USA Win Over Tulane Highlights Weekend in the Sun Belt

It was once again mixed results for the Sun Belt Conference over the weekend, with three schools (UL, WKU, Arkansas State) losing to schools from one of the "big five" conferences, three schools (Texas St., ULM, Troy) defeating FCS schools and Georgia State losing to an FCS school.

The highlight was South Alabama, winning its first ever road game against an FBS opponent, defeating Tulane 41-39 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Here are some of the highlights...and lowlights

USA 41, TULANE 39--Ross Metheny threw for 290 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 75 yards and two more scores to lead the Jaguars to the win.  South Alabama led 28-7 in the second quarter, but the Green Wave rallied to take a 33-31 lead with 6:35 to go in the third quarter.

The game turned on Terrance Timmons 12 yard return of a blocked punt five minutes later which gave USA, who lost a heartbreaker last week to Southern Utah, a lead they wouldn't relinquish.  Tulane closed to within two points with just over a minute left but the two point conversion failed and USA was able to run out the clock.

The win made the Sun Belt 3-0 against teams from Conference USA so far this season.

TENNESSEE 52, WKU 20--You won't beat too many teams with seven turnovers.  WKU turned it over five times in a six play period in the first quarter, which pretty much spelled the Hilltoppers doom.  WKU cut the lead to 31-17 at halftime, but couldn't muster much offense in the second half.  The Hilltoppers amassed nearly 400 yards in offense.

AUBURN 38, ARKANSAS STATE 9--The Red Wolves went into Auburn hoping to win against former coach Gus Malzahn, but the Tigers' defense was just too strong, holding ASU to three Brian Davis field goals.  ASU had its chances, piling up over 400 yards in offense, but Auburn stiffened when they had to.  Auburn took control early and led 21-3 at the half.

ULM 48 GRAMBLING STATE 10--Courtney Davis returned the opening kickoff 89 yards to get the Warhawks off to a good start.  Kolton Browning threw for three touchdowns and passed for 171 yards, three more yards than ULM's total offensive output a week ago.  Jyruss Edwards led the 367 yard rushing attack with 123 yards on just eight carries as the Warhawks cruised to a 35-7 lead at halftime.

TROY 66, SAVANNAH STATE 3--Corey Robinson threw for four touchdowns and backup Dallas Tidwell passed for two more as the Trojans won in a rout. The Trojans had a balanced attack, passing for 280 yards and rushing for 251.  Twelve different Trojans caught passes and eight different Troy players gained yardage on the ground.

TEXAS STATE 28, PRAIRIE VIEW A&M 3--Chris Nutall rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Bobcats to the win.  TSU held Prairie View to just  45 yards rushing and 227 yards total offense.  Tyler Arndt was efficient throwing the football, completing 14-21 passes for 147 yards.

CHATTANOOGA 42, GEORGIA STATE 14--The Mocs were 10-14 on third down and rolled up 509 yards of offense, 401 of them on the ground.  Chattanooga scored the first 42 points of the game.  Keon Williams rushed for 147 yards and a touchdown and quarterback Jacob Hussman threw for two touchdowns and ran for two more.