2021 Boca Raton Bowl: Western Kentucky Hilltoppers vs. App State Mountaineers
Saturday, Dec. 18 / 10 a.m. CT Boca Raton, Fla. / FAU Stadium
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Notes
NOTING THE MATCHUP
Historically, WKU and App State have played five times (1972, 1973, 1984, 1985 and 2000) and the Mountaineers boast a 4-1 record. The Hilltoppers’ lone victory in the series was a 42-7 game on September 8, 1973. The most recent contest between WKU and App State was in the second round of the NCAA I-AA Playoffs on December 2, 2000, as the Mountaineers advanced with a 17-14 win in Houchens-Smith Stadium. Although the Hilltoppers are 1-4 against App State, WKU has a 92-to-79 advantage in scoring margin; three of the Mounaineers’ four wins over WKU were decided by a total of five points.
ZERO TO 10,004
WKU returned zero passing yards from the 2020 season. Enter graduate transfer quarterback Bailey Zappe, whose 10,004 yards at Houston Baptist from 2017-20 led all active CFB passers to begin the season. Now at 15,549 yards after 5,545 through his first 13 games as a Hilltopper.
CHASING GREATNESS
Through 13 games, here is how Zappe’s numbers compare to Brandon Doughty’s 2015 season in which he set WKU’s all-time passing records (5,055 yards and 49 TD’s) in 14 games. As well as Texas Tech’s B.J. Symons’ all-time FBS passing yard record (5,833 yards in 13 games in 2003) and LSU’s Joe Burrow’s all-time FBS passing touchdown record (60 TD’s in 15 games in 2019): Bailey Zappe (13): 442-of-639 (69.2%) for 5,545 yards, with 56 TD and 11 INT B. Doughty (14): 388-of-540 (71.9%) for 5,055 yards, with 48 TD and 9 INT Joe Burrow (15): 402-of-527 (76.3%) for 5,671 yards, with 60 TD and 6 INT B.J. Symons (14): 470-of-219 (65.4%) for 5,833 yards, with 52 TD and 22 INT With 52 touchdown passes already this season, Zappe is tied for 4th all-time in FBS with 2003 B.J. Symons, trailing 1990 David Klingler (54), 2006 Colt Brennan (58) and Burrow (60). Meanwhile, his 4,968 yards are 18th all-time in FBS, ahead of the likes of 2017 Mason Rudolph (4,904) and 2018 Dwayne Haskins (4,831).
STERNS: ALSO A STUD
Wide receiver Jerreth Sterns is also nipping at the heels of the all-time greats. Through 13 games, how is how Sterns’ numbers compare to Taywan Taylor’s 2016 season in which he set WKU’s all-time receiving records (98 catches for 1,730 yards, with 17 TD’s) in 14 games. As well as ECU’s Zay Jones’ all-time FBS reception record (158 catches in 12 games in 2016) and Nevada’s Trevor Insley’s all-time FBS receiving yard record (2,060 yards in 11 games in 1999). Jerreth Sterns (13): 137 receptions for 1,718 yards, with 14 touchdowns Taywan Taylor (14): 98 receptions for 1,730 yards, with 17 touchdowns Trevor Insley (11): 134 receptions for 2,060 yards, with 13 touchdowns Zay Jones (12): 158 receptions for 1,746 yards, with 8 touchdowns In his collegiate career, Sterns has 357 receptions for 3,689 yards and 32 touchdowns in 40 games played at Houston Baptist (27) and WKU (13). He has 17 100-yard receiving games and 18 double-digit reception efforts
WKU’S BOWL HISTORY
This year’s bowl game is the eighth for WKU in the past 10 years, and the Hilltoppers are 4-3 in those contests. It continues a historical trend for a program that was a I-AA and II power for most of its existence under head coaches like Jack Harbaugh and Jimmy Feix. The below list does not include Division I-AA playoff games:
BOWL GAME LOCATION OPPONENT W/L
1952 Refrigerator Bowl Evansville, Ind. Arkansas State W, 34-19
1963 Tangerine Bowl Orlando, Fla. Coast Guard W, 27-0
1973 Grantland Rice Bowl Baton Rouge, La. Grambling State W, 28-20
1973 Camellia Bowl* Sacramento, Calif. Louisiana Tech L, 0-34
1975 Grantland Rice Bowl Baton Rouge, La. New Hampshire W, 14-3
1975 Camellia Bowl* Sacramento, Calif. Northern Michigan L, 14-16
2012 Little Caesars Bowl Detroit, Mich. Central Michigan L, 21-24
2014 Popeyes Bahamas Bowl Nassau, Bahamas Central Michigan W, 49-48
2015 Miami Beach Bowl Miami, Fla. South Florida W, 45-35
2016 Boca Raton Bowl Boca Raton, Fla. Memphis W, 51-31
2017 AutoNation Cure Bowl Orlando, Fla. Georgia State L, 17-27
2019 First Responder Bowl Dallas, Texas Western Michigan W, 23-20
2020 LendingTree Bowl Mobile, Ala. Georgia State L, 21-39
2021 Boca Raton Bowl Boca Raton, Fla. App State
*Camellia Bowl served as the NCAA Division II National Championship Game
CONFERENCE USA vs. SUN BELT IN BOWL GAMES
Conference USA and Sun Belt teams have faced off 13 times in postseason play since 2012 and the Sun Belt owns a 10-3 advantage over C-USA in those bowl games. There have been seven matchups in the New Orleans Bowl (with an eighth this year with Marshall facing off against Louisiana) and two in the Camellia Bowl. WKU and App State will play for the first time in that time span. WKU is 0-2 against Sun Belt teams (Georgia State twice) and App State is 3-0 against C-USA teams, with all three wins coming in the past three seasons:
C-USA TEAM SUN BELT TEAM C-USA W/L BOWL GAME
East Carolina Louisiana L, 34-43 2012 New Orleans Bowl
Tulane Louisiana L, 14-21 2013 New Orleans Bowl
LA Tech Arkansas State W, 47-28 2015 New Orleans Bowl
Southern Miss Louisiana W, 28-21 2016 New Orleans Bowl
North Texas Troy L, 30-50 2017 New Orleans Bowl
Middle Tennessee Arkansas State W, 35-30 2017 Camellia Bowl
WKU Georgia State L, 17-27 2017 AutoNation Cure Bowl
Middle Tennessee App State L, 13-45 2018 New Orleans Bowl
FIU Arkansas State L, 26-34 2019 Camellia Bowl
UAB App State L, 17-31 2019 New Orleans Bowl
North Texas App State L, 28-56 2020 Myrtle Beach Bowl
LA Tech Georgia Southern L, 3-38 2020 New Orleans Bowl
WKU Georgia State L, 21-39 2020 LendingTree Bowl
WKU App State 2021 Boca Raton Bowl
Marshall Louisiana 2021 New Orleans Bowl
Appalachian State Mountaineers Notes
STORYLINES
• App State faces WKU in a matchup of division champions who went 7-1 in league play and had one-possession losses in their conference title games. Since making their FBS debut in 2014, the Mountaineers have earned a bowl berth in each of their seven postseason-eligible seasons and posted an FBS-best bowl record of 6-0 (only program with no losses in more than two appearances).
2020: W, 56-28 vs. North Texas (Myrtle Beach) 2019: W, 31-17 vs. UAB (New Orleans)
2018: W, 45-17 vs. MTSU (New Orleans) 2017: W, 34-0 vs. Toledo (Dollar General/Mobile)
2016: W, 31-28 vs. Toledo (Camellia/Montgomery) 2015: W, 31-29 vs. Ohio (Camellia/Montgomery)
• At 80-23 since the 2014 transition, App State has the sixth-most wins in the FBS in that span behind just Alabama (103-9), Clemson (98-13), Ohio State (92-11), Oklahoma (85-19) and Georgia (84-21).
• App State, Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma are the only FBS programs with nine-plus wins every year since 2015. App State is one of eight programs with 10-plus wins in at least five of the last seven years.
• At 20-6, Shawn Clark’s .769 win percentage is topped by only five active FBS head coaches: Ryan Day (.892), Lincoln Riley (.846), Kirby Smart (.821), Nick Saban (.802) and Dabo Swinney (.800).
• One of the nation’s top Group of Five defenses faces the nation’s top passing attack. App State is No. 2 nationally with 109 TFLs (8.2 per game) while also ranking in the top 20 in scoring defense (No. 16, 19.3 points), total defense (No. 18, 325.5 yards), pass efficiency defense (No. 12, 114.7), INTs (No. 10, 15), defensive TDs (No. 6, four), red zone defense (No. 15, 73.7%) and rushing defense (No. 19, 118.8).
• Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year D’Marco Jackson, a Senior Bowl pick, is third nationally in tackles among defenders from teams with 10-plus wins. With 114 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss, 6.0 sacks, 12 QB hurries, one interception, five PBUs and one forced fumble, he’s one of only two FBS players since 2000 with at least 110 tackles, 18.0 TFLs, 6.0 sacks and six passes defended in one year.
• Steven Jones Jr. is No. 2 nationally with five INTs, while pressure comes from D’Marco Jackson, Nick Hampton (10.0 of 18.5 career sacks this year) and Demetrius Taylor (7.0 of 26.5 career sacks this year).
• Nate Noel has a league-best 1,076 rushing yards, with Camerun Peoples (league-high 14 TDs) at 75.0 yards a game. Chase Brice (sacked only 13 times) throws to four super senior WRs (Thomas Hennigan, Corey Sutton, Malik Williams, Jalen Virgil) who have totaled 667 career catches and 79 college TDs.
• App State has 10 consecutive years with a 1,000-yard rusher — among current FBS teams, Buffalo is No. 2 with a four-year streak. Camerun Peoples needed 193 yards in the 2020 bowl to extend the streak, then delivered an NCAA bowl-record 317 yards and a record-tying five TDs on 22 carries
MORE STORYLINES
• Shawn Clark was the only first-year FBS head coach in 2020 to win nine-plus games, and his overall record of 20-6 is ahead of any FBS head coach who was hired prior to the 2020 season. UTSA’s Jeff Traylor is 19-6 in nearly two full seasons, and Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin is 15-7.
• It’s a homecoming for Miami-area players Dashaun Davis (Deerfield Beach), Jordon Earle (West Palm Beach), Travis McNichols Jr. (Miami Gardens), Nate Noel (Miami), Hansky Paillant (Miami), Stephen Passeggiata (Wellington), Demetrius Taylor (Miami) and Christian Wells (Fort Lauderdale), plus Milan Tucker is from south Florida (Lehigh Acres).
• App State is one of 12 schools to finish in the top 26 of AP Poll voting in each of the last three years. It led in-state FBS programs in wins during each of the last three seasons and at least tied for the most wins among in-state FBS programs during each of the last six seasons. It can extend that streak to seven during the 2021 bowl season, as App State and Wake Forest both have 10 victories to date.
• Programs in North Carolina have posted an 11-win season at the FBS level a combined 10 times, and App State accounted for three of those in its first six FBS seasons.
• On Senior Day, App State recognized 28 players — including 14 “super seniors” who returned for the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA and have played 614 games with a combined409 starts. Tommy Dawkins Jr., Jacob Huesman, Baer Hunter, Kaiden Smith, Caleb Spurlin, Chandler Staton and Jalen Virgil are sixth-year App State players who redshirted in 2016 and have been part of a 62-16 run with Sun Belt titles in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019, plus a 2021 East Division title. The team’s other super seniors are Mike Evans, Tim Frizzell, Thomas Hennigan, Xavier Subotsch, Corey Sutton, Demetrius Taylor and Malik Williams.
• App State increased its streak to 37 straight seasons (eight Sun Belt, 29 SoCon) with a league record of .500 or better. Among current FBS programs, counting seasons before and after any transitions, it’s the longest streak by 14 years — Clemson, Oklahoma and Boise State are at 23 in a row.
• App State has the Sun Belt’s most-followed Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and TikTok accounts among football programs. It ranked No. 2 among G5 programs (behind just UCF) and No. 42 in the FBS in social media interactions in 2020.
• Thomas Hennigan, Caleb Spurlin and Xavier Subotsch have played in all 65 App State games since the start of 2017, breaking the school record for career games. Pierre Banks, who appeared in three games before redshirting as a true freshman in 2004, then totaled 59 games as the Mountaineers went 50-9 with three FCS titles from 2005-08, held the NCAA all-divisions record of 62 games until this year. His record was broken by players who are either still at Clemson/had played previously at Clemson.
• Thomas Hennigan has an FBS-record 64 starts to date. Earlier this year, he broke the old record of 57 each by Clemson OL Mitch Wyatt and Alabama OL Ross Pierschbacher from 2015-18.
• Officially going 7-0 at home with two Thursday games and one Wednesday game, App State set program and Sun Belt Conference records for average home attendance at 30,441 fans per game.
• With six of seven home games in 30,000-seat Kidd Brewer Stadium, plus a Thursday home game played in Charlotte, App State led the 130-team FBS at 101.5 percent home attendance relative to capacity. The only other FBS schools at 100-plus percent are Michigan (101.1), Utah (100.7), Penn State (100.2), Texas A&M (100.2 percent) and Georgia (100.0).
• App State’s impressive crowd support included 31,061 fans at a Wednesday win vs. Coastal Carolina — the biggest regular season crowd for a college football game on a Tuesday/Wednesday since App State joined the Sun Belt in 2014, with the second-place total being 25,211 fans at Troy for South Alabama’s 2017 visit. Pitt’s home game vs. UConn on a Wednesday in 2011 drew a crowd of 40,219.
• A Thursday season opener vs. ECU in Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium was officially an App State home game that drew 36,752 fans, the Kidd Brewer Stadium debut vs. FCS-level Elon drew 30,224, and a Thursday home game vs. Marshall included a crowd of 28,377. The ULM game drew 29,321, the South Alabama game with a temperature in the high 30s drew a crowd of 29,348, and a post-Thanksgiving visit from Georgia Southern drew 28,005.
• App State posted a combined record of 33-6 from 2018-20 with three different head coaches, three different offensive coordinators and three different defensive coordinators in those three seasons. Defensive coordinator Dale Jones is in Year 2 since returning, and offensive coordinator Frank Ponce came back after serving as the co-offensive coordinator (passing game)/QBs coach from 2013-18.
SPECIAL TEAMS
• Assistant Brian Haines (Broyles nominee) directs a unit with multiyear starters at kicker (Chandler Staton), punter (Xavier Subotsch), long snapper (Christian Johnstone) and holder (Clayton Howell).
• Groza Award semifinalist Chandler Staton is 19 of 20 on field goals this year and 52 of 52 on PATs for 109 points (No. 1 in the Sun Belt). He is No. 1 among active FBS players (No. 6 all-time among FBS kickers), No. 1 in school history and No. 1 in Sun Belt history with 456 career points — on Senior Day, he topped the previous school record of 444 points scored by RB Kevin Richardson from 2004-07. Staton’s 19 field goals this season are tied for first place in App State’s single-season history.
• Chandler Staton was 16-for-16 this season with a school-record 18 consecutive makes overall before the streak ended Nov. 20. He is 63-for-80 in his career, including 21-for-23 from between 40-49 yards.
• Jalen Virgil ranks No. 7 nationally with a kickoff return average of 30.2 yards this season, and he has a career average of 32.1 on 31 returns (996 career yards). He tied Darrynton Evans’ school record of three career kickoff return TDs by scoring on a 97-yard return on Senior Day vs. Georgia Southern.
OFFENSE
• App State is 22-for-32 (68.8 percent) on fourth-down conversions this year, including a 19-for-26 mark against Sun Belt teams with a 3-for-3 showing that included two TDs against South Alabama, a 4-for-5 effort at Troy and a 2-for-3 mark with a fourth-and-9 TD pass covering 36 yards against Georgia Southern. App State went 2-for-2 with a 24-yard touchdown pass on fourth down in the Sun Belt title game.
• Chase Brice is No. 3 in the Sun Belt at 232.3 passing yards per game — with 21 TDs in App State’s 10 wins. After having a single-game high of 279 passing yards in his first three FBS seasons, Brice has eclipsed that four times for App State, with 347 vs. Coastal Carolina and 326 vs. Georgia State. At 3,020 passing yards this year, he’s just the fourth App State QB to eclipse 3,000 in a season, and he’s 271 yards behind App State’s single-season passing record of 3,291 from Armanti Edwards in 2009.
• Super senior WRs Thomas Hennigan, Malik Williams and Corey Sutton are all among the top 10 in school history in career receptions (No. 1-Hennigan with 237; No. 5-Williams; No. 9-Sutton), career receiving yards (No. 3-Hennigan; No. 5-Williams; No. 6-Sutton) and career receiving TDs (No. 3-Sutton; T-No. 4-Hennigan; No. 8-Williams).
• App State was the only FBS team in 2020 with 500-yard rushing seasons from four players, including Camerun Peoples, Nate Noel and Daetrich Harrington. They had yet to all play together in the same game this season before the Coastal Carolina game, when the trio combined for 186 rushing yards on 35 attempts (5.3 yards per carry), and Harrington joined Noel in scoring a touchdown at Troy.
• Nate Noel and Camerun Peoples both had 100+ rushing yards in wins vs. ECU and Arkansas State. Noel has five 100-yard games this year, and Peoples has two (among seven games with at least 75), helping App State be one of only three FBS teams (joining Michigan and Wisconsin) with two RBs averaging at least 75.0 rushing yards a game.
• Nate Noel leads the Sun Belt with 30 runs of 10-plus yards this year. Against Marshall, he rushed for 104 of his 187 yards in the fourth quarter, when App State turned a 30-21 deficit into a 31-30 win. Noel had gains of 11, 14, 41 and 22 yards on the final drive, smartly going down short of the end zone in the final two minutes to prevent Marshall from possibly regaining possession with an eight-point deficit.
• Camerun Peoples scored three first-half TDs vs. Marshall, sat out the next two games, then had two rushing TDs apiece vs. Coastal Carolina and ULM along with a 27-yard TD against Arkansas State. He has 19 TDs in his last 12 games and has rushed for 2,136 yards with 28 TDs in 26 career games.
• RB Daetrich Harrington returned to the lineup at Louisiana on Oct. 12 after tearing the ACL in his right knee for the second time in his college career at Texas State on Nov. 7, 2020. He tore it in the spring of 2018 (returning nine months later to play at Georgia State in Game 10), suffered a foot injury that forced him to miss the last six regular-season games in 2019 (before returning for two postseason wins) and led the Sun Belt with 595 yards in the first six games of his injury-shortened 2020. He scored his first TD in more than 13 months when he reached the end zone at Troy.
• Despite sitting out last year, Corey Sutton has the second-most receiving TDs (24 in just 35 games) among Sun Belt players in FBS play since the start of 2018. After dragging his back foot in bounds on a fourth-quarter TD grab that ranked No. 1 on SportsCenter’s top plays following the Marshall victory, he had a touchdown in five of App State’s seven Sun Belt wins and four 100-yard games total this season.
• Malik Williams already has a single-season high in receiving yards with 783, with 206 coming in a win against Coastal Carolina. He has seven receptions gaining at least 40 yards this season (No. 2 in the Sun Belt) after totaling three in his first four seasons.
• With 14 plays of more than 40 yards in his career, Jalen Virgil is No. 4 overall (No. 1 among offensive skill position players) on “The Freaks List” from The Athletic, marking the fourth straight year he’s been named one of the most-gifted athletes in college football. He has three kickoff return TDs in his last 13 games — against Georgia Southern (100 yards in 2020), Miami (100 yards earlier this season) and Georgia Southern again (97 yards in the 2021 regular-season finale).
• On the Joe Moore Award honor roll, a line that’s No. 9 nationally with only 13 sacks allowed includes first-team All-Sun Belt picks Baer Hunter, who moved from right guard to center during the spring and has 51 career starts, and RT Cooper Hodges, who has made 38 career starts. Anderson Hardy has excelled at LT, while Isaiah Helms, Damion Daley and Luke Smith have been the primary guards.
• Three linemen in the six-man rotation began their college careers as defensive linemen. App State is one of only three FBS teams with more than 375 passing attempts and a top-10 ranking in fewest sacks allowed.
• App State’s tight end depth has been on display, with Henry Pearson returning to action on Senior Day to make his ninth start of 2021 and Mike Evans starting seven straight games (often in sets with two tight ends). Miller Gibbs scored a 10-yard TD and had a key block on a trick-play TD at Arkansas State, and Eli Wilson made his first career TD catch to help App State take a 24-7 lead at Troy.
DEFENSE
• Through nearly 25 full years as an App State assistant, defensive coordinator Dale Jones has been part of 231 wins. He coached at Louisville with Scott Satterfield in 2019 following a 23-year run at App State, where he was the defensive coordinator from 2010-12 and co-defensive coordinator in 2018.
• Since joining the league, App State is responsible for six of the 13 games in which a Sun Belt defense has limited an opponent to less than 150 yards. It held three of its last four opponents in the regular season under 200 total yards: 199 by Arkansas State, 284 by South Alabama, 142 by Troy and 194 by Georgia Southern.
• App State has allowed an average of 2.7 yards per carry in its 10 wins, with an average of 60.0 rushing yards per game over the last four games of the regular season: 62 by Arkansas State, 58 by South Alabama, 33 by Troy and 87 on 46 carries by Georgia Southern.
• ILB D’Marco Jackson, ILB Trey Cobb, OLB T.D. Roof and OLB Nick Hampton have totaled 310 tackles, 50.5 TFLs, 19.0 sacks, six INTs, 11 PBUs, three forced fumbles and 97 QB pressures this season. While the tackle numbers up front from linemen such as NT Jordon Earle aren’t gaudy, they’ve freed up App State’s linebackers to total 425 tackles, 65.5 TFLs, 26 sacks and seven INTs this season.
• Since the start of the 2019 season, the top two active Sun Belt players in sacks are Demetrius Taylor (20.0) and Nick Hampton (18.5), while the top four active Sun Belt players in TFLs during the same span include Taylor (No. 2, 37.0), D’Marco Jackson (No. 3, 32.5) and Hampton (No. 4, 29.5).
• D’Marco Jackson and Tulsa’s Alain Karatepeyan (in 2007) are the only FBS players since 2000 with at least 110 tackles, 18.0 TFLs, 6.0 sacks, one INT and six passes defended in the same year — Karatepeyan finished the year with 114 tackles in 14 games. Over the last two seasons, Jackson has 205 tackles, 26.0 tackles for loss, 8.5 sacks, three INTs, 14 passes defended, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery — he’s the only FBS player in the last two seasons with at least 200 tackles and 25.0 tackles for loss.
• D’Marco Jackson had 11 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, one sack and four QB hurries in the Sun Belt title game.
• D’Marco Jackson had a career-high 14 tackles against Marshall less than a week after becoming the first FBS player since 2014 and first-ever Sun Belt player to record at least 13 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks in the same game (against Elon). In 2020, he was the only FBS player with at least 90 tackles (91), 6.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, two interceptions and eight passes defended (he had six PBUs), leading him to be called one of the nation’s most versatile players by ESPN.
• Steven Jones Jr. is No. 2 at the FBS level with five INTs this year (Oregon’s Verone McKinley III increased his total to six in the Pac-12 championship game), and Jones has an FBS-best three pick-six TDs. A three-INT, two-TD game at Arkansas State allowed him to tie or break several school records, including single-game INTs (five-way tie for first with three), single-game INT return TDs (four-way tie for first with two), single-season INT return TDs (sole possession of first with three) and career INT return TDs (sole possession of first with four). His seven career INTs have all come in the last 16 games.
• App State has 15 INTs (tied for No. 10 nationally) and four pick-six return TDs (tied for No. 1 nationally with Ohio State and Pitt). App State also leads the FBS with 347 INT return yards — Trey Cobb has 110, followed by 100 from T.D. Roof and 97 from Steven Jones Jr.
• App State’s FBS-leading 117 INTs since 2015 include Trey Cobb’s 100-yard INT return vs. South Alabama to follow a two-game run in which Steven Jones Jr. had two pick-six TDs (out of three total INTs) vs. Arkansas State and one pick-six TD vs. ULM.
• Nick Hampton is one of only five FBS players this season with at least 65 tackles (he has 66), 10.0 sacks and 15.0 TFLs (he has 16.5). According to PFF, has a Sun Belt-leading 49 QB pressures this year.
• A preseason All-American (honorable mention) from PFF College as well as a member of the watch lists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year, Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Demetrius Taylor increased his career total to 26.5 sacks with sacks against five Sun Belt opponents. He is No. 6 among active FBS players and No. 4 in school history in career sacks.
• T.D. Roof is one of only six FBS players this year with at least 60 tackles, 9.0 TFLs, 3.0 sacks and two INTs. He had a key sack for a 9-yard loss with Troy backed up near its end zone to help set up a go-ahead TD late in the first half, and his INT of a bubble screen deep in Troy territory helped App State score two TDs just 14 seconds apart early in the third quarter — those plays were part of a 21-0 run that turned a 7-3 deficit into a 24-7 lead in the span of 3 minutes, 21 seconds. He had 2.0 TFLs at Troy.
• T.D. Roof posted 2.0 sacks among seven tackles from his OLB position in his first career start at Miami, leading to him being named the Sun Belt’s Defensive Player of the Week by The Draft Network, and he added a 90-yard INT return from the visiting end zone in the win against Elon. He came up with five big tackles in the win vs. Coastal Carolina, including three on the Chants’ 10 fourth-quarter plays, then had a career-high nine tackles to go with 1.5 TFLs and a forced fumble against ULM.
• Trey Cobb is the only FBS player this season with at least 65 tackles (he has 69), 6.0 tackles for loss, three INTs and seven passes defended (he has 4 PBUs). He leads Sun Belt linebackers with his seven passes defended, had a 100-yard INT return for a TD among his two INTs against South Alabama and also has two fumble recoveries with one forced fumble during a late-season surge.
• Caleb Spurlin, who paired a blocked FG with a career-high-tying seven tackles at Miami, had 1.5 sacks vs. Coastal and made the watch list for the Paul Hornung Award because of his versatility — he had two 1-yard TD catches vs. ULM (giving him four career TD catches) and was the lead blocker on two rushing TDs vs. Marshall (he’s provided the lead block as an H-back on seven rushing TDs in his career).
• Strong safety and second-team All-Sun Belt DB Kaiden Smith started every game in 2020, returned for a sixth year as a super senior, suffered a torn Achilles tendon during an April 15 spring practice but returned less than six months later as a starter for the league opener — Caleb Spurlin gave up his captain’s spot for the Georgia State game to let Smith have it while playing close to his hometown. Smith closed the regular season with nine tackles and had 12 more in the Sun Belt title game.
• Three-time, first-team All-Sun Belt pick Shaun Jolly received All-America recognition in each of his first two years as a starting cornerback, with PFF College naming him a second-team All-American to end a five-INT campaign in 2019 and Phil Steele naming him an Honorable Mention All-American in 2020.
