NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana and Marshall clinched berths to the 2024 Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship with victories in Week 14 play. The Ragin’ Cajuns are making their conference-leading fifth championship game appearance, while the Thundering Herd is a first-time championship game qualifier.
The championship game host will be determined based on a composite average of selected computer rankings that include all games on the final weekend of the conference regular season. The host site will be announced on Sunday, Dec. 1, when these rankings become available. The championship game will be contested at 7:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Dec. 7, and will air nationwide on ESPN for the seventh-straight season.
Louisiana won the Sun Belt West Division with a 7-1 record in conference play. Marshall won the Sun Belt East Division with an identical 7-1 conference mark. Coastal Carolina also clinched bowl eligibility for the fifth-straight season with a win in its regular-season finale.
Following a 2023 campaign in which the Sun Belt led the nation with 12 Bowl Season participants, eight Sun Belt teams are bowl eligible in 2024—Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, James Madison, Louisiana, Marshall, South Alabama and Texas State—tied for the most among non-autonomy conferences.
A 60-yard pick-six from redshirt senior linebacker Mannie Nunnery midway through the fourth quarter proved to be the difference in a 45-38 Texas State win over South Alabama—the first road victory for either team in the head-to-head series. The defensive touchdown gave the Bobcats the lone two-possession lead in the back-and-forth contest and helped Texas State to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2008 and 2009.
Redshirt senior quarterback Jordan McCloud completed 21-of-28 passes for 248 yards and a touchdown to leading receiver senior wideout Joey Hobert (7 catches, 80 yards). McCloud also rushed for 27 yards and a score, establishing a new Texas State single-season program record with 36 touchdowns responsible for. Junior running back Ismail Mahdi (20 carries, 147 yards, 1 touchdown) and redshirt junior running back Lincoln Pare (26 carries, 96 yards, 1 touchdown) each carried the ball 20-or-more times on a day when the Bobcats rushed for 282 yards. Senior defensive tackle Tavian Coleman headlined the Bobcats defensive effort with four tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.
South Alabama freshman running back Fluff Bothwell rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns on just six touches and senior wide receiver Jamaal Pritchett caught 10 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown, his program-best ninth of the season. Defensively, redshirt senior defensive back Jaden Voisin paced the Jaguars with 14 tackles, a tackle for loss and an interception and redshirt sophomore linebacker Blayne Myrick added 10 tackles and a 33-yard pick-six in defeat.
Louisiana outpaced in-state rival ULM, 37-23, to earn its fourth 10-win campaign over the past six seasons and its conference-best fifth berth to the Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship Game over the past seven years as the Sun Belt West Division champion.
Running backs redshirt sophomore Zylan Perry (19 carries, career-high 150 yards, 2 touchdowns) and redshirt freshman Bill Davis (17 carries, 78 yards, 1 touchdown) combined for 228 rushing yards and three touchdowns to propel the Ragin’ Cajuns offense. Redshirt senior quarterback Chandler Fields threw for 188 yards and the other two Louisiana touchdowns and a Louisiana defensive back—this time redshirt freshman Kody Jackson—hauled in a pair of interceptions for the second-straight week. Also contributing defensively were senior linebacker K.C. Ossai—with a team-high 13 tackles and the game-sealing interception—and redshirt junior defensive lineman Jordan Lawson—with seven tackles and a team-high 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.
A 172-yard rushing day for freshman running back Ahmad Hardy, including a touchdown, highlighted the ULM performances in the losing effort. It was the eighth 100-yard rushing outing for Hardy this season. His 1,351 rushing yards are good for third-most in a single season in ULM program history, while his 13 touchdowns are tied for the second-most for a Warhawk in a single season.
Behind multiple-interception performances from senior defensive back Tobias Fletcher and junior defensive back Matthew McDoom on a six-takeaway day for the Chanticleers, Coastal Carolina clinched bowl eligibility for the fifth-straight season via a 48-27 win over Georgia State.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Ethan Vasko completed 13-of-17 passes for 200 yards and three scores, with two to leading receiver graduate student Senika McKie (5 catches, 81 yards, 2 touchdowns). Vasko also rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown, alongside a 124-yard, one-score outing from redshirt sophomore running back Christian Washington. Fletcher scored on a 39-yard pick-six and accumulated 77 interception return yards across his two picks.
Junior wide receiver Ted Hurst amassed 131 yards on eight receptions for Georgia State in the losing effort. Redshirt junior running back Freddie Brock carried the ball 14 times for 71 yards and two scores.
With a 52-20 win over Southern Miss, Troy closed the 2024 season winning three of its final four games. Trojans junior running back Damien Taylor tallied a career-high 169 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries, reaching the 1,000-yard plateau in the fourth quarter and finishing with 1,010 rushing yards for the season.
Taylor joined junior wide receiver Devonte Ross, who reached 1,000 receiving yards on the opening drive of the second half and finished with 1,043 receiving yards for the season. Taylor and Ross are the first Trojan duo to top the 1,000-yard rushing and receiving mark in the same season since Shawn Southward (1,012 rushing) and Chip Reeves (1,050 receiving) in 2012. Junior quarterback Matthew Caldwell threw for 187 yards and a score and added 30 yards and a touchdown in the ground game. Led by senior linebacker Brendan Jackson—with 10 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack—and junior bandit Phillip Lee—with seven tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, two sacks—Troy’s defense held Southern Miss to just 31 rushing yards.
Wide receivers redshirt sophomore Larry Simmons—with four catches for 90 yards and a touchdown—and junior Ti Mims—with five catches for 77 yards and a score—highlighted the Southern Miss effort.
In his first collegiate start, freshman quarterback Quinn Henicle accounted for four touchdowns to lift Old Dominion to a 40-32 victory over Arkansas State. Henicle threw for 143 yards and two touchdowns—both to leading receiver redshirt senior tight end Pat Conroy (4 catches, 90 yards, 2 touchdowns). Henicle also added 206 rushing yards and two scores on 19 attempts, including a momentum-building 92-yard touchdown run on the Monarchs first play from scrimmage.
Alongside Henicle, senior running back Aaron Young carded a fourth-consecutive 100-yard game, with 119 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. The Monarchs 406 rushing yards as a team were a single-game program record. Old Dominion’s defense carded six sacks—the fourth-most in a game in program history—with redshirt junior defensive lineman Kris Trinidad leading the unit with two tackles for loss and a pair of sacks.
Redshirt junior wide receiver Corey Rucker became Arkansas State’s all-time leading receiver with an eight-catch, 115-yard, one-touchdown performance. Sophomore quarterback Jaylen Raynor completed 22-of-36 passes for 261 yards and three scores in the losing effort.
Fifth-year running back Jalen White bookended his 2024 regular season with three-touchdown performances, propelling Georgia Southern to a 29-20 win over rival App State in the regular-season finale. White rushed for 125 yards on 18 carries, including the game-sealing 35-yard score with 1:05 to play.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback JC French completed 16-of-19 passes for 166 yards and a score on a connection with redshirt sophomore wide receiver Josh Dallas (4 catches, 53 yards, 1 touchdown) and added 51 yards with his legs. Redshirt senior linebacker Marques Watson-Trent paced the Eagle defense with 13 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss, while fellow redshirt senior defensive lineman Jacob Ferguson added six tackles, a tackle for loss and an interception.
Junior wideout Makai Jackson caught eight passes for 157 yards and a touchdown and senior running back Ahmani Marshall carried the ball 24 times for 127 yards and a score for App State in defeat.
Marshall overcame a 17-0 halftime deficit and prevailed 35-33 over James Madison in double overtime to earn its first-ever berth to the Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship Game as the Sun Belt East Division champion.
The Thundering Herd used a 17-point third quarter, including scoring on back-to-back plays from scrimmage with a 16-yard touchdown reception by redshirt sophomore tight end Toby Payne and a 28-yard pick-six by redshirt junior defensive back Jadarius Green-McKnight to even the contest. After trading fourth-quarter touchdowns on extended drives, Marshall failed to convert a potential game-winning field goal as time expired, forcing overtime.
The Thundering Herd and Dukes traded field goals in the first overtime period, but James Madison broke through with a nine-yard touchdown connection from redshirt sophomore quarterback Alonza Barnett III to redshirt sophomore running back Wayne Knight in the second overtime. Marshall’s defense stopped the James Madison two-point try, giving the offense the opportunity to win the game on its ensuing possession.
Back-to-back reverses—the first a touchdown run by redshirt sophomore wideout Tychaun Chapman on a flip from senior running back Ethan Payne and the second a two-point pass from redshirt junior quarterback Braylon Braxton to redshirt junior wide receiver Chuck Montgomery on a second flip from Payne following a direct snap—secured the win for the Thundering Herd.
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SUN BELT FOOTBALL – WEEK 14 RESULTS
Texas State def. South Alabama, 45-38
Louisiana def. ULM, 37-23
Coastal Carolina def. Georgia State, 48-27
Troy def. Southern Miss, 52-20
Old Dominion def. Arkansas State, 40-32
Georgia Southern def. App State, 29-20
Marshall def. James Madison, 35-33 in 2OT