JJ Kohl put a wet blanket on the Panthers’ Homecoming, throwing for 309 yards and four touchdowns to pace Appalachian State to a 41-20 win over Georgia State.
The 6-foot-7-inch redshirt sophomore didn’t become a kicker and follow in the family business. It’s a good thing for the Mountaineers because four field goals don’t win them this ball game.
Georgia State quarterback TJ Finley guided the Panthers’ first possession deep into Mountaineers territory. The redshirt senior completed four passes for 34 yards on the drive. What he didn’t get through the air, Rashad Amos picked up on the ground. Three straight dropped balls stalled the drive at the 11.
Dropped balls plagued the Panthers’ offense all day long.
What happened next was a foreshadowing of what was to come. Braeden McAlister entered the game to attempt a 28-yard field goal for the Panthers. His attempt never got past the line of scrimmage. DeNigel Cooper got his mitts up and knocked the ball off a helmet and then to the turf. Fortunately for Georgia State, one of their special teamers recovered the ball.
Appalachian State began heating up two possessions later. Kohl completed 6-of-9 passes for 88 yards on the scoring drive. His pass up the middle hit Davion Dozier in stride for the first points of the game.
The scoring candle wasn’t exactly blazing, but it was glowing.
GALLERY BELOW THE STORY
The Mountaineers put together a 10-play, 83-yard scoring drive midway through the second quarter. Eight of those plays produced positive gains, the most impactful being Rashod Dubinion’s 11-yard run on fourth-and-one. Kohl hit wide receiver Izayah Cummings for two chunk yard plays that landed the offense in the red zone. After a short run from Jaquari Lewis, Kohl went back up top, finding Jaden Barnes at the one. Panthers linebacker Kedrick Walker came over to make the hit, but it was too late to stop Barnes from getting into the end zone.
Appalachian State started the second half the way it ended the first, with a score. After Dominic De Freitas split the uprights from 32 yards to end the half, Lewis burst through dense traffic to get to the wide open spaces for a 14-yard touchdown run. The true freshman led the Mountaineers’ rushing attack with 14 carries for 57 yards.
Georgia State finally got on the board after falling behind 31-0 late in the third. Backup quarterback Cameran Brown spread the ball around, hitting Ted Hurst, DJ Riles, Grant Hollier, and Lane Wadle for big gains. The wheels almost came off the cart inside the red zone. Two dropped passes and pressure from the defense forced Brown to leave the pocket. Outside the pocket, there was a sliver of daylight on the path to the end zone. Brown took it, launching all of his 6’2, 225 lb frame through a defender for the Panthers’ first points of the game.
A failed onside kick attempt led to a three-pass drive that ended with another touchdown pass for Kohl. It wasn’t the final nail, but the Mountaineers’ twelve-game winning streak over the Panthers was not in jeopardy. Georgia State’s two fourth-quarter touchdowns may have helped with understanding what works, but it didn’t change the outcome.
The Panthers will need to bury this memory before they begin preparing for rivalry week in Statesboro, GA. Georgia Southern, like their rivals, needs a win after dropping their second straight, losing to Southern Miss 38-35. App State will go for three wins in a row when they host Coastal Carolina for homecoming in Boone, NC.