Sun Belt Football Championship Game set, App State Clinches East Division Crown in Week 12 play

Published 10:00 am Monday, November 22, 2021

The Sun Belt Football Championship Game is set, as East Division champion App State will visit West Division champion No. 22/21 Louisiana at 3:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, Dec. 4, in Lafayette, La. The matchup is the third between the two teams in the four-year history of the event.

Tickets for the Sun Belt Football Championship Game will go on sale to the general public at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT on Monday, Nov. 22.

Georgia State secured bowl eligibility for the third-straight season, the fourth time under head coach Shawn Elliott and the fifth time in program history. The Panthers are the fourth Sun Belt team to clinch bowl eligibility, joining App State, Coastal Carolina and No. 22/21 Louisiana.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Grayson McCall returned under center for Coastal Carolina—and led the Chanticleers to a 35-21 victory over Texas State on Senior Day. McCall connected on 22-of-28 passes for 319 yards and five touchdowns, tying the Chanticleer program record for touchdown passes in a game.

Seniors led the way for Coastal Carolina in the receiving game with wide receiver Jaivon Heiligh posting a 101-yard, 1 touchdown effort, wide receiver Kameron Brown adding 90 yards and a touchdown and tight end Isaiah Likely accumulating 62 yards and a score. Defensively, four seniors—Silas Kelly, Teddy Gallagher, Alex Spillum and C.J. Brewer—combined for 28 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks.

Following a 28-20 victory over Arkansas State, Georgia State clinched bowl eligibility for the third-straight season. Redshirt senior running back Jamyest Williams rushed for a career-high 125 yards and two touchdowns, while senior running back Tucker Gregg added 99 yards and a score as the Panthers tallied 282 yards on the ground.

App State scored 42-straight points to close out a 45-7 win over Troy, clinching the Sun Belt East Division title and a spot in the Sun Belt Football Championship Game. Sophomore running back Nate Noel’s 102 yards pushed him over the 1,000-yard plateau for the season, giving App State a 1,000-yard back for the 10th-straight campaign. Senior linebacker T.D. Roof led the Mountaineer defense, which held Troy to 142 yards of total offense and just 33 yards on the ground. Roof registered four tackles, including 2.0 tackles for loss and a sack, to go along with a key interception deep in Troy territory.

In front of a crowd of 20,862, Georgia Southern hung tough with the highest-ranked FBS team to ever play at Paulson Stadium. The Eagles held a 17-14 lead over No. 14/15 BYU with 6:25 to play in the second quarter, before eventually falling 34-17. Freshman linebacker Eldrick Robinson II paced the Eagle defense with 10 tackles, his second-straight double-digit tackle performance.

Sun Belt West Division champion No. 22/21 Louisiana snapped Liberty’s 15-game home winning streak with a 42-14 victory in Lynchburg. The Ragin’ Cajuns defense produced six turnovers and recorded seven sacks to extend Louisiana’s program-record winning streak to 10 games. Redshirt senior linebacker Chauncey Manac tied a single-game program record with four sacks, while redshirt sophomore linebacker AJ Riley, freshman defensive lineman Mason Narcisse and redshirt sophomore safety Kam Pedescleaux each intercepted passes in the blowout non-conference win.

Junior wide receiver Jalen Tolbert, who tallied 143 receiving yards and a touchdown on seven catches, was the lone bright spot in South Alabama’s 60-14 loss at Tennessee. A one-handed catch on the sideline and a 68-yard touchdown grab highlighted Tolbert’s sixth 100-yard receiving game of the season.

ULM gave LSU all it could handle in a 27-14 road loss. The Warhawks accumulated 311 yards of total offense—and may have flipped the script on the Tigers if not for a pair of drives snuffed out inside the LSU 2-yard line.

For exclusive Sun Belt football content on game days and throughout the 2021 season, follow @SunBeltFB on Twitter.

SUN BELT FOOTBALL – WEEK 12 RESULTS
Coastal Carolina def. Texas State, 35-21
Georgia State def. Arkansas State, 28-20
App State def. Troy, 45-7
No. 14/15 BYU def. Georgia Southern, 34-17
No. 22/21 Louisiana def. Liberty, 42-14
Tennessee def. South Alabama, 60-14
LSU def. ULM, 27-14

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