WEEK 7 CONFERENCE NOTES
NEW ORLEANS – A pair of first-time cross-division clashes—Southern Miss at Georgia Southern and Louisiana at James Madison—will be nationally televised on ESPN2 to highlight a six-game Sun Belt slate in Week 7.
First-year head coaches Dowell Loggains of App State and Tony Gibson of Marshall will also look to secure their first Sun Belt Conference wins after dropping cross-division conference openers.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
- IT’S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING — Having shared a conference home since 2022, Southern Miss and Georgia Southern will finally meet on the gridiron in front of a national television audience at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 9, on ESPN2. The mid-week matchup will be the first as Sun Belt Conference foes and the first of the modern era between the Golden Eagles and Eagles. The teams last met in 1941, with then Mississippi Southern College downing then Georgia Teachers College, 70-0. That was the last season before Eagles football was suspended at the onset of World War II, a hiatus that lasted 41 years. Head coach Clay Helton’s Eagles handed head coach Charles Huff—then at Marshall—his lone conference loss of the season a year ago, rallying to score three touchdowns in the final 6:32 to stun the Thundering Herd, 24-23.
- STAYING GROUNDED — Two of the country’s Top 25 rushing teams will square off when Louisiana travels to Harrisonburg to take on James Madison at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11, on ESPN2. The matchup will be the first-ever between the Ragin’ Cajuns and the Dukes. The Ragin’ Cajuns are rushing for 212.2 yards per game (23rd in the nation), while the Dukes are carrying the ball for 241.5 yards per game (10th in the nation). Through six weeks, seven Sun Belt student-athletes have rushed for 300-or-more yards on the season, including James Madison redshirt junior running back Wayne Knight (426), Louisiana redshirt junior running back Zylan Perry (411) and Louisiana redshirt sophomore running back Bill Davis (314).
- MEET ME ON THE EAST SIDE — A pair of East Division showdowns will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11, on ESPN+, with Georgia State hosting App State and Marshall hosting Old Dominion. App State and Marshall have historically been dominant in the head-to-head series. The Mountaineers are 11-0 all-time against the Panthers, while the Thundering Herd owns a 9-1 advantage in the all-time series with the Monarchs. First-year head coaches Dowell Loggains of App State and Tony Gibson of Marshall will attempt to earn their first Sun Belt Conference wins and extended their respective program’s series streaks on Saturday.
- GET TO THE QUARTERBACK — Three of the eight Sun Belt student-athletes averaging at least 0.60 sacks per game will be on display when ULM visits Coastal Carolina at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11, on ESPN+. ULM senior defensive lineman Dylan Howell paces the Sun Belt at 0.80 sacks per game, with ULM redshirt senior defensive back D’Arco Perkins-McCallister and Coastal Carolina redshirt junior defensive lineman Zeke Campbell ranking among a seven-player tie for second in the league at 0.60 sacks per game. ULM leads the all-time series 3-2, though Coastal Carolina has won the two most recent meetings in 2021 and 2022.
- YOU GOT ME FEELING EMOTIONS — Following emotional West Division finishes a week ago—Troy defeated South Alabama, 31-24, in overtime and Texas State fell to Arkansas State, 31-30, on a 75-yard, final-minute scoring drive—Texas State will host Troy at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11, on ESPN+. The Bobcats will look to secure back-to-back wins over the Trojans for the first time in program history on Saturday. Texas State snapped a 12-game losing streak to Troy a year ago, earning its first-ever Sun Belt victory over the Trojans. Troy is 12-2 in the all-time series.
WHERE TO WATCH
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