BOONE, N.C. -- Zac Thomas had two long touchdown runs, Darrynton Evans set up another score with a 97-yard kickoff return and Appalachian State defeated Louisiana-Lafayette 30-19 in the Sun Belt Conference championship game on Saturday.
The victory earns the Mountaineers (10-2) the conference's automatic berth in the New Orleans bowl on Dec. 15 against a team from Conference USA.
ULL took a 3-0 lead when Kyle Pfau's 37-yard field capped a nine-play, 55-yard game-opening drive. The lead lasted 17 seconds. Evans took the ensuing kickoff 97 yards before being tackled at the 1-yard line and Marcus Williams Jr.