By Dan McDonald, Special to the Sun Belt Conference

Sun Belt Conference football teams went 6-3 during 2018's second full weekend of play, including a 3-0 record against Conference USA squads and a fourth win against an FBS independent. The three losses came to teams in "Power Five" conferences, all of them to squads that are 2-0 this season.

This comes at no surprise to Sun Belt coaches, some of whom have seen their teams compile an 8-3 record in postseason bowl games over the past two years and the nation's best conference bowl-victory percentage since 2014.

"We have quality football teams in this league," said Georgia Southern's Chad Lunsford, whose Eagles rolled past independent UMass 34-13 Saturday for its second straight win. "After being in this conference for a few years, and seeing how good the coaching is, it does not surprise me at all."

"The better teams in the Sun Belt can play in any league," said Coastal Carolina coach Joe Moglia, after his team responded from an early 21-7 deficit Saturday and scored 40 of the game's final 43 points in a 47-24 rout of UAB's Blazers. "There are a lot of very competitive teams in this league, a lot more than at any time that I've seen. It's not just against peer conferences, either, but against Power Five conferences."

The Sun Belt started out 0-2 against its peer leagues - the American Athletic, Mountain West, the Mid-American and Conference USA - in the opening weekend. On Saturday, in addition to those two wins, Appalachian State roared past nearby rival Charlotte 45-9 and ULM held on for a stirring 21-20 win over Southern Mississippi, both on the road.

"Whether it's Conference USA or anybody," said ULM coach Matt Viator, whose team won against a peer-conference team for the first time since his 2016 arrival with the win over USM. "Look at the bowl seasons and the success we've had in bowl games. We're competing very well."

"This is a league that has some formidable teams," said Louisiana's Billy Napier, one of two first-time coaches in the Sun Belt (Lunsford took over midway through last season). "This league is in prime position to really make some noise at the 'Group of Five' football level, I really believe that. I love the structure with the divisions, I think it provides stability for our league."

The Sun Belt is 11-8 through two weekends, but is 11-2 outside of games against Power Five conferences going into the final weekend with a majority of non-conference games. League teams have three games against peer leagues this weekend - Georgia State at Memphis, Appalachian State hosting Southern Miss and Arkansas State at Tulsa.

"We all want the league to be represented well and we all want to represent well for us to continue to gain the credibility it deserves," said Arkansas State's Blake Anderson heading into the Tulsa game. "We have to cross conference lines and win games. It all comes down to productivity. We've done it in bowl games but we haven't had that good pre-conference season to this point. Collectively as a conference it would be huge for us to come out of nonconference play with some more wins."

Zac's Perfect Game
The words football and perfection don't often appear in the same sentence, but Zac Thomas made that a possibility on Saturday.

The Appalachian State quarterback became the first player in both Mountaineer and Sun Belt history to record a perfect 1.000 completion percentage during Appalachian State's 45-9 drubbing of Charlotte. Thomas completed all 14 of his passes for 295 yards and three touchdowns.

"We played very efficient and Zac had a really good game," said Mountaineer coach Scott Satterfield. "They (Charlotte) took away our running game early, so we had to go a little bit more with the passing game."

Thomas was named the National Performer of the Week by the College Football Performance Awards for his performance, one that followed a 25-of-38 outing for 270 yards and two scores in the season-opening 45-38 overtime loss at 10th-ranked Penn State.

Among FBS quarterbacks with two starts, Thomas is fifth nationally in completion percentage (75.0), 10th 39-of-52 outing for 565 yards and five touchdowns and one interception. His fourth-quarter 90-yard scoring pass to Corey Sutton on Saturday was another Mountaineer school record and is the longest play from scrimmage in the FBS ranks this season.

The previous high completion percentage by a Sun Belt quarterback, with a minimum of 10 completions, was 93.8 turned in by Troy's Corey Robinson when he went 30-for-32 against UAB in 2013.

More Like It
Coastal Carolina coach Joe Moglia knew his team was better than the score indicated after the Chanticleers' 49-15 opening loss at South Carolina.

That feeling was boosted when Marcus Outlow ran 60 yards for a touchdown only 43 seconds into Saturday's home opener against UAB. However, the Blazers then scored three times in the next 16 minutes to take a 21-7 lead, marking the second straight year that UAB had built a big early advantage over the Chanticleers.

"We have only one standard - be a man and take responsibility," said Moglia, whose team bounced back to score six touchdowns the rest of the way in an impressive 47-24 win. "It doesn't matter if you're up 30 or down 30, you take responsibility. That doesn't mean we're going to always win, but you're not going to ever see anybody take a snap off.

"It took us a little while to adjust to their size and speed and experience, but we got a little better with that as the game went along."

The 47-point total was the most for Coastal since joining the FBS and the Sun Belt, a total helped out by seven plays of 20 or more yards.

Warhawks Win With 'D'
In last season's four victories, ULM scored 56, 51, 45 and 52 points, but had to hold on to win most of those when the Warhawks allowed more than 41 points per game.

That made the Warhawks' 21-20 upset win over Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg even more sweet for third-year coach Matt Viator, since it was his squad's defense that provided the big plays and then clinched the road win with a late interception.

"That felt great," Viator said. "I was really happy for our team to play like they did on defense, to get four turnovers and to score a defensive touchdown. They (USM) got some years and they were getting close to field goal range at the end, so for us to get that interception, that was huge for us."

Cortez Sisco Jr., returned that interception 46 yards with only 22 seconds left to preserve ULM's second straight last-minute victory. The Warhawks had blocked a field goal on the game's final play one week earlier in downing state rival Southeastern Louisiana 34-31.

Through two games, ULM is ranked 10th nationally in rushing defense (65.0 yards per game) and has yet to allow a rushing touchdown - one of 16 teams that has done that through two games. The Warhawks also have eight sacks for 52 lost yards through two games.

"I've been really impressed with the way we're getting pressure on the passer," Viator said. "That shows up in sacks, but it also shows in the form of affecting the quarterback. A lot of that starts with our front having success against the run."

League Tipoff
Sun Belt play opens this weekend, with South Alabama hosting Texas State in the first conference game of the season and the visiting Bobcats looking for a second straight win after a 36-20 home-opener win over Texas Southern.

Bobcat coach Everett Withers, though, wants his team to cash in on opportunities more than it did in that lightning-marred contest that featured two lengthy delays. James Sherman kicked five field goals and A. J. Krawczyk's 82-yard fumble return provided one of the three touchdowns.

Quarterback Willie Jones III provided a two-way threat, throwing for 235 yards and a score and running for 107 more.

"We didn't get it in the end zone the way we needed to," Withers said. "But we got better. Willie was a little unsettled that first week, but what he did this week was really good. He didn't turn the ball over and he did a good job of getting the ball where it needed to be and managing the game with his arm and his legs."

South Alabama first-year coach Steve Campbell said his team is still looking for an answer at quarterback. Senior Evan Orth made his first career start and was 14-of-25 with a touchdown, but senior Cole Garvin and redshirt freshman Cephus Johnson also saw action in Saturday's 55-13 loss at Oklahoma State.

"I would love for a guy to take charge and take that thing over," Campbell said. "Right now we're just playing our way through it. Whoever can get us moving the ball and get the hot hand and score points, he'll definitely have an opportunity for more playing time. Each one of them has done good things, we're just looking for consistency."

Texas State is opening conference play for the league for the second straight year, after playing Appalachian State in a close 20-13 game last Sept. 16.

"It's good for our league to have the championship game," said Withers, referring to the Dec. 1 title game. "If that means playing conference games early, I'm all for it."

Better on Film
Arkansas State had a tough time with the nation's top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in its first road game of the year, but Red Wolves coach Blake Anderson said his postgame film analysis wasn't nearly as disappointing as the final score.

"It was a tough weekend," he said, "but after watching it several times, there were a lot more positives than the score indicated. We had some issues early that they exposed and we got behind quickly, but once we settled down we played pretty well. We played physical and we played really good football at times. The film was a lot more positive than I expected it to be."

The Red Wolves rolled up 391 offensive yards but couldn't convert that to points with the exception of the first drive after halftime when quarterback Justice Hansen threw 25 yards to Darveon Brown for a score.

"Considerably the best team I've seen in pads or on film in a long time," Anderson said of the Crimson Tide. "I talked to coach (Nick) Saban before the game, asked him if he knew of any weaknesses, but he didn't share any with me."

Bouncing Back
Troy's Trojans bounced back from a disappointing opening home loss to Boise State, rolling past Florida A&M 59-7 and impressing a special group on the sideline.

The Trojans honored their 1968 NAIA national championship football team over the weekend and had approximately 30 members of that squad that claimed a national crown 50 years ago.

"It was a fun night," said coach Neal Brown, "to celebrate it with those guys."

Brown was just as happy with his team's performance. Quarterback Kaleb Barker threw for four scores and ran for a fifth, and the Troy defense forced four turnovers that led to four scores. In the first quarter alone, Barker had his one-yard rushing score after Shon Spralling blocked a FAMU punt, Barker hit Damion Willis for a two-yard score after Rasool Clemons' fumble recovery, and Tron Folsom's interception set up another Barker scoring pass to Willis.

The Trojans also had 292 rush yards, the second most in Brown's four-year tenure.

"We were much better north and south runners than we were in week one," Brown said. "All of our guys did some positive things and ran the ball hard."