App State upsets Coastal Carolina, breaks 18-game regular season win streak of Chants

The Appalachian State Mountaineers pulled off a key upset in the Sun Belt Conference with a 30-27 win over the No. 14 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers on Wednesday night in Boone, North Carolina.

Mountaineers quarterback Chase Brice was 18-28 for 347 yards and two touchdowns in the win, picking apart a vulnerable Chants secondary repeatedly. App State outgained Coastal 575 to 346, with a gaudy 8.3 yards per play average. They had 41 carries for 228 yards, while holding Coastal to 29 carries for just 55 yards on the ground.

Coastal quarterback Grayson McCall was 15-23 for 291 yards and a passing touchdown, but it was the inability to establish a run game that was key to the loss.

It’s the second win ever for the Mountaineers over a Top 25 team, with their historic upset of No. 8 Michigan in 2007 the other. At that time App was a member of FCS, so this is their first win against a Top 25 team since joining FBS in 2014.

The win gives App State control of their destiny in Group A of the Sun Belt Conference, with a chance to get back to the title game if they can win out the rest of the way. The Chanticleers were a 5-point favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook at kickoff.