[2024] Week 17 New Mexico Bowl Recap: OKST 21-48 APST

[dearden]

Albuquerque, New Mexico - Markus Turner's extra point attempt is up, and it is good - your Appalachian State Mountaineers have defeated the Oklahoma State Cowboys 48-21 and are 2024 New Mexico Bowl Champions!  The call from WKBC 97.3 FM echoed through the Blue Ridge Mountains and down to Charlotte, final score: OKST 21-48 APST.  Described by Coach @dearden on the "Wheels OFF" Podcast as one of the Mountaineers most-formidable opponents, the Oklahoma State Cowboys entered the New Mexico Bowl with a 7-5 (4-5) regular season record; having prevailed against then #24 Colorado in Week 3, Big XII Runners-Up then #8 TCU in Week 6; then #8 Arizona State in Week 8, and then #16 Oklahoma to close out the regular season in Week 14.  At one point in the regular season, the Cowboys were ranked #10 in the AP Coaches Poll - the second-highest an Appalachian State opponent would climb behind #7 Kentucky in both Weeks 1, 10, and 11.  Despite the accolades of their opponent, the Appalachian State coaching staff believed that hard work and preparation would allow for the Mountaineers to accomplish their singular objective of the 2024 campaign: to win football games.  Their confidence, in their players and travelling fans, was rewarded.

Four weeks removed from their Week 13 victory away at Coastal Carolina to wrap up the regular season, the Mountaineers appeared hungry for victory; opening scoring in the first quarter via a 46-yard touchdown pass from Quarterback Austin Redding to Wide Receiver Geoff Lucas.  While Oklahoma State would rally to bring the score to 14-7 in the Cowboys' favor entering the half, Halfback Phil Turner would make the second-half his own.  Turner began his rushing-clinic with a 72-yard sprint to give App State a 17-10 lead mid-way through the third quarter.  After a pair of defensive stops to force Oklahoma State into successive 30+ yard field goal attempts - both of which were missed - Turner led the drive with a 46-yard reception and capped it off with a 13-yard touchdown run to extend the Mountaineers' lead to 27-14.  After the Cowboys responded, bringing the score to 27-21, Turner made it a one-play scoring drive: breaking free of defenders for a 66-yard trip to the endzone and giving App State a 34-21 lead.  Following another Redding-Lucas connection, this time for a 57-yard touchdown, the Mountaineers led 41-21 with five minutes remaining.  After a pair of defensive stops, App State received the ball with three minutes remaining and handed the keys to the offense to the "Thunder and Lightning" of Ramon Brice and Phil Turner to close out the game.  With eleven seconds to go, Turner crossed the goal-line for his fourth trip to the promised-land on the evening - his lane opened up by a Ramon Brice block.  The tailbacks held the football aloft together in the endzone as the score read 47-21, "an amazing way to wrap-up the season" - a few seconds later, the season officially ended with the kick of a football through the uprights: 48-21.

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"It's an amazing way to wrap-up the season," said Phil Turner in his post-game interview.  "Our singular focus this campaign has been 'to win football games' - it's something the coaching staff instilled into our ethos from Day 1 of Spring practice and we've all really taken it to heart.  Obviously, it's a great feeling to come out here today and win the New Mexico Bowl; to hoist a trophy after a long season where we've all battled our hearts out week-in and week-out, but it's something special to convincingly defeat a Power 5 opponent like Oklahoma State who's look like the best of them all season long.  To me, it shows that we're a competitive football team - while we would've loved to have shown that in a Sun Belt Championship game, we're more than happy to show the nation what we're capable of here in Albuquerque, and I think that's exactly what we've done.  A lot of great talent in Black and Gold who close out their collegiate careers today - Austin [Redding], Geoff [Lucas], Chris [Holmes], and my main man Ramon [Brice] on the offensive side to name a few.  They each had amazing seasons, culminated by stand-out performances here today and I only wish I could play another game besides these guys, cause they're my brothers-in-arms, you know?  I'm not too sure what the future holds for me - I think that kinda hit me in the locker room at halftime and I just left it all out on the field.  I'm proud that I could have a career day in front of America, but I'm even prouder to have come in and performed when the stakes were at their highest.  It's been a weird day of past, present, and future for me: I've battled hard to get here, from high school to three years on the bench; it meant a lot to use that drive and motivation to power myself forward, to be the best I could for App State; while also realizing that my footballing future is at an impasse, I'd like to think I've done enough this season to get a shot at the NFL but I can only thank my coaches and my teammates for putting me in a position to succeed - I absolutely love those guys and hope to get to make them proud on Sundays and see them soon on-the-field and off."

Week 17 Offensive Statistics

Player	Team	Rushing Attempts	Rushing Yards	Yards/Attempt	Rushing Touchdowns	Targets	Catches	Receiving Yards	Yards/Catch	Receiving Touchdowns
Troy Young	UTAH	27	248	9.19	4	5	3	39	13.00	1
Phil Turner	APST	24	314	13.08	4	6	3	56	18.67	0

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"First off, I want to thank all of our fans, especially those who made it all the way out here to New Mexico," said Coach @dearden during the New Mexico Bowl post-game show, "your support means the world to these guys and to us as coaches - you've been the driving force behind our success all season and we always want you to know that whenever we go out on that field, we're playing for you.  I've said it before and I'm going to keep saying it: I'm real proud of all of our guys and how they've carried themselves this season.  They've battled through tough games, shown grace in victory and defeat, and have work so damn hard every day from our first day of practice to the final whistle today - they deserve to hoist that trophy and I'm so glad that they're able to.  They're a special group of guys - I've got every confidence in the returning Mountaineers to take the fight to the rest of the Sun Belt and beyond in 2025 and I wish our Seniors the best as they continue their journeys, whether that be in professional football or life as a whole - they're a fine group of young men and I can't wait to see what's in store for each and every one of them.  Lastly, I've got to thank my coaching staff.  It's been one hell of a ride and we've learned a whole lot - we're a team, but one that grows by challenging each other to ensure we put out the best gameplans to put our players in the best spots to succeed.  All in all, this team and its fanbase have worked their butts off all season - our flight back to Boone is this afternoon, we're looking forward to celebrating our win and our season tonight and getting some rest and relaxation in during the offseason."

The New Mexico Bowl victory capped-off a successful debut season for first-year Head Coach @dearden, with the Mountaineers finishing 2024 with an 8-5 (6-2) record and an outside chance of a final AP Coaches Poll ranking.  Over the past four seasons, this brings Appalachian State's combined record to 32-20 (21-13) with their third bowl victory in as many attempts.  The Mountaineers victory also boosts the Sun Belt's 2024 Bowl record to 1-4, following an 0-4 start to the postseason in Week 16 - the Sun Belt will hope for victories by Southern Mississippi, Texas State, and Marshall in Week 18 to even-out their Conference record at 4-4 between their impressive eight postseason participants.