Welcome everyone to another edition of Around the Sun Belt! It was a wild one for a couple of teams in Sun Belt matchups and one coach appears to be on the hot seat four games into the 2017 season.
Appalachian State Mountaineers:
Appalachian State had a scare early in the fourth quarter when Larry Rose III gave the Aggies a 24-17 lead. It didn’t last long though as the Mountaineers put up 21 unanswered points in the final seven minutes to come away with a 45-31 win over New Mexico State.
App State will return to action this Saturday when they head over to Moscow, Idaho to take on the Vandals with kickoff at 4 pm.
Arkansas State Red Wolves:
Arkansas State opened up conference play on the right foot with a convincing 43-25 victory over Georgia Southern. Justice Hansen wound up dominating the game offensively with 316 yards through the air and four touchdowns.
The Red Wolves will return to action in Jonesboro against Coastal Carolina with kickoff set for 6 pm.
Coastal Carolina Chanticleers:
The Chanticleers are still looking for their first Sun Belt Conference win after falling short against Georgia Southern by the score of 27-21. Coastal Carolina got within one possession after Tyler Keane connected with Collins. However, the Panthers recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal the victory.
Coastal Carolina will return to action when they take on Arkansas State at 6 pm.
Georgia State Panthers:
The Panthers got the 27-21 victory and got off to a great start with Glenn Smith returning the opening kickoff 90 yards to make it 7-0. Smith also had 74 yards on the ground in the win.
Georgia State will head down to Monroe this Saturday to take on the Warhawks at 4 pm.
Georgia Southern Eagles:
Georgia Southern is still looking for their first win of the 2017 campaign after falling to Arkansas State last Wednesday. Shai Werts had some solid numbers with 112 yards on the ground and 160 through the air, but also ended up with two interceptions on the evening.
Georgia Southern will return to Statesboro this weekend for a game against New Mexico State with kickoff set for 5 pm.
Idaho Vandals:
Idaho was stifled on a fourth down late by the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns defense in a 21-16 loss. The defense was able to make it a competitive game with seven sacks on the afternoon.
The Vandals will stay in Moscow to take on Appalachian State with kickoff at 4 pm.
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 head over to Statesboro on Saturday to take on Georgia Southern at 5 pm.
South Alabama Jaguars:
South Alabama had last weekend off as they get ready for a Wednesday night matchup against the Troy Trojans. Kickoff is set for 7 pm.
Texas State Bobcats:
The Bobcats are still looking for a Sun Belt Conference win after getting embarrassed in San Marcos by UL Monroe 45-27. Texas State will head over to Cajun Field this Thursday for a matchup against the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns with kickoff set for 6:30 pm.
Troy Trojans:
The Trojans had last weekend off as they get ready for a nationally televised game on Wednesday night against South Alabama. Kickoff is set for 7 pm.
UL Monroe Warhawks:
The Warhawks not only got a big win over Texas State to improve to 3-0 in conference play, but Caleb Evans had another strong performance. Evans racked up 433 yards and three touchdowns through the air on the evening.
UL Monroe will host Georgia State this Saturday with kickoff set for 4 pm.
-Clint Domingue