WEEK 5 CONFERENCE NOTES
NEW ORLEANS – A rematch of the 2024 Sun Belt Football Championship Game—Marshall at Louisiana—headlines the first weekend with multiple Sun Belt Conference meetings of the 2025 campaign.
The seven-game Saturday slate includes a pair of nationally-televised non-conference road games—South Alabama at North Texas and App State at Boise State—and three history-laden head-to-head conference matchups—Georgia Southern at James Madison, Arkansas State at ULM and Marshall at Louisiana.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
- LAST OF THE UNBEATENS — South Alabama will attempt to knock North Texas from the ranks of the unbeatens as it closes out its non-conference slate at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27, on ESPNU. The Mean Green are 1-of-30 remaining unbeaten teams in the country and 1-of-4 to hail from a non-autonomy conference. The Jaguars will look to snap a three-game skid in the nationally-televised contest, where they will also be seeking their first-ever win over North Texas, which is 2-0 in the head-to-head series.
- ON TREND – Clashing for the fourth time as Sun Belt Conference foes at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27, on ESPN+, James Madison will attempt to keep the home team undefeated in head-to-head matchups with Georgia Southern. The home team has won each of the three prior Sun Belt Conference meetings, though the Eagles own a 9-2 edge in the all-time ledger. The Dukes will lean on an elite defensive unit that ranks among the Top 10 in the nation in passing yards allowed (2nd, 103.3), passing efficiency defense (3rd, 80.91), first downs defense (4th, 38) and total defense (6th, 215.0). James Madison will also deploy the Sun Belt’s second-best rushing offense (222.0 yards per game) against a Georgia Southern defense that has struggled to contain the run (245.5 yards per game). When Arkansas State travels to Monroe to take on ULM at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27, on ESPN+ it will carry a 15-game head-to-head winning streak into the conference matchup. The Red Wolves own a 33-14 advantage in the all-time series and have not lost to the Warhawks since 2009.
- UNDER CENTER – The two Sun Belt quarterbacks averaging 300-or-more yards of total offense and 13-or-more points responsible for per game will lead their respective teams into their final non-conference matchups against Conference USA foes on Saturday, Sept. 27. Old Dominion plays host to in-state foe Liberty at 5 p.m. on ESPN+ and Southern Miss welcomes Jacksonville State to Hattiesburg at 6 p.m. on ESPN+. Both teams have already lost to Sun Belt opposition in 2025, with Jacksonville State falling to Georgia Southern, 41-34, on Sept. 13 and Liberty losing to James Madison, 31-13, on Sept. 20. Monarchs redshirt sophomore quarterback Colton Joseph leads the conference in passing efficiency (160.8), passing yards per completion (13.67), points responsible for per game (18.0) and rushing yards per carry (9.70), while Golden Eagles redshirt senior quarterback Braylon Braxton paces the Sun Belt in completions per game (24.0), passing touchdowns (9) and passing yards (1,084).
- RARE AIR – Two of the nation’s Top 25 passing offenses will be on display as App State visits Boise State at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27, on FS1. The Mountaineers rank third in the nation, averaging 357.7 passing yards per game, while the Broncos sit 24th, averaging 291.7 passing yards per game. Mountaineers redshirt junior quarterback AJ Swann ranks 12th in the country with 293.3 passing yards per game, while his top two targets are also among the Top 12 in the nation in receiving yards per game—junior wide receiver Jaden Barnes (5th, 112.3) and redshirt senior wide receiver Dalton Stroman (12th, 98.3).
- NEW YEAR, NEW LOOK – What a difference a year—or 294 days to be exact—makes. A new head coach—Tony Gibson—will lead a Marshall club into a newly-named Louisiana stadium—Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium—for a rematch of last year’s Sun Belt Football Championship Game in the 7 p.m. nightcap on Saturday, Sept. 27, on ESPN+. The Thundering Herd prevailed 31-3 in the championship game matchup, earning their first-ever victory in the head-to-head series and their first Sun Belt football title. Louisiana won the first-ever matchup in the 2021 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, 36-21, to secure head coach Michael Desormeaux’s first career victory and won the lone prior regular-season Sun Belt Conference meeting, 23-13, in 2022 in Huntington.
WHERE TO WATCH
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