Last night was the first time I watched a Sun Belt game on the NFL Network, and I found myself quite impressed by the production. Superb camera angles. Attentive commentary. Announcers who had done their homework. Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern both emerged winners, even if it was the Eagles who ultimately put up the most points.
Also among the winners, the Sun Belt itself – and that had a ton to do with Georgia Southern, whose fans showed out with a record turnout. More than that, the crowd was loud and responsive at Allen E. Paulson, demonstrating that the Sun Belt has as much passion for the game as any conference in the nation.
#1 Coastal Carolina is on the Fast Decline
The Chanticleers followed their Week 4 loss to Georgia State with another conference loss to Georgia Southern, the program’s first 0-2 conference start since 2010. It is becoming evident that Jamey Chadwell’s bail to Liberty was a case of getting out while the getting was good. Coastal is not a beak-less chicken, however. The team is still a top five offensive threat in the conference. But its days of dominance are, for now, over.
#2 Southern Miss is Cooked
Speaking of 0-2 in conference, the Golden Eagles once again allowed an opponent to build a huge early lead, rallied to make it interesting, then ultimately ran out of steam in the fourth quarter. Texas State obliterated the Southern Miss defense on Saturday, putting up a 42-10 halftime lead. However, Southern Miss did outscore the Bobcats 26-8 to make the final outcome somewhat respectable. Was it enough to prevent a riot in Hattiesburg? Unknown.
#3 ULM is Dangerous and Flawed
The Warhawks put on quite a show against Appalachian State, who found themselves trading roundhouse touchdowns with ULM in Monroe. It appeared that, with barely a minute left in the game, that ULM’s two-point lead would hold. However, the Mountaineer’s Joey Aguilar led Appalachian State down the field, exploiting the Warhawks’ soft pass coverage to put Michael Hughes within 54 yards of the field goal – which he summarily nailed as the seconds ticked off the clock. Closing out opponents is the hallmark of a mature team. The Warhawks are there yet, but they have enough to be legit scary moving forward.
#4 Louisiana Dropped the Bag
The Cajuns had a 17-10 halftime lead over their host, the Minnesota Gophers. However, Cajun starting QB Zeon Criss threw a pair of second half interceptions that led to two Gophers touchdowns, ending the Sun Belt’s weekly P5 win streak at four. Louisiana, who has a sweet RB tandem in Jacob Kibodi and Dre’lyn Washington, seemed to abandon the run game in the second half, opting to rely more on the freshman quarterback’s arm to move the ball. The strategy proved…unwise.
Image: Sun Belt Media
Howlraiser 