Rain. Lots of it. The Sun Belt Conference got the worst of the Hurricane Isaias experience, and some teams took advantage of it, while other teams had to deal with the consequences.
- James Madison (No change from last week)
James Madison did not have their usually dominant performance, winning by just 3 points over Georgia Southern. However, it is hard to win in Statesboro, and the Dukes did. The Eagles got to the edge of field goal range in their final drive, but missed the game tying field goal. JMU continues their brutal middle of the season, and up next is the red hot Georgia State Panthers.
- Georgia State (-)
Georgia State was on a bye, but will travel to Harrisonburg, Virginia, Saturday to play James Madison. The Panthers might be the most apt to beat the Dukes, as JMU hasn’t seen anything close to the Georgia State offense, even if the Dukes are at home. It will be the potential game of the year in the Sun Belt, with the winner likely hosting the Sun Belt championship.
- South Alabama (+4)
On a wacky Thursday night, South Alabama took down Arkansas State 56-49. Despite giving up 49, the Jaguars defense was the reason they won, forcing 3 turnovers to put them in excellent field position. South Alabama is also still without quarterback Bishop Davenport, and backup Jared Hollins only threw for 76 yards in the win. In such a tightly contested division, the Jaguars have made a statement.
- Louisiana Tech (+2)
A comeback win in its first conference game for Louisiana Tech, down 12 in the fourth quarter to Louisiana, who had looked like the team to beat in the west division. Quarterback Blake Baker threw for 319 yards and 3 touchdowns in the win. Up next are two winnable games against ULM and Old Dominion before the showdown with South Alabama.
- Troy (-)
Troy took care of business against Southern Miss by finally breaking out offensively with 55 points Tuesday. Quarterback Goose Crowder tallied 225 yards in the air and 145 on the ground, with 4 touchdowns to go about. His play against Utah State was questionable, but he responded in a big way.
- App State (-3)
No team had their play altered more by the weather than the Mountaineers, whose air raid offense was stymied by the conditions, and in a sloppy game, dropped their opening conference game to Old Dominion. There were 6 turnovers in the game, and neither offense could get going, but App State never had the offensive gameplan to gear up for a game like that, and it is going to be costly.
- Louisiana (-3)
A tough loss to Louisiana Tech after controlling the game. Louisiana will have to rebuild the momentum they gained early in the season, with a big divisional battle up next against Troy. Should they win that game, they will be right back in it in the race for the division title.
- Georgia Southern (-)
Georgia Southern doesn’t go down due to how well it played James Madison for most of the game, but it would have been a season alerting win had they gotten it. Bad decision making after reaching field goal range forced the Eagles to attempt a long field goal in the poor conditions, and the kick was short.
- Coastal Carolina (+2)
Coastal Carolina defeated Marshall despite getting outgained by nearly 200 yards. The defense forced 3 fumbles and 3 interceptions, and held on despite the late comeback attempt. Up next is a Friday night game against App State. It feels like both teams desperately need this one.
- Old Dominion (+3)
Old Dominion did get favorable conditions for their heavy rushing attack, but they also did a great job never letting App State’s running backs get going. In the hurricane conditions, App State ran the ball 28 times, while the Monarchs ran it a staggering 61 times. All it took was one touchdown, and ODU got it in the fourth quarter to win.
- Arkansas State (-2)
It has been a disastrous start for Arkansas State in conference play, falling in close contests to Louisiana and South Alabama. The Red Wolves need to set the course against Southern Miss for any chance of getting back in the division race.
- Marshall (-2)
Marshall could not get out of a 27-0 hole against Coastal Carolina, and were killed by 6 turnovers. The bye week could not come at a better time as the Thundering Herd have looked terrible in the last two contests.
- Southern Miss (-1)
A chance for the Golden Eagles to play spoiler against Arkansas State Saturday at home, but the defense will need to be better.
- ULM (-)
ULM did not play this week, and are one of just three FBS teams without a win yet this season.