BOONE, N.C. – On a rainy afternoon in the mountains of North Carolina, the Texas State football team (3-8, 2-5 Sun Belt) put up a valiant effort in battling 24th-ranked Appalachian State (10-1, 6-1 Sun Belt) before falling 35-13 at Kidd Brewer Stadium on Saturday.

BOX SCORE
Joshua Rowland put TXST on the scoreboard with a 48-yard field goal with 12:43 left in the second quarter. It was a career-long kick for the senior.
 
Tyler Vitt found Javen Banks for a 53-yard touchdown reception with three seconds remaining in the first half to cut Appalachian State's lead to 14-10.
 
Rowland made his second 48-yard field goal in the game on Texas State's opening drive of the third quarter to cut the deficit to 14-13 against the 24th-ranked Mountaineers.
 
Senior Bryan London II made 10 tackles in the game to give him 445 in his career. He now ranks second in program history, two shy of matching Greg Pitts' (1999-02) school record for most career tackles.
 
Fellow senior linebacker Nikolas Daniels led the Bobcats with 11 tackles.
 
Vitt finished the game completing 18-of-34 passes for 154 yards and one touchdown and one interception.
 
Pacing the Bobcats on the ground was Robert Brown, Jr. with 35 yards on eight carries. Caleb Twyford added 20 yards and Vitt gained 15 yards.
 
Banks hauled in five passes for a game-high 82 yards and a touchdown. Also hauling in five catches was Jeremiah Haydel for 25 yards.
 
Hutch White caught two passes to give him 60 on the season. His catch total is tied for the fourth most in a single season with K.R. Carpenter (2003) and Cameron Luck (2007).

KEY MOMENTS
Facing 4th and 3 from the Mountaineer 33 late in the first quarter, Mason Hays found himself wide open down the right side. However, the pass was underthrown on what would have been a touchdown and given TXST a chance to tie the game.
 
A bubble pass by Appalachian State on the first play of the second quarter saw Frankie Griffin force a fumble, his second straight game doing so, that was recovered by the Bobcats at the Mountaineer 30.That set up Rowland's first field goal in the game.
 
Appalachian State had a chance to go up by a touchdown with 4:30 left in the second quarter but Chandler Staton missed a 24-yard field goal to the left.
 
Brown gained 10 yards on the ground on the second play of the final drive of the second quarter.to hep set up Vitt's touchdown throw to Banks just before the end of the first half.
 
Facing fourth down-and-1 from the Appalachian State 38-yqrd line, Twyford gained just enough to move the chains on the Bobcats' opening drive of the second half that resulted in Rowland's second field goal.
 
The key turning point in Texas State's rally came after Vitt threw an interception on Texas State's 29-yard line. After the Mountaineers were called for holding, an incomplete pass appeared to set up fourth down for a possible Mountaineer field goal attempt. However, the Bobcats were called for hands to the face penalty to give Appalachian State an automatic first down. The Mountaineers went on to score a touchdown on the next play and scored the final 21 points of the game.

UP NEXT
- Texas State concludes its season next Saturday at Coastal Carolina. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

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