Sun Belt Conference Weekly News and Notes
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2011 SUN BELT CONFERENCE FOOTBALL ForFo Immediate Release: Monday, November 7, 2011 • Week 11 Contact: John McElwain ([email protected]) 601 Poydras Street, Suite 2355, New Orleans, Louisiana 70130 • www.sunbeltsports.org.org • 504.299.9066, ext. 215 2011 SUN BELT CONFERENCE FOOTBALL STANDINGS CONFERENCE RECORD OVERALL RECORD SUN BELT IN THE BCS The Sun Belt Conference is a BCS Conference. In W L For Opp Pct W L For Opp Pct fact, the Sun Belt Conference is one of just 11 BCS Arkansas State 5 0 160 92 1.000 7 2 282 178 .778 Conferences. The Sun Belt Conference champion Louisiana-Lafayette 6 1 238 189 .857 8 2 330 283 .800 will earn an automatic berth in a BCS bowl game WKU 5 1 161 119 .833 5 4 194 217 .556 if that team is ranked in the top 12 of the fi nal BCS standings or if that team is ranked in the top 16 of FIU 2 3 120 116 .400 5 4 215 191 .556 the fi nal BCS standings and its ranking is higher than North Texas 2 3 109 146 .400 3 6 180 297 .333 that of a champion of a conference that has an an- Middle Tennessee 1 3 126 133 .250 2 6 209 264 .250 nual automatic berth in one of the of BCS bowls. In Troy 1 3 85 127 .250 2 6 170 273 .250 the fi rst 10 years of the BCS arrangement, more than $100 million was distributed to conferences that do Louisiana-Monroe 1 4 141 139 .200 2 7 210 263 .222 not have an annual automatic berth to one of the Florida Atlantic 0 5 86 165 .000 0 8 103 280 .000 BCS bowls. Nine percent of the net revenues from the BCS arrangement is guaranteed in aggregate to UPCOMING GAMES RECENT RESULTS Conference USA, the Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt, and Western Athletic Conferences for their participation in the BCS arrangement. When a team November 12 October 25 * North Texas at Troy - 12 p.m. (Sun Belt Network) * FIU 23, Troy 20 (OT) - 7 p.m. (ESPN2) from one of those fi ve conferences plays in a BCS * Louisiana-Lafayette at Arkansas State - 2 p.m. (ESPN3) bowl game, those conferences receive an additional * Middle Tennessee at Louisiana-Monroe - 2:30 p.m. October 29 nine percent of net revenues. When more than one * Florida Atlantic at FIU - 5 p.m. * Western Kentucky 31, Louisiana-Monroe 28 (OT) - 2:30 p.m. team from those conferences play in a BCS bowl Western Kentucky at LSU - 6 p.m. (ESPNU) * Arkansas State 37, North Texas 14 - 6 p.m. game, those conferences will receive an additional * Louisiana-Lafayette 45, Middle Tennessee 20 - 6:30 p.m. November 19 (Sun Belt Network) $4.5 million for each additional team. * Arkansas State at Middle Tennessee - 2 p.m. (ESPN3) * Florida Atlantic at Troy - TBA November 5 SUN BELT FOOTBALL MEMBERSHIP * FIU at Louisiana-Monroe - TBA Navy 42, Troy 14 - 2:30 p.m. (CBS Sports Network) The Sun Belt Conference is currently comprised * Western Kentucky at North Texas - TBA * Louisiana-Lafayette 36, Louisiana-Monroe 35 - 2:30 of nine football playing members – Arkansas p.m. (Sun Belt Network) State (founding football member in 2001), Florida All times Central (CT) and subject to change * Western Kentucky 10, FIU 9 - 3 p.m. * denotes Sun Belt Conference game * Arkansas State 39, Florida Atlantic 21 - 3 p.m. Atlantic (joined league as football member in 2005), TV carrier in parenthesis Tennessee 24, Middle Tennessee 0 - 6 p.m. FIU (joined league as football member in 2005), Louisiana-Lafayette (founding football member in 2001), Louisiana-Monroe (founding football member in 2001), Middle Tennessee (founding football mem- ber in 2001), North Texas (founding football member in 2001), Troy (joined league as football member in 2004) and Western Kentucky University (joined league as football member in 2009). The league will expand to 10 football playing members when South Alabama enters in 2012. ASU, ULL , WKU CONTINUE WINNING WAYS; RED WOLVES-CAJUNS SET FOR SHOWDOWN In dramatic style, Louisiana-Lafayette won its The showdown of the Red Wolves and Cajuns league leading eighth game of the season after is set for Saturday with an ESPN3 broadcast. trailing by 11 points with just over three minutes WKU, meanwhile, rattled off its fi fth consecu- remaining against Louisiana-Monroe. tive win of the season by defeating FIU on a last The Cajuns became just the 11th team in the second Casey Tinius fi eld goal. WKU senior run- 11 year history of the Sun Belt Conference to reach ning back Bobby Rainey became just the second the eight win plateau. The Cajuns are also now Hilltopper ever – and third player in Sun Belt just one of 14 teams nationally to have already Conference history – to rush for 4,000 career yards. reached eight wins on the season. His 155 rushing yards against FIU on Saturday Not to be outdone, Arkansas State remained moved him to 4,016 for his career, and pushed him perfect in Sun Belt Conference play by advancing past current WKU head coach Willie Taggart into to 5-0 in league play and moving to 7-2 overall on second on the school career list. He needs 381 the season with its win over Florida Atlantic. yards to become WKU’s career rushing leader. 1 - WWW.SUNBELTSPORTS.ORG 2011 SUN BELT CONFERENCE FOOTBALL SUN BELT CONFERENCE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Ryan Aplin (Arkansas State, Jr., QB) Junior quarterback Ryan Aplin accounted for fi ve touchdowns in leading ASU to a 39-21 victory on the road at FAU Saturday. Aplin rushed for 49 yards and four touchdowns and completed 24-of-37 passes for 244 yards and another score. His four rushing touchdowns are the most for any player in the Sun Belt this season and his fi ve overall touchdowns are tied for the most. Aplin completed passes to eight diff erent receivers in the game and his 244 yards passing pushed him over the 6,000-yard mark for his career, making him just the third ASU quarterback to reach the milestone. Ranked fi rst in the Sun Belt Conference and 12th nationally at 313 yards per game, Aplin led the ASU off ense to 429 yards of total off ense against the Owls. Aplin helped the Off ensive ASU off ense reach at least 300 yards for the 20th time in its last 20 games, and has the Red Wolves ranked fi rst Player of the Week (November 7) in total off ense in the league. Devon Lewis-Buchanan (Louisiana-Lafayette, Sr., LB) Lewis-Buchanan had a career-high 12 tackles including 11 solo tackles in the 36-35 win over Louisiana-Mon- roe. He also had 3.0 tackles-for-loss and pass break up in the win. Lewis-Buchanan stepped up his play in the second half posting eight tackles and 2.0 TFL. Defensive Player of the Week (November 7) Brett Baer (Louisiana-Lafayette, Jr., K) With the Cajuns trailing 35-24 to Louisiana-Monroe with 3:08 remaining in the contest, everyone knew ULL would have to score a quick touchdown and convert on the onside kick. Brett Baer and the Cajuns did just that as Baer executed the onside kick to perfection allowing Ladarius Green to recover the kick at the ULM 39 to set up the game-winning score. Baer also posted his fi fth kick of 40-plus yards after drilling a 41-yard fi eld goal in the second quarter to give the Ragin’ Cajuns a 24-14 lead going into the half, while also serving as the team’s punter for the 10th consecutive contest. Special Teams Player of the Week (November 7) Off ensive Player of the Week Defensive Player of the Week Special Teams Player of the Week Sept. 5: T.Y. Hilton (FIU, Sr., WR) Sept. 5: Eric Russell (Middle Tennessee, Sr., DB) Sept. 5: Hendrix Brakefi eld (WKU, So., P) Sept. 12: T.Y. Hilton (FIU, Sr., WR) Sept. 12: Winston Fraser (FIU, R-Jr., LB) Sept. 12: Brelan Chancellor (North Texas, So., KR) Sept. 19: Corey Robinson (Troy, So., QB) Sept. 19: LaDarrius Madden (Troy, Sr., DB) and Sept. 19: Melvin White (Louisiana-Lafayette, Sr., DB) Sept. 26: Blaine Gautier (Louisiana-Lafayette, QB) Isame Faciane (FIU, So., DT) Sept. 26: Brian David (Arkansas State, So., K) Oct. 3: Ryan Aplin (Arkansas State, Jr., QB) Sept. 26: Chris Pickett (Troy, So., DB) Oct. 3: Brett Baer (Louisiana-Lafayette, K/P) Oct. 10: Chris Masson (Louisiana-Lafayette, Sr., QB) Oct. 3: Lance Kelley (Louisiana-Lafayette, LB) Oct. 10: Don Jones (Arkansas State, Jr.) Oct. 17: Kolton Browning (Louisiana-Monroe, So., QB) Oct. 10: Kelcie McCray (Arkansas State, Sr., DB) Oct. 17: Mitchell Bailey (Louisiana-Monroe, Jr., RB) Oct. 24: Bobby Rainey (Western Kentucky, Sr., RB) Oct. 17: Lance Kelly (Louisiana-Lafayette, So., LB) Oct. 24: Luther Ambrose (Louisiana-Monroe, Sr., WR/KR) Oct. 31: Alonzo Harris (Louisiana-Lafayette, Fr., RB) Oct. 24: Eric Russell (Middle Tennessee, Sr., DB) Oct. 31: Jack Griffi n (FIU, Jr., K) Nov. 7: Ryan Aplin (Arkansas State, Jr., QB) Oct. 31: Melvin White (Louisiana-Lafayette, Sr., DB) Nov. 7: Brett Baer (Louisiana-Lafayette, Jr., K) Nov. 14: Nov. 7: Devon Lewis-Buchanan (Louisiana-Lafayette, Sr., LB) Nov. 14: Nov. 21: Nov. 14: Nov. 21: Nov. 28: Nov. 21: Nov. 28: Dec. 5: Nov. 28: Dec. 5: Dec. 5: 2 - WWW.SUNBELTSPORTS.ORG 2011 SUN BELT CONFERENCE FOOTBALL AROUND THE SUN BELT CONFERENCE SUN BELT CONFERENCE BOWL PARTNERS The Sun Belt Conference is currently in the second year of four year partnerships with the GoDaddy.com Sun Belt Conference Bowl and the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.