BOONE, N.C. —  Appalachian State University Football once again received recognition from Athlon Sports college football columnist Steve Lassan, as he ranked the Mountaineers' running backs unit the 23rd-best group out of 50 units on Tuesday.

App State is one of three schools from the Sun Belt to make the list with archrival Georgia Southern coming in at 21st and New Mexico State landing the 50th spot. 

Appalachian boasted one of the most consistent and lethal ground attacks in the nation, where it  ran for at least 200 yards in 11 of 13 contests, six 300 yard outputs and a 401-yard performance on the ground at Idaho. App State rushed for 3,529 yards in 2015, which was the third most in a single-season in school history, and the highest rushing total since 2007 when the Black and Gold set the school record for rushing yards in a season with 4,311 yards. 

The trio of Marcus Cox, Jalin Moore  and Terrence Upshaw boasted one of the best units in the country leading the Apps' rushing attack that ranked sixth in the nation averaging 271.5 yards rushing per game and 5.83 yards per rush.

Cox led the bunch with a career-high of 1,423 yards rushing, good for 17th in the country and third in the conference. The senior tailback is just 716 yards away from breaking Kevin Richardson's career school record of 4,804 yards. Cox is also the lone student-athlete in school history to rush for 1,000 yards in his freshman, sophomore and junior seasons, while he is just one 100-yard rushing game away from breaking the tie with Settle for the all-time mark at 23 games. 

Moore came onto the scene late last season where he emerged as the No. 2 running back and finished second with 731 yards rushing. The sophomore stud rushed for 528 yards in the last four games, including a freshman rushing record of 244 yards against Idaho. Moore ran for at least 80 yards in the final four contests of the season.  Moore averaged nearly a first down on each carry where he paced App State at a 7.4 yards per rushing clip with at least 80 rushing attempts. 

Upshaw finished third on the team with 442 yards on the ground and three scores while sporting 5.5 yards per rush. The bruising halfback rushed for at least 45 yards in five contests and rushed for at least 10 attempts in five games. 

The trio will look to continue their success on Thursday, Sept. 1 when the Apps open up the season in Knoxville against the No. 10 Tennessee Volunteers.