 is not on the referees, it's on us not being able to execute what was called.  Hopefully next week we can do a lot better. "

Up next: The Jaguars concludes a stretch of three games in four weeks on the road when they visit Georgia Southern at 2:30 p.m. (CDT) Saturday.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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