2019 Sun Belt Football
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2019 Sun Belt Football Mercedes-Benz Superdome For Immediate Release • Week 11 • November 5, 2019 1500 Sugar Bowl Drive • New Orleans, LA 70112 Contacts: Keith Nunez ([email protected]) SunBeltSports.org • @SunBelt • #SunBeltFB Scottie Rodgers ([email protected]) Appalachian State • Arkansas State • Coastal Carolina • Georgia Southern • Georgia State Louisiana • ULM • South Alabama • Texas State • Troy STANDINGS Conference Overall EAST DIVISION W-L Pct For Opp W-L Pct For Opp Home Away Neutral Streak Appalachian State 4-1 .800 176 78 7-1 .875 308 157 4-1 3-0 0-0 Lost 1 Georgia State 3-1 .750 169 129 6-2 .750 293 279 4-0 2-2 0-0 Won 4 Georgia Southern 3-1 .750 98 102 5-3 .625 200 217 3-1 2-2 0-0 Won 4 Coastal Carolina 1-3 .250 121 152 4-4 .500 264 224 2-2 2-2 0-0 Won 1 Troy 1-3 .250 148 151 3-5 .375 278 261 2-2 1-3 0-0 Lost 2 WEST DIVISION W-L Pct For Opp W-L Pct For Opp Home Away Neutral Streak Louisiana 3-1 .750 112 64 6-2 .750 297 147 3-2 3-0 0-0 Won 2 Arkansas State 3-2 .600 194 187 5-4 .556 308 324 2-2 3-2 0-0 Won 2 ULM 2-2 .500 102 131 3-5 .375 230 309 2-2 1-3 0-0 Lost 2 Texas State 1-3 .250 68 127 2-6 .250 130 241 2-2 0-4 0-0 Lost 3 South Alabama 0-4 .000 50 117 1-7 .125 117 243 1-3 0-4 0-0 Lost 6 THIS WEEK’S SCHEDULE AROUND #SUNBELTFB Thursday, November 7 • Sun Belt Conference football moves into the final stretch of the regular season with five matchups *Louisiana at Coastal Carolina 6:30 p.m. on the schedule, beginning with another Thursday night clash on ESPNU. All five Week 11 contests are Broadcast: ESPNU set for live coverage on the ESPN family of networks. Series: Coastal Carolina leads, 1-0 • The Sun Belt boasts three bowl-eligible teams in Appalachian State (7-1, 4-1 Sun Belt), Georgia State Last Meeting: Coastal Carolina, 30-28 (2018) (6-2, 3-1) and Louisiana (6-2, 3-1) with Arkansas State (5-4, 3-2) and Georgia Southern (5-3, 3-1) just one win away. The Mountaineers are bowl eligible for the fifth-straight season, while the Panthers are Saturday, November 9 bowl eligible for the third time in five seasons and the Ragin' Cajuns are bowl eligible for the second- *South Alabama at Texas State 2 p.m. straight season. Broadcast: ESPN3 • The Sun Belt has recorded three wins against Autonomy Five conference opponents in the same Series: Tied, 2-2 season for the first time in conference history: Last Meeting: South Alabama, 41-31 (2018) - Georgia State’s win at Tennessee was its first over a Southeastern Conference opponent and first *Georgia Southern at Troy 2:30 p.m. against an Autonomy Five opponent in the program’s 10-year history. Broadcast: ESPN+ - Coastal Carolina’s win at Kansas was its first over a Big 12 Conference opponent and first in eight Series: Troy leads, 12-6 tries against an Autonomy Five opponent in the program’s 17-year history. Last Meeting: Troy, 35-21 (2018) - Appalachian State's win at North Carolina was its first win against an Autonomy Five opponent *Georgia State at ULM 4 p.m. since the victory at Michigan in 2007 when the Mountaineers were an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision program. Broadcast: ESPN+ Series: Tied, 2-2 • Appalachian State's win at North Carolina on Sept. 21 marked the conference’s 11th win over an Last Meeting: Georgia State, 46-14 (2018) Autonomy Five opponent in the last 10 seasons (2011-19). Nine of the league’s 11 Autonomy Five wins during that span have been on the road. Appalachian State at South Carolina 6 p.m. • As a part of ESPN's yearlong initiative marking 150 years of college football, a panel of 150 media Broadcast: ESPN2 members, athletics administrators and former players and coaches selected Appalachian State's 2007 Series: South Carolina leads, 8-1 win at fifth-ranked Michigan as the No. 3 greatest college football game behind Nebraska's 35-31 win Last Meeting: South Carolina, 35-9 (1988) on Nov. 25, 1971, and Miami (Fla.)'s 31-30 win over Nebraska in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 2, 1984. *Sun Belt Conference contest All Times Central and Subject to Change 2019 SUN BELT FOOTBALL WEEK 11 AROUND #SUNBELTFB WEEKLY AWARDS - NOVEMBER 4 • The Sun Belt's all-time wins against Autonomy Five conference opponents: OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Wesley Kennedy III • Georgia Southern • Jr. • RB 2001 – Middle Tennessee 37, Vanderbilt 28 (Nashville, Tenn.) Georgia Southern junior running back Wesley Kennedy III shined on the national stage as the 2002 – Middle Tennessee 21, Vanderbilt 20 (Nashville, Tenn.) Eagles upset then-No. 20 Appalachian State Kennedy 2003 – North Texas 52, Baylor 14 (Denton, Texas) carried the ball 13 times for a career-high 145 yards 2004 – Troy 24, Missouri (Troy, Ala.) and two touchdowns. The second score was a 68-yard 2005 – Middle Tennessee 17, Vanderbilt 15 (Nashville, Tenn.) run to open the second half. 2007 – ULM 21, Alabama 14 (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) 2008 – Arkansas State 18, Texas A&M 14 (College Station, Texas) and DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Middle Tennessee 24, Maryland 14 (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) Darreon Jackson • Arkansas State • Sr. • DB 2009 – Louisiana 17, Kansas State 15 (Lafayette, La.) and Arkansas State senior defensive back Darreon Middle Tennessee 32, Maryland 31 (College Park, Md.) Jackson recorded a career-high 17 tackles, including 2011 – North Texas 24, Indiana 21 (Denton, Texas) 1.5 tackles for loss, to help lead the Red Wolves to a 2012 – ULM 34, No. 6 Arkansas 31 [ot] (Monroe, La.) and road victory at ULM. Jackson put up the third-most Western Kentucky 32, Kentucky 31 [ot] (Lexington, Ky.) tackles in a game this season by a Sun Belt player, 2013 – ULM 21, Wake Forest 19 (Winston-Salem, N.C.) while his total was the most by an Arkansas State 2014 – ULM 17, Wake Forest 10 (Monroe, La.) player since Nathan Herrold had 17 stops against 2016 – South Alabama 21, Mississippi State 20 (Starkville, Miss.) South Alabama in 2012. 2017 – Troy 24, No. 25 LSU 21 (Baton Rouge, La.) 2018 – Troy 24, Nebraska 19 (Lincoln, Neb.) SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK 2019 – Georgia State 38, Tennessee 30 (Knoxville, Tenn.), Coastal Carolina 12, Kansas 7 Blake Grupe • Arkansas State • So. • PK (Lawrence, Kan.) and Appalachian State 34, North Carolina 31 (Chapel Hill, N.C.) Arkansas State sophomore placekicker Blake Grupe made both of his field goal attempts and scored 12 points in the Red Wolves' road win at ULM. Grupe • The Sun Belt is building on its non-conference success from a year ago with 21 wins and connected on attempts from 43 and 31 yards out and the third-best winning percentage among the Group of Five conferences so far this season. was a perfect 6-of-6 on extra point attempts to finish one point shy of his career-high total. W L Pct. 1. American 33 13 .717 WEEKLY AWARDS WINNERS 2. Mountain West 29 18 .617 3. Sun Belt 21 18 .538 OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK 4. Conference USA 22 31 .415 Sept. 2 ................................................................Dan Ellington, Georgia State 5. Mid-American 18 30 .375 Sept. 9..............................................Darrynton Evans, Appalachian State Sept. 16 ...................................................................................... Kaleb Barker, Troy Sept. 23 ......................................................................Elijah Mitchell, Louisiana • Appalachian State reached monumental milestones this season, receiving the Sept. 30 ..........................................................Omar Bayless, Arkansas State highest NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision rankings in school and conference history. The Oct. 7 ..................................................................Dan Ellington, Georgia State Mountaineers ascended to ranking 20th in both the Associated Press and Amway Coaches Oct. 14 ........................................................ Zac Thomas, Appalachian State powered by USA Today Sports Top 25 polls on Oct. 27. Appalachian State was also ranked in Oct. 21 ....................................................................Raymond Calais, Louisiana the Oct. 13 (24th in the AP and Coaches) and Oct. 20 (21st in the AP and 22nd in the Coaches) Oct. 28 .....................................................................Tra Barnett, Georgia State Nov. 4 ...........................................Wesley Kennedy III, Georgia Southern polls. The Mountaineers have received votes in 14 straight weeks of the AP Top 25 dating Nov. 11 .................................................................................................................................... back to last year. Nov. 18................................................................................................................................... Nov. 25 .................................................................................................................................. • Also among its list of firsts this season, Appalachian State is the first Sun Belt school to: Dec. 2 .................................................................................................................................... DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Be nationally ranked on multiple occasions. Sept. 2 ................................................................................... Carlton Martial, Troy - Receive a Top 25 ranking in three consecutive weeks. Sept. 9....................................................... Chandler Kryst, Coastal Carolina - Earn multiple wins as a Top 25 team. Sept. 16 ...................................................... Rashad Byrd, Georgia Southern Sept. 23 ..........................................Demetrius Taylor, Appalachian State • According