Sun Belt Conference Roundup - Week 9

CollegeFootballNews.com
Posted Oct 28, 2007


Sun Belt conference roundup, standings, player and game of the week

Click on each team for game recaps, thoughts, schedules and more and scroll down for the games, results, players of the week and the conference roundup.

Arkansas State | Florida Atlantic | Florida International | MTSU
North Texas | Troy | UL Lafayette | UL Monroe

Sun Belt Game of the Week
UL Monroe 33 ... Florida Atlantic 30 3OT
Calvin Dawson ran for a 31-yard touchdown in the third overtime to answer Warley Leroy's third field goal of the game. The Owls forced overtime with a rally from ten down in the final seven minutes, getting a 36-yard Leroy field goal and with just over a minute to play, a one-yard Charles Pierre touchdown run. Neither team could get on the board in the first overtime and the two traded field goals in the second. The two teams traded scores all game long with Kinsmon Lancaster throwing for two ULM scores and FAU getting two short scoring runs and a one-yard touchdown pass from Rusty Smith.


Sun Belt Player of the Week
UL Monroe RB Calvin Dawson ran 26 times for 114 yards and two touchdowns, and caught five passes for 26 yards in the overtime win over Florida Atlantic.

Conference Roundup

Arkansas State … For the second straight week the offense has done absolutely nothing. Basically, ASU proved against Middle Tennessee and Troy that it's not one of the top tier Sun Belt teams, and while it's good enough to beat the FIU's and North Texas's of the world, both games coming up, the offense simply isn't working at a higher level. It can't be all Corey Leonard all the time. To go 0 for 13 on third down conversions at this point in the year is a big problem.
FIU … What is FIU doing well right now? Trying to turn things around against Arkansas against homecoming isn't a time to figure out what's working, but what's not happing in a passing game that's going beyond inefficient. Wayne Younger pressed too much, isn't getting any help from his receivers, and threw five picks on 9-of-26 passing. He ran extremely well, but more is needed from the running backs over the final month.
Florida Atlantic  … FAU couldn't afford a letdown like the one against UL Monroe. The Owls came up with a nice comeback to force overtime, but they didn't take advantage of all their chances throughout the game and they got burned. The run defense was better this week considering it was dealing with Calvin Dawson and the rumbling Warhawk ground game, but it's going to have to be a whole bunch better to beat Arkansas State in the home finale next week. Rusty Smith might not be razor-sharp, but he's proving to be a star to build around.
Middle Tennessee
… The Blue Raider might have put up 48 points on North Texas, but it was a struggle with only 335 yards and 132 on the ground. The defense made it happen with five takeaways and several big plays to make it a laugher in the second half, but it took too long to put the game away. Holding on to the ball for 37 minutes is always a good thing, but to get through the final three weeks, there will have to be more yards and more good drives.
North Texas  The North Texas offense moved well on Middle Tennessee, but 13 penalties and five turnovers were way too much to overcome. The running game has to be established over the last month. Jamario Thomas is a good back who isn't getting nearly enough work. He ripped off a 77-yard touchdown dash right away, and finished with 89 yards. That's inexcusable. The defense, for the most part, didn't do a bad job considering MT put 48 points on the board.
Troy … The defense has been unbelievable over the past month and came up with its magnum opus in the win over Arkansas State. It was a dominant thing of beauty with five sacks and play after play to snuff out drives. Now the offense has to figure out how to stop screwing up. A week after giving it away seven times in the win over North Texas, to turn it over four times this week is inexcusable. To upset Georgia in two weeks, ball security will be a must.
UL Lafayette … Didn’t Play This Week
UL Monroe … With two straight wins, and a huge road victory over a strong team like Florida Atlantic, has officially changed the season around going into the tough home date with Middle Tennessee. With a road trip against Alabama ahead, a winning season is too much to ask for, but the team proved it had some fight this week on both sides of the ball. To beat the Blue Raiders next week, Kinsmon Lancaster will have to connect on a few more big passes to help loosen things up for Calvin Dawson. Dawson had to fight against the Owls for his yards.

  Conference Overall Home Away
  W L PF PA W L PF PA STR W L W L
Troy 5 0 178 61 6 2 276 189 W6 3 0 3 2
Florida Atlantic 3 1 126 99 4 4 214 260 L1 2 2 2 2
Middle Tennessee 3 1 133 68 4 5 234 220 W3 2 2 2 3
UL Monroe 3 2 119 112 3 5 176 250 W2 2 1 1 4
Arkansas State 1 3 72 102 3 5 192 230 L2 3 1 0 4
UL Lafayette 1 3 122 168 1 7 195 302 L2 1 4 0 3
North Texas 1 4 115 182 1 7 163 372 L2 1 2 0 5
Florida International 0 3 36 109 0 8 68 330 L8 0 2 0 6
Saturday, October 27
2:00 PM at Arkansas 58 ... Florida International 10
CFN Prediction: Arkansas 45-9  Ark. -39.5
4:00 PM UL Monroe 33 ... at Florida Atlantic 30 2OT
CFN Prediction: FAU 31-21   FAU -6
7:00 PM Middle Tennessee 48 ...at North Texas 28
CFN Prediction: MT 31-14   MT -13.5
7:00 PM Troy 27 ... at Arkansas State 0
CFN Prediction: ASU 26-23   Troy -4.5

Past Sun Belt Games of the Week
Sept. 1 -
Florida Atlantic 27 ... Middle Tennessee 14
Sept. 8 -
SMU 45 ... North Texas 31
Sept. 15 - Florida Atlantic 42 ... Minnesota 39
Sept. 22 - Western Kentucky 20 ... at Middle Tenn. 17
Sept. 29 - Arkansas State 35 ... Memphis 31

Oct. 6 - Virginia 23 ... at Middle Tennessee 21
Oct. 13 - North Texas 31 ... UL Monroe 21
Oct. 20 - Florida Atlantic 39 ... at UL Lafayette 32 OT
Oct. 27 - UL Monroe 33 ... at Florida Atlantic 30 2OT

Past Sun Belt Players of the Week
Sept. 1 - Florida Atlantic RB Charles Pierre
Sept. 8 - North Texas QB Daniel Meager & WR Casey Fitzgerald
Sept. 15 - Arkansas State QB Corey Leonard
Sept. 22 - Troy RB Kenny Cattouse
Sept. 29 - Middle Tennessee QB Dwight Dasher
Oct. 6 - UL Lafayette QB Michael Desormeaux
Oct. 13 - Arkansas State QB Corey Leonard
Oct. 20 - Florida Atlantic QB Rusty Smith
Oct. 27 - UL Monroe RB Calvin Dawson

  

Related Stories
Sun Belt Conference Roundup - Week 10
 -by CollegeFootballNews.com  Nov 4, 2007
Sun Belt Conference Roundup - Week 7
 -by CollegeFootballNews.com  Oct 14, 2007
Sun Belt Conference Roundup - Week 11
 -by CollegeFootballNews.com  Nov 10, 2007

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