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A Look Back: Southern Miss Blocked PAT Leads to Victory over App State
9/10/2025 10:00:00 AM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – It has been 11 seasons since Southern Miss has played host to App State in football here and, if the last time was any indication, this Saturday's edition of the series should go down to the wire.
Game time is set for 6 p.m., at The Rock and can be seen on ESPN+ as well as heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network.
The last meeting at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium, Sept. 20, 2014, saw Dasman McCullum block an extra-point attempt with 6 seconds remaining to help the Golden Eagles hold on for a 21-20 victory. ASU's Taylor Lamb threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Simms McElfresh in the back corner of the end zone to get the Mountaineers within a point.
But Zach Matics, who had a field goal blocked and missed two others, had his extra point attempt swatted away by McCullum, capping a frantic final 8 minutes.
"I just knew we had to make a play," said McCullum after the game. "I know (Rakeem) Nunez (-Roches) had been getting good pressure on the field goal blocks so I said `Nunez, you make the pressure and I am going to block it' and I just happened to stick my hand up at the right time and block the field goal."
App State tied the game at 14 on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Lamb to Malachi Jones with 5:08 to play. But Southern Miss immediately responded, going 65 yards on six plays to take a 21-14 lead with 2:22 to play on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Nick Mullens to George Payne. It was only the third catch of the sophomore's career and his first that season, as Mullens caught the Mountaineers in an all-out blitz on third down and flipped the ball to a wide-open Payne down the left sideline.
Payne also scored on runs of 15- and 3-yards in the first half to give the Golden Eagles a 14-7 halftime advantage.
App State running back Marcus Cox, who rushed for 119 yards on 22 carries, scored on a 5-yard run in the second quarter for the Mountaineers. Lamb, in his first career start, completed 28 of 40 passes for 264 yards.
Mullens completed 22 of 35 passes for 268 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
App State, who was playing in its first year as a Football Bowl Subdivision member, outgained the Golden Eagles 455 total yards to 329. But Matics missed field goals of 43 yards and 42 yards and had a 36-yarder blocked by defensive end Wil Freeman. The Mountaineers also lost a red-zone opportunity when McCullum stripped Cox of the ball at the Southern Miss 7 on App State's first play following a Mullens' interception.
Southern Miss leads the overall series 2-1, with the first meeting taking place Dec. 1, 1937, in a game played in Gulfport, Miss., with the Golden Eagles winning 7-0. The two teams played that game as a fundraiser for the Gulfport Men's Business Club's doll and toy drive. App State's coach at the time, Kidd Brewer, once coached at Gulfport High School. The football stadium at App State is named in Brewer's honor.
In the first meeting between the schools in Boone during the 2023 campaign, which also was the schools' initial meeting as Sun Belt Conference members, the Mountaineers rallied from a 38-28 fourth-quarter deficit by scoring the game's final 20 points for a 48-38 triumph. The App State win overshadowed a 247-yard and two touchdown rushing performance for Frank Gore, Jr., which is the fourth-best rushing contest in school history.
Tickets for this Saturday's game, as well as the other four remaining Southern Miss home football games, can be purchased by going online at SouthernMiss.com/Tickets.
Game time is set for 6 p.m., at The Rock and can be seen on ESPN+ as well as heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network.
The last meeting at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium, Sept. 20, 2014, saw Dasman McCullum block an extra-point attempt with 6 seconds remaining to help the Golden Eagles hold on for a 21-20 victory. ASU's Taylor Lamb threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Simms McElfresh in the back corner of the end zone to get the Mountaineers within a point.
But Zach Matics, who had a field goal blocked and missed two others, had his extra point attempt swatted away by McCullum, capping a frantic final 8 minutes.
"I just knew we had to make a play," said McCullum after the game. "I know (Rakeem) Nunez (-Roches) had been getting good pressure on the field goal blocks so I said `Nunez, you make the pressure and I am going to block it' and I just happened to stick my hand up at the right time and block the field goal."
App State tied the game at 14 on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Lamb to Malachi Jones with 5:08 to play. But Southern Miss immediately responded, going 65 yards on six plays to take a 21-14 lead with 2:22 to play on a 31-yard touchdown pass from Nick Mullens to George Payne. It was only the third catch of the sophomore's career and his first that season, as Mullens caught the Mountaineers in an all-out blitz on third down and flipped the ball to a wide-open Payne down the left sideline.
Payne also scored on runs of 15- and 3-yards in the first half to give the Golden Eagles a 14-7 halftime advantage.
App State running back Marcus Cox, who rushed for 119 yards on 22 carries, scored on a 5-yard run in the second quarter for the Mountaineers. Lamb, in his first career start, completed 28 of 40 passes for 264 yards.
Mullens completed 22 of 35 passes for 268 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.
App State, who was playing in its first year as a Football Bowl Subdivision member, outgained the Golden Eagles 455 total yards to 329. But Matics missed field goals of 43 yards and 42 yards and had a 36-yarder blocked by defensive end Wil Freeman. The Mountaineers also lost a red-zone opportunity when McCullum stripped Cox of the ball at the Southern Miss 7 on App State's first play following a Mullens' interception.
Southern Miss leads the overall series 2-1, with the first meeting taking place Dec. 1, 1937, in a game played in Gulfport, Miss., with the Golden Eagles winning 7-0. The two teams played that game as a fundraiser for the Gulfport Men's Business Club's doll and toy drive. App State's coach at the time, Kidd Brewer, once coached at Gulfport High School. The football stadium at App State is named in Brewer's honor.
In the first meeting between the schools in Boone during the 2023 campaign, which also was the schools' initial meeting as Sun Belt Conference members, the Mountaineers rallied from a 38-28 fourth-quarter deficit by scoring the game's final 20 points for a 48-38 triumph. The App State win overshadowed a 247-yard and two touchdown rushing performance for Frank Gore, Jr., which is the fourth-best rushing contest in school history.
Tickets for this Saturday's game, as well as the other four remaining Southern Miss home football games, can be purchased by going online at SouthernMiss.com/Tickets.
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