boca raton, fla. (ap) Bailey Zappe capped off his record-setting season in style, and Western Kentucky capped a tough week with a bowl victory.
zappe broke a pair of fbs single-season records by passing for 422 yards and six touchdowns, and western kentucky handed appalachian state its first bowl loss by beating the mountaineers 59-38 at the boca raton bowl on saturday.
zappe finished the season with 5,967 yards and 62 touchdowns for the hilltoppers (9-5). he surpassed previous fbs marks of 5,833 yards set by b.j. from texas tech. symons in 2003 and 60 touchdowns set by lsu’s joe burrow in the tigers’ run to the national championship in the 2019 season.
”in my opinion, bailey zappe is the best quarterback in college football, and now you can say he’s one of the best,” western kentucky coach tyson helton said. ”He will go down in history as one of the best and has two records. it’s special to be a part of that”.
jerreth sterns caught 13 passes for 184 yards and three touchdowns for western kentucky, finishing his season with 150 receptions for 1,902 yards. Mitchell Tinsley had two touchdown receptions for the Hilltoppers, and Noah Whittington needed just seven carries to rush for 150 yards, 86 of them on a third-quarter touchdown run.
It’s been an emotional time for Western Kentucky, playing with those affected by the unspeakable damage caused by what state officials have called the most destructive tornado event in Kentucky history. Tornadoes across the region this past weekend, including at Bowling Green, where the Western Kentucky campus is located, have been blamed for 78 deaths in Kentucky alone.
”today i hope everyone at home was watching and feeling positive about everything and just forgot about the tornadoes for a temporary moment,” sterns said. ”I’m glad I was able to do that for them today”.
chase brice passed for 317 yards and four touchdowns for appalachian state (10-4) before leaving in the fourth quarter with a right leg injury. it was the first all-time loss in seven bowl games for the Mountaineers.
”I’m very proud that our team won 10 games,” said appalachian state coach shawn clark. “that’s hard.”
it was 24-24 late in the first half, when zappe, completing 33 of 47 passes, put his name in the record book and put the hilltoppers ahead for good. The Appalachian State was slightly outscored, 637-609, but he turned the ball over four times.
”I think it came down to us having those turnovers,” said Jalen Virgil, Appalachian State Security.
zappe broke the yardage mark on a 43-yard pass to sterns, who finished the season with the fifth-most receiving yards in fbs history, late in the half, then tied the touchdown mark in the same drive when he connected off the stern for a 10-yard score. that started what became a 35-7 run by the hilltoppers.
”he’s a great football player,” clark said of zappe. ”I had the opportunity to be close to him this week. he is an exceptional young man.”
zappe threw his record-breaking 2-yard touchdown pass to tinsley on the hilltoppers’ second drive of the third quarter, increasing wku’s lead to three touchdowns.
”It’s been the best year of my life,” Zappe said.
the food to take away
The combined 97 points was a Boca Raton Bowl record, surpassing the 82 that Western Kentucky and Memphis combined in the Hilltoppers’ 51-31 victory in 2016. Western Kentucky’s 59 points was also a record, surpassing the previous mark of 52 set by marshall in 2014 and matched by florida atlantic, at their home course, in 2019.
implications of the survey
The Appalachian state was getting votes in the most recent AP Top 25 poll, though the slim chance the Mountaineers had of making it to the season-ending poll next month is now nonexistent.
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Appalachian State: The Mountaineers are scheduled to open their 2022 calendar on September 1. 3 in north carolina.
Western Kentucky: The 2022 season is scheduled to begin on August 1. 27 at home against austin peay.
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