NEW ORLEANS — Coastal Carolina and Texas State clinched bowl eligibility in Week 10 play, while reigning Sun Belt champion Troy maintained its position atop the Sun Belt West Division.
James Madison moved to 9-0 on the year, as 1-of-2 remaining undefeated teams to hail from a non-autonomy conference. Troy and App State secured regional rivalry wins in national television games to bookend the Sun Belt weekend slate.
Junior running back Kimani Vidal rushed for 125 yards and a touchdown—becoming Troy’s all-time leading rusher with 3,468 career rushing yards—as the Trojans secured their sixth-straight win over in-state rival South Alabama, 28-10, in the Battle for the Belt rivalry.
Vidal became just the second player in Trojans program history to rush for 1,000 yards in multiple seasons. Not to be outdone, sophomore wide receiver Chris Lewis became the first Trojan since 2013 to record three touchdown receptions in a game. Lewis finished with four catches for 120 yards—with touchdowns snares of 47, 26 and 29 yards.
Troy’s defense held South Alabama without a third-down conversion (0-for-10). Senior safety Irshaad Davis and sophomore linebacker Jordan Stringer posted career-highs with 11 and 10 tackles, respectively.
With nine catches for 89 yards, South Alabama junior wide receiver Caullin Lacy eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark on the year, becoming just the second Jaguar ever to record a 1,000-yard receiving season.
Freshman quarterback Jaylen Raynor rushed for a pair of scores to propel Arkansas State to a 37-17 victory over Louisiana, snapping a string of five-straight wins in the head-to-head series for the Ragin’ Cajuns.
Raynor passed for 194 yards and rushed for 53. Redshirt sophomore running back Ja’Quez Cross ran for 58 yards and led the team with 66 receiving yards.
A fourth-quarter scoop and score by redshirt freshman linebacker Javante Mackey punctuated the win for the Red Wolves, whose defense held Louisiana to just 64 rushing yards—the team’s fewest in a conference game since rushing for 50 against Arkansas State in 2016.
Senior wide receiver Peter LeBlanc—who had an 87-yard touchdown grab in the first quarter—led the way for Louisiana with a career-high 129 receiving yards in the losing effort.
Behind a 411-yard, six-touchdown day from redshirt senior quarterback Jordan McCloud, No. 23/24 James Madison remained among the nation’s unblemished teams and moved to 9-0 on the season.
The Dukes outpaced Georgia State, 42-14, as McCloud completed 28-of-36 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns and led the team with 104 rushing yards and two scores in the ground game. The 12th-straight win for the Dukes was also the 50th for head coach Curt Cignetti at the helm of the program.
Defensively, James Madison tallied 10 tackles for loss—led by 3.5 from redshirt senior defensive lineman Jamree Kromah.
Georgia State redshirt senior quarterback Darren Grainger rushed for 103 yards and two scores in defeat, while completing 10-of-19 passes for 82 yards.
Coastal Carolina third-string quarterback Ethan Vasko rushed for 170 yards—including a 75-yard touchdown scamper—and manufactured a seven-play, 72-yard scoring drive with 1:20 to play to lift the Chanticleers to a 28-24 win over Old Dominion and secure bowl eligibility for the fourth-straight season.
Redshirt freshman Vasko—who also threw for 180 yards—found super senior wide receiver Sam Pinckney for a go-ahead 14-yard touchdown strike with 23 seconds remaining to give Coastal Carolina its first lead of the game and ultimately the win. Pinckney tied the FBS record with 54 consecutive games with a reception in the contest.
Old Dominion junior quarterback Grant Wilson completed 16-of-28 passes for 172 yards and three touchdowns in the losing effort, while also adding 42 rushing yards.
Southern Miss junior running back Chandler Pittman found senior wide receiver Latreal Jones on a 38-yard halfback pass for the opening score and the Golden Eagles never looked back in a 24-7 win over ULM.
Junior running back Frank Gore Jr. rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown and redshirt sophomore quarterback Billy Wiles threw for 200 yards and a score. Eighty of those yards came on a touchdown connection with senior wide receiver Jakarius Caston, who finished with three catches for 92 yards. The Golden Eagles defensive unit contributed four takeaways.
A 68-yard touchdown strike from graduate student quarterback Jiya Wright to junior wide receiver Dariyan Wiley—who amassed 137 yards on the day—was the lone bright spot for the Warhawks in defeat.
Texas State clinched bowl eligibility for the first time since 2014 with a dominant 45-24 win over Georgia Southern. Redshirt sophomore quarterback TJ Finley accounted for five touchdowns—three passing, two rushing—in the victory. He completed 25-of-31 passes, with 13 going to junior wide receiver Joey Hobert, who accumulated 141 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Sophomore running back Ismail Mahdi (99 rushing, 21 kickoff return) and junior running back Donerio Davenport (75 rushing, 26 receiving) each posted over 100 all-purpose yards.
The Bobcat defense held Georgia Southern scoreless for 33:11 of game time from the 3:36 mark in the first quarter through the 0:25 mark in the third quarter.
Georgia Southern sixth-year quarterback Davis Brin completed 18-of-27 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown in defeat, while senior running back Jalen White rushed for 159 yards and two scores.
App State evened the Old Mountain Feud rivalry game at 2-2 at the FBS level and 1-1 as Sun Belt Conference foes with a 31-9 win over Marshall in front of a sold out crowd at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Junior quarterback Joey Aguilar completed 19-of-26 passes for 226 yards and found three different receivers on touchdown passes. Redshirt junior wide receiver Kaedin Robinson was his top target with four catches for 55 yards. Junior running back Nate Noel led the way in the ground game with 51 yards on 11 attempts, while redshirt junior wide receiver Milan Tucker recorded his first career rushing touchdown.
Redshirt sophomore safety Jordan Favors had a pair of interceptions to headline the Mountaineer defensive effort, while a 15-tackle performance from redshirt junior defensive back J.J. Roberts highlighted the Thundering Herd individual outings in defeat.
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SUN BELT FOOTBALL – WEEK 10 RESULTS
Troy def. South Alabama, 28-10
Arkansas State def. Louisiana, 37-17
No. 23/24 James Madison def. Georgia State, 42-14
Coastal Carolina def. Old Dominion, 28-24
Southern Miss def. ULM, 24-7
Texas State def. Georgia Southern, 45-24
App State def. Marshall, 31-9