Nov. 14 * Arkansas State at Florida Atlantic - 3 p.m. * WKU at ULM - 3 p.m. * ULL at Middle Tennessee (Sun Belt Network) - 3:15 p.m. * North Texas at FIU - 6 p.m. Troy at Arkansas - 6:30 p.m. (CSS)
Nov. 21 FIU at Florida - 11:30 a.m. Army at North Texas (KTXA) - 3 p.m. * Florida Atlantic at Troy (Sun Belt Network) - 3:15 p.m. * Arkansas St. at Middle Tennessee - 3:30 p.m. (ESPN360) * ULM at Louisiana-Lafayette - 6 p.m.
Sun Belt Conference News & Notes
Sun Belt Attendance on the Rise Teams from the Sun Belt Conference helped the league to a new all-time single season attendance record for both overall and per game average attendance last year. Last season's numbers were also the largest increase in average in all of the Football Bowl Subdivision. The league also averaged nearly 2,000 more fans per game than the Mid-American Conference.
Sun Belt in the BCS The Sun Belt Conference is a BCS Conference. In fact, the Sun Belt Conference is one of just 11 BCS Conferences. The Sun Belt Conference champion will earn an automatic berth in a BCS bowl game if that team is ranked in the top 12 of the final BCS standings or if that team is ranked in the top 16 of the final BCS standings and its ranking is higher than that of a champion of a conference that has an annual automatic berth in one of the of BCS bowls. In the first 10 years of the BCS arrangement, more than $100 million was distributed to conferences that do not have an annual automatic berth to one of the BCS bowls. In 2009, nine percent of the net revenues from the BCS arrangement (approximately $9.5 million) is guaranteed in aggregate to Conference USA, the Mid-American, Mountain West, Sun Belt, and Western Athletic Conferences for their participation in the BCS arrangement. When a team from one of those five conferences plays in BCS bowl game, those conferences receive an additional nine percent of net revenues. When more than one team from those conferences play in a BCS bowl game, those conferences will receive an additional $4.5 million for each additional team.
Sun Belt Football Membership The Sun Belt Conference is currently comprised of nine football playing members - Arkansas State (founding football member in 2001), Florida Atlantic (joined league as football member in 2005), FIU (joined league as football member in 2005), Louisiana-Lafayette (founding football member in 2001), ULM (founding football member in 2001), Middle Tennessee (founding football member in 2001), North Texas (founding football member in 2001), Troy (joined league as football member in 2004) and Western Kentucky University (will begin full competition in 2009) The league will expand to 10 football playing members when South Alabama enters in 2012.
Sun Belt Boasts Winning Bowl Record in Last Three Seasons Over the last three seasons the Sun Belt Conference has represented itself well in the postseason. In fact the Sun Belt Conference boasts a winning record of 3-2 in its five bowl appearances in the last three seasons.
2006 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl - Troy 41, Rice 17 2006 Motor City Bowl - Central Michigan 31, Middle Tennessee 14 2007 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl - Florida Atlantic 44, Memphis 17 2008 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl - Southern Miss 30, Troy 27 (OT) 2008 Motor City Bowl - Florida Atlantic 24, Central Michigan 21
Sun Belt Ties Conference Mark for Bowl Eligible Teams A record tying number of teams reached bowl eligibility last season when four teams (Troy, Florida Atlantic, Arkansas State, and Louisiana-Lafayette) reached the six-win plateau to become eligible for a postseason bid. In 2006 the Sun Belt also had four bowl eligible teams (Troy, Middle Tennessee, Louisiana-Lafayette, and Arkansas State) and two of those teams were selected to bowl games. 2008 also marked the first time that a 6-6 Sun Belt team (Florida Atlantic) was selected for a postseason bowl game.
Sun Belt Sends Two to Bowls For the third time in the Sun Belt Conference's brief eight year history of football the league sent multiple teams to postseason bowl games in 2008. Outright league champion Troy represented the league in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. It was the Trojans second trip to that bowl game, having played in the Superdome in 2006 as well. Troy has played in three bowl games since joining the Sun Belt in 2004. In their inaugural season in 2004 the Trojans played in the Silicon Valley Football Classic. Joining Troy in the postseason was Florida Atlantic, which rolled to a victory over Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl. The Owls made their second postseason appearance in as many years, having defeated Memphis in the 2007 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. The two other seasons the Sun Belt sent two teams to bowl games were 2006 (Troy - R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, Middle Tennessee - Motor City Bowl) and 2004 (North Texas - R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, Troy - Silicon Valley Football Classic).
Notable Wins Bolster Sun Belt Conference By playing at the highest level of collegiate football - the Football Bowl Subdivision and the Bowl Championship Series - Sun Belt Conference teams continue to face noted big name programs. Sun Belt teams don't just compete though - teams from the SBC are consistently notching wins in these contests. In the opening week of the season last year, Arkansas State defeated Texas A&M which snapped the Aggies' 20-game winning streak in home openers and handed them just their fourth loss over their last 50 non-conference home games. The next week Middle Tennessee won its first-ever home game against a team from a BCS guaranteed conference with the win over Maryland. In previous season teams from the Sun Belt have taken down powers such as Alabama, Missouri, Minnesota, and Oklahoma State.
Sun Belt Conference Sweeps Mid-American Conference in 2008 Season A year after finishing ahead of the Mid-American Conference in the USA Today Sagarin Ratings, the Sun Belt Conference took advantage of its opportunities against teams from the MAC in 2008. Louisiana-Lafayette defeated Kent State 44-27 on September 13 and FIU took a 35-16 win at Toledo on September 27. To cap off a perfect season against the MAC, Florida Atlantic defeated Central Michigan 24-21 in the Motor City Bowl.
Sun Belt Conference Bowl Partners In addition to the Sun Belt Conference's tie-in with the BCS, the league has been a proud and successful partner with the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl since its inception in 2001. A team from the Sun Belt Conference will play a Conference USA opponent on December 20th in the Louisiana Superdome in that game. Additionally, teams from the Sun Belt Conference can be selected to play in the Papjohns.com Bowl, St. Petersburg Bowl, and Independence Bowl if the primary contracted partners are unable to fulfill their obligations to those bowl games.
Florida Atlantic Takes Back-to-Back Bowl Wins Florida Atlantic became the first team to win bowl games in back-to-back seasons since the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. The Owls defeated Central Michigan 24-21 in the 2008 Motor City Bowl and defeated Memphis in the 2007 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl for the front end of the achievement.
Sun Belt Conference and ESPN Agree to New Deal A new agreement with ESPN will give the Sun Belt Conference's rising football league a minimum of two games on either ESPN or ESPN2 each season. Additionally, ESPN Regional Television will have the right to produced, distribute and syndicate up to five football games each year. ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU, the 24-hour college sports network, will also be granted additional opportunities to select games to air. This trio of networks will be granted a 12 day rolling window during the season to select additional games to televise. Games available for selection are after the third Saturday of the season. This provides the Sun Belt Conference additional opportunities for exposure previously not available.
Five Trojans Named to Lombardi Watch List Oklahoma, Florida, and Troy. How is that for a 1, 2, 3 ranking? When the 40th annual Rotary Lombardi Award Watch List was announced this preseason that is exactly how teams in the FBS ranked based on the number of players on the list. Five members of the Troy squad were listed and only Oklahoma (7) and Florida (6) had more players on the list, which included 153 players from 79 teams and 11 conferences. The five Trojans on the list are senior defensive ends Brandon Lang and Cameron Sheffield, senior linebackers Boris Lee and Bear Woods and senior center Danny Franks.
Arnold Takes Aim at Joining Elite List Arkansas State's Reggie Arnold enters his senior campaign as the nation's third leading rusher among active players with a career total of 3,210 yards. Arnold can also become just the eighth player in NCAA history to post four consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons if he can surpass the mark again in 2009. Tyrell Fenroy, Tony Dorsett, Amos Lawrence, Denvis Manns, Ron Dayne, Cedric Benson and DonTrell Moore are the only players in NCAA history with four 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
Blakeney a Hall of Famer Larry Blakeney entered his 40th year as a football coach this fall as he leads the Troy University Trojans onto the field. But the veteran coach added to his list of accomplishments this offseason as he was named to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. Joining Blakeney in the class of 2009 are Steve Bolt, Tommy Brooker, Jimmy Key, Janelle Godfrey, Charley Hannah, Lee May and John Mitchell. The class will bring the total number of members of the Hall of Fame to 281, a list that includes five of the top 15 all-time athletes, according to ESPN.
Sun Belt Conference Alumni In the 2008 NFL Draft the Buffalo Bills selected three time All-Sun Belt Conference performer Leodis McKelvin from Troy with the 11th overall pick in the first round of the Draft. McKelvin signed a five-year, $19.4 million contract with the Bills with up to $12.6 million in bonuses. McKelvin, a defensive back and explosive kick returner, was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for November 2008. In the five November games, McKelvin compiled five tackles, three pass breakups, two interceptions including one that he returned 64 yards for a touchdown in a win at Kansas City. McKelvin also exploded onto the national stage as a premier kick returner taking one back for a 98-yard touchdown in the Monday Night Football game against Cleveland.
2007 Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year Tyrell Johnson from Arkansas State was drafted by the Vikings in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft. Johnson, a safety, finished his rookie season starting 7 of 16 games, recording 31 tackles. His seven starts helped propel the Vikings to the NFC North Division Championship and a playoff berth for the Vikings - the first playoff appearance for the Vikings since 2004.
2004 Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Year DeMarcus Ware from Troy was drafted 11th overall by the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. Ware has quickly turned into one of the NFL's premier defensive players as he has been selected to the Pro Bowl in three of his four seasons with the Cowboys. So far in Ware's young career he has recorded 299 tackles, 53.5 sacks, 61.0 tackles for a loss, 18 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries (one of which he returned 69 yards for a touchdown) 13 passes defended and 1 interception which he returned 41 yards for a touchdown in 64 NFL games. Ware had a league-high 20 sacks in 2008 and finished second in the voting for the NFL Associated Press' Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Osi Umenyiora is another noted talent making headlines in the NFL. Umenyiora played for Troy and is currently a member of the New York Giants defensive front. Umenyiora, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, had 13 sacks in 2007 and helped the Giants to an NFL regular season-leading 53 sacks. This pass rush was pivotal in the Super Bowl XLII victory over the New England Patriots.
Louisiana-Lafayette has a history of sending talented players to the NFL. Brian Mitchell was one such player to make an impact in the NFL from Louisiana-Lafayette. Mitchell is the NFL's second all time leader in total yardage. In his second season with the Washington Redskins, Mitchell led the NFL in punt return yards (600) and punt return touchdowns (two), assisting his team to a championship appearance in Super Bowl XXVI, where Washington defeated the Buffalo Bills 37-24. Mitchell continued to play for the Redskins until 1999, leading the NFL in punt return average(14.1) and touchdowns (two) in 1994, and making a Pro Bowl selection in 1995.
Another former Louisiana-Lafayette player to make and impact in the NFL is Jake Delhomme of the Carolina Panthers. Delhomme was selected to the 2005 Pro Bowl and led the Panthers through to Super Bowl XXXVIII to face the New England Patriots. Charles Tillman of the Chicago Bears was selected with the 35th overall pick, third in the second round, of the 2003 NFL Draft from Louisiana-Lafayette.
Notable former professional football players from Sun Belt schools include Joe "Mean Joe" Greene (North Texas), and Stan Humphries (Louisiana-Monroe). Former Cleveland Browns Head Coach Romeo Crennel is a graduate of Western Kentucky University.
Sun Belt Conference Team News & Notes
Arkansas State Red Wolves Reggie Arnold recorded his ninth and 10th rushing TD's of the season against Louisiana-Lafayette, giving him 31 for his career and leaving him two shy of tying the second most in school history.
Redshirt freshman Ryan Aplin posted career highs for completions (8) and passing yards (147) while leading ASU on two scoring drives in the fourth quarter. He also converted a two-point conversion run and completed the longest pass of his career, which covered 64 yards.
Redshirt freshman receiver Taylor Stockemer recorded a career-long 64 yard reception, which gives him a reception of over 40 yards in each of the last three games. Stockemer is averaging a team-high 26.3 yards per reception for the season.
Senior receiver/kick returner Brandon Thompkins took over 4th place in the Sun Belt Conference for career all-purpose yards. Thompkins, who passed Middle Tennessee's Eugene Gross, now has 4,123 career all-purpose yards.
The Red Wolves and Florida Atlantic have played just four times since their first meeting in 2005, which ASU won 3-0 in overtime at ASU Stadium. However, the Owls won the next two games before the Red Wolves came back to win last season's game 28-14 in Jonesboro to even the series 2-2. FAU claimed a 29-0 win at Lockhart Stadium in 2006 and then picked up a narrow 34-31 home victory in 2007. The home team has won every game.
Florida Atlantic Owls Florida Atlantic University's football team suffered a hard loss Saturday but came away with the confidence that the program remains solid at quarterback despite the loss of senior Rusty Smith to a season ending shoulder injury (non-throwing shoulder).
In his first start, Jeff Van Camp threw for 254 yards and was 24-36-2. Van Camp tossed three touchdowns and ran for another in FAU's 56-29 loss to UAB.
David Kooi also saw action and was 2-3 for 56 yards.
Jamari Grant led the receivers with five receptions for 71 yards. Alfred Morris rushed for 60 yards but did not record a carry in the second half of action.
Defensively, FAU was led by Michael Lockley who had eight tackles, seven solo. Marcus Bartels also had eight tackles.
FAU will next play host to Arkansas State who defeated the Owls 28-14 a year ago in Jonesboro. The Owls will look for their first victory of 2009 at Lockhart.
FIU Golden Panthers FIU scored 21 unanswered points at one point, however it wasn't enough as the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders had scored the first 34 points of the game and eventually held on for a 48-21 victory, Saturday night in Murfreesboro.
Kendall Berry gave FIU its best rushing performance of the year, carrying the ball 19 times for 103 yards and three scores. Berry became the first FIU player to break the 100 rushing yard mark this season. The last to do it was Darriet Perry last year against Florida Atlantic. Berry's 3 touchdowns are tied for the second-most in a single game in FIU history. Five players have done it before him, the last being Julian Reams (vs. Toledo - 9/27/08). As a team, the Panthers ran for 146 yards, marking the second consecutive game the Panthers have eclipsed the 100 yard mark on the ground.
With Paul McCall battling an injury, quarterback Wayne Younger made his first start in 2009. The last time he started was game 11 of the 2007 season (vs. FAU - 11/24/07).
On the defensive side of the ball, Aaron Davis again impressed, amassing 13 tackles, 11 of them solo. The Panthers also picked off three passes, with Jeremiah Weatherspoon intercepting his second pass of the year, and Jonathan Cyprien and O'Darris D'Haiti collecting their first-career picks.
Up next for FIU is their homecoming game as they welcome the Mean Green of North Texas to FIU Stadium. Last year the Panthers beat the Mean Green 42-10 in Denton.
Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns Louisiana-Lafayette and Middle Tennessee will meet for the 11th time, with the Cajuns holding a 6-4 edge in the series.
ULL has won five of the last six meetings, including the last three games played in Murfreesboro. The Cajuns are 3-2 all-time in Murfreesboro.
ULL will attempt to win six games for the fourth time in the last five seasons (last done at ULL from 1986-89).
The Cajuns blocked MT's chance at six wins last year with a 42-28 victory in the season finale.
ULL is also trying to finish 3-3 on the road, which would mark the third time the team was .500 on the road under Coach Bustle (3-3 in 2005 and 2006). It hasn't happened three times in a five-year period since 1989-93.
Chris Masson was 28-of-40 (70%) for 229 yards against Arkansas State, his fourth straight game with 200+ yards passing.
The Cajuns were 10-for-16 on third down, while the Red Wolvers were 0-for-10. ASU was held to 57 yards rushing (on 28 carries) and 239 yards of total offense. It marked the fewest yards allowed by ULL since 11/18/06 vs. FIU (53 yards rushing, 190 yards total offense).
ULM Warhawks Trey Revell started at quarterback at North Texas after four weeks removed from a broken thumb on his throwing hand, which suffered against Arkansas State on Oct. 13.
ULM is now 21-9 under Charlie Weatherbie when scoring 27 points or more. It was the fourth win this season in which the Warhawks have scored 27 or more points.
Wide receiver Darrell McNeal extended his consecutive games with a reception steak to 31 games.
ULM held North Texas to just 17 rushing yards on seven carries in the opening half and 79 yards on 28 carries for the game. North Texas entered the contest ranked eighth in the country in total rushing yards (197.9 yards per game).
North Texas entered the contest having given up just five sacks on the season. ULM finished the game with three sacks.
Frank Goodin finished the game with 102 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns. Goodin now has 2,188 career rushing yards, which is 142 yards shy of tying fourth place all-time in ULM history with Nathan Johnson (1977-80).
Greg James made his first interception of the season in the second quarter, second and third interceptions of the season in the fourth quarter. James pushed his career interception total to 16 picks. He now owns the Sun Belt and ULM all-time interception records. James also has the most interceptions among all active NCAA players.
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders With Middle Tennessee's win over FIU ran its record to 6-3 which is the best start to a season since 2006 when the Blue Raiders competed in the Motor City Bowl. The six wins now make Middle Tennessee bowl eligible.
Junior QB Dwight Dasher went over the 100-yard rushing mark for the second time in as many games and the third time for his career. Dasher registered 178 yards on 18 carries against FIU after recording 108 yards on the ground last week at FAU. Dasher came up just short of his career-best of 180 yards set against Memphis in 2007. The most 100-yard rushing games by a quarterback in school history is four by Marvin Collier from 1985-88.
Junior Jeremy Kellem recorded his second block in as many weeks when he rejected FIU's first punt attempt in the second quarter to set up a Blue Raider touchdown. Kellem now has four for his career which ties Markee Tate for the most blocked punts in school history.
Senior linebacker Danny Carmichael was credited with two forced fumbles in the win over FIU to give him six for the year and nine for his career. Both totals are school records with the previous career mark of seven held by Mike Caldwell (1989-92).
Middle Tennessee went over the 300-yard rushing mark for the first time under Rick Stockstill when it grounded out 385 yards in the win over FIU. The 385 yards goes down as the fourth most in school history for a single-game. It also marks the first time since Middle Tennessee made the move to I-A football in 1999 that it has gone over 200 yards rushing in three consecutive games.
North Texas Mean Green Lance Dunbar carried for 40 yards against ULM, putting him at 1,004 for the year. The sophomore is now just the ninth player in North Texas history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season.
North Texas' total offensive output of 268 yards are the second fewest of the season. Alabama was the only other team to hold the Mean Green to less than 300 total yards (187 yards).
North Texas failed to score a touchdown today against ULM, a first for the Mean Green this year. The last time North Texas was held without a touchdown in a game was against LSU in the third game of 2008.
Ira Smith intercepted his first career pass in the fourth quarter today.
The North Texas defense held the Warhawks to 33 points, the lowest point total by a Mean Green opponent since the second week of the season.
The Mean Green was held to 19 rushing yards in the opening half. Lance Dunbar, who had been averaging 120.1 yards per game, was held to just 14 yards on eight carries.
Saturday's outing breaks a streak of five straight games with a 100-yard rusher for the Mean Green. Lance Dunbar was NT's leading rusher with 40 yards.
Coming off of last week's record-tying 68-49 shootout with Western Kentucky, ULM and the Mean Green battled to a 6-3 score after the first quarter. The nine points scored in the opening frame are the least in a North Texas game since the opening two games of the year.
Troy Trojans With the win over WKU, the Trojans remained undefeated against the Hilltoppers, improving to 7-0-1 all-time. Troy also improved to 40-23 under Blakeney in November games.
The Trojans also improved to 58-1 all-time under Larry Blakeney when scoring at least 35 points. Troy has now scored at least 40 points in four straight games, the longest such streak in a single-season for the Trojans in the 100-year history of the program. The only other time Troy scored at least 40 points in four straight games was the final game of the 1967 season and the first three games of the 1968 NAIA national championship season.
Troy improved to 24-3 vs. Sun Belt Conference foes over the last three-plus seasons with the victory over WKU. The Trojans' .888 winning percentage in league games going back to 2006 ranks as the fourth best in the nation over that time, trailing only Boise State (27-1), BYU (26-3) and Ohio State (28-3).
Troy teams under Larry Blakeney improved to 28-9 all-time when the team has a player pass for at least 250 yards in a game. Senior Levi Brown hit that milestone for the 12th time in his 17 career starts and is 9-3 when he passes for at least 250 yards in a game.
QB Levi Brown continues to climb the career passing charts at Troy. With his performance against WKU, Brown moved to within 569 yards of Omar Haugabook for third in career passing yards with 4,807. With one TD pass against WKU, Brown moved into a tie with Mike Turk for fifth in TD passes with 30.
Junior receiver Jerrel Jernigan moved up to sixth on the Troy career list with 1,820 yards. Jernigan has 153 career receptions, good for fifth all time, just two behind Gary Banks for fourth.
The victory over WKU gives Troy seven straight wins this season, setting a new school record for longest FBS winning streak. The Trojans last won seven straight games during the 2000 season as an FCS member.
WKU Hilltoppers With a late first-quarter catch against Troy - his second of the game - senior wide receiver Jake Gaebler ended his journey to becoming WKU's career receptions leader. The four-yard completion gave Gaebler 150 for his career, breaking the previous record of 149 held by former teammate Curtis Hamilton. He finished the game with five grabs, as the new Hilltopper record currently stands at 154 catches with three games remaining in Gaebler's career.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Kawaun Jakes did it with both his arm and his legs en route to a career day against Troy last week. Jakes rushed
18 times for a team-high 121 yards, and also scored the game's first touchdown on a seven-yard rush. He also had a career-long 54-yard run in the second half. Through the air, he completed 19-of-34 passes for
185 yards and a touchdown, spreading those completions around to six different receivers. Jakes also got in the act catching the football, hauling in an 11-yard pass from Anthony Sheppard. He ended the day with 317 yards of total offense.
Thanks to his efforts against Troy, senior punter Jeremy Moore was recognized as an honorable mention Punter of the Week by the College Football Performance Awards. Moore averaged 46.0 yards on four punts against Troy. That included equaling a career-long with a 56-yard kick - the third time this season he has produced a punt of that distance. Moore also dropped two of those four kicks inside the Trojans' 20-yard line.
WKU and Louisiana-Monroe have met four times previously before taking the field against each other this Saturday, but not since the 1955 season. The Hilltoppers won the first three meeting against the team previously known as Northeast Louisiana between 1952-54, but dropped the last meeting in 1955 in Monroe.
