2014 Sun Belt Conference football 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.^[3]

Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check

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

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)

• 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

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^[16]

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

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

Summarize Timeline Top Qs Fact Check

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.

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.

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:^[17]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Tyler Jones	Texas State	Mitch Lane	UL Monroe	Luke Ferguson	Arkansas State

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:^[18]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Ajalen Holley	UL Monroe	Rodney Butler	New Mexico State	Maxwell Johnson	New Mexico State

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:^[19]

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

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:^[20]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Matt Breida	Georgia Southern	Qushaun Lee	Arkansas State	Artez Brown	Arkansas State

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 25	7:30 p.m.	Appalachian State	Georgia Southern	Paulson Stadium • Statesboro, GA	ESPNU	GASO 34-14	24,535
September 27	4:00 p.m.	South Alabama	Idaho	Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID	ESPN3	USA 34-10	14,887
September 27	6:00 p.m.	Troy	Louisiana-Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA	ESPN3/SBN	ULM 22-20	18,544
September 27	6:30 p.m.	New Mexico State	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	SEC Network	L 7-63	101,987
September 27	7:00 p.m.	Texas State	Tulsa	Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium • Tulsa, OK	ESPNews	W 37-34 (3OT)	21,353

• Open Week: Arkansas State, Georgia State, Louisiana-Lafayette

Players of the week:^[21]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Kevin Ellison (2)	Georgia Southern	David Mayo	Texas State	Justin Manton	Louisiana-Monroe

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 4	6:00 p.m.	South Alabama	Appalachian State	Kidd Brewer Stadium • Boone, NC	ESPN3/SBN	USA 47-21	24,215
October 4	6:00 p.m.	Georgia State	Louisiana-Lafayette	Cajun Field • Lafayette, LA	ESPN3	ULL 34-31	24,616
October 4	6:00 p.m.	Idaho	Texas State	Bobcat Stadium • San Marcos, TX	ESPN3	TXST 35-30	21,345
October 4	6:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe	Arkansas State	Centennial Bank Stadium • Jonesboro, AR	ESPN3	ARST 28-14	29,317
October 4	7:00 p.m.	Georgia Southern	New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM	ESPN3	GASO 36-28	10,256

• Open Week: Troy

Players of the week:^[22]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Terrence Franks	Texas State	Craig Mager	Texas State	Wil Lutz	Georgia State

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 11	1:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	Georgia State	Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA	ESPN3	ARST 52–10	10,196
October 11	2:00 p.m.	New Mexico State	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL	ESPN3	Troy 41–24	17,628
October 11	5:00 p.m.	Idaho	Georgia Southern	Paulson Stadium • Statesboro, GA	ESPN3	GASO 47-24	23,250
October 11	2:30 p.m.	Liberty	Appalachian State	Kidd Brewer Stadium • Boone, NC	ESPN3	L 48–55 (OT)	26,058
October 11	11:00 a.m.	Louisiana-Monroe	Kentucky	Commonwealth Stadium • Lexington, KY	SECN	L 14–48	56,676

• Open Week: Louisiana-Lafayette, South Alabama, Texas State

Players of the week:^[23]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Fredi Knighten	Arkansas State	Jamal Stadom	Troy	Chandler Worthy	Troy

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 14	7:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette	Texas State	Bobcat Stadium • San Marcos, TX	ESPN2	ULL 34-10	18,509
October 18	2:00 p.m.	Appalachian State	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL	ESPN3	APPST 53-14	15,664
October 18	4:00 p.m.	New Mexico State	Idaho	Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID	ESPN3	Idaho 29-17	15,207
October 18	TBA	Georgia State	South Alabama	Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL	ESPN3	USA 30-27	13,186

• Open Week: Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, Louisiana-Monroe

Players of the week:^[24]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Brandon Bridge	South Alabama	Christian Ringo	Louisiana-Lafayette	Austin Rehkow	Idaho

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 21	7:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	Louisiana-Lafayette	Cajun Field • Lafayette, LA	ESPN2	ULL 55–40	21,760
October 24	6:30 p.m.	Troy	South Alabama	Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL	ESPNU	USA 27–13	17,146
October 25	6:00 p.m.	Texas State	Louisiana-Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA	ESPN3	TXST 22–18	14,755
October 25	1:00 p.m.	Georgia Southern	Georgia State	Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA	ESPN3	GASO 69–31	28,427

• Open Week: Appalachian State, Idaho, New Mexico State

Players of the week:^[25]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Elijah McGuire	Louisiana-Lafayette	David Mayo (2)	Texas State	Daniel Cadona (2)	Louisiana-Lafayette

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
October 30	6:30 p.m.	Troy	Georgia Southern	Paulson Stadium • Statesboro, GA	ESPNU	GASO 42–10	18,321
November 1	11:00 a.m.	Louisiana-Monroe	Texas A&M	Kyle Field • College Station, TX	SECN	L 16–21	100,922
November 1	2:30 p.m.	Georgia State	Appalachian State	Kidd Brewer Stadium • Boone, NC	ESPN3	APPST 44–0	22,643
November 1	3:00 p.m.	Texas State	New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM	ESPN3	TXST 37–29	8,623
November 1	4:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	Idaho	Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID	ESPN3	ARST 44–28	11,082
November 1	4:00 p.m.	South Alabama	Louisiana-Lafayette	Cajun Field • Lafayette, LA	ESPN3	ULL 19–9	25,861

Players of the week:^[26]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Marcus Cox	App State	Ja'Von Rolland-Jones	Arkansas State	Terrence Franks	Texas State

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 8	2:00 p.m.	Georgia State	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL	ESPN3	Troy 45–21	16,418
November 8	2:00 p.m.	South Alabama	Arkansas State	Centennial Bank Stadium • Jonesboro, AR	ESPN3	ARST 45–10	23,615
November 8	2:30 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe	Appalachian State	Kidd Brewer Stadium • Boone, NC	ESPN3	APPST 31–29	20,497
November 8	3:00 p.m.	Georgia Southern	Texas State	Bobcat Stadium • San Marcos, TX	ESPN3	GASO 28–25	16,772
November 8	5:30 p.m.	Idaho	San Diego State	Qualcomm Stadium • San Diego, CA	Root Sports	L 21–35	46,293
November 8	7:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette	New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM	ESPN3	ULL 44–16	10,299

Players of the week:^[27]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Taylor Lamb	App State	Matt Dobson	Georgia Southern	Bentlee Critcher	App State

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 15	2:00 p.m.	Appalachian State	Arkansas State	Centennial Bank Stadium • Jonesboro, AR	ESPN3	APPST 37-32	20,016
November 15	2:30 p.m.	Georgia Southern	Navy	Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium • Annapolis, MD	CBSSN	L 19-52	33,894
November 15	4:00 p.m.	Troy	Idaho	Kibbie Dome • Moscow, ID	ESPN3	Troy 34-17	8,535
November 15	6:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette	Louisiana-Monroe	Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA	ESPN3	ULL 34-27	19,544
November 15	6:30 p.m.	Texas State	South Alabama	Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL	ESPN3	USA 24-20	10,289

• Open Week: Georgia State, New Mexico State

Players of the week:^[28]

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Marcus Cox (2)	Appalachian State	Montres Kitchens	Troy	Blaise Taylor	Arkansas State

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 20	8:30 p.m.	Arkansas State	Texas State	Bobcat Stadium • San Marcos, TX	ESPNU	TXST 45-27	12,264
November 22	11:00 a.m.	South Alabama	South Carolina	Williams-Brice Stadium • Columbia, SC	FSN	L 12-37	78,201
November 22	1:00 p.m.	Appalachian State	Louisiana-Lafayette	Cajun Field • Lafayette, LA	ESPN3	APPST 35-16	20,638
November 22	2:30 p.m.	Georgia State	Clemson	Memorial Stadium • Clemson, SC	ACCN	L 0-28	77,693
November 22	3:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe	New Mexico State	Aggie Memorial Stadium • Las Cruces, NM	ESPN3	ULM 45-27	6,011

• Open Week: Georgia Southern, Idaho, Troy

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Robert Lowe	Texas State	Michael Johnson	Louisiana–Monore	Bobo Beathard Justin Manton	Appalachian State Louisiana–Monore

Date	Time	Visiting team	Home team	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
November 28	2:00 p.m.	Navy	South Alabama	Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL	ESPN3	L 40–42	14,571
November 29	11:30 a.m.	Louisiana-Lafayette	Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium • Troy, AL	ESPN3	ULL 42–23	12,241
November 29	1:00 p.m.	Texas State	Georgia State	Georgia Dome • Atlanta, GA	ESPN3	TXST 51–34	14,312
November 29	1:00 p.m.	Idaho	Appalachian State	Kidd Brewer Stadium • Boone, NC	ESPN3	APPST 45–28	19,271
November 29	2:00 p.m.	New Mexico State	Arkansas State	Centennial Bank Stadium • Jonesboro, AR	ESPN3	ARST 68–35	21,043
November 29	5:00 p.m.	Louisiana-Monroe	Georgia Southern	Paulson Stadium • Statesboro, GA	ESPN3	GASO 22–16	16,283

Players of the week:

Offensive		Defensive		Special teams
Player	Team	Player	Team	Player	Team
Fredi Knighten	Arkansas State	John Law	Appalachian State	Will Johnson	Texas State

In 2014, the SBC placed three teams in bowl games through their tie-ins: Louisiana–Lafayette, Arkansas State, and South Alabama. Texas State was also bowl-eligible but did not receive a bowl invitation.^[29] Georgia Southern and Appalachian State, despite having bowl-eligible records (9-3 and 7–5, respectively) and the former winning the conference championship, were not bowl-eligible due to FCS-to-FBS transition rules, since 81 full FBS members became bowl-eligible for the 76 bowl slots available.

Note: All times are local

Bowl	Date	Time	SBC team (Record)	Opponent (Record)	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
2014 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl	December 20	11:00 a.m.	Louisiana–Lafayette (8-4)	Nevada (7-5)	Mercedes-Benz Superdome • New Orleans, LA	ESPN	W 16–3	34,014
2014 Raycom Media Camellia Bowl	December 20	9:15 p.m.	South Alabama (6-6)	Bowling Green (7-6)	Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, AL	ESPN	L 28-33	20,246
2015 GoDaddy Bowl	January 4	9:00 p.m.	Arkansas State (7-5)	Toledo (8-4)	Ladd–Peebles Stadium • Mobile, AL	ESPN	L 44-63	36,811

2014 Sun Belt Player of the Year awards^[30]

Award	Player	School
Player of the Year	Elijah McGuire	Louisiana-Lafayette
Offensive Player of the Year	Elijah McGuire	Louisiana-Lafayette
Defensive Player of the Year	David Mayo	Texas State
Freshman of the Year	Taylor Lamb	Appalachian State
Coach of the Year	Willie Fritz	Georgia Southern