NEW ORLEANS — Sun Belt East Division champion and No. 21/22 James Madison clinched hosting rights for the 2025 Credit Union 1 Sun Belt Football Championship presented by Visit Pensacola in Week 13, while Troy will visit Southern Miss in the regular-season finale with a Sun Belt West Division title and a championship game berth on the line.
Five Sun Belt teams—James Madison, Old Dominion, Southern Miss, Troy and Coastal Carolina—have already clinched bowl eligibility this season, with six others—App State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Louisiana, Marshall and Texas State—remaining in contention heading into the final weekend of the regular season.
Marshall will host Georgia Southern and App State will host Arkansas State in Week 14, with the victors clinching bowl eligibility. Louisiana, versus ULM, and Texas State, versus South Alabama, can also clinch bowl eligibility with home victories next Saturday.
A pair of explosive second-half touchdowns helped No. 21/22 James Madison extend its winning streak to nine games via a 24-20 non-conference triumph over Washington State in front of a sixth-consecutive sold out crowd at Bridgeforth Stadium. Redshirt junior quarterback Alonza Barnett III connected with junior wideout Braeden Wisloski on a 68-yard touchdown strike in the third quarter, before redshirt junior running back Wayne Knight scored the game-winner on a 58-yard fourth-quarter rush. A fourth-down pass breakup with 2:58 to play by junior defensive back DJ Barksdale sealed the James Madison win.
Knight amassed 126 rushing yards on 15 carries to surpass 1,500 all-purpose yards on the season, his 1,592 all-purpose yards rank fifth in James Madison single-season lore. On the defensive side of the ball, redshirt junior defensive back Justin Eaglin scored a pick six and junior linebacker Drew Spinogatti posted a career-best 16 tackles.
With the win, James Madison remains the lone non-autonomy conference program unbeaten by its non-autonomy conference peers. The victory was the Dukes 30th-consecutive against non-conference opposition at home, dating back to the start of the 2016 season.
Playing to keep its postseason prospects alive for the third-straight game, Louisiana made a goal-line stand as time expired to defeat Arkansas State, 34-30, on Thursday night. The Ragin’ Cajuns rushed for 202 yards and all four of their touchdowns—two by redshirt sophomore quarterback Lunch Winfield (89 yards, 2 touchdowns) and one apiece from running backs redshirt sophomore Bill Davis (57 yards, 1 touchdown) and redshirt junior Zylan Perry (42 yards, 1 touchdown).
With a career-high 12 tackles, redshirt senior linebacker Terrence Williams led the Louisiana defense. Arkansas State manufactured a 15-play, 89-yard drive in the closing minutes, but Williams and redshirt junior defensive lineman Fitzgerald West Jr. stopped Red Wolves junior quarterback Jaylen Raynor just shy of the goal line as time expired to preserve the win.
Raynor threw for 256 yards and rushed for 54 more in the losing effort, with redshirt senior wide receiver Corey Rucker (120 yards) posting his 16th career 100-yard receiving day. Cody Sigler, a redshirt junior defensive lineman, found the end zone on a 27-yard fumble recovery and redshirt sophomore wide receiver Chauncy Cobb added a 93-yard kickoff return touchdown for the Red Wolves.
Old Dominion scored the first 38 points in a convincing 45-10 victory over Georgia Southern, handing the Eagles their worst home loss in program history. Career-best performances from senior running back Ke’Travion Hargrove—three touchdowns—and redshirt sophomore quarterback Colton Joseph—189 rushing yards—contributed to a 376-yard rushing performance, the second-most in Monarch program history.
Joseph also completed 12-of-18 passes for 140 yards and a touchdown and rushed for a score. His 899 rushing yards are already a Monarch single-season program record among quarterbacks. Defensively, Old Dominion held Georgia Southern to just 249 yards of total offense, with 92 of those yards coming in the fourth quarter with the game in hand.
Georgia Southern senior wide receiver Marcus Sanders Jr. collected a team-high 88 receiving yards on four catches, including a 52-yard reception on the Eagles first scoring drive.
Two fourth-quarter takeaways by the Mountaineer defense proved critical in a 26-24 App State victory over Marshall to send a crowd of 31,322 home happy and keep its postseason hopes alive. Redshirt sophomores defensive lineman Caleb Sandstrom and linebacker Colton Phares made the critical plays in the final six minutes, both recovering fumbles that they also forced. Sandstrom’s fumble recovery with 5:33 remaining set up the go-ahead 23-yard field goal from freshman kicker Dominic De Freitas and Phares’ with Marshall driving and 55 seconds on the clock sealed the rivalry win.
Freshman running back Jaquari Lewis rushed for a career-best 175 yards and two touchdowns on 33 carries. JJ Kohl, a redshirt sophomore quarterback, threw for 134 yards and the other Mountaineer touchdown.
Marshall redshirt junior quarterback Carlos Del Rio-Wilson rushed for 71 yards and two touchdowns, to set the Thundering Herd single-season program record among quarterbacks with 659 rushing yards. With a 25-yard field goal in the third quarter, freshman kicker Lorcan Quinn matched the Marshall single-season field goal record with 19. Senior wide receiver Demarcus Lacey (134 receiving yards) and redshirt junior running back Jo’Shon Barbie (102 rushing yards, 1 touchdown) went over the century mark in the losing effort.
South Alabama built a 28-point advantage midway through the third quarter and withstood a Southern Miss comeback bid in a 42-35 win to run its record to 6-0 in the all-time series.
Senior running back Kentrel Bullock rushed for 187 yards and three touchdowns—both career highs—with redshirt junior quarterback Bishop Davenport—twice—and sophomore running back Keenan Phillips—once—also toting the ball across the goal line for the Jaguars. Bullock’s career day pushed him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Davenport completed 20-of-23 passes for 151 yards.
Southern Miss’ comeback stalled when South Alabama recovered an onside kick attempt with 53 seconds remaining in a one-possession game. Golden Eagles redshirt senior quarterback Braylon Braxton threw for 400 yards and three touchdowns, with wide receivers redshirt senior Carl Chester (128 yards, 2 touchdowns) and graduate student Elijah Metcalf (74 yards) serving as his top targets.
With redshirt junior quarterback Goose Crowder taking every snap under center for the first time since Week 2, Troy outpaced Georgia State, 31-19. Crowder threw for 361 yards and all four Trojans touchdowns, with two connections apiece with junior wide receiver DJ Epps and redshirt senior tight end Ethan Conner.
Epps finished with 103 yards and eight catches, followed closely by Conner with 85 yards on three receptions. Senior defensive back Devin Layette hauled in an interception, which he returned 31 yards, to go along with six tackles for the Trojans.
Georgia State redshirt senior quarterback Christian Veilleux threw for 307 yards and a touchdown to junior wideout Javon Robinson, who accumulated 146 yards on seven receptions in the loss.
Texas State scored 28 second-half points in a 31-14 victory over ULM to keep its postseason hopes alive heading into the regular-season finale. Quarterback Brad Jackson completed 25-of-32 passes for 201 yards and had a hand in all four Bobcat touchdowns in the win. The redshirt freshman threw for two touchdowns and rushed for a team-high 88 yards and two scores.
The familiar cast of junior wide receiver Beau Sparks (68 receiving yards, 1 touchdown), junior wide receiver Chris Dawn Jr. (60 receiving yards) and redshirt senior running back Lincoln Pare (76 rushing yards, 37 receiving yards, 1 touchdown) came up big for the Bobcats. The defense also added nine tackles for loss, with 1.5 apiece from redshirt senior defensive ends Kenard Snyder and Kalil Alexander.
Warhawk junior linebacker Noah Flemmings posted 13 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks in the loss. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Aidan Armenta completed 19-of-26 passes for 166 yards and rushed for 20 yards and 1-of-2 ULM touchdowns. Senior running back Zach Palmer-Smith punched in the other Warhawk score as part of an 80-yard rushing day.
Coastal Carolina fell to in-state foe South Carolina, 51-7, to close out the Sun Belt’s non-conference slate. Redshirt senior wide receiver Jameson Tucker blocked a South Carolina punt and returned it 17 yards for the lone Chanticleers touchdown.
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SUN BELT FOOTBALL – WEEK 13 RESULTS
Louisiana def. Arkansas State, 34-30
Old Dominion def. Georgia Southern, 45-10
No. 21/22 James Madison def. Washington State, 24-20
App State def. Marshall, 26-24
South Alabama def. Southern Miss, 42-35
South Carolina def. Coastal Carolina, 51-7
Troy def. Georgia State, 31-19
Texas State def. ULM, 31-14