Sun Belt Week 1 Summary
SCORES
Purdue 27, Middle Tennessee 24
Florida State 34, Louisiana-Monroe 0
Clemson 43, Troy 19
Illinois 33, Arkansas State 15
Florida 41, Florida Atlantic 3
Oklahoma State 61, Louisiana-Lafayette 34
Florida International 41, North Texas 16
Kentucky 14, Western Kentucky 3
The centerpiece of week one in the Sun Belt Conference was the league game between defending champion Florida International and rebuilding program North Texas, now led by new head coach Dan McCarney, the same man who built Iowa State into an above-average football school during his stay in Ames. Everyone who follows the Sun Belt was anxious to see if Florida International could pick up where it left off in 2010. Would young and rising head coach Mario Cristobal gain the full attention of his players, or would the Golden Panthers allow the taste of championship glory to dull their competitive hunger at the outset of the 2011 season?
The answer was very clear: FIU means business and is quite intent on backing up one league championship with another. The Golden Panthers rang up 28 first-quarter points in their conquest of McCarney’s North Texas crew, making a very emphatic statement to the Mean Green and the rest of the conference, especially those boys in Troy, Alabama. FIU superstar T.Y. Hilton accounted for 283 all-purpose yards, frolicking in Miami while North Texas defenders stood helplessly in quicksand at FIU Stadium. The bravura performance was telling – it was as though FIU told North Texas and the Sun Belt, “This is who we are – these are our strengths. Try and stop us.” The Mean Green couldn’t, and now FIU has a world of confidence heading into week two.
The other noteworthy Sun Belt games from week one were mostly downers: Troy led Clemson at halftime but wore down in the fourth quarter. The Trojans got stopped on the Clemson 3 early in the fourth quarter and settled for a 20-yard field goal that pulled them within seven points of the Tigers. Just seconds later, a 75-yard touchdown run by Clemson destroyed the Trojans’ will, taking the starch out of coach Larry Blakeney’s team after almost 50 minutes of high-caliber competition.
In West Lafayette, Indiana, Middle Tennessee outplayed Purdue for most of the afternoon. The Blue Raiders trailed for only five minutes and 22 seconds in the first 59 minutes of play. However, Purdue took the lead with 49 seconds left in regulation and stole a 27-24 win over coach Rick Stockstill’s MTSU crew. The overall performance was certainly encouraging for Middle Tennessee, but the inability to close the sale could linger in that locker room over the coming weeks.
Finally, Western Kentucky didn’t beat Kentucky (“they supposed to be SEC,” in the words of Western Kentucky’s Andrew Jackson during the game), but the Hilltoppers did make the Wildcats look bad. WKU held Kentucky to just 190 yards while taking the ball away from UK on three separate occasions. That level of defense will win some Sun Belt games for the Hilltoppers in 2011.
WEEK TWO PREVIEW
MATCHUPS
Florida International at Louisville
Florida Atlantic at Michigan State
Navy at Western Kentucky
Houston at North Texas
Memphis at Arkansas State
Louisiana-Lafayette at Kent State
Georgia Tech at Middle Tennessee
Grambling State at Louisiana-Monroe
The headliner in this list of games is Florida International’s visit to Louisville. FIU is flourishing at the moment, and Louisville is coming off a shaky 21-9 win over FCS-based Murray State in week one. It is well within the realm of possibility for FIU to go into Bluegrass Country and snag a victory. The Golden Panthers have the best wide receiver on the field in the form of Hilton, and Louisville is still searching for an identity on the offensive side of the ball. If FIU can hold its own in the trenches, the skill positions will give the Golden Panthers a fighting chance against the Cardinals of the Big East Conference. It needs to be said that since Florida International is feeling very good about itself, the Golden Panthers must be psychologically ready to accept some adversity. If Louisville throws the first punch, the response of the FIU crew will be immensely important. Being a conference champion should instill not just confidence into a team, but also a considerable degree of poise when things don’t go according to plan. A pinch of resilience needs to be brought to the Commonwealth of Kentucky if FIU is going to spring a Friday night upset.
The other Sun Belt game to keep an eye on is Georgia Tech at Middle Tennessee. Georgia Tech lost at Kansas last year and is trying to find itself just two years after winning the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2009. Middle Tennessee could very well get off to a strong start against the Yellow Jackets, but the clear test for the Blue Raiders will be to hold up in a war of attrition. MTSU has to be able to absorb the Jackets in the trenches and play the kind of assignment football that is so necessary against the offensive concepts of Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson.
North Texas could get bombed by Houston. The Mean Green will need to be at their best in the secondary. Arkansas State should get healthy against an awful Memphis squad. Western Kentucky plays another highly visible school when it hosts Navy. The atmosphere in Bowling Green should be something special.
Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer
Leave your response!