Akron rally comes up short, App State prevails

When two talented teams combine for 83 points in a back and forth contest, one of the squads is going to walk away with not only a loss, but the feeling like this one just simply slipped away. On Saturday at Infocision Stadium, that feeling belonged to the Akron Zips as the Appalachian State Mountaineers go to 2-2 with a 45-38 victory.

For the Mountaineers, it was their first win over an FBS program of the 2016 season after losses to Tennessee and Miami, the former considerably closer than the former. The Zips now find themselves at 2-2 as well, with a considerably easier than expected road to the MAC East title given the struggles of their divisional counterparts. It’s easy when you have a QB that refuses to make it easy for another team to get a win over the Zips.

Akron’s Thomas Woodson certainly did his share for the win and put up another evidence game that his name belongs in the conversation for MAC Player of the Year. Finishing 31/43 for 353 yards and 3 TDs, he helped the Zips fight back in the second half, when they found themselves down 38-17. Woodson also threw 2 INTs, leading to 14 App State points. Jerome Lane and JoJo Natson put up another stellar performance themselves, combining for 19 catches, 221 yards, and 2 TDs for Akron.

Appalachian State certainly got the win the old fashioned way, utilizing a successful rushing attach behind the strength of Jalin Moore, who carried for 257 yards and 2 TDs on 39 carries. Akron, as a team, only mustered 133 yards on the ground.

The Zips move on to conference play traveling to Kent State next weekend.