Sun Belt Conference Team Notes - Week 12
Courtesy of The Sun Belt Conference
November 12, 2007
Sun Belt Results
November 10
* Louisiana-Lafayette 34, Middle Tennessee 24
Navy 74, North Texas 62
* Florida Atlantic 34, Arkansas State 31
Troy 21, Western Kentucky 17
Louisiana-Monroe 28, Grambling 14
Sun Belt Schedule
November 15
* North Texas at Arkansas State (ESPN+) – 6 p.m.
November 17
Florida Atlantic at Florida (PPV) – 12 p.m.
* Louisiana-Lafayette at Florida International – 6 p.m.
Louisiana-Monroe at Alabama – 1:30 p.m.
November 20
* Middle Tennessee at Troy (ESPN2) – 6 p.m.
November 24
Arkansas State at Southern Mississippi – 2 p.m.
Western Kentucky University at North Texas – 3 p.m.
* Florida Atlantic at Florida International (ESPN+) – 6 p.m.
* Louisiana-Monroe at Louisiana-Lafayette – 6 p.m.
December 1
* Florida Atlantic at Troy (CSS) – 1 p.m.
* North Texas at Florida International – 6 p.m.
All times central and subject to change
* denotes Sun Belt Conference game
TV carrier in parenthesis
Sun Belt Conference Notes
Sun Belt 3, CUSA 3
A year after the Sun Belt took its series with Conference USA 4-3, the two conferences are tied up at 3-3 with two games remaining. Sun Belt wins this year include Arkansas State’s 45-28 win over SMU, ASU’s 35-31 win over Memphis, and Middle Tennessee’s 21-7 triumph over Memphis. Arkansas State and Southern Mississippi will meet in Hattiesburg on November 24th and the two leagues will face off once again in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on December 21st.
Western Kentucky University Joins Sun Belt Football
Western Kentucky University is currently in transition to become the ninth Sun Belt Conference football playing institution and the 120th Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A) member. The Hilltoppers will play six SBC teams in 2008 and will be eligible for the conference title and a bowl berth in 2009. WKU, the 2002 Division I-AA National Champions, will play three contests against current Sun Belt members this season (Middle Tennessee, Troy, and North Texas). In week two of the season WKU recorded five touchdowns against West Virginia Tech in the first quarter - tying an NCAA I-A (Football Bowl Subdivision) record with 49 points in a quarter. The Hilltoppers would go on to win 87-0.
ASU’s Leonard Named as Semifinalist for Davey O’Brien Award
Arkansas State sophomore quarterback Corey Leonard has been named as one of 15 semifinalists for the Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award as announced by the Davey O’Brien Foundation. Leonard is one of just four players who are not juniors or seniors to make the cut as a semifinalist, and will remain in contention for one of three finalist positions until balloting closes at noon Sunday, Nov. 18. “Obviously this is a great honor for Corey and our program,” said ASU Head Coach Steve Roberts. “In addition to Corey, a lot of credit for this honor goes to our entire offensive staff and players.”
North Texas-Navy Game Sees Multiple Records Set
North Texas and Navy set an NCAA record for most combined points in a regulation game with 136. It tied the overall record with Boise State and Nevada which occured earlier this season in four overtimes. The 63 combined second quarter points set a NCAA record for most combined poinst by two teams in a single quarter. The previous record was 61 points set in 1999 by San Jose and Hawaii. Giovanni Vizza’s seven first half touchdown passes ties an NCAA record for most touchdown passes in a half. Doug Johnson was the last quarterback to accomplish the feat in 1997.
Sun Belt Conference Team Notes
Arkansas State (2-4 SBC, 4-6 Overall)
Last Week at Florida Atlantic: Brandon Thompkins broke the Sun Belt records for single-season and career kickoff returns with 42 returns this season and 67 for his career. He also moved into second place in the Sun Belt for single-season and career kickoff return yards with 927 for the season and 1,475 for his career. Tyrell Johnson intercepted his team-high fourth pass of the season to tie his career best for a single season. He returned the interception 37 yards to give him a Sun Belt record 269 return yards for his career. Khayyam Burns tied his career high with 11 tackles against FAU. ASU recorded an interception for the fourth straight game. Corey Leonard threw his 14th touchdown pass of the season to tie the third most in ASU history for a single season.
This Week vs. North Texas: North Texas and Arkansas State will meet for the 17th time this week with each team entering the game with eight wins in the series. Arkansas State has won the last two games against North Texas including a 29-10 win in Jonesboro last season. Reggie Arnold rushed for 121 yards and three touchdowns, and Corey Leonard added 77 rushing yards, 187 passing yards and a touchdown through the air to lead the ASU in that game.
Florida Atlantic (4-1 SBC, 5-4 Overall)
Last Week vs. Arkansas State: Willie Rose caught two touchdowns passes and also a 2-point conversion pass as Florida Atlantic came from behind win to beat Arkansas State 34-31. Trailing 31-20, a screen pass from quarterback Rusty Smith to Rose went 56 yards for a touchdown to close the gap to 31-26 with 9:57 left in the fourth. The win keeps Florida Atlantic (5-4, 4-1) in contention for the Sun Belt Conference title. They must defeat Florida International and Troy in their final two games to clinch it.
This Week at Florida: Florida Atlantic will face the defending national champion Florida Gators for the first time this week. Florida has already faced one Sun Belt team this year as they defeated Troy 59-31 in the second week of the season.
Florida International (0-4 SBC, 0-9 Overall)
Last Week...Bye (Previous: at Arkansas State): Freshman walk-on LB Toronto Smith recorded a career-high 11 tackles, including 1.5 sacks and three tackles for loss. The 1.5 sacks were the first of Smith’s career. DB Cory Fleming’s sack of Travis Hewitt in the first quarter was his first of the season and the second of his career (Nov. 18, 2006 vs. La.-Lafayette). Smith and Fleming are the 13th and 14th Golden Panther to record sacks this season. The safety FIU scored in the second quarter was its first since recording a safety against Florida Atlantic on Nov. 23, 2002.
This Week vs. Louisiana-Lafayette: Florida International got a much needed rest after having played six 2006 bowl teams in its first nine games this season. After the week off, FIU will play host to three consecutive Sun Belt opponents to close out the season. Louisiana-Lafayette will be the first team to visit the Orange Bowl. ULL leads the all-time series against FIU 4-0. This will be the last game of a three game road swing for Louisiana-Lafayette. It is the longest stretch the Cajuns have been away from home this season.
Louisiana-Lafayette (2-3 SBC, 2-8 Overall)
Last Week at Middle Tennessee: The Cajuns trailed after all three quarters at Middle Tennessee before dominating the final frame. The Cajuns scored two touchdowns in a 2:30 span of the fourth quarter, while holding the Blue Raiders to -12 yards of total offense in the last stanza. ULL piled-up 528 yards of total offense, more than double the 256 yards of total offense by Middle Tennessee. In addition to allowing the fewest yards this season, the Cajuns defense recorded 14 tackles-for-loss and four sacks. The Cajuns previous low for yards allowed was 416 vs. Ohio. Desormeaux finished with a career-high 175 yards rushing, his sixth 100-yard effort on the season. In the process, he topped the 1,000-yard rushing plateau, becoming just the 24th quarterback in NCAA history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season. He has 1,105 yards on the season, the third most in school history, and the 23rd most in NCAA history by a quarterback. For his career, Desormeaux has 1,772 yards rushing, good for eighth all-time in Cajuns history.
This Week at Florida International: Florida International got a much needed rest after having played six 2006 bowl teams in its first nine games this season. After the week off, FIU will play host to three consecutive Sun Belt opponents to close out the season. Louisiana-Lafayette will be the first team to visit the Orange Bowl for the stretch of home games . ULL leads the all-time series against FIU 4-0. This will be the last game of a three game road swing for Louisiana-Lafayette. It is the longest stretch the Cajuns have been away from home this season.
Louisiana-Monroe (3-3 SBC, 4-6 Overall)
Last Week vs. Grambling State: A Malone Stadium record crowd of 30,101 watched ULM defeat Grambling State this past weekend. The crowd was also the fifth largest on-campus crowd in Sun Belt history. Calvin Dawson once again reached the 100-yard mark plateau making him just one of two backs in the country to rush for 100 yards or better in nine games this season. The Warhawks just missed out on their sixth-consecutive game with 400+ total yards of offensive finishing with 390, but they did rush for over 200 yards for the seventh time this season.
This Week at Alabama: Louisiana-Monroe heads to Tuscaloosa for a late season non-conference clash with Alabama this week. Last season Alabama defeated ULM 41-7 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama out gained ULM 444 yards to 196. Warhawk running back Calvin rushed for 118 yards in the game. ULM is 2-29-1 against members of the Southeastern Conference. The Warhawks defeated Kentucky 21-14 in 1994, which was ULM’s first season as a member of Division IA. ULM tied Mississippi State 21-21 in 1973 and the Warhawks beat the Bulldogs 34-32 in 1995, just one of two victories that year for ULM.
Middle Tennessee (4-2 SBC, 5-6 Overall)
Last Week vs. Louisiana-Lafayette: Sophomore punter David DeFatta enjoyed one of the best punting days in school history against ULL. DeFatta boomed seven punts for a career-best 53.0 yard average. DeFatta, who nailed two punts for over 60 yards including a personal-best 68 yarder, turned in the third best single-game average in school history. After missing most of the North Texas game and all of the Louisiana-Monroe contest, freshman Dwight Dasher returned to the gridiron in the second quarter. Dasher, playing at less than 100 percent, completed 5 of 11 passes for 29 yards while rushing for nine yards.
This Week...Bye (Next: at Troy): Middle Tennessee will face off with Troy in a nationally televised Tuesday night ESPN2 tilt. The two teams have become fierce rivals in recent years and the game has become known as the “Battle for the Palladium” with the winning team taking home The Palladium trophy. The two teams shared the Sun Belt Conference Championship last season, but Troy’s fourth quarter heroics in a 21-20 win led to the Trojans securing the New Orleans Bowl berth.
North Texas (1-4 SBC, 1-8 Overall)
Last Week vs. Navy: North Texas and Navy set an NCAA record for most combined points in a regulation game with 136. It tied the overall record with Boise State and Nevada which occurred earlier this season in four overtimes. Giovanni Vizza’s seven first half touchdown passes ties an NCAA record for most touchdown passes in a half. Doug Johnson was the last quarterback to accomplish the feat in 1997. The 63 combined second quarter points sets a NCAA record for most combined poinst by two teams in a single quarter. The previous record was 61 points set in 1999 by San Jose and Hawaii.
This Week at Arkansas State: North Texas and Arkansas State will meet for the 17th time this week with each team entering the game with eight wins in the series. Arkansas State has won the last two games against North Texas including a 29-10 win in Jonesboro last season. Reggie Arnold rushed for 121 yards and three touchdowns, and Corey Leonard added 77 rushing yards, 187 passing yards and a touchdown through the air to lead the ASU in that game.
Troy (5-0 SBC, 7-3 Overall)
Last Week at WKU: Elbert Mack recorded his seventh interception of the season on the first possession for WKU. Mack’s seven picks are tied for the national lead this season. Gary Banks caught a touchdown pass in the first quarter extending his consecutive games with a reception to 29 and it was his second touchdown catch of the season and the 12th touchdown reception of his career. With 112 rushing yards against WKU, Kenny Cattouse moved to within 262 yards of 1,000 for the season. The 100-yard performance was the sixth in his career at Troy. Troy forced a fumble in the first quarter and Chris Bradwell returned it 16 yards for the touchdown. It was Troy’s seventh non-offensive touchdown this season, which is tied for third in the nation.
This Week...Bye (Next: vs. Middle Tennessee): Middle Tennessee will face off with Troy in a nationally televised Tuesday night ESPN2 tilt. The two teams have become fierce rivals in recent years and the game has become known as the “Battle for the Palladium” with the winning team taking home The Palladium trophy. The two teams shared the Sun Belt Conference Championship last season, but Troy’s fourth quarter heroics in a 21-20 win led to the Trojans securing the New Orleans Bowl berth.