Sun Belt Sports Fans

Sun Belt Weekly Summary

WEEK FOUR REVIEW

SCORES

Iowa 45, Louisiana-Monroe 17

Troy 38, Middle Tennessee 35

Louisiana-Lafayette 36, Florida International 31

Auburn Florida Atlantic 14

North Texas 24, Indiana 21

Arkansas State 53, Central Arkansas 24

The centerpiece of week four in the Sun Belt Conference was
a bona fide shocker. The Florida International Golden Panthers, the defending
league champions, had already won one conference game. They were coming off an
exhilarating and reputation-affirming win over the defending Conference USA
champion, the Central Florida Golden Knights. FIU was feeling full of itself,
and not without cause. Coach Mario Cristobal was rocketing up the ladder as an
increasingly attractive coaching commodity for schools that existed higher up
the food chain in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’
Cajuns were not supposed to waltz into Miami and knock off the home team, but
that’s exactly what they did in a “where did THAT come from?” puzzler which
colored much of a wacky Sun Belt season in 2010. Indeed, last year’s Sun Belt
campaign was a rollercoaster in its own right, with everyone losing at least
twice in the league and the favorite, Troy, getting blown out at home (by
Florida International, interestingly enough). This result could very well mean
that another two months of craziness are about to unfold in the Belt.

Louisiana-Lafayette was powered in this contest by
quarterback Blaine Gautier, who threw three touchdown passes in a see-saw game
that teetered precariously in the balance throughout the second half.
Louisiana-Lafayette grabbed an eight-point lead on two separate occasions, only
to see FIU chip the lead back to one (and not chase a point by trying to tie
the game with a 2-point conversion). The turning point came in the first minute
of the fourth quarter, when ULL – up by a 29-21 score – stopped FIU at the
3-yard line. Florida International settled for a 20-yard field goal instead of
scoring a touchdown and, in all likelihood, opting for a tying 2-point try.
When ULL then scored on a 46-yard touchdown strike from Gautier to Javone
Lawson, the Cajuns accumulated a two-score lead at 36-24. Yes, the Golden
Panthers struck back on a touchdown with just under seven minutes to go, but
the visitors from the Bayou still led by more than a field goal, and FIU –
playing without starting quarterback Wesley Carroll, who was injured in the
first quarter – could not mount one more touchdown drive under backup signal
caller Jake Medlock. ULL now owns a real shot at the league championship. Its
meeting with Troy later in the season will tell us a lot about the Cajuns over
the long haul.

Speaking of Troy, the Trojans – knocked off their Sun Belt
perch in 2010 – scored a very important win over Middle Tennessee in a battle
of teams who have occupied the top half of the Belt over the past half decade.
Troy spotted Middle Tennessee a touchdown on four occasions this past Saturday.
The visiting Blue Raiders came to Southeastern Alabama and took leads of 7-0,
14-7, 21-14, and 28-21, only to see the homestanding Trojans respond each time.
Corey Robinson stepped up big for Troy under center. The Trojans’ second-year
quarterback threw for 348 yards and hit receiver Chandler Worthy with a 75-yard
bomb that put Troy in front for the first time all day, 31-28, with just over
one minute left in the fourth quarter. The Trojans then padded their lead to 10
points with just over 10 minutes left in regulation on an eight-yard touchdown
run by Chris Anderson before Middle Tennessee scored with just over three
minutes left. Troy, up by only three, was able to hang on and start its Sun
Belt campaign on a positive note.

The other big story from the Belt in week four was North
Texas’s huge win over Indiana. Coach Dan McCarney came to Denton, Texas, to
breathe life into the Mean Green, and after taking down a Big Ten program, he
has to feel good about the positioning of his program. What made UNT’s
performance even more impressive was the fact that it led by a 24-0 score
before a desperate Indiana team posted three fourth-quarter touchdowns, the
final one coming with just a shade over one minute left in the game. This was
more than a three-point win; it shows that North Texas is headed back to
respectability in the sport of college football.

Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer