Sun Belt football goes 1-2 in bowl games
The college football season wrapped up Jan. 12 with the Ohio State Buckeyes whipping the Oregon Ducks 42-20 in the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship.
But before that game, college football fans had plenty of other bowl games to watch.
Garret Cabeza
Idaho, which plays in the Sun Belt Conference, was not eligible for postseason play. Even if it was, Idaho’s 1-10 record would not have been enough to clinch a bowl game.
However, three out of the 11 Sun Belt teams did qualify for a bowl game — Louisiana-Lafayette, Arkansas State and South Alabama.
Sun Belt Conference champion Georgia Southern finished its season with a 9-3 record, including 8-0 in conference play. Still, they were not eligible for postseason play because it was the Eagles’ first season in the FBS.
The Sun Belt went 1-2 in its three bowl games. The lone win came Dec. 20 when the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns beat the Nevada Wolf Pack 16-3 in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
The Ragin’ Cajuns held Nevada to 213 total yards, while Louisiana-Lafayette gained 411 total yards.
Louisiana-Lafayette represented the Sun Belt well with the win, but the most exciting match of the three Sun Belt bowl games may have been the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl Dec. 20, featuring South Alabama against Bowling Green.
South Alabama beat Idaho 34-10 Sept. 27 in Moscow. However, the Jaguars were not able to hold on to the lead in their bowl game as the Falcons beat them 33-28 after a late touchdown by Bowling Green.
Falcons quarterback James Knapke connected with receiver Roger Lewis for a 78-yard touchdown with 1:04 remaining to take a 33-28 lead. The Falcons tried to convert the two-point conversion to extend their lead to 35-28, but failed.
Before the Falcons scored the game-winning touchdown, the Jaguars gained momentum late by grabbing their first lead of the game. South Alabama took a 28-27 lead with 1:20 left in the game after a 3-yard touchdown run by Terrance Timmons.
While there was plenty of excitement on the field in the fourth quarter, there was some extra excitement on the sideline as well.
Jaguars’ coach Joey Jones received a bloody nose in the fourth quarter. South Alabama tight end Ryan Onkka made a reception, got pushed out of bounds and in the process his feet came up and knocked his coach in the face.
Arkansas State was the last Sun Belt team to play this season when it lost to Toledo in an offensive shootout 63-44 in the GoDaddy Bowl Jan. 4.
Despite the loss, Arkansas State quarterback Fredi Knighten threw for 403 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions.
Both defenses struggled as the offenses racked up plenty of yards and points. Toledo outgained the Red Wolves in total yardage 541 to 468.
The offenses had their own style to pick up yards though. For Toledo, 365 of their 541 yards came on the ground. Arkansas State only had 65 yards rushing, but 403 yards through the air.
Toledo’s Kareem Hunt led the rushing attack for the Rockets as he ran for 271 yards on 32 carries and scored five touchdowns.
It was another thrilling Bowl season, and the Sun Belt definitely provided some of that excitement.
Garrett Cabeza can be reached at [email protected]