Welcome everyone to the first edition of Around the Sun Belt! Every week, we look into how each team outside of the Cajuns performed over the weekend and other news and notes that has come out in the last week.
Let’s look at how the Sun Belt fared last weekend.
Georgia State Panthers:
The season for the Panthers saw a packed house in the old Turner Field, but the end result didn’t please the fans. Georgia State was upset on Thursday night when former Florida QB Treon Harris led FCS School Tennessee State to a 14-10 victory.
The Panthers schedule won’t get any easier as they head over to Happy Valley to take on Penn State on Saturday at 6:30 pm.
UL Monroe Warhawks:
Don’t let the end result fool you with the Warhawks coming up short against Memphis 37-29. It was largely a case of too little too late as the Warhawks did put up 14 unanswered points in the final six minutes, but failed to recover the onside kick after getting within eight points with 40 seconds left.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier with a trip to Tallahassee when they take on Florida State at 6 pm this Saturday.
Idaho Vandals:
Idaho’s season started off well with a convincing 28-6 win over Sacramento State. Quarterback Matt Linehan had a pair of touchdowns, but was sacked four times and threw two interceptions. If the Vandals want to continue their momentum from last season, the offensive line’s performance will have to improve.
Idaho will return to action at home when they take on UNLV at 6 pm.
New Mexico State Aggies:
Much like what UL Monroe did against Memphis, the Aggies came up just short on Thursday in the season opener against Arizona State. New Mexico State woke up late in the ballgame with 18 unanswered points including a touchdown pass from Tyler Rogers to Jaleel Scott as time expired.
The Aggies will return to action this Saturday when they travel to New Mexico.
Troy Trojans:
The Troy Trojans have gotten a lot of preseason hype, but their season opener showed that they can be human as they lost in a competitive game against Boise State. There were some bright spots for the Trojans as the defense kept it competitive with Blace Brown had a pick six late in the first half to make a four-point contest.
Troy will try and get their first win when they host Alabama State with kickoff set for 5 pm.
Appalachian State Mountaineers:
Ten years ago, the Mountaineers had one of the biggest upsets in college football when they took down Michigan to start the season. That didn’t happen Saturday against the Georgia Bulldogs in large part due to 11 penalties totaling 105 yards. Even without Jacob Eason for most of the game after he went down with an injury, the Bulldogs dominated Appalachian State thanks to their star running backs Nick Chubb and Sony Michel.
The Mountaineers will return to action when they take on Savannah State.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers:
The newest Sun Belt member starts off their time with the conference strong with a 38-28 victory over the University of Massachussets. On top of that, Osharmar Abercrombie (great name, by the way) was named the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week, rushing for 149 yards and two touchdowns.
Coastal Carolina will have a pretty early open date this weekend before traveling to take on UAB on the 16th.
Texas State Bobcats:
The last few seasons for the Bobcats haven’t necessarily gone well, but at least the 2017 season is off to a good start. Texas State took on in-state opponent Houston Baptist and thanks to a strong defensive effort, they came away with a 20-11 victory. Easy Anyama, who is the brother of former Ragin Cajun Boris, was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week after recording two sacks, the second one wound up helping put the game away.
Georgia Southern Eagles:
Georgia Southern’s season has started out less than ideal after Jarrett Stidham and the Auburn Tigers dominated throughout on the way to a 41-7 victory. Redshirt freshman Shai Werts had a rough start to his collegiate career, going 4-of-8 for 8 yards, being sacked five times, and a pick.
Georgia Southern will return to action when they start their home slate against New Hampshire.
Arkansas State Red Wolves:
Last year was a strange year for the Red Wolves as they started out going 0-4 in non-conference before going through the Sun Belt like a buzzsaw. Arkansas State came up a little short in their game against Nebraska, falling 43-36. Taner Lee for the Red Wolves had a strong start to his season with 238 yards and two touchdowns in a losing effort.
The Red Wolves will head over to Jonesboro to host the University of Miami at 2:30 pm.
South Alabama Jaguars:
The Jaguars came up short last Saturday when they took on the Ole Miss Rebels with Shea Patterson tearing up the secondary with 429 yards and four touchdowns.
South Alabama will have a short week as they’ll be taking on Oklahoma State on Friday night at 7 pm.
-Clint Domingue