Sun Belt Conference Weekly News and Notes (Complete PDF)
2014 Sun Belt Conference Media Guide
2014 Sun Belt Conference Composite Schedule
2014 Sun Belt Conference Standings
Georgia Southern Looks to Lock Up Outright Sun Belt Title
In just its first year of Sun Belt and FBS competition, Georgia Southern has already clinched no worse than a share of the Sun Belt championship. Though the Eagles were off this past week, it was longtime rival Appalachian State, winners of five straight in its own right, who helped give them the title as the Mountaineers defeated previously unbeaten UL Lafayette. With a 6-0 league record to its credit, Georgia Southern will look to wrap up an undefeated championship season when it hosts UL Monroe on Saturday.
After having its six game win streak snapped, UL Lafayette could still find itself with a share of the Sun Belt title if UL Monroe defeats Georgia Southern and the Cajuns can defeat Troy. The Trojans will have extra motivation this week, however, as longtime head coach Larry Blakeney steps down and will coach his last game at the helm of the Troy football program. A member of the Troy University Sports Hall of Fame and the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, the legendary coach will be on the sidelines for his last game on the field that bears his name.
Aside from the two aforementioned games, Georgia State hosts Texas State, Appalachian State hosts Idaho, and Arkansas State hosts New Mexico State. All of those games are scheduled for Saturday, while South Alabama hosts Navy Friday afternoon.
Headed into its last game of its inaugural Sun Belt season, Appalachian State is riding a win streak that is tied for the 10th-longest in NCAA Division I FBS and is tied for the fourth-longest among all non-“Power Five” conference teams.
Texas State, meanwhile, posted its sixth win against Arkansas State last Thursday to become bowl eligible for the second straight year. It also is the third time in the last four seasons that the Bobcats have won six games and just the 11th time since 1982 that Texas State has won six or more games. Five of those 11 times have been under Dennis Franchione.
Upcoming Schedule
November 28
Navy at South Alabama - 2 p.m. (ESPN3)
November 29
* UL Lafayette at Troy - 11:30 a.m. (ESPN3)
* Texas State at Georgia State - 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
* Idaho at Appalachian State - 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
* New Mexico State at Arkansas State - 2 p.m. (ESPN3)
* UL Monroe at Georgia Southern - 5 p.m. (Sun Belt/ESPN3)
All times Central (CT) and subject to change
* denotes Sun Belt Conference game
Recent Results
November 22
South Carolina 37, South Alabama 12 (Fox Sports Net)
* Appalachian State 35, UL Lafayette 16 (ESPN3)
Clemson 28, Georgia State 0 (ACC Net)
* UL Monroe 30, New Mexico State 17 - (ESPN3)
November 20
* Texas State 45, Arkansas State 27 (ESPNU)
November 15
* Appalachian State 37, Arkansas State 32 (ESPN3)
Navy 52, Georgia Southern 19 (CBS Sports Net)
* Troy 34, Idaho 17 (ESPN3)
* UL Lafayette 34, UL Monroe 27 (Sun Belt/ESPN3)
* South Alabama 24, Texas State 20 (ESPN3)
Sun Belt Players of the Week - As selected by a media voting panel
Offensive Player of the Week
Robert Lowe (Texas State, Jr., RB)
Texas State junior running back Robert Lowe recorded the third-highest total of rushing yards for games played on Nov. 19-22 when he ran for career-bests of 234 yards and scored four touchdowns to lead Texas State to a 45-27 victory over Arkansas State. His four rushing touchdowns are the second-highest total in the Sun Belt Conference this season… Lowe’s first touchdown came on a 26-yard run in the second quarter to give the Bobcats a 14-7 lead. Texas State never trailed again in the game. He also scored on a nine-yard run in the second quarter to extend the lead to 28-7 as the Bobcats ended the first half with a 28-14 lead. In addition, Lowe also scored on a 24-yard run with 13:06 left in the game and ended the scoring in the game with a 50-yard run.
Defensive Player of the Week
Michael Johnson (UL Monroe, Jr., LB)
ULM’s attacking defense was highlighted by linebacker Michael Johnson on Saturday at New Mexico State… Johnson was all over the field on Saturday as he tallied career-highs in total tackles (13), tackles for loss (4.5) and sacks (2.0)… The Warhawks finished the game with 13 TFLs and three sacks – NMSU had allowed just five sacks all season (prior to Saturday vs. ULM)… Johnson also had one quarterback hurry in the game that came on 2nd and goal and eventually helped limit New Mexico State to a field goal in the second quarter… Johnson’s two sacks came in the fourth quarter that came on second down and eventually led to Aggie drives stalling out… The sacks by Johnson (and Lorenzo Jackson) were the first allowed by New Mexico State since Oct. 18 (at Idaho).
Co-Special Teams Players of the Week
Bobo Beathard (Appalachian State, Jr., WR/RS)
Bobo Beathard had a 33-yard punt return for a touchdown in Appalachian State’s 35-16 win at UL Lafayette … the 33-yard return gave Appalachian State a commanding 14-3 lead late in the first quarter … the punt-return touchdown was Appalachian State’s first in more than eight years … Dexter Jackson was the last Mountaineer to return a punt for a touchdown, doing so twice at Gardner-Webb on Sept. 23, 2006 … Beathard also had two catches for 24 yards, including a 10-yarder that set up first and goal at the three yard line on a crucial fourth-quarter touchdown drive that extended Appalachian State’s lead to 28-16.
Justin Manton (UL Monroe, Sr., Specialist)
ULM senior Justin Manton became ULM’s all-time scoring leader on Saturday with eight first half points at New Mexico State… Manton, who entered with 240 points, had a 28-yard FG, two XPs and a 22 yard field goal as time expired in the opening half as he passed Teddy Garcia (246 points, 1984-87)… In the second half he added four points (21-yard FG, XP) to increase career total to 252 points with one game in his career left… Aside from his FG/PAT duties, Manton punted seven times with an average of 47.4 yards with four punts of 50+ yards and two of 60+ yards; two punts were downed inside the Aggie 20 yard line… Manton also kicked off six times with all six kickoffs landing in the end zone without a return (65.0 avg).
Around the Sun Belt Conference
Sun Belt sets win record vs. Non-Conference Foes
The Sun Belt Conference’s 21 non-conference wins in the 2013 season eclipsed the previous record mark of 19 set in 2012. Additionally, of note for the league’s non-conference win total was that the Sun Belt fared well against its peer opponents in the non-AQ BCS ranks during the 2013 season. The Sun Belt finished the year a combined 8-1 against members of Conference-USA (4-1), the Mid-American Conference (3-0) and the Mountain West Conference (1-0). The Sun Belt also had the best overall non-conference win percentage when comparing the four non-AQ conferences.
Sun Belt Membership
The Sun Belt Conference will contest the 2014 football season with 11 members – Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Idaho, UL Lafayette, UL Monroe, New Mexico State, South Alabama, Texas State and Troy. UALR and UT Arlington compete as non-football playing members. The Sun Belt will have four new members in the league this year as Appalachian State and Georgia Southern were added as all-sports members and Idaho and New Mexico State were added as football playing members. Both Appalachian State and Georgia Southern bring with them highly successful football programs and each team will begin the process of transitioning to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) immediately. The 2014 Sun Belt football season will mark the debut of both in the league schedule and standings. Additionally, both the Mountaineers and Eagles will be able to compete for the league championship in football for the 2014 season. Both teams will first be eligible to compete in a spot for a postseason bowl game come the 2015 season. Idaho and New Mexico State are familiar partners of the Sun Belt Conference, having been football members from the league’s inaugural year of football in 2001 through the 2004 season. Both members played an integral part of forming the Sun Belt Conference for football and now add strength to the league. Both teams will be immediately eligible to compete for the Sun Belt football championship and also for a spot in postseason bowl games.
Sun Belt Undefeated in 2013 Bowl Games
The 2013 football season saw two teams take home bowl championship trophies, as UL Lafayette won its third consecutive R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and Arkansas State won its second consecutive GoDaddy Bowl. The Red Wolves won their second consecutive GoDaddy Bowl by defeating Ball State 23-20. The previous season the Red Wolves defeated Kent State in the annual bowl game played in Mobile. The Red Wolves have made three consecutive appearances in the game, having lost to Northern Illinois in their first appearance. The Ragin’ Cajuns closed the 2013 football season with a 9-4 record that included a share of the 2013 Sun Belt Conference title and a 24-21 win over Tulane in the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
Preseason Awards Candidates
Paul Hornung Award Watch List - Rashon Ceaser, UL Monroe, J.D. McKissic, Arkansas State; Lou Groza Award Watch List - Maxwell Johnson, New Mexico State; Ray Guy Award Watch List - Austin Rehkow, Idaho Justin Manton, UL Monroe; Rimington Award Watch List-Bryce Giddens, Arkansas State, Mike Marboe, Idaho, Valerian Ume-Ezeoke, New Mexico State; John Mackey Award Watch List- Darion Griswold, Arkansas State; Wes Saxton, South Alabama; Jim Thorpe Award Watch List - Sterling Young, Arkansas State, Rocky Hayes, Arkansas State; Biletnikoff Award Watch List -Rashon Ceaser, UL Monroe, Wes Saxton, South Alabama, Shaverez Smith, South Alabama, Jamal Robinson, UL Lafayette; Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List - Justin Hamilton, UL Lafayette,Gerrand Johnson, UL Monroe, Qushaun Lee, Arkansas State, Mykhael Quave, UL Lafayette, Daniel Quave, UL Lafayette, Tyler Roberts, Troy, Dominique Tovell, UL Lafayette, David Mayo, Texas State, Davey O’Brien Watch List - Terrance Broadway, UL Lafayette; Dick Butkus Award Watch List - Michael Orakpo, Texas State; Doak Walker Award Watch List - Marcus Cox, Appalachian State, Michael Gordon, Arkansas State, Alonzo Harris, UL Lafayette, Robert Lowe, Texas State; Maxwell Award Watch List - Qushaun Lee, Arkansas State; All-State Sugar Bowl Manning Award Watch List - Terrance Broadway, UL Lafayette.
Sun Belt Bowl Games
The Sun Belt Conference maintains primary bowl tie-ins with the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, the GoDaddy Bowl and the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl. A team from the Sun Belt Conference has played in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl since its inception in 2001. The SBC has won five consecutive R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl games and seven out of the last eight. The GoDaddy bowl matches teams from the Sun Belt Conference and Mid-American Conference. Arkansas State has helped lead the Sun Belt to two consecutive wins in the GoDaddy Bowl. The Camellia Bowl will match-up the Sun Belt Conference against the Mid-American Conference beginning in December. The game will be played yearly at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.
Come 2015, the Cure Bowl will feature a team from the Sun Belt Conference against the American Athletic Conference. The game will be played yearly at the newly renovated Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla., the weekend before the Christmas holiday. The Cure Bowl is the first of its kind to combine the passions of college football with the goal of supporting breast cancer research.
The Sun Belt Conference will also be part of the rotation for the newly created Bahamas Bowl and Miami Beach Bowl.
With the 2014-15 year marking the debut of the College Football Playoff (CFP) the Sun Belt continues to find itself among the 10 premier college football conferences and the new system is guaranteed universal access based on performance – there are no automatic qualifiers for the playoff system. Additionally, the CFP will mean that a spot among the premier bowl games of college football will be guaranteed to the highest-ranked champion from the “Group of Five” conferences: the Sun Belt Conference, American Athletic Conference, Mountain West Conference, Mid-American Conference and Conference USA.
Five Sun Belt Punters Named 2014 Ray Guy Award Candidates
The Augusta Sports Council recently announced the nominees for the 2014 Ray Guy Award, which identifies the nation’s top collegiate punter. Among the nominees were five Sun Belt punters - Luke Ferguson of Arkansas State, Austin Rehkow of Idaho, Daniel Cadona of UL Lafayette, Will Johnson of Texas State and Justin Manton of UL Monroe.
UL Lafayette Football Honored for Academic Performance
The UL Lafayette football team was recognized recently for having the highest grade point averages in the Sun Belt Conference last school year. This year’s Sun Belt Team Academic Award will be presented to the Cajuns as they had the highest average GPA of all Sun Belt football teams. The academic award is calculated by totaling individual GPAs of team members, then dividing by the total number of student-athletes on that particular team. All GPAs are based on the previous school year and include the total GPA for the year (not the average of semesters).
Georgia Southern’s Frye Named a Candidate for Senior CLASS Award
Georgia Southern offensive tackle Garrett Frye has been selected as one of 30 candidates for the 2014 Senior CLASS Award. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I FBS Senior and have notable achievements in the four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition.
Georgia Southern University’s Male Student-Athlete for both the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years as well as earning first-team All-America honors, Frye was a 2013 CoSIDA/Capital One Division I Academic All-District selection. He owns a 3.77 cumulative grade point average in the Exercise Science curriculum.
UL Lafayette’s Cadona Named Ray Guy National Punter of the Week
UL Lafayette punter Daniel Cadona was named the Ray Guy National Punter of the Week following his performance against Ole Miss on Sept. 13. Cadona, a native of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia averaged 51.1 yards on seven attempts for the Ragin’ Cajuns against the No. 14-ranked Rebels. Cadona, who recorded a net average of 48.7 yards, recorded punts of 50 yards or greater on his first six attempts and placed three inside the Ole Miss 20-yard line.
Idaho’s Austin Rehkow Named Ray Guy National Punter of the Week
The Augusta Sports Council and the Ray Guy Award named Austin Rehkow of the University of Idaho as the Ray Guy Award Player of the Week for his efforts in the Vandals game against South Alabama on Saturday, September 27. Rehkow had six punts and 299 yards against the Jaguars. He averaged 49.8 yards per punt with four marked inside the 20-yard line and no touchbacks. His net average per punt was 48.7 yards. Four of Rehkow’s six punts went for 50+ yards with a long punt of 56 yards. This is Rehkow’s second career Ray Guy Award Player of the Week, with his first awarded in October 2013. Rehkow was also on the 2014 Ray Guy Award Preseason Watch List announced in July.
Two Sun Belt Tight Ends on Mackey Midseason List
Two Sun Belt tight ends were recently named to the 2014 John Mackey Award Midseason Watch List as Georgia State’s Joel Ruiz and South Alabama’s Wes Saxton were among the honorees. The John Mackey Award is given annually to the most outstanding collegiate tight end.
Sun Belt to Expand Live Event Distribution with ESPN3
The Sun Belt Conference and ESPN announced recently a content expansion within their agreement that will result in the exclusive distribution of up to an additional 50 Sun Belt events on ESPN3 - ESPN’s live multi-screen sports network.
“ESPN continues to live up to its billing as the ‘Worldwide Leader in Sports’ with the advances that it has made in digital content,” said Sun Belt Conference Commissioner Karl Benson. “ESPN3 and WatchESPN have revolutionized how viewers consume sports – we are excited to be part of that and eager to display the Sun Belt to the 92 million homes that ESPN3 reaches.”
Fans will begin seeing the product of the expanded agreement this fall when a number of Sun Belt football games will be exclusively produced and distributed on ESPN3. The fall sports season will also feature the conference’s Women’s Soccer, Men’s Soccer, and Volleyball Championships on the network. A number of men’s and women’s regular-season basketball games will be available along with every contest from the 2015 Sun Belt Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships. Baseball will be featured heavily in the spring with a run of regular-season games and up to seven matchups from the conference championship being made available. Several games from the 2015 Softball Championship will also be carried on ESPN3.
The deal that has been struck will also be instrumental in the future of airing more live events as the conference and ESPN will work jointly to develop a school production based model. This will result in Sun Belt members being able to deliver high quality productions that can be featured on ESPN3 throughout the year.
Sun Belt Bowl Game Winning Percentage
Over the last five years the Sun Belt Conference ranks second out of the 10 FBS conferences in postseason bowl game winning percentage. In fact, the Sun Belt Conference ranks ahead of noted leagues – the ACC, Pac-12 and the Big Ten.
|
Conference |
Winning % |
|
SEC |
0.625 |
|
Sun Belt |
0.571 |
|
Mountain West |
0.538 |
|
C-USA |
0.536 |
|
Big 12 |
0.513 |
|
Pac-12 |
0.500 |
|
ACC |
0.439 |
|
American |
0.400 |
|
Big Ten |
0.385 |
|
MAC |
0.346 |
All-Time Sun Belt Standings for Current Members (Sorted by Winning Percentage)
|
School |
Wins
|
Losses
|
Percentage
|
Years in Sun Belt
|
|
Georgia Southern |
7
|
0
|
1.000
|
1
|
|
Appalachian State |
5
|
2
|
0.714
|
1
|
|
Troy |
52
|
29
|
0.642
|
11
|
|
UL Lafayette |
56
|
44
|
0.560
|
14
|
|
Arkansas State |
51
|
42
|
0.548
|
14
|
|
UL Monroe |
49
|
51
|
0.490
|
14
|
|
New Mexico State |
16
|
17
|
0.485
|
5
|
|
South Alabama |
10
|
13
|
0.435
|
3
|
|
Texas State |
6
|
8
|
0.429
|
2
|
|
Idaho |
8
|
25
|
0.242
|
5
|
|
Georgia State |
0
|
14
|
0.000
|
2
|
Sun Belt Conference Head Football Coaches Teleconference
Every Monday from 10:30 a.m. to 11:47 a.m. beginning August 25 to November 24
All times Central (CT) and subject to change
Contact John McElwain (mcelwain@sunbeltsports.org) for info
10:30 a.m. – Announcements – If Necessary
10:30 a.m. – Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State
10:37 a.m. – Willie Fritz, Georgia Southern
10:44 a.m. – Dennis Franchione, Texas State
10:51 a.m. – Larry Blakeney, Troy
10:58 a.m. – Paul Petrino, Idaho
11:05 a.m. – Doug Martin, New Mexico State
11:12 a.m. – Blake Anderson, Arkansas State
11:19 a.m. – Mark Hudspeth, UL Lafayette
11:26 a.m. – Todd Berry, UL Monroe
11:33 a.m. – Trent Miles, Georgia State
11:40 a.m. – Joey Jones, South Alabama
Sun Belt Conference Video Feed
Contact Travis Llewellyn (llewellyn@sunbeltsports.org) for info.
The Sun Belt Conference will provide a weekly video feed of head coach interviews and game highlights each Tuesday during the 2014 football season. The video feed will be made available exclusively through a digital download this season using the website https://sunbeltsports.egnyte.com/. New videos made available on this site will be uploaded on Tuesday of each week by 2 p.m. The videos will also be maintained and archived throughout the season. Members of the media may also find supplementary content on this site such as logos and photos. For login information please contact Travis Llewellyn (llewellyn@sunbeltsports.org) or John McElwain (mcelwain@sunbeltsports.org).
Team News and Notes
Appalachian State Mountaineers
Appalachian State solidified its claim as the Sun Belt Conference’s hottest team with a 35-16 win at UL Lafayette on Saturday.
The victory was Appalachian State’s fifth in a row and snapped UL Lafayette’s six-game winning streak.
Appalachian State’s five-game winning streak is the longest current streak in the Sun Belt, is tied for the 10th-longest in NCAA Division I FBS and is tied for the fourth-longest among all non-“Power Five” conference teams.
With Saturday’s victory over UL Lafayette, Appalachian State is guaranteed of finishing no worse than .500 in its first NCAA Division I FBS season and clinched a winning record in its first Sun Belt campaign.
Appalachian State’s last two victories have come on the road against the Sun Belt’s defending co-champions — Arkansas State and UL Lafayette.
Appalachian State is the first team since Florida International in 2010 to beat Sun Belt powers Arkansas State and UL Lafayette in back-to-back games.
FIU’s offensive coordinator that season was current Appalachian State head coach Scott Satterfield.
In the four years in between FIU and App State sweeping the Red Wolves and Ragin’ Cajuns, the five teams that played Arkansas State and UL Lafayette in back-to-back games lost both contests.
Appalachian State’s Bobo Beathard had a 33-yard punt return for a touchdown at UL Lafayette, which was the Mountaineers’ first punt-return touchdown in more than eight years. Dexter Jackson was the last Mountaineer to return a punt for a touchdown, doing so twice at Gardner-Webb on Sept. 23, 2006.
Arkansas State Red Wolves
A-State is bowl eligible for the fourth consecutive year and seventh time over the last 10 seasons . . . The Red Wolves need one more victory to secure a winning record for the fourth consecutive season, but just the fifth time since joining the FBS in 1992 . . . With a 4-3 Sun Belt record, A-State needs one more league win to secure a winning SBC record for the seventh season, including the last four in a row . . . A-State stands 34-16 over the last four seasons . . . The Red Wolves’ Sun Belt record since 2011 is 24-6 . . . A-State stands 12-3 over its last 15 games played in the month of November . . . A-State has scored at least 30 points in 31 of its last 46 regular-season games, including five of the last six . . . A-State has recorded at least 300 yards total offense in 56 of its last 62 games, including every game this season . . . A-State has 17 players who have made their first career start this season . . . Senior linebacker Qushaun Lee took over fourth place for career-tackles by a Sun Belt Conference player with 368 to his credit. . . . Junior quarterback Fredi Knighten recorded a career-high 406 yards total offense, going over 400 yards for the second time this season.
Georgia Southern Eagles
Georgia Southern (8-3, 7-0) heads into the final week of its inaugural season looking remain undefeated in Sun Belt Conference play as they Eagles play host to ULM Saturday, November 29th at Allen E. Paulson Stadium. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. with ceremonies to bid farewell to 22 Eagle seniors held prior to the game. The Eagles’ current seven-game win streak in conference games is the second-longest such streak in the nation behind only Florida State.
Meeting for the first time as FBS foes, Georgia Southern and ULM have a 2-2 tie in the series record with each team posting their wins in home games. The last meeting was in 1991 with the Warhawks taking a 21-14 upset win over the top-ranked Eagles at Malone Stadium. ULM Coach Todd Berry has made one previous visit to Paulson Stadium, in 1999, when he served as the head coach of Illinois State. The Eagles took a 28-17 victory in the semifinals over Berry’s third-ranked Cardinals in that meeting.
The Eagles, with their second open week of the season on Nov. 22nd, clinched at least a share of the 2014 Sun Belt Conference title as Appalachian State dealt UL Lafayette its first conference loss Saturday. Besides the Sun Belt Conference’s first year of existence in 2001 when North Texas and Middle Tennessee State were co-champions, Georgia Southern becomes the first program in Sun Belt history to earn a league title in its first year of participation.
Of the programs that had a conference affiliation in their initial year, the Eagle Football team is only the third to win at least a share of a league title, joining Nevada (1992) and Marshall (1997). Only two other programs since 1978 have posted more wins in their inaugural years with Marshall (10-3-1997) finishing its 12-game slate at 10-2 and Florida Atlantic recording a 9-3 mark in 2004 as an independent.
Last week Matt Breida was named a semifinalist for the Doak Walker Award to honor the nation’s best running back. Breida, who has the highest per-carry average in the country at 9.43, nearly a first down with every touch, is one of only two sophomores in the listing of 10. His averages in rushing yards per carry, rushing yards per game, season rushing yards and rushing touchdowns total all would rank in the top 10 nationally. His 88-yard touchdown run in last week’s game at Navy was the third-longest in Georgia Southern history and he has seven TDs of 50 yards or more, also best in the country.
Georgia State Panthers
Georgia State concludes the season by hosting Texas State Saturday at the Georgia Dome in a 2 p.m. kickoff. The game will be the Panthers’ first at home in more than a month after three straight road games, sandwiched around an open date.
Georgia State is coming off a 28-0 defeat at Clemson, No. 22 in the College Football Playoff rankings, in a game from which the GSU defense can take away many positives. The Panthers fell behind in the first half, hurting themselves with three turnovers and a short punt that allowed Clemson to score four touchdowns on drives that averaged less than 40 yards. In the second half, however, the Georgia State defense allowed zero points and just 138 yards of offense. For the game, Georgia State limited Clemson to 351 total yards, more than 50 yards below their average.
Junior safety Tarris Batiste had a game-high 12 tackles with three tackles for loss against Clemson. His biggest play was a fourth-down sack of Clemson quarterback Cole Stoudt. Batiste is the Panthers’ third-leading tackler with 73. In his second season at Georgia State, he ranks fifth in GSU history with 150 career tackles and seventh with 12.5 tackles for loss.
Junior cornerback Bruce Dukes had a career-high eight tackles with three tackles for loss and a pass breakup.
True freshman safety Chandon Sullivan grabbed his first interception and made a career-high eight tackles.
With 13 completions against Clemson, quarterback Nick Arbuckle added another Georgia State record to his ledger by tying the Panthers’ mark for career completions. Arbuckle also owns the Georgia State season records for passing yards (2,927), completions (227), touchdown passes (19) and total offense (2,913) as well as the career record for touchdown passes (19). Entering the season finale, Arbuckle enters the finale within reach of more career records. He has 2,927 yards passing (record is 3,124 by Ronnie Bell; needs 198); 2,913 yards of total offense (record is 3,298 by Bell, needs 386) and 21 TDR (record is 22 by Drew Little).
Senior LynQuez Blair has caught 14 passes with two touchdowns over the last two games. Blair will finish his career ranked among the top five in Georgia State history in receptions (60, 4th), receiving yards (633, 5th) and receiving touchdowns (5, T-5th).
Idaho Vandals
Idaho finished its second bye week of the season after dropping to 1-9 with its home loss to Troy.
Senior receiver Joshua McCain did notch his sixth 100-plus game with 128 yards on seven catches. With 1,115 receiving yards, he is the first Vandal to surpass 1,000 yards since Max Komar in 2009. He has the most since Antonio Wilson went for 1,203 in 1996 and has moved into ninth on the single-season list. He is one of eight players with six career games of 100 or more yards and one of only two (Kasey Dunn did it three times) to have that many in a single season.
Those numbers enabled McCain to move up to sixth in the NCAA in total receiving yards (1,115) and seventh in receiving yards per game (111.5). He is ninth in the country in receiving touchdowns with nine and 11th in receptions per game with an average of 7.3. He leads the Sun Belt in all four categories. McCain is in just his ninth month of playing receiver after spending his entire career – high school, junior college and his first year at Idaho, as a quarterback.
Austin Rehkow, who was chosen a Ray Guy Award finalist last week, continues to lead the nation in punting with an average of 47.8 yards per kick. Once this season is in the books, he will be Idaho’s career average leader. His punting ability also had enabled Idaho to lead the nation in net punting average – 43.29. Rehkow has a one-yard lead over JK Scott of Alabama and Tom Hackett of Utah in the national average.
Quayshawne Buckley and Marc Millan are tied for second in the Sun Belt and 13th nationally in tackles for loss per game (1.5) and Millan is third in the league and tied for 12th nationally in solo tackles with 6.3 per game.
UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns
The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns will close out the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 29, when it visits Troy University in a Sun Belt Conference contest at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:30 a.m.
UL Lafayette (7-4, 6-1 SBC) will look to end the regular season on a positive note after having its six-game winning streak snapped in a 35-16 setback to Appalachian State on Saturday at Cajun Field. The Ragin’ Cajuns, whose last loss was at Boise State on Sept. 20, trailed 14-13 at halftime and 21-16 midway through the fourth quarter before a pair of Mountaineer touchdowns in the final 5:35 put the game away.
Terrance Broadway completed 21 of 33 passes for 160 yards for UL Lafayette, surpassing former Ragin’ Cajuns great Jake Delhomme as the school’s all-time leader in total offense. The senior increased his three-year career total to 8,966 yards and eclipsing Delhomme’s record of 8,876 after completing an 11-yard pass to Al Riles in the second quarter.
Alonzo Harris rushed for 60 yards for the Ragin’ Cajuns while Elijah McGuire added 36 yards and increasing his season total to 996.
McGuire scored on a 7-yard touchdown run for UL Lafayette in the second quarter, marking the eighth consecutive game the elusive sophomore has scored a TD. The TD was the 14th of the season for McGuire, tying him with Marcus Prier (1995) and Harris (2013) for the fourth-best total in a single-season.
Hunter Stover added three field goals for UL Lafayette (38, 26, 33) to improve to 15-for-18 on the season and 16-for-16 in his career from inside 40 yards. Stover’s 15 field goals on the season tied him with former Ragin’ Cajuns Rafael Septien (1974) for fourth-place on the school’s single-season list.
The game marked the final home appearance for 20 seniors, who were 18-4 at Cajun Field the past four seasons under head coach Mark Hudspeth. Senior right guard Daniel Quave started in his 50th consecutive game for the Ragin’ Cajuns.
During halftime of Saturday’s game, the No. 5 jersey of former Ragin’ Cajuns and current Chicago Bears standout Charles “Peanut” Tillman was retired. Tillman, who played for the Ragin’ Cajuns from 1999-2002, joined Brian Mitchell, Damon Mason, Jake Delhomme, Brandon Stokley, Glenn LaFleur, Tyrell Fenroy and Orlando Thomas as the only Ragin’ Cajuns to have their jerseys retired.
UL Monroe Warhawks
UL Monroe will close out the 2014 season on Saturday evening when they battle Georgia Southern at 6 p.m. (ET)... Saturday’s contest will be the fifth meeting all-time between the Warhawks and Eagles, but the first of either program’s FBS-era... The two teams met four times in a five-year span from 1987 to 1991... The all-time series is even at 2-2, with the home team winning all four meetings.
This weekend’s trip to Statesboro, Ga., marks the first trip to the state of Georgia for the Warhawks since the 2005 season when they played at No. 7 Georgia on Sept. 17, 2005.
UL Monroe looks to pick up a win in its regular season finale for the fourth straight season... UL Monroe has defeated Florida Atlantic (W, 26-0, Dec. 3, 2011), Florida International (W, 23-17 [OT], Nov. 24, 2012), and UL Lafayette (W, 31-28, Nov. 30, 2013).
Saturday’s regular season finale marks the fourth straight season that the Warhawks will close its regular season on the road... (2011 at Florida Atlantic; 2012 at Florida International; 2013 at UL Lafayette).
In UL Monroe’s last outing, it picked up a 30-17 win at New Mexico State... The win over the Aggies was the first for the Warhawks as New Mexico State won the first three meetings in the series (2001, 2002, 2003)... Saturday’s win at Aggie Memorial Stadium was also the first for the Warhawks in the state of New Mexico.
The UL Monroe defense was active all game at New Mexico State... In all, the defense tallied 13 tackles for loss (42 yards), three sacks (15 yards), one interception, one fumble recovery and one blocked punt returned for a score... New Mexico State had allowed just five sacks on the season prior to the UL Monroe game... UL Monroe’s sacks were also the first allowed by the Aggies since Oct. 18, 2014 (at Idaho).
New Mexico State Aggies
Freshman running back Larry Rose III ran for 229 yards, etching his name in the New Mexico State record book Saturday, Nov. 22, in a 30-17 loss to UL Monroe in the Aggies’ final home game of the season. NM State is now 2-9 on the season and 1-6 in Sun Belt play.
The Aggies take on Arkansas State to finish the 2014 season, in the hopes of breaking a nine-game losing streak. NM State is averaging 23.5 points per game while rushing for 179.5 yards per game and passing for 235.0 yards per game. Running back Larry Rose III leads the Aggies on the ground with 965 yards on 165 carries this season averaging 5.8 yards per carry. Quarterback Tyler Rogers is throwing 224.1 yards per game and has a total of 2,465 yards on the year. Wide receiver Teldrick Morgan has 903 yards on 75 catches this season and has also scored seven touchdowns. Larry Rose III has the most touchdowns of any Aggie with nine. Defensively, Rodney Butler has 118 total tackles and seven tackles for a loss. Freshman linebacker Derek Ibekwe has 94 total tackles and four tackles for a loss.
South Alabama Jaguars
The Jaguars fell, 37-12, at South Carolina in their final road game of the regular season. USA will face Navy on Senior Day Friday at 2 p.m., wrapping up the campaign at home for the fifth time in six years. … The Jag defense recorded five takeaways against the Gamecocks, tying the most ever in program history against an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision opponent first set against Troy on Sept. 29, 2012. USA hadn’t forced a turnover in each of the previous two games, and in the process collected the team’s first interception since defeating Appalachian State on Oct. 4. … LB Maleki Harris tied for the team lead with eight stops, had a hand in two of the takeaways and broke up a pass last time out. Midway through the second quarter the senior forced a Gamecock fumble — setting a school season record with his fourth of the year — that USA recovered on its own 26-yard line, and later recovered a fumble in the second half to account for multiple turnovers for the second time this season while also tying the school career standard with his sixth in four seasons. Harris has led the Jags in stops in both contests against Southeastern Conference schools this fall, and with the performance moved into the top five all-time at USA with 157 in his career. … Brandon McKee set a school game record (minimum four kicks) with a career-best 48.8 average on four punts at South Carolina, with all four of those ending up inside the Gamecock 20-yard line to equal another standard he set earlier this fall against Mississippi State; that included the longest punt in program history, a 76-yard effort, on his first attempt of the contest. It marked the sixth time this season that the sophomore has averaged 42 yards or more per kick as well as the eighth occasions that McKee has recorded multiple kicks inside the opponents’ 20-yard line. … Sophomore PK Aleem Sunanon also equaled a school game record with a career-best four field goals to account for all the Jaguars points against the Gamecocks, hitting from 20, 29, 20 and 31 yards out. Sunanon became the first USA kicker to connect on 10 or more field goals in multiple seasons — he had 18 last fall — while moving up to seventh on the school’s season point list with 55 this fall. … Devon Earl made his first career start at USC, posting a career-best six tackles to go along with both the first interception — which he returned 28 yards — and fumble recovery of his career. Since setting his previous high with five stops in the Jags’ win over Troy on Oct. 24, the sophomore defensive back had been credited with three total tackles in three outings. … S Terrell Brigham matched Harris for team-high honors with eight stops last time out, the sixth time this fall that the senior has posted the most tackles on defense. He will enter the regular-season finale needing nine tackles to become just the third individual in program history to record a triple-digit stop total, as he leads USA with a career-best 91 this fall; no defensive back has paced the squad in tackles in the Jaguars’ first five seasons of competition.
Texas State Bobcats
Texas State posted its sixth win against Arkansas State to become bowl eligible for the second straight year. It also is the third time in the last four seasons that the Bobcats have won six games and just the 11th time since 1982 that Texas State has won six or more games. Five of those 11 times have been under Dennis Franchione.
Robert Lowe rushed for a career-best 236 yards on 29 carries against Arkansas State. Texas State is the only school among NCAA Division I FBS teams to have two different runners rush for more than 210 yards in a game this year. Earlier this season, Terrence Franks rushed for a career-best 284 yards on 15 carries in Texas State’s Sun Belt Conference opener against Idaho.
Robert Lowe enters Saturday’s game needing to rush for 55 yards to become the first Texas State running back to rush for 1,000 yards since 2008 when Karrington Bush ran for 1065 yards.
David Mayo is leading the nation with 13.4 tackles per game and ranks 15th nationally in solo stops with 6.2 per game.
David Mims recorded his fourth interception to become the second Bobcat and one of five players in the Sun Belt Conference to intercept four passes this season.
Brandon Smith returned three kickoffs for 83 yards against Arkansas State. His 51-yard return against the Red Wolves was his longest return of the season.
Texas State ranks seventh nationally and second among Sun Belt Conference leaders in net punting with 41.38 yards per game.
Troy Trojans
This was Troy’s first game in the Pacific time zone since 2004 when the Trojans played at Utah State and in the Silicon Valley Football Classic; the Trojans move to 1-2 in the Pacific time zone … The Trojans move to 2-0 all-time against Idaho. The only previous meeting between the two schools was a 47-7 victory by Troy in 2004 … Brandon Silvers’ 41-yard touchdown pass to Bryan Holmes on Troy’s opening possession was the longest touchdown play of the season for the Trojans; the previous long with a 35-yard pass from Silvers to Chandler Worthy … Brandon Silvers and Bryan Holmes hooked up again, this time for 51 yards and a touchdown in the second quarter to reestablish the mark for the longest touchdown play of the season … Bryan Holmes’ 41-yard reception for a touchdown was his sixth catch this season of 20 more yards, while his 51-yard touchdown catch pushed the total to seven catches of 20+ yards this season … Troy has now scored on its opening possession six times this season; however, this marked just the second time the Trojans had done so on the road (UAB) … Jordan Chunn’s 13-yard touchdown in the second quarter was the 20th of his career; he is now tied with former Troy quarterback Jeremy Rowell for seventh all-time in Troy history … Jordan Chunn rushed for a career-high 193 yards on 28 carries; it was his first career 100-yard rushing game of the season and the third by a Trojan this season. It was also the most yards rushing by a Troy player this season … Bryan Holmes became the first Troy player since Mykeal Terry vs. Florida Atlantic in 2006 to have two touchdown catches of 41 yards or more in a game; Terry had touchdown receptions of 54 and 67 yards … Khary Franklin caught a career-best five catches for a career-high 75 yards; Franklin finished one yard shy of a career high with 61 rushing yards … Troy did not throw an interception for the eighth time this season; it is the most games without a pick since 1996 when the Trojans went 11 games without a pick … Defensive end Tyler Roberts picked up his fifth sack of the season; he is just half a sack shy of his career high (5.5) set last season … Montres Kitchens intercepted his team-leading fourth pass of the season on Idaho’s opening possession of the second half; his four interceptions at the time were the most since Bryan Willis had four in 2009 … Montres Kitchens made a highlight reel, one-handed pick on the very next possession … Montres Kitchens picked off his third pass of the third quarter and returned it 28-yards for a touchdown … Montres Kitchens’ three picks in a game are the most since Sherrod Martin had three against Alcorn State in 2008; he is the sixth player in Troy history to intercept three passes in a game. His six interceptions this season are the most since Terence Moore had six in 2008 … Montres Kitchens also have a team-high eight tackles in the game … Garrett Peek had his first sack of the season; it came in the first game his father Mark had seen in person this year after spending six months in Afghanistan in the Air Force … Troy has intercepted 11 passes as a team this season, which is the most since the 2010 team picked off 14 passes … Troy has now forced 10 turnovers in its three victories this season; the Trojans have forced just eight turnovers in their eight losses.