2018 Sun Belt Football News and Notes:
Week 13 Release (PDF) | Standings | Composite Schedule | Stats | Championship Info
AROUND #SUNBELTFB
Sun Belt Championship Host and Teams to be decided on Saturday
The picture for the inaugural Sun Belt Championship Game remains unclear following Saturday’s league contests with five teams still in the hunt for a spot in the game and two teams locked in a winner-take-all game to host on Dec. 1. With a new divisional structure this season, the Sun Belt Championship will feature the winners of the Sun Belt East and West Divisions. The game will take place at the home site of the Divisional Champion with the best overall conference winning percentage. In the East Division, both Troy (7-0) and Appalachian State (6-1) took care of business on Saturday and will now play for the right to host next Saturday. Should the Trojans defeat the Mountaineers, Troy will have won the East Division title outright and will host the inaugural Championship Game. A win by App. State would make Boone, N.C. the championship site by virtue of the head-to-head win over Troy. Three teams remain in the hunt in the West Division for the chance to play either App. State or Troy. Saturday’s most significant outcome was an Arkansas State (4-3) win over ULM (4-3) as it kept the Red Wolves in the mix to play and reduced ULM’s chances. A Louisiana (4-3) win on Saturday put the Ragin’ Cajuns in a favorable position as they play ULM next week. The winner of that head-to-head matchup could come out as the West Division Champion, but a ULM win would favor Arkansas State, so long as they beat Texas State.
Sun Belt Champion Headed to R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
The winner of the inaugural Sun Belt Conference Football Championship Game will be headed to New Orleans as the conference announced that the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl will host the winning team for its upcoming bowl game. The 2018 edition of the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl will kick off on Saturday, Dec. 15 at 8 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on ESPN. The Sun Belt Champion will face a team from Conference USA at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Sun Belt Breaks Regular Season Non-Conference Win Total
After a win by Texas State in the Sun Belt’s final non-conference game of the 2018 regular season, the Sun Belt total for non-conference wins this season now sits at 21. That total is good for the most regular season non-conference wins in league history, breaking the record of 19 that was set in 2013. Including the postseason, the Sun Belt’s record for non-conference wins in a season is 22, which was set in 2016. The conference has a minimum total of five remaining non-conference games this season when factoring in postseason bowl opportunities. Also of note, the Sun Belt Conference has the second highest non-conference win percentage amongst all Group of Five Conferences with a .538 mark (1. American - .543, 2. Sun Belt - .538, 3. Mountain West - .531, 4. Conference USA - .412, 5. Mid-American - .383).
Offensive Player of the Week
Zac Thomas, Appalachian State (So., QB, Trussville, Ala.)
Appalachian State sophomore quarterback Zac Thomas accounted for four touchdowns, including three through the air with no interceptions, in a 45-17 win over Georgia State. Playing in his second straight game after returning from injury, he completed 20 of 24 passes for 282 yards and added 27 rushing yards and a score on the ground. His touchdown/interception ratio for the season is now 16-4, including a 5-0 mark over the last two games.
Defensive Player of the Week
Justin Clifton, Arkansas State (Sr., DB, Tupelo, Miss.)
Arkansas State senior defensive back Justin Clifton recorded a season-high two interceptions, including one he returned 43 yards for a touchdown, and a pass break-up to help lead Arkansas State to a 31-14 victory over ULM and into a tie atop the Sun Belt Conference West Division standings. Part of a defense that limited the Warhawks to 276 yards total offense and just 17 points, Clifton recorded his pick-six on ULM’s first possession of the second half to give the Red Wolves a 24-7 lead. His second interception came on ULM’s last possession of the game on a 1st-and-10 play from the A-State 26-yard line, securing the victory as the Red Wolves were then able to run out the rest of the clock. Clifton’s two interceptions tied his career high and matched the most by a Sun Belt Conference player this season. His three total passes defended gave him 30 for his career, which ties the fifth most ever by a Sun Belt player.
Special Teams Player of the Week
Tyler Sumpter, Troy (So., K/P, Hoover, Ala.)
Troy sophomore Tyler Sumpter, who serves as both placekicker and punter for the Trojans, continues to dominate in all areas of special teams with four more field goals and a 40.7 punting average in Troy's win over Texas State. Sumpter was perfect on all four of his field goal attempts, including a pair of 40-plus yard kicks with a long of 47. The four field goals tied a Troy school record and now gives him a Troy Division I record 10 field goals over the last three games. Among his nine punts, he placed three inside the 20 and had a long of 55 yards.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Friday, November 23
* Coastal Carolina at South Alabama, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
Saturday, November 24
* Georgia Southern at Georgia State, 1:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
* Troy at Appalachian State, 1:30 p.m. (ESPN+)
* Louisiana at ULM, 2:00 p.m. (ESPN+)
* Arkansas State at Texas State, 3:00 p.m. (ESPN3)
Saturday, December 1
Sun Belt Championship Game, 11:00 a.m. (ESPN)
All Times are Central and Subject to Change
* - Sun Belt Conference contest
RECENT RESULTS
Saturday, November 17
* Appalachian State 45, Georgia State 17 (ESPN+)
* Arkansas State 31, ULM 17 (ESPN+)
* Troy 12, Texas State 7 (ESPN+)
* Louisiana 48, South Alabama 38 (ESPN3)
* Georgia Southern 41, Coastal Carolina 17 (ESPN+)
Saturday, November 10
* Troy 35, Georgia Southern 21 (ESPN+)
* Appalachian State 38, Texas State 7 (ESPN3)
* Louisiana 36, Georgia State 22 (ESPN+)
* ULM 38, South Alabama 10 (ESPN+)
* Arkansas State 44, Coastal Carolina 16 (ESPN+)
* - Sun Belt Conference contest
#SUNBELTFB TEAM NEWS AND NOTES
Appalachian State
Overall vs. Troy: Seventh Meeting – Series Tied, 3-3
Last Meeting: Nov. 12, 2016 (L, 24-28) – Troy, Ala.
On Saturday in Boone, App State (8-2, 6-1) plays host to Troy (9-2, 7-0), and the winner will host the inaugural Sun Belt Championship Game on Dec. 1 against either Louisiana, Arkansas State or ULM.
Since returning to App State’s lineup, quarterback Zac Thomas is 45-for-60 passing for 529 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions in the last two games. For the season, he has 16 passing touchdowns, seven rushing touchdowns and just four interceptions.¬¬
App State is tied for second place nationally with eight runs of at least 50 yards. Darrynton Evans has four of them, including touchdown runs of 79 and 56 yards in the last two games. He averages a league-leading 113.4 rushing yards per game in Sun Belt contests.
App State leads the Sun Belt in scoring offense (38.9), scoring defense (15.9), total defense (282.8) and passing defense (152.3). It’s second in total offense (454.1), rushing offense (246.6) and rushing defense (130.5).
Appalachian State committed no penalties or turnovers in the 45-17 win against Georgia State. A 23-20 win at Idaho last season was the last time App State didn’t commit a penalty, and before that, it was a 35-20 win against Chattanooga in 2009.
Arkansas State
Overall vs. Texas State: Sixth Meeting – Arkansas State Leads, 4-1
Last Meeting: Nov. 18, 2017 (W, 30-12) – Jonesboro, Ark.
Arkansas State has won its last three games to move its overall record to 7-4 and climb into a three-way tie with ULM and Louisiana for first place in the Sun Belt Conference’s West Division.
A-State has secured a winning record for the eighth consecutive year. The Red Wolves have extended their school-record streak of consecutive seasons with at least seven victories to eight years. Arkansas State is bowl eligible for the 11th time over its last 14 seasons, including the last eight in a row. A-State has won 24 of its last 29 games played in the month of November.
The Red Wolves have posted at least 400 yards total offense in the last five games, while their defense has limited A-State’s opponents to less than 300 yards and no more than 17 points in each of the last three outings.
Saturday’s game will mark just the sixth meeting ever between Arkansas State and Texas State as they are set to continue their Sun Belt Conference series that began in 2013. The Red Wolves lead the all-time series 4-1, including victories the last three meetings. All five games have been decided by at least 17 points.
Coastal Carolina
Overall vs. South Alabama: First Meeting
Playing arguably three of the toughest teams in the Sun Belt at home over the last three weeks in Appalachian State (8-2, 6-1 Sun Belt), Arkansas State (7-4, 4-3 Sun Belt) and Georgia Southern (8-3, 5-2 Sun Belt), the Chants will wrap up its regular season slate on the road at South Alabama on Friday, Nov. 23, in Mobile, Ala. Kick-off is set for 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT.
The Chanticleers, who will be playing South Alabama for the first-time ever on Friday, are 2-0 this season against first-time foes with wins over Campbell (Sept. 12) and Louisiana (Sept. 22).
CCU has a lot on the line in Friday’s season finale, as the Chants are sitting at 5-6 overall and one win shy of becoming bowl eligible for the first time in the program’s history. Coastal is in its first year of bowl eligibility after two years of transitioning from FCS to the FBS level.
Despite struggling on offense over their three-game losing streak, the Chants still lead the Sun Belt in time of possession at 33:09 minutes per game. The offense also ranks first in the Sun Belt in fourth-down conversions percentage (71.4), which is fourth nationally, and third in third-down conversion percentage (41.9).
The Chants also rank in the top-five in the Sun Belt in red zone offense (2nd – 88.6), passing yards per completion (3rd-13.11), rushing yards (4th – 208.4) and first downs made (5th – 226).
CCU, who was not flagged at all for a penalty versus Georgia Southern last week, is second in the Sun Belt and ninth nationally in fewest penalties per game (4.36), second in the league and 10th nationally in fewest penalties overall (48), third in the Sun Belt and 13th nationally in fewest penalty yards (453) and fourth in the league and 14th nationally in fewest penalty yards per game (41.18).
Georgia Southern
Overall vs. Georgia State: Fifth Meeting - Georgia State Leads, 3-1
Last Meeting: Nov. 4, 2017 (L, 17-21) - Statesboro, Ga.
Despite their proximity, Georgia Southern and Georgia State have met just four times before with Georgia State leading the series 3-1.
The Eagles won the first game in the series 69-31 in 2014 in Atlanta, but the Panthers have taken the past three games, winning 34-7 in 2015 in Statesboro, 30-24 in 2016 in Atlanta and 21-17 last season in Statesboro.
The head coaches on Saturday certainly know each other well as Georgia State head coach Shawn Elliott served 13 seasons as an assistant coach at Appalachian State from 1997-2009. His final nine seasons, he served as the offensive line coach and hired a young tight ends coach in 2001 named Chad Lunsford. Lunsford spent two seasons on the staff at App State before beginning his first stint at Georgia Southern and the two remain friends to the day.
The winner of this game earns two points for its department in the annual Southern-State Rivalry Series, which currently is led by Georgia State, 4.0-2.0.
Georgia State
Overall vs. Georgia Southern: Fifth Meeting - Georgia State Leads, 3-1
Last Meeting: Nov. 4, 2017 (W, 21-17) - Statesboro, Ga.
Georgia State concludes the season by hosting in-state rival Georgia Southern on Senior Day at Georgia State Stadium on ESPN+.
The Panthers lead the series 3-1 and have won three in a row over Georgia Southern, including last year’s 21-17 victory in Statesboro on Penny Hart’s 9-yard touchdown catch with 2:31 to play.
Twelve Georgia State seniors will honored pregame before their final game for the Panthers.
GSU has set school records with 1,963 yards and 21 touchdowns rushing. The Panthers are averaging a GSU-record 178.5 yards rushing per game, including 213.9 ypg in Sun Belt contests.
QB Dan Ellington rushed for a career-high 113 yards at Appalachian State, the first GSU quarterback with a 100-yard game since Kelton Hill in 2011. Ellington is third in the Sun Belt in passing (194.9 ypg) and total offense (254.2 ypg) while accounting for 15 touchdowns with just four interceptions.
Junior Penny Hart, a Preseason All-American, is GSU’s leading receiver with 48 receptions for 660 yards and two touchdowns, along with 99.1 all-purpose yards per game.
With 2,941 receiving yards, Hart ranks fourth in Sun Belt Conference history. Next up is No. 3 Jerrel Jernigan of Troy (3,127).
Louisiana
Overall vs. ULM: 54th Meeting – Louisiana Leads, 27-25
Last Meeting: Sept. 23, 2017 (L, 50-56) – Lafayette, La.
Louisiana took down South Alabama, 48-38, on Senior Day to become bowl eligible for the sixth time in the last eight seasons.
Louisiana and ULM will meet for the 54th time in both school’s history, that makes ULM the third most common opponent in Louisiana school history.
The win was Louisiana’s fourth straight win at home giving the Ragin’ Cajuns its best in-season winning streak at home since 1995 when Louisiana took down UAB (9/9), New Mexico State (10/14), Pacific (10/21) and Louisiana Tech (11/4).
Sophomore running back Elijah Mitchell ran for 104 yards and scored three rushing touchdowns. That is the third time this season that Mitchell has rushed for at least 100 yards and scored three touchdowns on the ground. It was the fourth time overall that Mitchell has run for at least 100 yards in a game this season.
Mitchell’s three touchdowns on the ground is the sixth time that a Sun Belt back has done that this season, and Mitchell has done it three out of the six times.
Junior wide receiver Ja’Marcus Bradley caught three touchdown passes in the game, tying a school record for most TD receptions in a single game.
ULM
Overall vs. Louisiana: 53rd Meeting – Louisiana Leads, 27-25
Last Meeting: Sept. 23, 2017 (W, 56-50) – Lafayette, La.
Arkansas State snapped ULM’s four-game winning streak and took down the Warhawks 31-17.
With the loss, ULM (6-5, 4-3) allowed the Red Wolves (7-4, 4-3) to draw even atop the Sun Belt Conference West Division standings.
In this matchup, ULM’s offense never found a steady rhythm. The Warhawks gained just 276 yards on 54 plays with 58 yards on the ground. Quarterback Caleb Evans completed 17-of-28 passes for 218 yards and one touchdown but also tossed three interceptions.
ULM plays host to Louisiana on Nov. 24 in the final game of the regular season. Kickoff at Malone Stadium is 2 p.m.
South Alabama
Overall vs. Coastal Carolina: First Meeting
The Jaguars play host to Coastal Carolina in the regular-season finale and are set to honor 19 seniors prior to kickoff of the contest. The Jags have an all-time mark of 5-4 on Senior Day after picking up victories each of the last two years, while each of USA’s last four Senior Day contests have been decided by a one-score margin.
The Chanticleers are the third first-time opponent on South’s schedule this fall; the Jaguars have split the first two, falling at Memphis in September before defeating Alabama State last month.
South fell in its final road game of the year, 48-38, at Louisiana despite recording season-high totals with 223 yards rushing and 477 yards of total offense. It was the highest point total by the Jaguar offense against an NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision opponent this fall, with the performance coming after totaling 24 points in the first two games of the month combined.
In addition to converting 11-of-19 times on third down against the Ragin’ Cajun defense, South was successful on all five fourth-down conversions attempted by the offense.
Kawaan Baker tied career highs with three touchdowns and 124 all-purpose yards against Louisiana, matching a career-high with four receptions for 80 yards while carrying seven times for an additional 44. After going three games without a score, the sophomore now needs one more touchdown to tie the school season record in the category as he now has 12 entering the season finale.
Tra Minter finished the contest against the Ragin’ Cajuns with 223 all-purpose yards, breaking the previous school season record in the category while becoming the first individual in program history to post over 1,500 in a year with the effort.
Texas State
Overall vs. Arkansas State: Sixth Meeting – Arkansas State Leads, 4-1
Last Meeting: Nov. 18, 2017 (L, 12-30) – Jonesboro, Ark.
Texas State will have Chris Woods serving as the interim head coach against Arkansas State after Everett Withers was relieved of his duties on Sunday. Woods came to Texas State this season as the defensive coordinator after serving on the coaching staff at Oklahoma for three years. The Sooners won three consecutive Big 12 championships and made two appearances in the College Football Playoff during that span. He is in his 25th season in coaching and has served six seasons as a head coach at Mansfield and Stonehill, and has 13 years of experience as a defensive specialist and coordinator in his career.
Texas State will honor eight seniors this Saturday prior to the Arkansas State game. The seniors are three-year starter Tyler Watts, two-year starting nose tackle Sami Awad, team captain and two-year starter A.J. Krawczyk, offensive lineman Kregg Lemons, wide receiver Kelton Powell, tight end Elijah Rogers, kicking specialist James Sherman and long snapper Tommy Simmons.
Texas State enters the Arkansas State game having split its last four games. The Bobcats defeated New Mexico State, 27-20, on Oct. 27 and won 40-31 at Georgia State on Nov. 3, before suffering a 38-7 loss against Appalachian State on Nov. 10 and a 12-7 setback at Troy on Nov. 17.
The Bobcats held Troy to season lows in scoring and total yards with just 12 points and 220 total yards.
Texas State had three player record 10 or more tackles at Troy as Nikolas Daniels had a game-high of 16 total stops, including a game-high six solo tackles. Bryan London II, recorded a season-high 15 tackles with three solo tackles. He also led the Bobcats with two pass breakups. Jakharious Daniels tallied a career-high of 11 total tackles and led the Bobcats with 2.5 tackles for loss.
Troy
Overall vs. Appalachian State: Seventh Meeting – Series Tied, 3-3
Last Meeting: Nov. 12, 2016 (W, 28-24) – Troy, Ala.
Neal Brown has never been shutout as a head coach or as an offensive coordinator -- a span of 137 games … With Tyler Sumpter’s 36-yard field goal on the opening drive, the Trojans have scored on its opening drive in 6-of-7 Sun Belt Conference games (ULM) … Troy won the turnover battle (6-0) and improved to 25-1 all-time under Neal Brown when winning the turnover battle … Troy led Texas State 3-0 at the end of the first quarter; Troy improved to 28-3 all-time under Neal Brown when leading after one quarter … Troy led 9-0 at the half; Troy improved to 31-1 all-time under Neal Brown when leading at the half … Troy led 9-0 at the end of the third quarter; Troy improved to 33-0 all-time under Neal Brown when leading after three quarters of play … After opening 3-8 under Neal Brown, Troy is now 31-8 in its last 39 games … Troy is now 21-4 in its last 25 game dating back to the 2016 Dollar General Bowl … The victory was Troy’s 13th straight Sun Belt Conference win which is the second-longest active conference winning streak in the country (UCF, 15). Troy has won 21 of its last 24 overall league games … Troy has won 30 games since the start of the 2016 season; the Trojans entered the weekend with the seventh most wins in the country over that time … Troy’s 30 wins over the last three seasons rank as the third most over a three-year period in school history; the record is 31 … Troy won a game without scoring a touchdown for the first time since a 6-0 victory over Stephen F. Austin in 2000; the Trojans finished that season 10-2 and won the Southland Conference championship … B.J. Smith became the 10th player in Troy history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season in school history. He sits at 1,040 yards after rushing for 94 yards against Texas State. His 1,040 yards are currently the eighth most in school history.