Sun Belt Conference Weekly News and Notes (Complete PDF)
2015 Sun Belt Conference Media Guide
2015 Sun Belt Conference Composite Schedule
2015 Sun Belt Conference Standings
2015 Sun Belt Conference Stats
Sun Belt’s Best Closing in on Conference Championship
Arkansas State has previously won the Sun Belt football championship title four times and could make it a fifth with a win over New Mexico State this upcoming Saturday. The Red Wolves (7-3, 6-0 Sun Belt) would be guaranteed no worse than a tie of the championship should they defeat the Aggies (3-7, 3-3 Sun Belt). And while the Red Wolves have won six consecutive games, the Aggies are winners of three straight themselves.
Appalachian State (8-2, 5-1 Sun Belt) and Georgia Southern (7-3, 5-1) sit in second place of the Sun Belt standings with each having lost just one conference game. Both the Mountaineers and the Eagles could still win a share of the Sun Belt championship should they win both of their remaining games and Arkansas State loses one of its two remaining games.
Both Appalachian and Georgia Southern will be at home this week as the Mountaineers host UL Lafayette (4-6, 3-3 Sun Belt) and the Eagles host South Alabama (5-5, 3-3 Sun Belt).
This week’s football action begins on Friday when Georgia State (4-6, 3-3 Sun Belt) hosts Troy (3-7, 2-4 Sun Belt). Georgia State is on a two game win streak.
Elsewhere, Texas State (3-7, 2-4 Sun Belt) will travel to Idaho (3-8, 2-5 Sun Belt) and UL Monroe (1-10, 0-7 Sun Belt) will play a late season non-conference game against Hawaii.
Upcoming Schedule
Friday, November 27
* Troy at Georgia State – 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
Saturday, November 28
* UL Lafayette at Appalachian State – 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
* South Alabama at Georgia Southern - 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
* Arkansas State at New Mexico State – 3 p.m. (ESPN3/AggieVision)
* Texas State at Idaho - 4 p.m. (ESPN3)
UL Monroe at Hawaii - 10 p.m. (TWC Oceanic/Mountain West Network)
* denotes Sun Belt Conference game
All times Central (CT)
Recent Results
Thursday, November 19
* Texas State 16, UL Monroe 3 - 8:30 p.m. (ESPNU)
Saturday, November 21
* Georgia State 24, South Alabama 10 – 1 p.m. (ESPN3)
Auburn 56, Idaho 34 – 3 p.m. (SEC Network)
* New Mexico State 37, UL Lafayette 34 – 4 p.m. (Sun Belt Network/ESPN3)
Georgia 23, Georgia Southern 17 – 6 p.m. (ESPNU)
* denotes Sun Belt Conference game
All times Central (CT)
Sun Belt Student-Athletes of the Week
Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week
Andrew Allen (NM State, QB, So., Criminal Justice)
Three weeks ago, his father was murdered. Saturday morning, Andrew Allen said his final goodbyes at a memorial service with his family and the sheriff’s department where his father worked, then he traveled four hours to Lafayette, La. to guide the NM State football team to a 37-34 victory over the Ragin’ Cajuns. After not playing in a game for three weeks due to an injury and the team’s second bye week, Allen completed 13-of-31 passes for 243 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions. Each of Allen’s four touchdown passes either drew the Aggies even with UL Lafayette or gave NM State the lead. With the team trailing 7-3 in the first quarter, Allen connected with Tyrian Taylor for a 58-yard pass and the touchdown. The Aggies then trailed 34-27 with 6:27 left in the game when Allen found Greg Hogan with a 23-yard pass in the end zone to draw even with the Cajuns before a field goal gave NM State its third victory in a row.
Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week
Tarris Batiste (Georgia State, DB, Sr., Criminal Justice)
Senior safety Tarris Batiste led the Panthers to the best defensive performance in school history in Georgia State's 24-10 win over South Alabama. The victory is GSU's second in a row and the Panthers' first Sun Belt Conference win at the Georgia Dome. Batiste had an interception and a pass breakup, along with three tackles, as the GSU defense held the Jaguars to just 10 points and 284 total yards, both program lows against an FBS opponent. GSU shut out the Jaguars in the second half and limited USA to 112 yards on 28 plays after halftime, including just nine yards on three plays in the decisive third quarter. South Alabama managed just one play longer than 20 yards in the game, and that was a 24-yard pass completion. The one touchdown that Georgia State allowed came after a 69-yard kickoff return gave the Jaguars possession at the GSU 31-yard line. Batiste's fourth-quarter interception was the crucial defensive play in the game. After Georgia State scored to take a 24-10 lead, South Alabama took over with nine minutes left in the game. The Jaguars drove into Georgia State territory and had a third-and-six at the GSU 37 with six minutes to play when Batiste grabbed his interception to end the threat. One of only two senior starters on the GSU defense, Batiste ranks fourth in the Sun Belt with 8.3 tackles per game.
Special Teams Student-Athlete of the Week
Parker Davidson (NM State, K, Fr., Business)
Parker Davidson tied a career-high three field goals to help lead the NM State football team to its third victory in a row, this time a 37-34 victory over UL Lafayette in Lafayette, La. on Saturday. With the game knotted at 34-34 with 1:29 remaining, the freshman hit a 21-yard field goal to give the Aggies the win. Davidson opened the scoring for the game as he hit a 44-yard field goal with 5:11 left in the game to give the Aggies a 3-0 advantage. After the Aggies went up 10-7 in the second quarter, he then made a 33-yard field goal to extend the NM State lead to 13-7. Davidson also had eight kickoffs for 490 yards, which included four touchbacks.
Team News and Notes
Appalachian State Mountaineers
Appalachian State moved to 8-2 overall record and 5-1 in Sun Belt Conference play with last Saturday’s 47-20 victory at Idaho.
The Mountaineers’ win at Idaho was their seventh in their last eight games, 14th in 16 games dating back to the midpoint of last season, their 11th in their last 12 Sun Belt games and their seventh in their last eight road games.
Appalachian State’s 8-2 overall record is tied for the best 10-game start in Sun Belt history.
Saturday’s win at Idaho was Appalachian State’s first in seven all-time games played west of the Central time zone.
Appalachian State is one of only three teams that rank among the nation’s top 20 in both scoring defense (88th - 18.5 ppg) and total offense (18th - 38.4 ppg) - Clemson and Navy are the others;
The Mountaineers are also one of only four teams that ranks among the nation’s top 25 in both total defense (19th - 320.5 ypg) and total offense (24th - 478.2 ypg) - Clemson, Oklahoma and Boise State are the others;
For the fourth-straight week, Appalachian State is receiving votes in at least one of college football’s two major polls. The Mountaineers pulled in two points in this week’s Amway Coaches poll, good for a tie for 12th in the “others receiving votes” listing (tied for 37th overall).
Arkansas State Red Wolves
A-State is receiving votes (2) in the top-25 coaches poll for the first time since the second week of the 2013 season . . . The Red Wolves have an open week following their 59-21 victory over ULM, which secured them a winning overall record for the fifth consecutive year for the first time since 1949-53 . . . A-State has won six straight games for the first time since the 2012 season. It’s six-game winning streak is tied for the ninth longest in the nation . . . The Red Wolves hold a 7-3 or better overall record through 10 games for the time since the 2012 season and third time ever as an FBS member . . . A-State improved its conference record to 6-0 for the first time since the 2011 season when it went undefeated in Sun Belt play . . . A-State holds a 15-3 record in the month of November dating back to the 2011 campaign . . . A-State has won 31 of its last 37 Sun Belt Conference games . . . A-State holds an overall record over the last five seasons of 42-20 . . . Arkansas State has won 15 of its last 18 conference road games dating back to the 2011 season . . . All seven Arkansas State victories this season have come by at least 10 points and the Red Wolves average margin of victory in its six Sun Belt wins is 17.8 points . . . A-State has gone over 300 yards total offense 66 times over its last 74 games. The Red Wolves have posted over 400 yards total offense seven times this season, including the last four games in a row . . . Senior QB Fredi Knighten threw for a season-high 300 yards against ULM and was responsible for a career-best six total touchdowns . . . Sophomore RB Johnston White has recorded at least one rushing TD in six consecutive games . . . Senior WR Tres Houston recorded a career-high three receiving touchdowns and a season-high 94 yards against ULM . . . Sophomore WR Dijon Paschal has recorded over 100 receiving yards each of the last two games and scored a touchdown in two of the last three contests . . . The A-State defense has 27 turnovers gained that are tied with Houston for the most in the nation, and the Red Wolves 21 interceptions are tops in the country . . . The Red Wolves have recorded six defensive touchdowns that rank tied for the second most in the nation . . . A-State held ULM to 252 yards total offense, which was the fewest by an opponent this year . . . Senior CB Rocky Hayes recorded his team-leading fifth interception last game against ULM, which are tied for the ninth most in the nation . . . Luke Ferguson recorded a career-high five punts inside the opponent’s 20 yard line against ULM, and also tallied a career-best 469 total punting yards.
Georgia Southern Eagles
Georgia Southern and South Alabama have met just once before with the Eagles winning that lone game 28-6 last season in Mobile, Alabama. The game was the first Sun Belt Conference contest in GS football history and was the first of eight league wins for the Eagles en route to a 2014 conference title.
Georgia Southern has won 10 straight games at Paulson Stadium dating back to 2013, the sixth-longest streak in stadium history. The Eagles won 39 in a row (a NCAA Division 1 FCS record) from Sept. 27, 1997 to Dec. 15, 2001 and also have had home winning streaks of 38, 14, 12 and 11 games.
Overall, Georgia Southern owns a record of 185-33 for a winning percentage of .949. That mark stands as the third-best among FBS schools at their current home stadium, trailing only Baylor (.957) and Marshall (.951).
South Alabama is one of four teams on the Eagles’ 2015 to play in a bowl game last season, joining West Virginia, Georgia and Western Michigan. The Jaguars played in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl last season, falling to Bowling Green.
After getting shut out in its opener, Georgia Southern has rushed for 40 touchdowns in the past 10 games. Matt Breida (14) and L.A. Ramsby (10) have combines for 24 of those scores. The Eagles average 6.51 yards per carry, tops in the country and their 40 rushing touchdowns are second nationally only behind Navy’s 43.
Georgia Southern, which leads the nation with an average of 464.3 yards rushing per game, has averaged 433 yards rushing in its seven wins. The Eagles have averaged 205.7 yards in their three losses. The Eagles have done a good job of controlling the ball this season and stand third in the nation in average time of possession with a mark of 33.58 per game.
While the Eagle offense gets most of the headlines, Jack Curtis and his defense is putting together another standout season. A year after producing one of the best defenses in the Sun Belt, the Eagles are again among the class of the conference. The GS defense enters this week ranked second in the SBC and 23rd nationally in total defense (343.9 ypg), second in rushing defense (137.7 ypg), first in first downs allowed (17.3 pg), second in scoring defense (22.8 ppg) and fourth in passing defense (206.2 ypg).
Georgia State Panthers
After winning two in a row, Georgia State (4-6, 3-3 Sun Belt) hosts Troy on Thanksgiving Friday at the Georgia Dome.
The Panthers are coming off the best defensive performance in school history in a 24-10 victory over South Alabama that was Georgia State’s first Sun Belt Conference victory at the Georgia Dome. The 10 points and 284 total yards allowed by GSU are program lows versus an FBS opponent.
GSU shut out the Jaguars in the second half and limited USA to 112 yards on 28 plays after halftime, including just nine yards on three plays in the third quarter. South Alabama managed just three plays longer than 15 yards in the game, with a long play of 24 yards.
One game after setting the GSU record with 471 yards passing in a 41-19 win at Texas State, senior quarterback Nick Arbuckle passed for 311 yards and accounted for two touchdowns in the win over South Alabama.
Arbuckle leads the Sun Belt with 344.6 passing yards per game, which ranks fifth in FBS. Arbuckle also leads the league in total offense (338.1 pg/7th FBS) and completion percentage (63.5) while ranking second in touchdown passes (21) and pass efficiency (151.8).
With 311 yards passing vs. South Alabama, Arbuckle broke his own Georgia State season records for passing yards, total offense and touchdown responsibility. He now has 3,446 yards passing, 3,381 yards of total offense and 26 touchdowns rushing and passing.
Arbuckle is just the third Division I quarterback in the state of Georgia history to record two 3,000-yard seasons. The only others are Georgia’s Eric Zeier and Aaron Murray.
In 22 games in a Georgia State uniform, Arbuckle is averaging 305.9 yards passing per game. That ranks THIRD AMONG ALL ACTIVE FBS QUARTERBACKS, trailing only Washington State’s Luke Falk and Cal’s Jared Goff.
In three of the last four games--wins over Ball State, Texas State and South Alabama plus a 23-21 loss to UL Lafayette--the GSU defense has allowed averages of 17.8 points and 354 total yards per game.
Idaho Vandals
On the field Saturday, Idaho is represented by a team that is in the top three in 13 Sun Belt statistical categories and by players who are in the top three in 14 rankings.
Punter/kicker Austin Rehkow is the league’s leader in three categories and is tied for the national lead in one – field goals per game. A junior from Spokane Valley, Wash., this is where ranks in his specialties:First in the Sun Belt and tied for first in FBS in field goals per game (2.00); First in the league and eighth nationally in average per punt (45.3);First in the league and 27th nationally in scoring (9.1 points per game), and Third in the Sun Belt and 10th nationally in field goal percentage (.880). With 22 field goals this season and his success rate of 88 percent, Rehkow is Idaho’s all-time single-season leader in both categories.
Sophomore quarterback Matt Linehan (Dallas, Texas) is second in the Sun Belt in: Total offense per game (288.2, 20th nationally);Completions per game (22.2, 21st nationally); Passing yards per game (266.3, 28th nationally); Total passing yards (2,663, 31st nationally), and Completion percentage (.628, 38th nationally). He’s third in the league and 53rd nationally in yards per pass attempt (7.44). With his 192 yards at Auburn, Linehan has a career passing total of 5,203 – eighth on Idaho’s all-time list.
Elijhaa Penny, who last week became the first Idaho back to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark since 2007, is now at 1,014. That’s third in the league and 35th nationally in rushing yards.
Bradley has two third-place Sun Belt rankings: Tackles for loss (1.4 per game, 27th nationally), and
Sacks per game (0.55, 69th nationally).
And Dorian Clark is second in the league and 19th nationally in fumble recoveries.
As a team, Idaho is the league leader in: Fewest penalties per game (4.64, 10th nationally);Fumble recoveries (10, 14th nationally); Fewest penalty yards per game (45.18, 24th nationally);First downs (253, 32nd nationally), and Completion percentage (.626, 33rd nationally).
UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns
The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns football team will make its first-ever trip to Boone, N.C., on Saturday, Nov. 28, when it faces Appalachian State in a Sun Belt Conference contest at Kidd-Brewer Stadium.
Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT. The game will mark the Ragin’ Cajuns first trip to the state of North Carolina since the 1988 season when they earned a 48-36 win at East Carolina.
UL Lafayette (4-6, 3-3 SBC) suffered a disappointing 37-34 loss to New Mexico State on Saturday as the Aggies scored 10 points in the final 3:59 to claim their first win at Cajun Field since the 2001 season.
Quarterback Brooks Haack set personal-bests for completions (24), passing yards (283) and touchdown passes (2), while tying his previous mark in attempts (37). The junior gave UL Lafayette a 7-3 lead in the first quarter when he connected with Al Riles on a 20-yard scoring pass before his 31-yard strike to Jamal Robinson with 6:27 remaining snapped a 27-27 tie.
The performance of Robinson (12 catches, 183 yards, 1 TD) and Elijah McGuire (18 carries, 159 yards, 2 TDs) marked the first time this season and 26th time in school history that a receiver and running each topped the 100-yard mark in a game. The performance marked the first time since the 2013 season when McGuire rushed for 107 yards and had 125 yards receiving at Georgia State.
McGuire, who entered the game needing 103 yards to eclipse the 3,000-yard rushing mark in his career, rushed for 109 of his 159 yards in the first half to become the fourth player in Ragin’ Cajuns history to reach the 3,000-yard mark. The junior joins Tyrell Fenroy (4,646), Brian Mitchell (3,335) and Alonzo Harris (3,330) as the only players in school history to rush for 3,000 yards in a career.
Robinson, who set a career-high with 10 receptions last week at South Alabama, set a new personal best with 12 catches for 183 yards against New Mexico State. The fifth-year senior moved increased his career reception total to 147, two shy of tying former Ragin’ Cajuns standout and current San Diego Chargers tight end Ladarius Green for fifth-place on the school’s all-time list.
UL Monroe Warhawks
The game is ULM’s second time in school history leaving the continental U.S. The previous game was a 23-20 overtime win at Hawaii on Nov. 22, 1997 in the season finale. It is also the Warhawks’ first against a Mountain West team since playing at Wyoming in September 2005.
ULM held Texas State to a field goal on the Bobcats opening possession. The Warhawks, through 11 games, have yet to allow a touchdown on an opening drive this season. ULM has surrendered now four field goals and forced seven punts.
In the first quarter, Ben Banogu recorded his team-leading fifth sack of the season as he brought down Bobcat quarterback Tyler Jones.
Craig Ford’s 28-yard field goal late in the first quarter was his seventh made field goal of the season by the redshirt freshman.
On ULM’s scoring drive late in the first quarter, Ben Luckett picked up a pair of first downs as he netted 24 rushing yards on two rushing attempts on the drive.
ULM allowed just 10 points in the first half, the third lowest total this season (0, Nicholls State; 9, at UL Lafayette).
ULM forced Texas State to punt on the Bobcats’ first drive of the second half. It is the fifth time an opponent has punted on opening drive of second half this season. The other six games have equated to two touchdowns, one made field goal, one missed field goal, one blocked field goal and one turnover on downs.
Texas State kicker Lumi Kaba missed a 27-yard field goal in the third quarter. It is the ninth missed field goal by a Warhawk opponent this season. ULM has now had eight different opponents miss a field goal this season.
To start the fourth, Texas State missed a 42-yard field goal attempt and it is the second time this season a Warhawk opponent has missed multiple field goals in a game (Tulsa, three).
After a touchdown pass by Texas State, James Sherman missed the PAT, the second unsuccessful PAT by a Warhawk opponent this season.
New Mexico State Aggies
Following the third consecutive victory for the NM State football team, the Aggies are set to return home on Saturday to host Arkansas State in a 2 p.m. matchup for Senior Day.
The Aggies won a back-and-forth contest last Saturday night in Lafayette, La. as they battled their way to a 37-34 victory over UL Lafayette. Parker Davidson opened the scoring with a 44-yard field goal before the Cajuns took their first lead of the game off a 20-yard touchdown pass with 3:50 left in the first quarter. Andrew Allen then connected with Tyrian Taylor for a 58-yard touchdown pass. This was the first of four touchdown passes for Allen on the night. NM State trailed by a touchdown with 6:27 left in the game when Allen found Greg Hogan in the end zone to knot the game a 34-34. Following another field goal by Davidson, Rodney Butler grabbed his first interception of the season with 1:19 left in the game to secure the win.
Allen led the Aggies offensively as he completed 13-of-31 passes for 243 yards and four touchdowns. The sophomore, who has not played a game in three weeks due to an injury and the team’s second bye week, threw zero interceptions. Allen has 1,010 passing yards and 11 touchdowns on the season in just five games.
Larry Rose III became the NM State all-time single season rushing leader as he amassed 191 yards against the Cajuns. These yards gave Rose III 1,481 for the season. The sophomore also has 12 touchdowns over his 10 games this season, which ranks tied for No. 7 for single season rushing touchdowns.
Terrill Hanks amassed a career-high 10 tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss against the Cajuns. The freshman ranks second on the team in tackles and tackles for loss with 67 and 5.0, respectively. He leads the team in interceptions with 3 and has 1.0 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Next week’s opponent, Arkansas State, is coming off of a bye week after topping ULM 59-21 on Nov. 14. The Red Wolves were led by Fredi Knighten who completed 15-of-30 passes for 300 yards and five touchdowns.
NM State leads the series with Arkansas State 6-3. The two teams last faced each other on Nov. 29, 2014 as the Red Wolves grabbed a 68-35 victory in Jonesboro, Ark.
South Alabama Jaguars
The Jaguars play their final regular-season road contest when they visit Georgia Southern Saturday. … The Jags are 2-3 in their last game on the road of the year — they didn’t travel as part of their inaugural schedule in 2009 — with their most recent victory in their final contest away from home coming at Georgia State on Nov. 30, 2013. … It’s the second straight week that USA will play in Georgia after falling at GSU last weekend; it’s the first time in program history that the Jags will play consecutive weeks in the same state outside of Alabama. … The Jaguars’ three previous outings in the Peach State have all come against the Panthers at the Georgia Dome, as they have gone 1-2 in those match-ups. … With a win in this game, USA will post a conference road record of .500 or better for the second straight year. The Jags are also looking to go .500 or better in November for the second time in the last three seasons. … Xavier Johnson returned three kickoffs for 120 yards at Georgia State, including running back the opening kick of the game 69 yards to set up the Jaguars’ lone touchdown drive of the day. The sophomore finished with a game-high 176 all-purpose yards — the second time this month he has surpassed 100 — to set the school season record in the category with 1,261, and he also moved into second place all-time at USA with 367 kick return yards. After gaining 46 yards on 10 carries, Johnson also became just the second Jaguar in the program’s first seven seasons of competition to run for more than 800 yards in a year as he needs 77 more to set the school season mark in that category as well. … Junior Tyreis Thomas provided the Jags with their lone touchdown against the Panthers with a 17-yard run that capped USA’s opening drive of the game, the first of his career. The running back recorded 43 yards on just six carries in the contest, moving into the top 10 on USA’s season record list with 466 yards this fall. … LB Blake Dees led all players with nine stops last time out, the second time in three November contests that he has topped the Jaguars in the category. In fact, the senior — who needs just three tackles to post 100 for the season — has paced USA a team-high five times in stops this fall, including in four of six conference contests. … Junior Jeremy Reaves was one tackle shy of matching Dees for game-high honors after posting seven against the Panthers, and with all seven unassisted he was also one shy of equalling his career-high total of solo stops. The effort helped Reaves, who is averaging 8.25 tackles over the last four contests, to move into the top 10 on USA’s season record list with 79 total stops this year. The defensive back was also credited with a pass broken up in the game, his fourth in three outings this month, to take over the team lead in the category with six on the season.
Texas State Bobcats
Texas State won its final home game in 2015 with a 16-3 victory over UL Monroe last Thursday night. The Bobcats have a 3-3 record in home games this year and an all-time record of 120-86 in Bobcat Stadium.
The Bobcats are looking to win its first road game this season when Texas State travels to Idaho on Saturday. The Bobcats enter Saturday’s contest with a 0-4 record in road games this season.
Texas State’s defense surrendered a season-low three points against UL Monroe and it was the fewest points the Bobcats have surrendered since they pitched a shutout against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on August 30, 2014.
Texas State also held ULM to 181 yards of total offense, marking the fewest yards the Bobcats have allowed since surrendering 180 yards against Southern Arkansas in 2010.
Lawrence White a career-best career performance when he led Texas State with five receptions for 83 yards and two touchdowns against UL Monroe. His two touchdown catches resulted in the only touchdowns in the game. He also became the first Bobcat tight end to catch two touchdown passes in a game since 2012 when Bradley Miller caught two TD passes against Louisiana Tech.
Lumi Kaba had three 50-yard punts against UL Monroe to mark the sixth consecutive game in which he has kicked two or more 50-yard punts. It also marks the third time in the last four contests that Kaba has registered three 50-yard punts. Kaba ranks ninth nationally and is second among league leaders after averaging 45.1 yards on 52 punts this season after averaging 44.6 yards on eight punts against ULM.
Tim Gay had a 12-yard run against UL Monroe on his first carry in 2015. It was Gay’s longest run since 2013 when he had a 35-yard rush against Arkansas State.
With 85 rushing yards, Robert Lowe moves into fourth all-time in Texas State history with 3,002 yards. Lowe needs 110 more yards to reach the 1,000 yards rushing plateau for the second straight season. He enters the Idaho game with 890 yards on 169 carries. Lowe ranks fifth among the Sun Belt Conference overall rushing leaders after averaging 89.4 yards in Texas State’s first eight games. In Sun Belt Conference games only, Lowe is fourth among the league’s rushing leaders with an average of 107.8 yards in six Sun Belt games.
Lowe also is fifth among the Sun Belt Conference scoring leaders and 10th in the overall scoring leaders with an average of 6.2 points per game after scoring two touchdowns against Georgia State.
Troy Trojans
Troy honored 21 seniors before the game, including Jadarius Garner, who passed away in January 2014 … Sophomore quarterback Brandon Silvers rushed for 14 yards on the first drive, his longest rush of the season … Junior wide receiver Clark Quisenberry caught a season-long 26 yard pass on the first drive of the game … Senior safety LaMarcus Farmer earned his first start as a Trojan. He recorded a season-high seven total tackles … Junior safety Demetrius Cain returned a fumble recovery for a 19-yard touchdown for his first career touchdown … Troy has scored four defensive touchdowns this season, the last time Troy scored four defensive touchdowns was in 2007 … With the defensive touchdown, it is the first time in Troy’s FBS era that three fumble recoveries have been returned for a touchdown in a season … The last time Troy scored defensive touchdowns in two consecutive games was in 2011 when they scored one against Arkansas and Middle Tennessee, respectively … Senior Tyler Roberts has had at least 1.5 tackles for loss in five games this season. Former Trojan DeMarcus Ware also had at least 1.5 TFL in five games his senior season … Senior defensive end Tyler Roberts earned 21 tackle for loss yards on his 3.0 tackles for loss in the game. He is now tied for third with Osi Umenyiora all-time in career yards from tackle for loss with 167 … Junior linebacker Terris Lewis recorded a career-high 12 total tackles in today’s game, 11 of them were solo tackles … Freshman safety Cedarius Rookard recorded a career-high seven total tackles in today’s game … Tyler Roberts recorded a season-high nine total tackles in today’s game … Troy is tied for 10th place all-time in team single-season field goals made with 14 … With 188 punt yards on four punts in today’s game, senior Ryan Kay moves into eighth place with 4,780 career punt yards, surpassing Will Scott … Ryan Kay has moved into sixth place all-time in career yards per punt with 40.50 and seventh place all-time in single-season yards per punt with 41.81.