2011 Sun Belt Conference football season

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The following Sun Belt players were named to preseason award watch lists.

During the Sun Belt media days on July 18–19 via videoconferencing, Florida International was selected as the favorite to win the conference in the coaches poll.^[13] They five first place votes. Troy received two first place votes while Arkansas State and Western Kentucky each received one.

1. Florida International – 75 (5)
2. Troy – 66 (2)
3. Middle Tennessee – 54
4. Louisiana–Monroe – 22
5. Arkansas State – 49 (1)
6. North Texas – 33
7. Western Kentucky – 28 (1)
8. Louisiana–Lafayette – 26
9. Florida Atlantic – 20

The conference's head coaches selected their all–conference team during media days.^[14]

The coaches also selected conference players of the year. T.Y. Hilton of Florida International and Lance Dunbar of North Texas were selected as the preseason co-offensive players of the year and Jonathan Massaquoi of Troy was named the preseason defensive player of the year.

NOTE: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season

Team	Head coach	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	Sun Belt record
Arkansas State	Hugh Freeze	1	0–0	0–0	0–0
Florida Atlantic	Howard Schnellenberger	11	157–140–3	57–63	22–13
Florida International	Mario Cristobal	5	16–33	16–33	13–17
Louisiana–Lafayette	Mark Hudspeth	1	66–21	0–0	0–0
Louisiana–Monroe	Todd Berry	2	34–67	5–7	34–67
Middle Tennessee	Rick Stockstill	6	33–30	33–30	25–12
North Texas	Dan McCarney	1	58–85	0–0	0–0
Troy	Larry Blakeney	23	161–82–1	161–82–1	40–12
Western Kentucky	Willie Taggart	2	2–10	2–10	2–6

Date	Visitor	Home	Notes
September 1^	Kentucky 14	Western Kentucky 3	Played at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee
September 3	Arkansas State 15	Illinois 33
September 3	Florida Atlantic 3	#23 Florida 41
September 3	Louisiana–Lafayette 34	#8 Oklahoma State 61
September 3	Louisiana–Monroe 0	#5 Florida State 34
September 3	Middle Tennessee 24	Purdue 27
September 3	Troy 19	Clemson 43
September 9	Florida International 24	Louisville 17	FIU's first ever win against a BCS team
September 10	Florida Atlantic 0	Michigan State 44
September 10	Georgia Tech 49	Middle Tennessee 21
September 17	Arkansas State 7	#12 Virginia Tech 26
September 17	North Texas 0	#2 Alabama 41
September 17	Troy 28	#13 Arkansas 38
September 24	Florida Atlantic 14	Auburn 30
September 24	Louisiana–Monroe 17	Iowa 45
September 24	Indiana 21	North Texas 24
October 1	Duke 31	Florida International 27
November 5	Middle Tennessee 0	Tennessee 24
November 12	Western Kentucky 9	LSU 42
November 26	Louisiana–Lafayette 37	Arizona 45
^Denotes neutral site game

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Index to colors and formatting
Sun Belt member won
Sun Belt member lost
Sun Belt teams in bold

All dates, times, and TV are tentative and subject to change.

The Sun Belt has teams in 2 different time zones. Times reflect start time in respective time zone of each team (all teams central time except for Florida Atlantic and Florida International which are in eastern time). Conference games start times are that of the home team.

Rankings reflect that of the USA Today Coaches poll for that week until week eight when the BCS poll will be used.

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	7:00 p.m.	North Texas	Florida International	FIU Stadium • Miami	ESPN3	FIU 41–16	17,568
September 1 ^	8:15 p.m.	Kentucky	Western Kentucky	LP Field • Nashville, Tennessee	ESPNU	L 3–14	24,599
September 3	11:00 a.m.	Middle Tennessee	Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, Indiana	BTN	L 24–27	42,110
September 3	2:30 p.m.	Arkansas State	Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, Illinois	BTN	L 15–33	45,154
September 3	2:30 p.m.	Louisiana–Monroe	#5 Florida State	Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium • Tallahassee, Florida	ESPNU	L 0–34	72,226
September 3	2:30 p.m.	Troy	Clemson	Memorial Stadium • Clemson, South Carolina	ESPN3	L 19–43	74,135
September 3	6:00 p.m.	Louisiana–Lafayette	#8 Oklahoma State	Boone Pickens Stadium • Stillwater, Oklahoma	FSN	L 34–61	55,382
September 3	7:00 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	#23 Florida	Ben Hill Griffin Stadium • Gainesville, Florida	ESPNU	L 3–41	88,708

^ Neutral site

Players of the week:^[15]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
T.Y. Hilton	FIU	Eric Russell	Middle Tennessee	Hendrix Brakefield	Western Kentucky

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 9	7:00 p.m.	Florida International	Louisville	Papa John's Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, Kentucky	ESPN	W 24–17	47,228
September 10	12:00 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	#16 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, Michigan	ESPN2	L 0–44	70,249
September 10	6:00 p.m.	Memphis	Arkansas State	ASU Stadium • Jonesboro, Arkansas		W 47–3	29,872
September 10	6:00 p.m.	Louisiana–Lafayette	Kent State	Dix Stadium • Kent, Ohio		W 20–12	10,386
September 10	6:00 p.m.	Grambling State	Louisiana–Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, Louisiana		W 35–7	26,532
September 10	6:00 p.m.	Georgia Tech	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, Tennessee	ESPN3	L 21–49	30,502
September 10	6:00 p.m.	Houston	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, Texas	ESPN3	L 23–48	28,075
September 10	6:00 p.m.	Navy	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, Kentucky	ESPN3	L 14–40	19,409

Players of the week:^[16]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
T.Y. Hilton (2)	FIU	Winston Fraser	FIU	Brelan Chancellor	North Texas

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 17	1:00 p.m.	Louisiana–Monroe	#23 TCU	Amon G. Carter Stadium • Fort Worth, Texas	The Mtn.	L 17–38	32,719
September 17	3:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	#12 Virginia Tech	Lane Stadium • Blacksburg, Virginia	FSN	L 7–26	66,233
September 17	6:00 p.m.	UCF	Florida International	FIU Stadium • Miami, Florida	ESPN3	W 17–10	20,205
September 17	6:00 p.m.	Nicholls State	Louisiana–Lafayette	Cajun Field • Lafayette, Louisiana	ESPN3	W 38–21	28,741
September 17	6:00 p.m.	Indiana State	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, Kentucky	ESPN3	L 16–44	15,793
September 17	6:30 p.m.	North Texas	#2 Alabama	Bryant–Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, Alabama	FSN	L 0–41	101,821
September 17	6:30 p.m.	Troy	#13 Arkansas	Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium • Fayetteville, Arkansas	CSS	L 28–38	69,861

Players of the week:^[17]

Offensive		Co-Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Players	Teams	Player	Team
Corey Robinson	Troy	Isame Faciane/LaDarrius Madden	FIU/Troy	Melvin White	Louisiana–Lafayette

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 24	11:00 a.m.	Louisiana–Monroe	Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, Iowa	BTN	L 17–45	70,585
September 24	3:30 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, Alabama (Battle for the Palladium)	Sun Belt Network	TROY 38–35	20,185
September 24	6:00 p.m.	Louisiana–Lafayette	Florida International	FIU Stadium • Miami, Florida	ESPN3	ULL 36–31	16,780
September 24	6:00 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	Auburn	Jordan–Hare Stadium • Auburn, Alabama	FS South	L 14–30	82,249
September 24	6:00 p.m.	Indiana	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, Texas	ESPN3	W 24–21	21,181
September 24	7:00 p.m.	Central Arkansas	Arkansas State	ASU Stadium • Jonesboro, Arkansas	KATV	W 53–24	27,918

Players of the week:^[18]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Blaine Gautier	Louisiana–Lafayette	Chris Pickett	Troy	Brian David	Arkansas State

Arkansas State kicker Brian David was also named one of three Lou Groza Award Stars of the Week and the College Football Performance Awards' National Placekicker of the Week after going making 6 field goals and 5 extra points in the Red Wolves win over Central Arkansas.^[19]

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 1	3:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, Kentucky	Sun Belt Network	ASU 26–22	10,813
October 1	6:00 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	Louisiana–Lafayette	Cajun Field • Lafayette, Louisiana	ESPN3	ULL 37–34	26,339
October 1	6:00 p.m.	Duke	Florida International	FIU Stadium • Miami, Florida	ESPNU	L 27–31	22,682
October 1	6:00 p.m.	Memphis	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, Tennessee	ESPN3	W 38–31	20,098
October 1	6:00 p.m.	North Texas	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, Oklahoma		L 24–41	21,240
October 1	6:00 p.m.	UAB	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, Alabama	SportSouth	W 24–23	18,044

Players of the week:^[20]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Ryan Aplin	Arkansas State	Lance Kelley	Louisiana-Lafayette	Brett Baer	Louisiana-Lafayette

Louisiana-Lafayette kicker Brett Baer was also named one of the Lou Groza Award Stars of the Week after making 3 field goals including the game winner as time expired. He also made 4 extra points in the Cajuns win over Florida Atlantic.^[21]

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 6	6:30 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, Tennessee	ESPNU	WKU 36–33	23,307
October 8	6:00 p.m.	Troy	Louisiana–Lafayette	Cajun Field • Lafayette, Louisiana	ESPN3	ULL 31–17	29,775
October 8	6:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	Louisiana–Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, Louisiana		ASU 24–19	15,027
October 8	6:30 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, Texas	Sun Belt Network	UNT 31–17	13,142
October 8	2:00 p.m.	Florida International	Akron	InfoCision Stadium – Summa Field • Akron, Ohio		W 27–17	16,016

Players of the week:^[22]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Chris Masson	Louisiana-Lafayette	Kelcie McCray	Arkansas State	Don Jones	Arkansas State

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 15	4:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Florida Atlantic	FAU Football Stadium • Boca Raton, Florida		WKU 20–0	29,103
October 15	4:00 p.m.	North Texas	Louisiana–Lafayette	Cajun Field • Lafayette, Louisiana	ESPN3	ULL 30–10	32,823
October 15	6:00 p.m.	Louisiana–Monroe	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, Alabama	ESPN3	ULM 38–10	19,818

Players of the week:^[23]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Kolton Browning	Louisiana-Monroe	Lance Kelley (2)	Louisiana-Lafayette	Mitchell Bailey	Louisiana-Monroe

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 18	7:00 p.m.	Florida International	Arkansas State	ASU Stadium • Jonesboro, Arkansas	ESPN2	ASU 34–16	15,573
October 22	3:00 p.m.	Louisiana–Lafayette	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, Kentucky		WKU 42–23	15,122
October 22	4:00 p.m.	Louisiana–Monroe	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, Texas		UNT 38–21	17,815
October 22	8:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, Florida	Sun Belt Network	MTSU 38–14	16,344

Players of the week:^[24]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Bobby Rainey	Western Kentucky	Eric Russell	Middle Tennessee	Luther Ambrose	Louisiana-Monroe

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 25	8:00 p.m.	Troy	Florida International	FIU Stadium • Miami	ESPN2	FIU 23–20 OT	15,852
October 29	2:30 p.m.	Western Kentucky	Louisiana–Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, Louisiana		WKU 31–28 OT	13,428
October 29	6:00 p.m.	North Texas	Arkansas State	ASU Stadium • Jonesboro, Arkansas		ASU 37–14	19,761
October 29	6:30 p.m.	Louisiana–Lafayette	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, Tennessee	Sun Belt Network	ULL 45–20	13,500

Players of the week:^[25]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Alonzo Harris	Louisiana-Lafayette	Melvin White	Louisiana-Lafayette	Jack Griffin	FIU

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 5	2:30 p.m.	Troy	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, Maryland	CBS Sports Network	L 14–42	33,359
November 5	6:00 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Tennessee	Neyland Stadium • Knoxville, Tennessee	Fox Sports South	L 0–24	88,211
November 5	2:30 p.m.	Louisiana–Monroe	Louisiana–Lafayette	Cajun Field • Lafayette, Louisiana	Sun Belt Network	ULL 36–35	28,176
November 5	3:00 p.m.	Florida International	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, Kentucky		WKU 10–9	15,293
November 5	6:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, Florida		ASU 39–21	15,162

Players of the week:^[26]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Ryan Aplin (2)	Arkansas State	Devon Lewis-Buchanon	Louisiana-Lafayette	Brett Baer (2)	Louisiana-Lafayette

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 12	6:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky	#1 LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, Louisiana	ESPNU	L 9–42	92,917
November 12	12:00 p.m.	North Texas	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, Alabama	Sun Belt Network	UNT 38-33	17,103
November 12	2:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette	Arkansas State	ASU Stadium • Jonesboro, Arkansas	ESPN3	ASU 30-21	20,261
November 12	2:30 p.m.	Middle Tennessee	Louisiana-Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, Louisiana		ULM 42-14	11,987
November 12	5:00 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	Florida International	FIU Stadium • Miami		FIU 41-7	17,378

Players of the week:^[27]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Derek Thompson	North Texas	Brandon Joiner	Arkansas State	T.Y. Hilton (3)	Florida International

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 19	2:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, Tennessee	ESPN3	ASU 45-19	12,806
November 19	2:30 p.m.	Florida Atlantic	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, Alabama		Troy 34-7	14,342
November 19	4:00 p.m.	Florida International	Louisiana-Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, Louisiana		FIU 28-17	10,587
November 19	6:00 p.m.	Western Kentucky	North Texas	Apogee Stadium • Denton, Texas	Sun Belt Network	WKU 31-21	17,011

Players of the week:^[28]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Bobby Rainey (2)	Western Kentucky	Jonathan Cyprien	Florida International	Luther Ambrose (2)	Louisiana-Monroe

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 26	11:30 p.m.	Troy	Western Kentucky	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium • Bowling Green, Kentucky	Sun Belt Network	WKU 41-18	15,432
November 26	2:30 p.m.	Florida International	Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium • Murfreesboro, Tennessee		FIU 31-18	10,227
November 26	3:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette	Arizona	Arizona Stadium • Tucson, Arizona		L 37-45	38,819
November 26	3:00 p.m.	UAB	Florida Atlantic	FAU Stadium • Boca Raton, Florida		W 38-35	12,044

Players of the week:^[29]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Bobby Rainey (3)	Western Kentucky	Jemarlous Moten	Louisiana-Lafayette	Brett Baer (3)	Louisiana-Lafayette

The Sun Belt placed 3 teams in bowl games with 4 teams being bowl eligible in 2011. Western Kentucky was the only bowl eligible team not selected.

NOTE: All times are local.

Bowl	Date	Time	SBC team (Record)	Opponent (Record)	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
2011 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl	December 17	7:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette (8-4)	San Diego State (8-4)	Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans	ESPN	W 32-30	42,841
2011 Beef O'Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg	December 20	8:00 p.m.	Florida International (8-4)	Marshall (6-6)	Ford Field • Detroit	ESPN	L 10-20	20,072
2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl	January 8	8:00 p.m.	Arkansas State (10-2)	Northern Illinois (10-3)	Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, Alabama	ESPN	L 20-38	38,734

2011 Sun Belt Player of the Year awards^[30]

Award	Player	School
Player of the Year	Ryan Aplin	Arkansas State
Offensive Player of the Year	Bobby Rainey	Western Kentucky
Defensive Player of the Year	Brandon Joiner	Arkansas State
Freshman of the Year	Alonzo Harris	Louisiana-Lafayette
Coach of the Year	Hugh Freeze	Arkansas State