Matics gets chance at game-winning kick, Solomon not so lucky

BOONE —Appalachian State kicker Zach Matics got a chance to take the game winning field goal to beat Troy on Oct. 31. Troy kicker Jed Solomon did not.

Matics delivered a 24-yard field goal in the third overtime period to lift the Mountaineers to a 44-41 victory at Kidd Brewer Stadium. Matics made his kick on third down after the Mountaineers had driven to the Troy 2-yard line. App State quarterback Taylor Lamb was thrown for a 5-yard loss on the next play, giving App State a third-and-goal from the 7-yard line.

Matics did the rest. He had a feeling he would be called on to win the game with a field goal, especially when Stephen Burns and Keenan Gilchrist foiled Troy’s fake attempt.

More on that play later.

“Within the last minute of the game, I had that feeling the entire time,” Matics said. “When I saw those two make that play, I knew it was going to be up to me and I was ready for it.”

Matics hit a low point in his college career 2014 when he missed three field goals, sent two kickoffs out of bounds and had a game tying extra point blocked in a 21-20 loss to Southern Miss. He eventually was injured in his next game against Georgia Southern, and didn’t return to the lineup until the second-to-last game of the season when he handled kickoffs.

He said he’s waited a long time for a chance at making a game winning kick.

“I’ve been waiting for it since I got off the plane at Southern Miss,” Matics said.

This season, it seems that Matics can’t miss. The senior from Jacksonville, N.C., made three field goals in three attempts, and made all five of his extra point attempts over Troy. One of those field goals was a 38-yarder in the second overtime that was not artistically his best, but it still went through the uprights.

“I hit the ball well all game,” Matics said. “You know, it really didn’t deserve to go in, but three points is three points.”

Matics has now made 10-of-11 field goals this season with his lone miss being a 52-yarder against Georgia Southern on Oct. 24. Matics has also converted all 40 of his extra point attempts.

“He’s had a great year,” Mountaineers coach Scott Satterfield said. “I didn’t expect anything different out of him this game. He worked his tail off all summer and got his confidence back. He’s had a whale of a year. We’ve played eight games and he’s been right in the middle of all of it.”

Satterfield has been pleased with both Matics and punter Bentlee Critcher, who went into the game averaging 43.0 yards per punt, and has not had a kick blocked this season.

“He and Bentlee both, I’m really proud of how they both have been kicking,” Satterfield said. “I’m really happy for them, but especially for Matics. We always tell our kids, ‘What are you going to be remembered for?’ He’s making a big time memory right now with how our minds are going to be set for Matics as we go forward.”

Solomon didn’t get his chance to kick a game winning field goal in the third overtime. Instead, Troy tried a fake field goal from the App State 5-yard line with holder John Johnson pitching the ball forward to Clark Quisenberry.

Quisenberry was hit immediately by Burns and Gilchrist.

Satterfield said the fact Troy called timeout was a red flag to the App State staff that a fake may be on. He also said that any time it’s fourth down with four yards or less to go for a first down, the Mountaineers are on alert for a fake.

Troy faced a fourth-and-two.

“You don’t know what kind of fake it’s going to be,” Satterfield said. “It could have been anything. Our guys did a great job of stopping that there and at that point, we felt pretty good about it. All we had to do was get a little closer to get into field goal range.”

Gilchrist got suspicious when the Troy players started trying to bluff App State into thinking they would kick the field goal instead of trying a fake.

“They were out there calling ‘regular.’ They kind of let me know that something was up,” Gilchrist said. “As soon as they hiked the ball, we were just right there.”