2019 Sun Belt Football News and Notes:
Week 4 Release (PDF) | Standings | Composite Schedule | Stats | Championship Game | Media Guide

AROUND #SUNBELTFB
• Sun Belt Conference football has another Saturday slate of eight games this week. The league's Week 4 matchups are set to be featured across five different networks, including FS1, FloSports/NESN, NFL Network and ACC Network RSN and ESPN (three on ESPN+ and one on ESPN3).

• Appalachian State remained listed among the teams receiving votes in both the Associated Press and Amway Coaches powered by USA Today Sports Top 25 polls this week. The Mountaineers received two points in the AP Poll and 12 points in the Amway Coaches Poll. Appalachian State has appeared among the teams receiving votes in both polls every week so far this season. The Mountaineers earned the Sun Belt’s second-ever Top 25 ranking last season – 25th in the Oct. 21, 2018 AP Poll. Appalachian State’s ranking tied the highest-ever ranking for a Sun Belt team with Troy’s ranking of 25th in the Nov. 13, 2016 AP Poll.

• Texas State hosts Georgia State in the first Sun Belt matchup of the 2019 season. The Bobcats are playing in the first conference contest of the season for the third-straight year.

• Just three weeks into the season, the Sun Belt has recorded multiple wins against Autonomy Five conference opponents for the first time since 2012. This season, Georgia State’s win at Tennessee was its first over a Southeastern Conference opponent and first against an Autonomy Five opponent in the program’s 10-year history. Coastal Carolina’s win at Kansas was its first over a Big 12 Conference opponent and first in eight tries against an Autonomy Five opponent in the program’s 17-year history.

• Coastal Carolina’s win over Kansas on Sept. 7 gave the Sun Belt a win over an Autonomy Five conference school for the second-straight week after Georgia State’s upset at Tennessee on Aug. 31. The Chanticleers’ win marked the conference’s 10th win over an Autonomy Five opponent in the last 10 seasons (2011-19). Eight of the league’s 10 Autonomy Five wins have been on the road.

2011 – North Texas 24, Indiana 21 (Denton, Texas)
2012 – ULM 34, No. 6 Arkansas 31 [ot] (Monroe, La.) and Western Kentucky 32, Kentucky 31 [ot] (Lexington, Ky.)
2013 – ULM 21, Wake Forest 19 (Winston-Salem, N.C.)
2014 – ULM 17, Wake Forest 10 (Monroe, La.)
2016 – South Alabama 21, Mississippi State 20 (Starkville, Miss.)
2017 – Troy 24, No. 25 LSU 21 (Baton Rouge, La.)
2018 – Troy 24, Nebraska 19 (Lincoln, Neb.)
2019 – Georgia State 38, Tennessee 30 (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Coastal Carolina 12, Kansas 7 (Lawrence, Kan.)

• So far this season, the Sun Belt has received in-season honors on the Eckrich National Team of the Week powered by Pro Football Focus – Appalachian State junior running back Darrynton Evans, Arkansas State senior cornerback Jeremy Smith and Louisiana redshirt junior linebacker Chauncey Manac (Week 2) and Troy sophomore linebacker Carlton Martial (Week 3).

• The Sun Belt is building on its non-conference success from a year ago with 13 wins and the third-best winning percentage among the Group of Five conferences through the first three weeks this season.
 
1. American - 21-10 (.677)
2. Mountain West - 20-11 (.645)
3. Sun Belt - 13-14 (.481)
4. Conference USA - 17-20 (.459)
5. Mid-American - 13- 20 (.394)

• Several Sun Belt players enter the season already ranked in the conference’s career lists:

- Georgia Southern redshirt senior placekicker Tyler Bass ranks third in career field goal completion percentage at 85.4 percent (41 of 48 made). The conference’s all-time leader is Louisiana’s Brett Baer at 90.0 percent (45 of 50 made) from 2009-12.

- Appalachian State junior placekicker Chandler Staton (106 of 106 made) and Troy junior placekicker/punter Tyler Sumpter (90 of 90 made) rank tied for first in career PAT percentage at 100.0 percent. Staton and Sumpter join Troy’s Ryan Kay (78 of 78 made in 2013-16) as the only players in conference history to have a perfect career PAT percentage.

- Georgia State redshirt senior placekicker/punter Brandon Wright ranks third in career punting average at 44.1 yards per punt. The conference’s all-time leader is Idaho’s Austin Rehkow at 44.8 yards per punt from 2014-16.

- Georgia Southern senior cornerback Monquavion Brinson ranks second in career passes defended with 34. The conference’s all-time leader is Arkansas State’s Blaise Taylor with 36 career passes defended from 2014-17.

• Sun Belt football received a bevy of media coverage following Week 3 action on the gridiron.

• The 2019 Sun Belt Football Championship Game pits the East and West Division champions with the best conference winning percentages on Saturday, Dec. 7. The second edition of the league’s football title game is slated for live coverage on ESPN or ESPN2 at 11 a.m. CT/Noon ET.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kaleb Barker, Troy (Sr., QB, Decatur, Ala.)
Troy senior quarterback Kaleb Barker threw for a school-record 504 yards and tied a career-high with four touchdown passes in the Trojans' game against Southern Miss. The 504 yards were the fourth-most in a game in Sun Belt Conference history. Barker extended his streak of pass attempts without an interception to 140 in the process.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Rashad Byrd, Georgia Southern (Sr., LB, North Augusta, S.C.)
Georgia Southern junior linebacker Rashad Byrd led a stout Eagle defense against the high-flying Golden Gopher attack with a team-high 11 total tackles. The senior captain's sack, forced fumble, fumble recovery and subsequent 44-yard touchdown return gave the Eagles the lead with under four minutes to go. He received a 91.2 grade from Pro Football Focus, the highest by five points of any Sun Belt defender for the week. His 98.0 grade on pass rush defense was 21 points higher than the next highest SBC defender for the week.

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Monquavion Brinson, Georgia Southern (Sr., DB, Atlanta, Ga.)
Georgia Southern senior defensive back Monquavion Brinson had a spectacular 77-yard touchdown return on a blocked field goal by redshirt sophomore linebacker Reynard Ellis. Brinson started down the near sideline, back-tracking and beating all 11 Gopher defenders to the edge to take the return down the far sideline and bring the Eagles within two midway through the fourth quarter.

2019 Weekly Award Winners
Offensive Player
September 2: Dan Ellington, Georgia State
September 9: Darrynton Evans, Appalachian State
September 16: Kaleb Barker, Troy

Defensive Player
September 2: Carlton Martial, Troy
September 9: Chandler Kryst, Coastal Carolina
September 16: Rashad Byrd, Georgia Southern

Special Teams Player
September 2: Massimo Biscardi, Coastal Carolina
September 9: Tyler Bass, Georgia Southern
September 16: Monquavion Brinson, Georgia Southern

UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Saturday, September 21
ULM at Iowa State (FS1), 11 a.m.
Coastal Carolina at Massachusetts (FloSports/NESN), Noon
Louisiana at Ohio (ESPN+), 1 p.m.
Troy at Akron (ESPN+), 2 p.m.
Appalachian State at North Carolina (ACC RSN), 2:30 p.m.
South Alabama at UAB (NFL Network), 2:30 p.m.
Southern Illinois at Arkansas State (ESPN3), 6 p.m.
*Georgia State at Texas State (ESPN+) 6 p.m.

*Sun Belt Conference contest
All Times Central and Subject to Change