Appalachian State Mountaineers

Miami's Mark Walton Breaks Away for 80-Yard TD vs. Appalachian State

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Miami’s offense showed up early on Saturday against Appalachian State, with Hurricanes running back Mark Walton breaking away for an 80-yard score.

The Miami Hurricanes are trying to prove that they belong in the conversation as one of the best teams in college football. Plays like this one on Saturday against Appalachian State are probably going to help their case.

There was buzz that Miami might be on upset alert this week against a Mountaineers team that nearly pulled off an upset earlier this season against Tennessee. However, on the Hurricanes’ first play from scrimmage on Saturday, sophomore running back Mark Walton broke a tackle and took off for an amazing 80-yard touchdown to put Miami up 7-0.

Walton’s run is a great lesson in why defenders need to wrap up when tackling. The entire Appalachian State defense assumed that Walton was going down, but instead he took off for the end zone. Here’s the video of the entire play.

Mark Walton 80 yd TD run https://t.co/5ShYoRRc0B

— Kevin Causey (@CFBZ) September 17, 2016

Miami’s offense has looked incredible to start the season. In their first two games against FAMU and FAU, the Hurricanes scored 70 and 38 points respectively. With an early touchdown on Saturday, no one would be surprised to see Miami run up the score for a third straight week.

Quarterback Brad Kaaya is generating a lot of buzz as a potential NFL draft prospect. The Hurricanes will need some more big games from him if they’re going to keep moving up the AP Poll and make a statement as a potential college football playoff team. However, Miami can’t overlook any of their opponents, as they’re probably going to have to win every single game.