Welcome everyone to another edition of Around the Sun Belt! Some big shakeups in the conference happened this weekend with a couple of teams suffering big losses.
Appalachian State Mountaineers:
Appalachian State was given a run for their money by the Idaho Vandals on Saturday afternoon, but were able to put up 23 unanswered points to come away with a 23-20 victory in Kibble Stadium
The Mountaineers will return home this Saturday to take on Coastal Carolina with kickoff set for 2:30 pm.
Arkansas State Red Wolves:
Arkansas State looked great on Saturday with a convincing 51-17 victory at home against Coastal Carolina. Justice Hansen continued to find the endzone with five touchdowns and 286 yards through the air.
The Red Wolves will have a short week before hosting the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns in a nationally-televised Thursday night game. Kickoff is set for 6:30 pm.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers:
The Chanticleers continue to have a rough start to their debut season in the Sun Belt with a 51-17 loss to Arkansas State. They tied it up early in the second quarter, but the Red Wolves wound up scoring 27 unanswered points on the evening.
Coastal Carolina will head to Boone, North Carolina this Saturday to take on Appalachian State with kickoff set for 2:30 pm.
Georgia State Panthers:
The Panthers offense exploded on Saturday afternoon inside of Malone Stadium for 47 points to take down UL Monroe 47-37.
For their efforts, Penny Hart and Marterious Allen were named Sun Belt Offensive and Defensive players of the week respectively. Georgia State will return to the old Turner Field this Saturday when they take on the Troy Trojans with kickoff set for 1 pm.
Georgia Southern Eagles:
Statesboro is still looking for a win after the Eagles fell to New Mexico State on Saturday 35-27. There were some positives though with Dexter Carter returning a kickoff 70 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter to take a 24-21 lead heading into the locker room.
Georgia Southern will step away from conference play next week when they hit the road to take on Massachusetts with kickoff set for 2:30 pm.
Idaho Vandals:
The Vandals started out strong on Saturday against Appalachian State with a 20-0 lead early in the third quarter. However, the Mountaineers proved to be too much late in a 23-20 loss for Idaho.
The Vandals will step away from Sun Belt Conference play this Saturday to take on Mizzou with kickoff set for 11 am.
New Mexico State Aggies:
The Aggies wound up suffering a loss on Saturday after Appalachian State put up 28 points in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Tyler Rogers had a pretty bad day with six interceptions and getting sacked four times on the evening.
New Mexico State will have next week off before returning home to take on Arkansas State. Kickoff time is to be determined.
South Alabama Jaguars:
The Jags wound up coming away with a huge upset on Wednesday night when they took down the Troy Trojans in a lopsided matchup by the score of 19-8. South Alabama dominated on both sides of the ball, even getting a safety from Khalil McDonald in the second quarter.
The Jags will look to keep it going on Saturday when they host UL Monroe with kickoff set for 4 pm.
Texas State Bobcats:
It’s been about 700 days since Texas State has won a game in conference play after a tough 24-7 loss to the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns. The Bobcats were held scoreless at halftime after Tracy Walker intercepted a pass in the endzone. That was one of three turnovers forced by the Cajuns on the evening
Texas State will have this weekend off before traveling to Conway, South Carolina to take on Coastal Carolina with kickoff to be determined.
Troy Trojans:
Troy’s big win two weeks ago against LSU was hanging over their heads on Wednesday night as they wound up falling to 1-1 in conference play to South Alabama 19-8. The lone score from the Trojans was from Brandon Silvers as he ran it in from one-yard out.
Troy returns to action Saturday on the road against Georgia State with kickoff set for 1 pm.
UL Monroe Warhawks:
The Warhawks came up short this weekend, falling to Georgia State by the score of 47-37. Marcus Green got another big performance on special teams with 162 yards off of four kick returns. That was enough to earn him Sun Belt Conference special teams player of the week
UL Monroe will hit the road to take on South Alabama with kickoff set for 4 pm.
-Clint Domingue