WEEK 11 CONFERENCE NOTES
NEW ORLEANS – Georgia Southern at Louisiana will kick off a Week 11 slate that features three national television broadcasts at 6:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, Nov. 10, on ESPN2. The Eagles can clinch bowl eligibility with a victory.
Southern Miss can also secure bowl eligibility with a win, as it visits Coastal Carolina for the first time at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12, on ESPNU. The Chanticleers can punch their ticket to their second Sun Belt football championship game over the past three seasons with a win.
The Sun Belt is the lone non-autonomy conference that owns a pair of victories over teams currently ranked in the Top 20 of the College Football Playoff (CFP)—Southern Miss defeated No. 17 Tulane, 27-24, on Sept. 24 and Marshall defeated No. 20 Notre Dame, 26-21 on Sept. 10.
The Sun Belt’s three bowl eligible teams—Coastal Carolina, South Alabama and Troy—are a combined 21-4 in non-head-to-head matchups. Two of those losses are to teams currently ranked in the Top 12 of the CFP—No. 11 Ole Miss defeated Troy, 28-10 on Sept. 3 and No. 12 UCLA defeated South Alabama, 32-31 on Sept. 17—and one came on a last-second 53-yard Hail Mary—App State topped Troy, 32-28 on Sept. 17.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
- THURSDAY NIGHT LIGHTS – Georgia Southern visits Louisiana at 6:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, Nov. 10, on ESPN2, with an opportunity to clinch bowl eligibility with a victory. The Eagles will look to reverse the trend against the Ragin’ Cajuns, who own a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series, including three-straight wins. The Eagles have been to bowl games in three of the past four seasons (2018, 2019 and 2020) and aim to get back to the postseason in the first year under head coach Clay Helton. The game will be Helton’s second-ever on Thursday night, the other being a 45-24 win over Cal on Oct. 27, 2016, when he was the head coach at USC.
- ROYAL RIVALRY – A sold-out crowd will be on hand at S.B. Ballard Stadium as Old Dominion takes on James Madison for the first time in a decade at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12, on ESPN+. The Monarchs have defeated the Dukes in the two prior meetings, which both came at the FCS level. Old Dominion sophomore linebacker Jason Henderson, who is averaging 16.4 tackles per game to lead the nation, is chasing history, needing just 18 over his final three contests to establish a new Sun Belt single-season record.
- HOW THE WEST WAS WON – With Troy—versus Army at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12, on NFL Network—and Arkansas State—versus UMass at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12, on ESPN3—stepping out of conference play this week, South Alabama will aim to keep pace with the division-leading Trojans as it hosts Texas State at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12, on ESPN+. Troy senior linebacker Carlton Martial—a semifinalist for the Burlsworth Trophy for the third-straight season—needs just 20 tackles to surpass Northwestern’s Tim McGarigle and establish a new FBS career record. Texas State is winless on the road this season—though its last two road losses came by a combined four points. The Bobcats own a 4-3 lead in the all-time series with the Jaguars including a 33-31 win in four overtimes a year ago.
- FIRST TIME UNDER THE SUN – App State and Marshall will square off for the first time as Sun Belt Conference foes at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12, on ESPN+. The Mountaineers own a 15-9 lead in the all-time series, though the teams split FBS non-conference matchups in 2020 and 2021 before the Thundering Herd joined the Sun Belt. The matchup in Huntington will have added significance for App State head coach Shawn Clark, a Charleston, W.Va., native and a four-year offensive line starter during his time with the Mountaineers from 1994-98.
- POSTSEASON IMPLICATIONS – Saturday’s final contest—Southern Miss at Coastal Carolina at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU—has postseason implications for both programs. With a victory, Coastal Carolina can punch its ticket to the Sun Belt football championship game for the second time over the past three seasons. A Southern Miss win would secure bowl eligibility for the Golden Eagles for the first time under second-year head coach Will Hall. The matchup will be the first-ever meeting for the two programs. Since the start of the 2020 season—a period in which Coastal Carolina owns the nation’s third-best record at 30-4—the Chanticleers are a perfect 9-0 against Sun Belt West Division foes.
WHERE TO WATCH
All Times CT