Troy 35, Georgia Southern 21
STATESBORO, Ga. -- Sawyer Smith hit Luke Whittemore on a 29-yard scoring strike in the third quarter to break open a close game and give Troy its 12th straight Sun Belt Conference win with a 35-21 victory over Georgia Southern on Saturday.
Troy (8-2, 6-0) was trailing 14-3 at the end of the first quarter, but the Trojans scored 32 unanswered points to go ahead 35-14 early in the final quarter. The victory pushes Troy closer to the inaugural Sun Belt Conference Championship game, with only Texas State and Appalachian State remaining on the schedule.
Georgia Southern (7-3, 4-2) had won five straight prior to dropping a 44-25 decision to ULM last week.
Georgia Southern's Shai Werts hit Ellis Richardson on two straight short touchdown passes for a 14-3 lead before the Trojans charged back.
Smith threw for 287 yards on 21-of-28 passing. Sidney Davis hauled in 10 of those for 85 yards and Whittemore had three catches for 110 yards. B.J. Smith bulled in for two scores for the Trojans.
Werts threw for 153 yards and two scores and rushed for 39 yards and another TD.
Appalachian State 38, Texas State 7
SAN MARCOS, Texas -- Zac Thomas passed for 247 yards and two touchdowns and Darrynton Evans added a pair of touchdown runs to propel Appalachian State to a 38-7 victory over Texas State on Saturday.
The Mountaineers (7-2, 5-1 Sun Belt Conference) jumped out to a 7-0 lead on their first possession when Thomas connected with Dominique Heath from the 8-yard line. The score was set up when Austin Exford recovered a Willie Jones III fumble at the Appalachian State 33 on the Bobcats’ first series.
The Mountaineers added a pair of second-quarter TDs — Thomas’ 1-yard pass to C. Reed and a 1-yard plunge by Evans — to grab a 21-0 lead at halftime.
Appalachian State used just two plays — capped by Evans’ 79-yard TD run — on their first possession of the third quarter to push the lead to 28-0.
Texas State’s only score came on Tyler Vitt’s 6-yard TD toss to Keenen Brown midway through the third quarter. The Bobcats (3-7, 1-5) managed just 218 yards of offense.
Evans finished with 86 yards on nine carries and Thomas added 76 yards on 11 totes.
Louisiana 36, Georgia State 22
LAFAYETTE, La. -- Raymond Calais and Elijah Mitchell each rushed for 100-plus yards, with Calais scoring three times, and Louisiana used a big fourth quarter to beat Georgia State 36-22 on Saturday.
Calais broke a 47-year old program record in the first quarter with a 92-yard touchdown run. The long run opened the scoring and Andre Nunez connected with Ryheem Malone from 32-yards out on their next possession for a 13-0 lead.
Louisiana opened the second half with four straight scoring drives, including three touchdowns. Calais had a 26-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter to make it 23-14 and Mitchell scored from a yard out on their next drive. Michael Jacquet III intercepted a pass and five plays later, Calais made it 36-14 on a 5-yard run.
Nunez passed for 141 yards and a touchdown for Louisiana (5-5, 3-3 Sun Belt Conference).
Aaron Winchester was 10 of 21 for 121 yards and a touchdown for Georgia State (2-8, 1-5). The Panthers scored on Winchester's pass to Devin Gentry for 13 yards and Demarcus Kirk's 21-yard touchdown run.
ULM 38, South Alabama 10
MOBILE, Ala. -- Caleb Evans completed 27 of 32 passes for 367 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions and ran for 54 yards and two more scores to help ULM beat South Alabama 38-10 on Saturday night.
The Warhawks (6-4, 4-2 Sun Belt Conference) led 24-10 at halftime and shut down the Jaguars (2-8, 1-5) in the second half, holding South Alabama to four first downs after the break.
D'Marius Gillespie had seven catches for 159 yards, including a 5-yard touchdown reception that made it 24-10 with 22 seconds left in the first half.
Marcus Green scored on a 10-yard run early in the third quarter and Evans' 15-yard keeper capped the scoring with 5:50 left in the period before a scoreless fourth quarter.
ULM outgained South Alabama 551-218 in total offense and had a 26-11 edge in first downs.
Arkansas State 44, Coastal Carolina 16
CONWAY, S.C. -- Justice Hansen had three scoring tosses in the first half as Arkansas State took an early lead and then coasted to a 44-16 victory over Coastal Carolina in Sun Belt Conference action on Saturday.
Hansen, who threw for 253 yards on 18-of-20 passing, hit Omar Bayless and Reed Tyler on short scoring passes in the first and then nailed Marcel Murray on a 14-yard TD toss for a 20-6 lead with 5:39 left in the second quarter. Warren Wand ran it in from the 7 with 1:24 left in the half to take a 27-6 lead into the break.
Hansen had his final scoring pass in the third when he hit Wand from the 20 for a 34-6 lead with 8:44 remaining in the quarter.
Kirk Merritt caught 11 passes for 180 yards for the Red Wolves (6-4, 3-3) who have won three of their last four games.
Fred Payton threw for 146 yards and two touchdowns to lead Coastal Carolina (5-5, 2-4).