NEW ORLEANS – Coastal Carolina (9-1, 6-1 SBC)–the lone remaining one-loss team from a non-autonomy conference—clinched a spot in the Sun Belt Football Championship for the second time in the past three seasons in Week 11 play.
The Chanticleers top the Sun Belt East Division, while Troy (8-2, 5-1 SBC) and South Alabama (8-2, 5-1 SBC) are tied atop the Sun Belt West Division standings. The Trojans hold the head-to-head tiebreaker by virtue of their 10-6 win over the Jaguars on Oct. 20.
Coastal Carolina, Troy and South Alabama have all clinched bowl eligibility, with Georgia Southern, Louisiana, Marshall and Southern Miss each sitting one win away with two weeks left on the 2022 regular-season slate.
Coastal Carolina used three rushing touchdowns to earn a 26-23 win over Southern Miss and secure its place in the Sun Belt Football Championship Game as the Sun Belt East Division champion.
Playing without starting quarterback and two-time Sun Belt Player of the Year redshirt junior Grayson McCall, Coastal Carolina jumped out to a 17-0 lead behind rushing touchdowns from running backs Aaron Bedgood, a redshirt junior, and Reese White, a senior.
Southern Miss responded with 20-straight points to take their first lead of the game at the 11:14 mark in the third quarter. After the teams traded field goals, the Chanticleers used a three-play, 75-yard drive to score the lone touchdown of the second half—a two-yard carry by White following his own 17-yard scamper and a 56-yard rush from redshirt sophomore running back CJ Beasley—and produce the final margin.
Southern Miss senior wide receiver Jason Brownlee (123 receiving yards) and Coastal Carolina redshirt senior wide receiver Sam Pinckney (106 receiving yards) went over the 100-yard mark in the contest. With the win, Coastal Carolina moves to 10-0 against Sun Belt West Division foes since the start of the 2020 season.
Redshirt junior quarterback Ben Wooldridge threw three first-half touchdown passes and redshirt sophomore kicker Kenneth Almendares tied a program record with five field goals, as Louisiana defeated Georgia Southern, 36-17, in front of a national television audience on ESPN2 on Thursday night.
Almendares became the first Ragin’ Cajuns kicker in 33 years to tally five field goals, joining Rafael Septien (Oct. 5, 1974 vs. Lamar) and Mike Lemoine (Sept. 9, 1989 vs. Central Michigan), as Louisiana picked up its fourth-straight win over the Eagles.
Ragin’ Cajuns redshirt senior defensive lineman Zi’Yon Hill-Green tied the program’s record for career sacks (21) with a fourth-quarter takedown.
Sixth-year quarterback Kyle Vantrease threw for 325 yards in the losing effort, including six completions to senior wide receiver Khaleb Hood, who became the Eagles single-season (66) and career (130) record-holder for receptions.
For the second-straight week, ULM overcame a double-digit deficit to prove victorious against a conference foe. The Warhawks trailed 14-3 and 21-10 in the first half, but scored the final 10 points in a 31-28 road win at Georgia State.
Junior linebacker Quae Drake accounted for 14 points for the Warhawks, scoring on a 23-yard blocked punt recovery in the second quarter and registering the game-winning touchdown on a 34-yard interception return with 6:23 to play in the fourth quarter.
Sixth-year kicker Calum Sutherland connected on each of his three field goal attempts, headlined by a career-long 54-yarder in the fourth quarter.
Panthers redshirt junior wide receiver Jamari Thrash caught nine passes for 164 yards in the losing effort, while junior running back Marcus Carroll accumulated 100 yards on 28 carries. Redshirt senior quarterback Darren Grainger threw for a career-high 349 yards and a touchdown and added 50 yards and a score on the ground.
Senior running back Tucker Gregg rushed for a pair of touchdowns to become Georgia State’s all-time career leader in touchdowns scored with 27.
James Madison ran away from Old Dominion, 37-3, in front of a sold-out crowd of 21,944 at S.B. Ballard Stadium in the first edition of the Royal Rivalry. The win was the Dukes first-ever over the Monarchs in the teams’ third all-time meeting.
Graduate student quarterback Todd Centeio completed 18-of-21 passes for 304 yards for the Dukes, while adding 17 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Graduate student running back Percy Agyei-Obese (82 rushing yards, 1 touchdown) and redshirt freshman running back Kaelon Black (51 rushing yards, 37 receiving yards, 1 touchdown) also posted rushing touchdowns in the victory.
With 140 receiving yards, redshirt senior wide receiver Kris Thornton paced the Dukes in all-purpose yards. Sophomore linebacker Jailin Walker’s 29-yard pick-six headlined the James Madison defensive effort.
Old Dominion sophomore linebacker Jason Henderson tallied a game-high 18 tackles to become the Sun Belt single-season record holder with 166—and counting—on the year.
In the annual tribute game honoring the 75 lives lost in the Nov. 14, 1970, plane crash, Marshall defeated App State, 28-21, in the first-ever meeting between the longtime rivals as Sun Belt Conference foes.
Thundering Herd redshirt freshman wide receiver Charles Montgomery caught five passes for a season-high 109 yards, while redshirt junior wide receiver Corey Gammage added 91 yards and a touchdown on six receptions.
Redshirt sophomore return specialist Milan Tucker’s 96-yard kickoff return touchdown highlighted the App State performance in defeat. Marshall had a special teams touchdown of its own, with freshman defensive back Dainsus Miller recovering a blocked punt in the endzone.
A single-game program record four-touchdown effort from junior quarterback Carter Bradley lifted South Alabama over Texas State, 38-21, and helped the Jaguars keep pace with Troy in the Sun Belt West Division standings. Bradley completed 20-of-34 passes for 274 yards, including six connections with sophomore wide receiver Devin Voisin for 118 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
A 15-yard pick-six by redshirt sophomore linebacker Ke’Shun Brown with 2:48 to play in the fourth quarter provided the final margin for the Jaguars.
Arkansas State withstood a 14-point fourth-quarter rally to defeat UMass 35-33 in non-conference action. The Red Wolves stopped the Minutemen’s two-point conversion attempt with 18 seconds to play to preserve the two-point win.
Redshirt junior running back Marcel Murray rushed for a season-high 123 yards and a touchdown in the win, surpassing the 2,000-yard mark for his career. Redshirt senior running back Johnnie Lang Jr. accumulated 173 yards (102 return yards, 44 receiving yards, 27 rushing yards) and a touchdown.
Troy scored the final 10 points to erase a 9-0 halftime deficit in a 10-9 win over Army. The Trojans drew a program-record sellout crowd of 31,010 at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Troy trailed until the 8:04 mark in the fourth quarter, when junior quarterback Gunnar Watson connected with sophomore wide receiver Tez Johnson for a three-yard touchdown strike on fourth down.
Senior linebacker Carlton Martial made a career-high 22 tackles to become the NCAA career record holder with 548 and counting.
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SUN BELT FOOTBALL – WEEK 11 RESULTS
Louisiana def. Georgia Southern, 36-17
ULM def. Georgia State, 31-28
James Madison def. Old Dominion, 37-3
Arkansas State def. UMass, 35-33
Troy def. Army, 10-9
Marshall def. App State, 28-21
South Alabama def. Texas State, 38-21
Coastal Carolina def. Southern Miss, 26-23