Appalachian State Holds Off Winless Charlotte 26-21
Appalachian State never trailed, never even got tied, and still spent the last two minutes with a one-score lead it had to sweat. The Mountaineers beat Charlotte 26-21, moved to 3-0, and left the 49ers at 0-3.
The lead was built early and in pieces. James London kicked a 41-yard field goal in the first quarter, Jaquari Lewis ran in from two yards out to make it 10-0, and after Charlotte got a Khamani Alexander touchdown with 35 seconds left in the half, London answered with a 47-yarder as time ran out. 13-7 at the break. Chris Lofton caught a 3-yard touchdown from Malachi Singleton in the third (the two-point try failed) and Jackson Grier added a 7-yarder early in the fourth. That was 26-7, and it looked finished.
It was not. Alexander scored again from a yard out and ran in the two-point conversion to make it 26-15, then Collin Gill took an interception 36 yards the other way with 1:58 to go (the two-point pass failed). Without that one play it is 26-15 and nobody is stressed. Charlotte had 257 total yards and threw two picks to Appalachian State's one, and the Mountaineers did the rest with 441 yards, 345 of them through the air. Appalachian State also lost a fumble, so it was not exactly clean.
For fantasy, this was a quarterback and receiver game. Singleton threw for 331 yards and two touchdowns and had the best week of his young season. Lofton, who scored once and also lost a fumble, was the other big name. On the Charlotte side, Jaden Barnes caught 10 passes for 97 yards and had nothing to show in the end zone. That is the story of an 0-3 team in one line.