Coming into Saturday, the Appalachian State Mountaineers needed a win over rival Georgia Southern as well as a loss by Coastal Carolina to James Madison for the Mountaineers to reach the Sun Belt championship game. They got both.
App State earned a 55-27 victory in Boone over the Eagles on Saturday. Meanwhile in Conway, Coastal Carolina was dominated by the JMU Dukes 56-14.
JMU will finish with a record of 11-1, the best in the league. However, the Dukes are not eligible for the SBC title game this season due to FCS-to-FBS transition rules. This means that App State's 6-2 conference record tops the division. The Mountaineers finish the regular season 8-4 overall and with a five-game winning streak.
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In their victory, App State quarterback Joey Aguilar completed 23 passes on 36 attempts for 296 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. He finishes the regular season with 33 touchdown passes for the season, a new school record.
"Outside of my family, this program means the world to me," App State head coach Shawn Clark said postgame. We've earned the right to get there. When nobody else believed in us, we believed in ourselves. We just keep digging."
Appalachian State will face SBC West winners, and defending league champions, Troy at the home of the Trojans on Saturday December 2 on ESPN at 4 PM ET.
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