The 2014 Sun Belt Conference football season was the 14th college football season for the Sun Belt Conference. During the 2014 season, eleven schools competed in Sun Belt football: Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Idaho, Louisiana–Lafayette, Louisiana–Monroe, New Mexico State, South Alabama, Texas State, and Troy.
The conference title was won by Georgia Southern, in its first year as both a Sun Belt member and an FBS program. The Eagles became only the third team to win a conference championship in their first FBS season. The other two schools to accomplish this feat were Nevada, Big West Conference champions in 1992, and Marshall, which won the Mid-American Conference crown in 1997. Georgia Southern also became the first team ever to go unbeaten in conference play in its first FBS season (both the 1992 Nevada and 1997 Marshall teams lost once in conference play).
Previous season The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns and the Arkansas State Red Wolves both finished 5-2 and were co-champions of the Sun Belt Conference. The Ragin' Cajuns earned the conference's first bowl spot in the R+L Carrier New Orleans Bowl, as Louisiana-Lafayette defeated Tulane 24–21 to win their 3rd straight New Orleans Bowl. Arkansas State earned the second and final Sun Belt bowl, as they played in the GoDaddy Bowl. Arkansas State scored a late touchdown in the fourth quarter to upset Ball State, who entered the game with a 10–2 record, and win their second straight GoDaddy Bowl.
The Sun Belt had seven teams eligible for bowl games, but only two received bids (Louisiana-Lafayette and ASU). Western Kentucky had the third best record at 8–4, while ULM, South Alabama, Texas State, and Troy had records of 6-6. The only team that was not eligible for a bowl game was Georgia State.2013 Sun Belt Conference football season
Preseason
Award watch lists The following Sun Belt players were named to preseason award watch lists:
Walter Camp Award: Qushaun Lee – Arkansas State
Butkus Award: Michael Orakpo - Texas State
Davey O'Brien Award: Terrance Broadway – Louisiana–Lafayette
Mackey Award: Darion Griswold - Arkansas State Wes Saxton - South Alabama
Ray Guy Award: Justin Manton - UL Monroe Austin Rehkow - Idaho
Lou Groza Award: Maxwell Johnson - New Mexico State
Rimington Trophy: Bryce Giddens - Arkansas State Valerian Ume-Ezeoke - New Mexico State Mike Marboe - Idaho
Thorpe Award: Sterling Young – Arkansas State Rocky Hayes – Arkansas State
Paul Hornung Award: Rashon Ceaser - UL Monroe J. D. McKissic - Arkansas State
Lombardi Award: Bryce Giddens - Arkansas State Qushaun Lee - Arkansas State Justin Hamilton - Louisiana-Lafayette Mykhael Quave - Louisiana-Lafayette Daniel Quave - Louisiana-Lafayette Dominique Tovell - Louisiana-Lafayette Gerrand Johnson - UL Monroe David Mayo - Texas State Terrence Jones - Troy Tyler Roberts - Troy Ucambre Williams - South Alabama
Doak Walker Award: Marcus Cox - Appalachian State Michael Gordon – Arkansas State Alonzo Harris – Louisiana-Lafayette Robert Lowe – Texas State
Sun Belt Media Day Sun Belt Conference Media Day was held on July 22, 2014 in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Preseason Offensive Player of the Year - Terrance Broadway (QB, Louisiana-Lafayette) Preseason Defensive Player of the Year - Qushaun Lee (DL, Arkansas State)
Coaches Poll Louisiana-Lafayette - 121 (11) Arkansas State - 102 South Alabama - 98 Troy - 84 UL Monroe - 78 Texas State - 70 Appalachian State - 47 Georgia Southern - 44 Idaho - 29 Georgia State - 27 New Mexico State - 26
Preseason All–Conference Team
Offense QB Terrance Broadway (Louisiana-Lafayette) RB Alonzo Harris (Louisiana-Lafayette) RB Elijah McGuire (Louisiana-Lafayette) WR J.D. McKissic (Arkansas State) WR Jamal Robinson (Louisiana-Lafayette) WR Rashon Ceaser (UL Monroe) TE Wes Saxton (South Alabama) OL Daniel Quave (Louisiana-Lafayette) OL Mike Marboe, (Idaho) OL Chris May (South Alabama) OL Ucambre Williams (South Alabama) OL Terrence Jones (Troy)
Defense DL Chris Stone (Arkansas State) DL Justin Hamilton (Louisiana-Lafayette) DL Gerrand Johnson (UL Monroe) DL Tyler Roberts (Troy) LB Qushaun Lee (Arkansas State) LB Dominique Tovell (Louisiana-Lafayette) LB David Mayo (Texas State) LB Michael Orakpo (Texas State) DB Rocky Hayes (Arkansas State) DB Sterling Young (Arkansas State) DB Trevence Patt (Louisiana-Lafayette) DB Craig Mager (Texas State)
Specialists PK Jason Dann (Texas State) P Austin Rehkow (Idaho) RS J.D. McKissic (Arkansas State)
Coaches Note: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season Team Head coach Years at school Overall record Record at school Sun Belt record Appalachian State Scott Satterfield 2 4–8 4–8 0–0 Arkansas State Blake Anderson 1 0–0 0–0 0–0 Georgia Southern Willie Fritz 1 137–62 0–0 0–0 Georgia State Trent Miles 2 20–48 0–12 0–7 Idaho Paul Petrino 2 1–11 1–11 0-0 Louisiana–Lafayette Mark Hudspeth 4 93-33 27-12 17-6 Louisiana–Monroe Todd Berry 5 52-85 23-26 17-14 New Mexico State Doug Martin 2 31–63 2–10 0–0 South Alabama Joey Jones 5 34-28 31-21 5-10 Troy Larry Blakeney 24 175-104-1 175-104-1 49-25 Texas State Dennis Franchione 6 203–121–2 29-29 2-5
Sun Belt vs. CFP AQ Conference matchups Date Visitor Home Conference Score Notes August 28 Wake Forest Louisiana-Monroe ACC W 17-10 August 30 Appalachian State Michigan Big Ten L 14-52 August 30 Georgia Southern NC State ACC L 23-24 August 30 Idaho Florida SEC Game canceled due to inclement weather September 6 Arkansas State Tennessee SEC L 19-34 September 6 Duke Troy ACC L 17-34 September 13 Arkansas State Miami ACC L 20-41 September 13 Georgia Southern Georgia Tech ACC L 38-41 September 13 Louisiana-Lafayette #14 Ole Miss SEC L 15-56 September 13 Louisiana-Monroe #10 LSU SEC L 0-31 September 13 Mississippi State South Alabama SEC L 3-35 September 20 Georgia State Washington Pac-12 L 14-45 September 20 Texas State Illinois Big Ten L 35-42 September 20 Troy Georgia SEC L 0-66 September 27 New Mexico State #17 LSU SEC L 7-63 October 11 Louisiana-Monroe Kentucky SEC L 14–48 November 1 Louisiana-Monroe Texas A&M SEC L 16-21 November 22 Georgia State Clemson ACC L 0-28 November 22 South Alabama South Carolina SEC L 12-37
Regular season Index to colors and formattingSun Belt member wonSun Belt member lostSun Belt teams in bold
All dates, times, and TV are tentative and subject to change.
Start times for non-conference games are local for the Sun Belt team; for conference games, starting times are local for the home team. The following list are the teams in their respective time zones: Arkansas State, Louisiana–Monroe, Louisiana–Lafayette, South Alabama, Texas State and Troy are located in the Central Time Zone; Appalachian State, Georgia State, Georgia Southern is in the Eastern Time Zone; New Mexico State is in the Mountain Time Zone and Idaho is in the Pacific Time Zone.
Rankings reflect that of the USA Today Coaches poll for that week until week eight when the BCS poll will be used.
Week 1 Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance August 27 7:00 p.m. Abilene Christian Georgia State Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA ESPNU W 38-37 10,140 August 28 6:00 p.m. Wake Forest Louisiana-Monroe Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA ESPNU W 17-10 21,003 August 28 6:00 p.m. Cal Poly New Mexico State Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM ESPN3 W 28-10 13,772 August 30 11:00 a.m. Appalachian State Michigan Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI ESPN2 L 14-52 113,511 August 30 11:00 a.m. Troy UAB Legion Field • Birmingham, AL FCS L 10-48 27,133 August 30 12:30 p.m. Georgia Southern NC State Carter–Finley Stadium • Raleigh, NC ACCN/ESPN3 L 23-24 54,273 August 30 4:00 p.m. Idaho Florida Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, FL ESPNU Canceled due to weather - August 30 6:00 p.m. #18 (FCS) Montana State Arkansas State Centennial Bank Stadium • Jonesboro, AR ESPN3 W 37-10 26,143 August 30 6:00 p.m. Southern Louisiana-Lafayette Cajun Field • Lafayette, LA ESPN3 W 45-6 36,170 August 30 6:00 p.m. Arkansas-Pine Bluff Texas State Bobcat Stadium • San Marcos, TX ESPN3 W 65-0 17,813
Open Week: South Alabama
Players of the week: Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Tyler Jones Texas State Mitch Lane UL Monroe Luke Ferguson Arkansas State
Week 2 Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance September 6 11:00 a.m. Arkansas State Tennessee Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, TN SEC Network L 19-34 99,538 September 6 1:00 p.m. South Alabama Kent State Dix Stadium • Kent, OH ESPN3 W 23-13 15,355 September 6 2:00 p.m. New Mexico State Georgia State Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA ESPN3 NMSU 34-31 10,126 September 6 6:00 p.m. Idaho Louisiana–Monroe Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA ESPN3 ULM 38-31 16,694 September 6 6:00 p.m. Campbell Appalachian State Kidd Brewer Stadium • Boone, NC ESPN3 W 66-0 25,861 September 6 6:00 p.m. Savannah State Georgia Southern Paulson Stadium • Statesboro, GA ESPN3 W 83-9 23,121 September 6 6:00 p.m. Louisiana Tech Louisiana-Lafayette Cajun Field • Lafayette, LA ESPN3 L 20-48 25,607 September 6 6:00 p.m. Duke Troy Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL ESPN3 L 17-34 21,331
Open Week: Texas State
Players of the week: Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Ajalen Holley UL Monroe Rodney Butler New Mexico State Maxwell Johnson New Mexico State
Week 3 Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance September 13 12:00 p.m. Georgia Southern Georgia Tech Bobby Dodd Stadium • Atlanta, GA RSN/ESPN3 L 38-42 53,173 September 13 2:00 p.m. Air Force Georgia State Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA ESPN3 L 38-45 16,836 September 13 2:00 p.m. Western Michigan Idaho Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID ESPN3 L 33-45 14,721 September 13 2:30 p.m. Arkansas State Miami Sun Life Stadium • Miami, FL ESPNU L 20-41 41,519 September 13 3:00 p.m. Louisiana–Lafayette Ole Miss Vaught–Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS SEC Network L 15-56 60,937 September 13 3:00 p.m. Mississippi State South Alabama Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL ESPNews L 3-35 38,129 September 13 6:00 p.m. Louisiana–Monroe LSU Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA ESPNU L 0-31 101,194 September 13 6:00 p.m. Abilene Christian Troy Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL ESPN3 L 35-38 17,320 September 13 7:00 p.m. New Mexico State UTEP Sun Bowl Stadium • El Paso, TX ASN L 24-42 32,979 September 13 7:00 p.m. Navy Texas State Bobcat Stadium • San Marcos, TX ESPNews L 21-35 32,007
Open Week: Appalachian State
Players of the week: Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Kevin Ellison Nick Arbuckle Georgia Southern Georgia State Maleki Harris South Alabama Daniel Cadona Louisiana-Lafayette
Week 4 Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance September 20 11:00 a.m. Troy Georgia Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA SEC Network L 0-66 92,746 September 20 3:00 p.m. Texas State Illinois Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL ESPNews L 35-42 41,019 September 20 5:00 p.m. Idaho Ohio Peden Stadium • Athens, OH ESPN3 L 24-36 25,211 September 20 6:00 p.m. Utah State Arkansas State Centennial Bank Stadium • Jonesboro, AR ESPN3 W 21-14 29,029 September 20 6:00 p.m. Georgia State Washington Husky Stadium • Seattle, WA P12N L 14-45 64,608 September 20 6:00 p.m. New Mexico New Mexico State Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM ESPNGP L 35-38 24,651 September 20 6:30 p.m. Georgia Southern South Alabama Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL ESPN3 GASO 28-6 11,348 September 20 7:00 p.m. Appalachian State Southern Miss M.M. Roberts Stadium • Hattiesburg, MS ASN L 20-21 21,836 September 20 9:30 p.m. Louisiana-Lafayette Boise State Albertsons Stadium • Boise, ID CBSSN L 9-34 33,337
Open Week: Louisiana-Monroe
Players of the week: Offensive Defensive Special teams Player Team Player Team Player Team Matt Breida Georgia Southern Qushaun Lee Arkansas State Artez Brown Arkansas State
Week 5