College Football

College football odds: Appalachian State does it again

Updated Sep. 10, 2022 10:28 p.m. ET

The Appalachian State Mountaineers were double winners Saturday.

The Mountaineers of the Sun Belt Conference got paid $1.5 million to travel to College Station and take on the No. 6 Texas A&M Aggies.

Not only did App State receive a nice payday, they shocked the college football world for the second time in 15 years by beating Jimbo Fischer's Aggies, 17-14.

The Mountaineers of Boone, North Carolina, made a splash in the college football world 15 years earlier when, as a member of the Football Championship Subdivision, they upset then No. 5 Michigan in Ann Arbor, 34-32.

Combined with Marshall's 26-21 win over No. 8 Notre Dame, the Sun Belt became the first Group of Five conference to win multiple games against Top-10 opponents on the same day since 2003.

Mountaineers backers cashed in as App State was +600 on the moneyline (bet $10 to win $70 total) to beat Texas A&M outright.

ESPN.com reported a bettor in New Jersey cashed a $50 in-game moneyline parlay on Marshall (+1050), Washington State (+650) and App State (+700) to collect a cool $34,450. The Cougars upset No. 19 Wisconsin as 17.5-point underdogs, 17-14.

App State's win over Texas A&M was hardly a fluke. The Mountaineers dominated statistically in first downs (22-9) and total yards (315-186), holding A&M to.97 passing yards and 89 rushing yards, and had fewer penalties and turnovers (2-0).

The most telling statistic: App State had a staggering edge in time of possession, 41:30-18:30, despite A&M having recruiting classes ranked in the top seven in each of the past four years.

The loss will turn up the heat on A&M coach Jimbo Fisher. Fisher is 35-15 after 50 games at A&M; Kevin Sumlin was 36-14 after 50 games and got fired after six seasons and was replaced by Fisher.

Fisher received a contract extension a year ago and will earn nearly $95 million over the next 10 years in a guaranteed contract.

App State coach Shawn Clark signed a contract extension in December through the 2026 season and reportedly will earn $425,000 this season.

FIsher has lost his past three games against FBS opponents, two who were unranked. Clark just beat Fisher head-up.

Fisher makes more per game (nearly $800,000) than Smith makes for the season.

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