TAKEAWAYS: App State Handle The Herd In Rivalry Win

In a battle of two Sun Belt teams with prideful fanbases who are enduring somewhat underwhelming seasons, App State sends Marshall to their fifth straight loss – soundly defeating the Thundering Herd 31-9, in large part due to three takeaways forced by the Mountaineers.

The win sends App State through with their fifth victory of the season, yet they still have an uphill battle to qualify for bowl eligibility, with two road contests at Georgia State and James Madison followed by a home finale against Georgia Southern. Meanwhile, Charles Huff’s Herd also have a tough climb to get to six wins as they’ll round out the season with Georgia Southern at home next week, followed by a trip to South Alabama and then a season-finale versus Arkansas State in Huntington.

Let’s take a look at three takeaways from the contest.

Cam Fancher’s rough evening

Marshall quarterback Cam Fancher has had a bit of a seesaw second season as the starter for Charles Huff’s Herd. He entered Saturday's contest with seven touchdown passes and eight interceptions – and had another rough evening going 13-of-24 for 137 yards with one touchdown pass and three interceptions – which led to 10 App State points off of turnovers.

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Joey Aguilar dices the Marshall defense

On the flip side of the quarterback dual, App State’s Joey Aguilar had an excellent evening, going 19-of-26 passing with 226 yards and three touchdown passes. The 73% passing is a career-high for Aguilar against FBS competition and continues the JUCO transfer’s excellent first season as the starter in Boone. Aguilar connected with nine different receivers in the win and three different players caught the scores.

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Mountaineers defense stifles Rasheen Ali

Marshall running back Rasheen Ali is one of the best running backs not just among the Group of Five ranks, but the entire nation. Ali has 35 career touchdowns on just over 430 attempts and had scored multiple touchdowns in each Marshall game against G5 competition. The App State defense limited the dynamic back to just 68 yards on 11 carries and were able to phase the run game out of Marshall’s arsenal with the multiple interceptions forced of Fancher.