BOONE — The Sun Belt Champions are headed back to the Big Easy.



The 20th-ranked App State Mountaineers (12-1) have accepted an invitation to the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 21 and will play on ESPN against UAB (9-4) of Conference USA at 9 p.m. ET/8 CT.



App State won 45-38 against Louisiana in the Sun Belt Championship Game on Saturday, setting the stage for a return to the New Orleans Bowl. The Mountaineers were victorious over Middle Tennessee, 45-13, in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome last year after defeating Louisiana in the inaugural league championship game.



Since joining the FBS ranks, App State has had five opportunities to earn a bowl berth and has done it each year. Only Marshall, which made six straight bowl games after its FBS transition, can claim the same feat. The Mountaineers are the only team to win each of their first four bowl games in consecutive seasons.



The 2019 season has been the best yet.



A few of the team’s most notable achievements under the direction of first-year head coach Eliah Drinkwitz include:



•      First 12-win team in Sun Belt history

•      First 12-win FBS team from the state of North Carolina

•      Fourth straight Sun Belt championship

•      Highest national ranking in App State and Sun Belt history

•      First Sun Belt team to beat two Power Five teams in the same season

•      Only Group of Five team with two Power Five road wins this year

•      Best road record (6-0) in Sun Belt history and among all FBS teams this year

•      Most nationally televised games in school history (7)



BOWL TICKETS: Tickets are available by visiting App State’s Bowl Ticket page. The deadline for priority seating is Wednesday, Dec. 11 (phone or in person by 4 p.m.; online by 11:59 p.m.). For additional information or help with purchasing tickets, contact the App State athletics ticket office at 828-262-2079. If you cannot attend the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, please consider donating your tickets, which will enable App State to provide opportunities to students and charity organizations that will showcase the pride of App Nation. You can donate by selecting the "Donate" ticket type under the "Premium" selection or call the ticket office at 828-262-2079.



For additional information on tickets, bowl week events, game day information, travel and lodging, visit Bowl Central on appstatesports.com throughout the next two weeks.



BOWL TRAVEL: App State Athletics has partnered with Sports & Entertainment Travel (SET) to provide a turnkey bowl travel and lodging experience for Mountaineer fans. Please visit appstatesportstours.com for packages. Bowl tickets must be purchased separately.



Headlined by Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year and Championship Game MVP Darrynton Evans, as well as Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year Akeem Davis-Gaither, the Mountaineers are top 25 in the nation in both scoring offense (ninth, 39.4) and scoring defense (22nd, 20.2).



App State’s historic season has included its first win over North Carolina (34-31 in Chapel Hill) and its first win against an SEC team with a 20-15 victory at South Carolina. It rolled through the league slate with a 7-1 record, suffering only a three-point loss to Georgia Southern while claiming the East Division title and earning the opportunity to host the Sun Belt Championship Game for the second straight year.



The Mountaineers, who have won 18 of their last 19 games, are 43-7 in their 50 games against Sun Belt teams since joining the league in 2014. Since the 2015 season began, App State is No. 5 nationally in win percentage (81.5) and tied for No. 5 in total wins with its 53-12 record. The win total trails only Clemson (68-4), Alabama (65-6), Ohio State (61-6) and Oklahoma (57-9) and is tied with Georgia (53-15).



The only FBS programs besides App State with streaks of four or more straight conference titles are Clemson (ACC) and Oklahoma (Big 12).



App State and UAB will meet for the first time.



UAB appeared in Conference USA’s title game Saturday after winning the league’s West Division with a 6-2 record. The Blazers lost 49-6 against FAU in the title game.



App State and UAB have one common opponent this year, as the Mountaineers won 30-3 at South Alabama and the Blazers posted a 35-3 home win against the same team.



Bill Clark has a 34-18 record as the head coach at UAB, which beat Middle Tennessee in Conference USA’s title game a year ago, and the Blazers rank 25th nationally in scoring defense (four spots behind App State) by allowing 20.8 points per game. They are No. 3 nationally in fumbles recovered (13) and No. 7 in sacks (43).



Offensively, the Blazers average 23.6 points per game. Tyler Johnston III has accumulated 15 touchdown passes while averaging 195.2 passing yards, and UAB averages 159.3 rushing yards as a team.

BIRMINGHAM - UAB scored on its first two possessions en route to a 28-7 home victory in Charlotte’s first Conference USA road game of the season at Legion Field.



UAB (3-1; 1-0) drove 73 yards to open the game, scoring on an AJ Erdely 35-yard pass to Andre Wilson for an early 7-0 lead. Charlotte (2-3; 1-1) carried it into UAB territory on their first drive but Chris Reynolds threw just his second interception of the year to stop the scoring threat.  Off the turnover, UAB again drove 73 yards and scored on Spencer Brown’s two-yard plunge to put the Blazers ahead, 14-0.




A second-quarter score on an Erdely four-yard keeper gave the Blazers a 21-0 lead at the half.



“We didn’t do a good job of handling their pressure up front from an offensive standpoint. We didn’t convert any (third downs) in the first half.  And then on defense, we didn’t convert on third down as well,” said 49ers head coach Brad Lambert.  “I thought AJ (Erdely) came out and played really well early.  We controlled the run game somewhat.  They’re used to rushing for 280-300 yards but we didn’t cover real well on the back end and we didn’t make plays on third down. I thought that was the difference in the game, especially early.”



Charlotte had 55 yards of total offense in the first half compared to 284 for the home-standing Blazers. Erdely was 12-of-14 for 192 passing yards in the first half.



In the first half, junior running back Benny LeMay passed former 49er Matt Johnson and moved into second place all-time in career rushing yards. With 83 yards on the night, he now has 1321 career rushing yards.



In the second half, Charlotte forced UAB to a pair of three-and-outs in the third quarter but was not able to capitalize offensively and headed to the final frame trailing by the 21-0 score.



After a third straight three-and-out that ended with junior linebacker Jeff Gemmell’s sack, Reynolds connected with Rico Arnold for a 48-yard pass to the UAB 7. Reynolds scampered in from four yards out to bring Charlotte within 21-7 with 5:51 left to play.



“We kind of settled down there in the second half,” Lambert added. “We didn’t change much – we just challenged our guys on third down. We’ve got to make some plays to get off the field. That was the real difference. We finally made some plays on third downs.  I thought the kids did better in the second half.”



After four straight three-and-outs, UAB added a TD late in the fourth quarter on another Spencer Brown two-yard run following a pass interference call in the end zone.



Reynolds was 13-of-17 in the second half for 161 yards.  Freshman Rico Arnold, who finished with the first 100-yard receiving performance of his career, caught five passes for 96 yards in the second half, including the 48-yard grab which is the longest of his career.






LeMay led the rushing attack with 83 yards.



Gemmell finished with a team-high 10 tackles, including the 49ers lone sack of the game.



UAB outgained Charlotte 330 yards to 263.  In the second half, the 49ers outgained UAB 208 to 46 in total offense.  UAB was held to 116 rushing yards for the game but had 214 passing yards.  UAB finished the game with 5.0 sacks and 7.0 tackles for loss.



The 49ers head into the bye week before returning home to face WKU, Oct. 13, in the 49ers’ annual Homecoming Game.

Charlotte (0-7; 0-3) hosts UAB (3-2; 1-1) in the 49ers Annual Homecoming Game. Charlotte has dropped three straight league games and is looking for its first win if the 2017 campaign. With injuries mounting, the 49ers saw four players make their first start and a total of eight lineup changes in last week’s 45-14 loss at two-time C-USA defending champ WKU. In addition, all-time leading tackler Karrington King left the game in the second quarter with a knee injury. UAB meanwhile returned from a bye week to win back-to-back home games against Louisiana Tech (W, 23-2) and Middle Tennessee (W, 25-23).



This is the 49ers first meeting with UAB and the last game before the bye week.



Charlotte R-Fr. RB Aaron McAllister rushed for a career-high 157 yards at WKU, the third different 49er (Benny LeMay; Hasaan Klugh) to post a 100-yard rushing game this year. LeMay and Klugh both missed the WKU game. At WKU, McAllister (89-yd TD run) and backup QB Brooks Barden (77-yd run) had the two longest runs in school history.

Jerry Richardson Stadium

QB Hasaan Klugh has accounted for 10 of the 49ers 12 TDs with 5 passing TDs and 5 rushing TDs. Charlotte rushed for the program’s FBS record of 349 yards in a one-point, 30-29 loss at FIU. Soph. RB Benny LeMay has had two games of over 150+ rushing yards, including a career-high of 178 at FIU. He ranks 6th in C-USA with an 81.3 rushing avg.



The 49ers defense suffered a blow with the loss of all-time leading tackler Karrington King (62 tackles; 8.9/gm) at WKU. He became the first 49er to record 50+ tackles in four straight seasons. Soph. DB Ben DeLuca is second on the team with 58 tackles after back-to-back double-digit tackle games (49ers’ FBS record 17 vs. Marshall; 10 at WKU). He became the 12th 49er to reach 100 career tackles (126). DE Zach Duncan leads the team with 5.0 TFL, 3.0 sacks and 4 QBh.

What the Coaches are Saying

Charlotte coach Brad Lambert

“We’re looking forward to coming back home and playing UAB. They’re a pretty old team and are hot right now. They have beaten two really good opponents on the last play of the game in Middle Tennessee and Louisiana Tech. They present a lot of problems and Coach Clark has done a good job of building the program… They’re a really old football team. Just because they dropped football and starting back, you can’t be deceived. They have a lot of old guys and are a very mature football team. It all starts with their QB. He’s an older guy, playing extremely well and has got great balance. They have the ability to throw and run the ball at a high level. UAB also has a freshman tailback who I really like… It’s a tough challenge this week and it’s good to back home but we have a tough task at hand. We’re going to need to have a great week of preparation to get ready for this UAB football team that is very confident right now."



UAB coach Bill Clark

"As we start to look at the next game it’s time to get a road win. I would say that I think Charlotte has been really close and has started to make some changes a few weeks ago offensively that has really made a big change for them. They should have beaten FIU and played Marshall right to the wire and last week the quarterback was out and the leading rusher was out and they also had some defensive guys out. To me that game is not indicative of who they are and they’ve got us for their homecoming and we’ve got to go on the road and play well and do our jobs. We should not be anything other than humble and guys wanting to work and I think we’ve got some guys that are really starting to believe in what we’re doing and we need a great week of practice."

Game Information

UAB (4-2; C-USA: 2-1) at Charlotte (0-7; C-USA: 0-3)

Kickoff: 6:30 pm

Jerry Richardson Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.

TV: beIN Sports

Series Record: First meeting