Aug. 31, 2006 Sun Belt Conference • 601 Poydras St. • Suite 2355 • New Orleans, LA 70130 • Phone: (504) 299-9066 • Website: www.sunbeltsports.org Sun Belt Football Contact: John McElwain • Phone: (504) 299-9066 ex. 218 • E-mail: [email protected] • Fax: (504) 299-9068 2006 Sun Belt Conference Football Standings Conference Overall W-L Pct. Pts. Opp. Streak W-L Pct. Pts. Opp. Home Away Streak Middle Tennessee 1-0 1.00 7 6 W1 1-0 1.00 7 6 1-0 0-0 W1 Louisiana-Monroe 0-0 .000 0 0 - 1-0 1.00 24 6 1-0 0-0 W1 Arkansas State 0-0 .000 0 0 - 0-0 .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 - Florida Atlantic 0-0 .000 0 0 - 0-0 .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 - Louisiana-Lafayette 0-0 .000 0 0 - 0-0 .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 - North Texas 0-0 .000 0 0 - 0-0 .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 - Troy 0-0 .000 0 0 - 0-0 .000 0 0 0-0 0-0 - Florida International 0-1 .000 6 7 L1 0-1 .000 6 7 0-0 0-1 L1 Recent Results 2006 Preseason Sun Belt Poll As voted on by the league’s eight head coaches. First place votes in parentheses. August 31 School Points Middle Tennessee 7, Florida International 6 1. Louisiana-Lafayette (3) 58 2. Arkansas State (2) 50 Louisiana-Monroe 24, Alcorn State 6 3. Troy (2) 48 4. North Texas 37 5. Louisiana-Monroe (1) 31 Upcoming Games 6. Middle Tennessee 29 7. Florida Atlantic 19 8. Florida International 16 September 2 2006 Preseason All-Sun Belt Team North Texas at Texas (Fox Sports Network) 11 a.m. As voted on by the league’s eight head coaches and selected media members. Florida Atlantic at Clemson (ESPNU) 2:30 p.m. Offense QB: Jerry Babb, Louisiana-Lafayette Alabama State at Troy 6 p.m. RB: Tyrell Fenroy, Louisiana-Lafayette RB: Jamario Thomas, North Texas Army at Arkansas State 6:05 p.m. WR: Chandler Williams, Florida International Louisiana-Lafayette at Louisiana State (Cox Sports) 7 p.m. WR: Johnny Quinn, North Texas TE: Samuel Smith, Florida International OL: Tanner Jenkins, Arkansas State OL: Brandon Cox, Louisiana-Lafayette September 9 OL: Kyle Cunningham, Louisiana-Monroe OL: Germayle Franklin, Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee at Maryland 5 p.m. OL: Dylan Lineberry, North Texas Louisiana-Monroe at Kansas 6 p.m. Defense DL: Jervonte Jackson, Florida Atlantic Florida International at South Florida (ESPN360) 6 p.m. DL: Antwan Barnes, Florida International DL: Tony Hills, Louisiana-Lafayette Louisiana-Lafayette at Texas A&M 6 p.m. DL: Jeremiah Chapman, North Texas LB: Keyonvis Bouie, Florida International Southern Methodist at North Texas 6 p.m. LB: J.K. Sabb, Middle Tennessee Troy at Florida State (Fox Sports Network) 6 p.m. LB: Phillip Graves, North Texas DB: Tyrell Johnson, Arkansas State ^ Oklahoma State at Arkansas State (ESPNU) 6:05 p.m. DB: Kevin Payne, Louisiana-Monroe DB: Chaz Williams, Louisiana-Monroe Florida Atlantic at Kansas State 6:10 p.m. DB: Aaron Weathers, North Texas Special Teams P: Colby Smith, Middle Tennessee All times central and subject to change PK: Greg Whibbs, Troy RS: Leodis McKelvin, Troy TV carrier in parenthesis Preseason Offensive Player of the Year * -- Sun Belt Conference game Jerry Babb, Louisiana-Lafayette ^ -- Game to be played in Little Rock, Ark. Preseason Defensive Player of the Year Keyonvis Bouie, Florida International USA Today Coaches Poll Sun Belt Conference Notes (Preseason) Team Record Points LW Majority of Top Players Return 1. Ohio State (28) 0-0 1,487 4 2. Texas (11) 0-0 1,378 1 Of the 44 position players who were named either fi rst-team or second-team all Sun 3. Notre Dame (9) 0-0 1,348 11 Belt Conference in 2005, 26 will return to the fi eld in 2006. Nine of the 22 position 3. Southern Cal (1) 0-0 1,348 2 5. Oklahoma (13) 0-0 1,320 22 players who earned fi rst-team all-conference honors were underclassmen in 2005 (7 6. Auburn (1) 0-0 1,206 14 7. West Virginia 0-0 1,202 6 juniors/2 sophomores), while 17 of the 22 position players who earned second-team 8. Florida 0-0 1,054 16 all-conference honors were underclassmen a year ago (11 juniors/4 sophomores/2 9. LSU 0-0 1,037 5 10. Florida State 0-0 874 23 freshmen). Florida International returns a league high six players who earned fi rst 11. Miami (Fla.) 0-0 839 18 or second-team all-league honors in 2005, while North Texas returns fi ve. 12. California 0-0 798 25 13. Louisville 0-0 785 20 14. Georgia 0-0 784 10 Coaching Stability 15. Michigan 0-0 778 NR 16. Virginia Tech 0-0 591 7 Seven of the eight Sun Belt Conference schools have had their current head coach 17. Iowa 0-0 519 NR at the program’s helm since at least 2003. Only Middle Tennessee, who hired Rick 18. Clemson 0-0 493 21 19. Penn State 0-0 406 3 Stockstill following the 2005 season, has made a head coaching change in the last 20. Oregon 0-0 373 12 21. TCU 0-0 270 9 three years. Larry Blakeney, entering his 16th season as Troy’s head coach in 2006, 22. Nebraska 0-0 261 24 is the dean of Sun Belt coaches. 23. Tennessee 0-0 216 NR 24. Alabama 0-0 210 8 25. Texas Tech 0-0 198 19 Arkansas State Nearing Milestone ORV: Arizona State (7-5) 182; Boston College (9-3) 87; Utah (7-5) Arkansas State needs nine wins to reach 400 total victories for the football pro- 84; Arkansas (4-7) 64; South Carolina (7-5) 55; Boise State (9-4) gram. The program’s 391st win, a 31-24 win at North Texas on November 26, 2005, 46; Wisconsin (10-3) 37; UCLA (10-2) 29; Georgia Tech (7-5) 28; Fresno State (8-5) 14; Tulsa (9-4) 11; Iowa State (7-5) 9; Minnesota clinched the school’s fi rst appearance in the New Orleans Bowl. The Indians will (7-5) 9; Maryland (5-6) 8; Purdue (5-6) 7; Texas A&M (5-6) 6; become the fi fth Sun Belt School with 400+ wins. Memphis (7-5) 5; Texas-El Paso (8-4) 3; Arizona (3-8) 2; Brigham Young (6-6) 2; Nevada (9-3) 2; Northern Illinois (7-5) 2; North- western (7-5) 2; Oregon State (5-6) 2; Rutgers (7-5) 2; Colorado Sun Belt Tops Nation in Davey O’Brien Watch List Candidates (7-6) 1; Duke (1-10) 1. Florida International’s Josh Padrick, Middle Tennessee’s Clint Marks, Louisiana- Associated Press Poll Lafayette’s Jerry Babb, and Troy’s Omar Haugabook were among the 34 candidates (Preseason) on the preseason list for the nation’s best quarterback. The Sun Belt Conference Team Record Points LW had more candidates on the list than any other conference aside from the Mountain 1. Ohio State (35) 0-0 1,558 4 2. Notre Dame (10) 0-0 1,470 9 West Conference, which also placed four on the list. 3. Texas (8) 0-0 1,411 1 4. Auburn (3) 0-0 1,395 14 5. West Virginia (6) 0-0 1,354 5 Ragin’ Cajuns Pound the Rock 6. USC (3) 0-0 1,345 2 7. Florida 0-0 1,178 12 Louisiana-Lafayette ranked 6th in the nation in rushing in 2005 with 254.3 yards per 8. LSU 0-0 1,144 6 game. The Ragin Cajuns return their starting running back Tyrell Fenroy, starting 9. California 0-0 975 25 10. Oklahoma 0-0 960 22 quarterback Jerry Babb, and three starting offensive linemen (LT-Jesse Newman, 11. Florida State 0-0 949 23 LG-Tim Falter, RT-Brandon Cox) in 2006. Among freshmen running backs in 2005, 12. Miami (FL) 0-0 893 17 13. Louisville 0-0 844 19 Fenroy ranked 3rd in the nation in rushing touchdowns (12) and 4th in rushing 14. Michigan 0-0 824 NR yards (1,053). Fenroy had 96 carries for 569 yards and 10 touchdowns in his last 15. Georgia 0-0 743 10 16. Iowa 0-0 720 NR four games, all 100-yard performances and Cajun victories. 17. Virginia Tech 0-0 614 7 18. Clemson 0-0 479 21 19. Penn State 0-0 386 3 Awards Candidates 20. Nebraska 0-0 332 24 21. Oregon 0-0 324 12 Keyonvis Bouie, Florida International – Dick Butkus, Walter Camp, Rotary Lom- 22. TCU 0-0 257 11 bardi, Bronko Nagurski; Jamario Thomas, North Texas – Maxwell, Doak Walker; 23. Tennessee 0-0 215 NR 24. Arizona State 0-0 182 NR Gregg Whibbs, Troy – Lou Groza; Tanner Jenkins, Arkansas State – Outland, 25. Texas Tech 0-0 181 20 Rimington, Rotary Lombardi; Samuel Smith, Florida International - John Mackey; ORV: Alabama 141, Utah 52, Boston College 41, Georgia Tech Phillip Graves, North Texas - Dick Butkus; J.K. Sabb, Middle Tennessee - Dick 39, Boise State 23, Arkansas 18, Wisconsin 18, South Carolina 15, Butkus; Antwan Barnes, Florida International - Rotary Lombardi; Jerry Babb, Tulsa 11, Texas A&M 10, UTEP 4, Purdue 4, Brigham Young 4, Iowa State 3, Northern Illinois 3, Mississippi 3, Michigan State 2, Louisiana-Lafayette - Davey O’Brien; Clint Marks, Middle Tennessee - Davey Arizona 1.