This is the Depth Dossier: the App State Mountaineers, Week 8.

App State survived James Madison 34 to 31 in overtime, and while kicker James London's walk-off field goal will get the highlight, the real headline is what's happening in the quarterback room.

Let's start with how this one actually went down. App State handed James Madison its first loss of the season by winning the margins. Every kick mattered, the only costly turnover went their way, and they won the overtime coin toss and chose to play defense first. Quarterback Malachi Singleton threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns despite a bad ankle. Linebacker Colton Phares racked up 13 tackles and the interception that flipped field position for the go-ahead score. And kicker James London made all four field goal attempts plus extra points, capping it with a 40-yard walk-off kick while unable to see out of his right eye. James Madison answered almost everything until the final possession of regulation, but a blocked kick, a missed field goal in overtime, and London's steady leg decided it.

Now, dig into the numbers, and this looks like a game App State probably shouldn't have won. The postgame win model gave them just a 40 percent chance, and they were actually outgained, 423 yards to 366. It was rated the most exciting game in the country that week, so, yeah, it earned the overtime.

The run game was nearly nonexistent. Take away Singleton's two sacks, and App State ran for just 94 yards on 29 carries. Running back Jaquari Lewis picked up 74 yards on 13 carries, but one 32-yard burst is doing almost all of that work. Both teams' offensive coordinators admitted afterward that neither side ran the ball well.

Where App State really won this game was on third down defense and finishing drives. James Madison converted just two of fifteen third downs all night. App State also out-finished them in the red zone, and Phares's interception turned into a quick touchdown drive after a James Madison penalty moved the chains.

Special teams swung the game twice. A blocked field goal in the second quarter set up a 70-yard James Madison touchdown on the very next play. Then in overtime, James Madison's kicker missed one off the upright before London calmly drilled the walk-off.

Now to the depth chart, and this is where the more interesting story lives. No injuries were reported, which is notable given Singleton played through that ankle issue and still finished with strong accuracy numbers. The ankle hasn't forced him out, but it hasn't disappeared as a storyline either.

The real development is how established backup quarterback Henry Hasselbeck's package has become. He threw two short touchdown passes out of specific personnel groupings, ran for a first down in overtime, and played about 14 percent of the offensive snaps to Singleton's 58 percent. Whether that split is by design or because of the ankle still hasn't been explained by the coaching staff. But after a start in week seven and now a second straight week of designed touchdown work, this looks less like a change-of-pace wrinkle and more like a package App State plans to keep using no matter Singleton's health.

On defense, Phares continues to lead the team in tackles, and linebacker Ja'Den McBurrows came up with a big tackle for loss on a James Madison direct snap in overtime, a nice moment for a depth piece. And on special teams, London is now four for four on walk-off field goal tries in his career and joins a short list of App State kickers with a program walk-off in the last five years.

So, what to watch going forward? Does Singleton's workload keep shrinking if Hasselbeck's package keeps scoring? And can App State fix a run game that averaged just two yards per carry before it costs them a game they can't win with kicks alone?

This was the depth dossier. For everything college football, be it depth charts, data or dossiers, head over to C F B Depth dot com. We will be back next week. This was an AI-generated podcast from content developed by real human beings passionate about college football.