Appalachian State 21, Troy 10
BOONE, N.C. -- Zac Thomas passed for two touchdowns and ran for another as Appalachian State jumped to an early lead and held off Troy 21-10 to capture the Sun Belt Conference East Division crown on Saturday, ending the season on a four-game win streak.
With the win, the Mountaineers (9-2, 7-1) will host the inaugural Sun Belt championship game December 1, against West Division winner Louisiana (7-5, 5-3).
Thomas fired a 16-yard scoring pass to Corey Sutton and found Sutton again, this time from 15, and then added a 10-yard keeper on three consecutive possessions for an early 21-0 lead before Troy (9-3, 7-1) got on the board with a field goal.
Two of the touchdowns came on takeaways. Caleb Brown forced a fumble -- and recovered it -- when he tackled Troy receiver Blace Brown at midfield. Thomas moved the Mountaineers 50 yards in 11 plays, capped by his second TD toss to Sutton.
On the next play, Troy's Deondre Douglas was hit by Austin Exford after a 10-yard pass and lost the ball, which was recovered by Anthony Flory. Thomas scored from the 10 five plays later.
Smith passed for 160 yards and a touchdown pass to Douglas.
Appalachian State outgained the Trojans 314-232 in total yards.
Louisiana 31, ULM 28
MONROE, La. -- Andre Nunez passed for three touchdowns and Louisiana survived a missed field goal attempt as time expired to beat ULM 31-28, clinching the Sun Belt Conference West Division title on Saturday.
The Ragin' Cajuns (7-5, 5-3) will travel to East Division champ Appalachian State (9-2, 7-1) for the Sun Belt Championship next Saturday.
Elijah Mitchell took a screen pass from Levi Lewis and went 40 yards to give Louisiana a 31-21 lead with 11:49 left.
Caleb Evans threw a 30-yard TD pass to Marcus Green to cut ULM's deficit to 31-28 with 4:47 left in the game. The Warhawks (6-6, 4-4) forced a punt to take over at their 16 with 2:07 left and drove to the Cajuns 19, but Craig Ford missed the 36-yard field goal attempt.
Louisiana scored the first 14 points and led the entire way. Corey Straughter intercepted Nunez's pass and returned it 66 yards to bring UL Monroe within 24-21 before the end of the first half.
Trey Ragas ran 23 times for 115 yards and Ryheem Malone caught six passes for 91 yards and a score for the Cajuns.
Derrick Gore ran 11 times for 79 yards and Green caught six passes for 76 yards and a touchdown for the Warhawks.
Arkansas State 33, Texas State 7
SAN MARCOS, Texas -- Justice Hansen threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns -- both to Kirk Merritt -- and Warren Wand ran for 145 yards and a score to lead Arkansas State to a 33-7 victory over Texas State on Saturday.
Wand's 8-yard TD run in the first quarter for the Red Wolves (8-4, 5-3 Sun Belt Conference) was the only score of the first half.
Texas State (3-9, 1-7) made a game of it when Alec Harris ripped off a 57-yard TD run on the Bobcats' first play from scrimmage in the third quarter to knot the score at 7. But Hansen and Merritt hooked up for a 60-yard score on Arkansas State's next possession for a 14-7 lead. The Red Wolves forced a three-and-out and upped their advantage to 21-7 when Justin McInnis picked up a blocked punt and raced 17 yards for a score. Hansen and Merritt connected again for a 39-yard touchdown and a 28-7 lead after three quarters. The Red Wolves added a safety and freshman Blake Grupe's 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
Merritt finished with six catches for 153 yards for Arkansas State, which had already qualified for a bowl game.
Harris rushed for 72 yards on five carries for the Bobcats.
Georgia Southern 35, Georgia State 14
ATLANTA -- Shai Werts threw for two touchdowns and ran for a third and Wesley Fields ran for 151 yards and a score as Georgia Southern beat Georgia State for just the second time, 35-14 in a Sun Belt regular season finale on Saturday.
Georgia Southern rolled to a 28-0 lead through three quarters to snap a streak of three-straight losses to the Panthers.
Tyler Bass hit first-quarter field goals from 39- and 49-yards out and Darion Anderson pulled in a 38-yard touchdown pass from Werts to take a 13-0 lead after a quarter. Werts ran 18 yards for a score and Bass threw to Deshon Cooper for a two-point conversion in the third quarter and Werts hit Colby Ransom with a 58-yard touchdown pass.
Dan Ellington threw touchdown passes to Devin Gentry and Tamir Jones in the fourth quarter for Georgia State (2-10, 1-7).
Fields came into the game needing 141 rushing yards to move into 10th place all-time for rushing yards by a Georgia Southern senior. The Eagles did not turn the ball over against Georgia State and set an FBS single-season record with just five turnovers this season. The previous record of eight was held by six teams, most recently tied by LSU in 2017.
Georgia Southern (9-3, 6-2) came into the game already bowl eligible and picked up its ninth win in 12 starts under first-year coach Chad Lunsford.