Appalachian State 27, Louisiana 17
BOONE, N.C. - Darrynton Evans ran for a career-best 183 yards and a touchdown to help Appalachian State get past Louisiana 27-17 on Saturday to maintain a perfect record in Sun Belt Conference play.
Appalachian State (5-1, 3-0) has won five straight since opening the season with a 45-38 loss to then-No. 10 Penn State. The Mountaineers will face Georgia Southern in a conference showdown on Thursday.
The Mountaineers took the lead for good, 17-10, when Zac Thomas passed to Evans from 20 yards out for the score with 2:11 left in the first half. Marcus Williams Jr. scored on a 6-yard run early in the third and Chandler Staton added a field goal to give Appalachian State a 27-10 lead with 2:46 remaining in the game.
Akeem Davis-Gaither had a career-best 15 tackles with two sacks. The Mountaineers entered the game having held the opposition scoreless in the second half in four straight games.
Trey Ragas ran for 81 yards and a score for Louisiana (3-4, 1-2) which had won two straight before falling to the Mountaineers.
Coastal Carolina 24, UMass 13
AMHERST, Mass. - True freshman Fred Payton came off the bench and threw two touchdowns to help rally Coastal Carolina to a 24-13 win against UMass on Saturday.
Payton was one of the three quarterbacks to play for Coastal Carolina and the Chanticleers (4-3, 1-2 Sun Belt) responded.
Andrew Ford threw a 22-yard touchdown to Sadiq Palmer with 4:57 left in the third quarter and UMass (2-6, 2-2) led 13-10. On its ensuing drive, Payton connected with Malcolm Williams for a 61-yard touchdown on a four-play drive that lasted a little more than two minutes.
The Chanticleers defense stiffened, forced the Minutemen to punt, then Payton led an eight-play, 65-yard drive that ended with his 21-yard TD pass to CJ Marable for the game's final margin. Williams caught four passes for 153 yards and Marcus Outlaw had 17 carries for 91 yards and a touchdown for Coastal Carolina.
Ford led UMass with 326 yards passing and a touchdown and Andy Isabella had 10 receptions for 174 yards.
Georgia Southern 48, New Mexico State 31
LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Logan Wright and Wesley Kennedy III combined for 233 yards rushing and Georgia Southern defeated New Mexico State 48-31 on Saturday to win its fourth straight game and become bowl-eligible.
The Eagles (6-1) trailed 14-3 in the first quarter when 15- and 8-yard scoring runs by Kennedy began a streak of six touchdowns on six possessions for a 45-17 lead with 6:24 left in a third quarter that included 2- and 13-yard scores by Wright.
Wright finished with 136 yards on 17 carries for his first career 100-yard day. Kennedy finished with 97 yards as the Eagles piled up 389 yards on the ground.
The Eagles had three takeaways, extending their streak in that department to 10 straight games. The victory was the first nonconference road win as a member of the FBS, which the Eagles joined in 2014.
Jason Huntley had a 9-yard touchdown run and a pair of 1-yard scores for the Aggies (2-6).
ULM 20, Texas State 14
MONROE, La. - Caleb Evans threw a touchdown pass, Austin Vaughn added a TD run and Craig Ford kicked two field goals to propel ULM to a 20-14 victory over Texas State in Sun Belt Conference action on Saturday.
Freshman quarterback Tyler Vitt scored on a 7-yard run to stake Texas State to a 7-0 first-quarter lead, but the Warhawks (4-4, 2-2 SBC) pulled even on Vaughn's 2-yard run on the ensuing possession.
Ford's 43-yard field goal and Evans' 27-yard scoring strike to Brandius Batiste stretched ULM's lead to 17-7 at halftime.
Ford's 30-yard field with 44 seconds left in the third quarter gave the Warhawks a 20-7 lead.
Robert Brown Jr.'s 4-yard TD run pulled the Bobcats (1-6, 0-4) within six points with 7:18 left to play. After the two teams traded punts, ULM began a drive from its own 3-yard line and never gave the ball back.