BOONE, N.C. — The celebration after James Madison's missed field goal to start overtime temporarily impaired James London's vision.

When called upon to end the nationally televised thriller with a kick of his own, he could feel immediately that it was pure coming off his right foot.

The rest, understandably, was a blur.

London's 40-yard field goal in OT lifted App State to a 34-31 victory over previously unbeaten JMU on Thursday night, sending fans from the sellout crowd of 33,322 at Kidd Brewer Stadium spilling onto the field.

London couldn't see out of his right eye as he took the field for the final play because a teammate had struck him in the face while waving his arms to signal no good on JMU's 47-yard attempt that clanged off the left upright to close the opening possession of overtime.

After Henry Hasselbeck gained 5 yards on a first-down keeper from the JMU 25 and fellow quarterback Malachi Singleton centered the ball on second down, App State's field goal unit departed the sideline to set up for a dramatic kick.

Everyone was in place but London, who jogged onto the field late because of his predicament, calmly slapped hands with holder Jaxson Dunn and then drilled the field goal following a clean snap from Parker Stone.

App State (5-2, 2-1 Sun Belt) handed an undefeated, headline-making JMU team its first loss of the season with a walk-off score in overtime for the second time in the last four years, bringing back memories of Joey Aguilar's touchdown pass to Kaedin Robinson to finish a 26-23 victory over a 10-0 Dukes squad in Harrisonburg in 2023.

The Mountaineers fell behind 14-3 on Thursday, then stormed back to tie the game at 21-all and 24-all in the fourth quarter. One play after London's third field tied the score with 6:16 remaining, Colton Phares intercepted a JMU pass and returned the ball 21 yards to the Dukes' 25, setting up Hasselbeck's 4-yard touchdown pass to tight end Luke Douglas for a 31-24 lead with 5:52 left.

JMU (7-1, 4-1) forced overtime as Camden Coleman scored on a 6-yard quarterback draw with three seconds left in the fourth, capping a 15-play drive that included a fourth-and-3 completion for 3 yards to the App State 6 with 12 seconds remaining. First-year JMU coach Billy Napier, who had won 17 straight Sun Belt games dating back to his time at Louisiana, opted to tie the game with an extra point rather than go for two at The Rock.

The Mountaineers won the toss to start overtime, chose to defend and pushed JMU behind the chains when Ja'Den McBurrows tackled quarterback JC Evans for an 11-yard loss on a trick play. That stop started a series of events that led to a longer-than-desired field goal from the Dukes and the most painful of multiple celebrations involving London.

Every team in the Sun Belt's East Division now has at least one league loss, as App State has responded to a rain-soaked loss to Old Dominion with consecutive victories against Coastal Carolina and JMU. The Mountaineers play at Georgia Southern next weekend.

London, who went a perfect 4-for-4 on field goals, joined Michael Hughes (54-yarder at ULM in 2023) and Chandler Staton (24-yarder at home against Coastal Carolina in 2021) on the list of App State kickers with walk-off kicks in the last five years.

Phares finished with a game-high 13 tackles, including a key tackle for loss on a third-and-short run, to lead an App State defense that limited JMU to 92 rushing yards on 30 attempts.

The hobbled Singleton, who didn't play at all in the second half at Coastal Carolina, completed 26 of 40 passes for 271 yards with two touchdowns, while the fourth-quarter touchdown to Douglas accounted for one of Hasselbeck's three completions.

James Madison opened Thursday's game with an eight-play touchdown drive that included a fourth-and short conversion near the end zone, and the Mountaineers trailed by 11 points before Singleton threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Alexander Sanchez with 1:02 remaining before halftime to cut the deficit to 14-10.

In between, there were 11 first-half punts by the two teams, with the only other points resulting from a 48-yard field goal by London and Evans' 70-yard touchdown pass to Braeden Wisloski. That touchdown occurred on the first play after a three-and-out punt from the Mountaineers, who had regained possession when Ricky Lolohea blocked a 48-yard field goal attempt.

The Mountaineers opened the third quarter with an 11-play scoring drive that lasted nearly five minutes, but it stalled out inside the 10, leading to a 27-yard field goal for London.

JMU extended its lead to 21-13 with an 11-play, 67-yard touchdown drive that included a muffed punt that eluded the Mountaineers, a missed sack on a third-down conversion and multiple bobbles on the drop of a potential interception. Coleman eventually ended that series with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Cole Keller.

Trailing by eight entering the fourth, App State tied the score with 13:15 left as Singleton completed back-to-back throws over the middle to Chris Lofton (who started his career at JMU) for a 5-yard touchdown and Sam Pickett III on the two-point try.

The teams traded field goals over the next seven minutes, and Phares' interception enabled App State to take its first lead of the night. JMU spoiled the Mountaineers' attempt to prevail in regulation, but that just gave them an opportunity to finish the game in unforgettable fashion.