Bilo's College Footbell Week 4 PASS/FAIL Reports: Sun Belt

The Sun Belt, once again, earns six failing grades this week, and one of them was a win (South Alabama). Arkansas State fell to FCS Central Arkansas, South Alabama almost fell to FCS Nicholls State, Texas State was blown off of the planet by Houston, and New Mexico State was throttled by Troy in Sun Belt play. Georgia Southern lost by 18 at Western Michigan, but by comparison, that was respectable. UL-Lafayette turnovers also cost them against Tulane. One team to watch moving forward is Troy, who had their way with New Mexico State this week, and is getting better all of the time.
Here are my final grades for the Sun Belt in Week 4:

Sun Belt

PASS: Appalachian State, Troy, Idaho

Appalachian State came back from a couple of rough weeks by holding on to beat Akron 45-38 without Marcus Cox at RB. Jalen Moore replaced him, and in his first App. State start, he rushed 39 times for 257 yards and 2 TDs on the day.

Troy is finding their groove under Neal Brown, and jumped out to a 31-0 lead at the half against New Mexico State on the way to a 52-6 win. Brandon Silvers passed for 246 yards and 2 TDs, and the Trojans rolled despite allowing 539 yards to the Aggies.

Idaho needed a win, or at least a presentable appearance after consecutive blowout losses, and the Vandals shocked UNLV in Las Vegas 33-30 in OT. Matt Linehan passed for one score and rushed for another in the win, and played a controlled game throughout the night.

FAIL: Texas State, South Alabama, New Mexico State, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern, UL-Lafayette

Texas State picked up just 142 yards of offense, and committed as many penalties as they had 1^st downs on the night (8). The Bobcats had to punt 11 times, and trailed Houston 43-3 at the half.

South Alabama needed OT to hold off FCS Nicholls State 41-40. Dallas Davis tossed 4 picks on the night, and Nicholls State could have won had an unnecessary 2 point conversion attempt had not been called and failed.

New Mexico State racked up 539 yards against Troy, but Tyler Rogers tossed 5 picks on the night, and Troy rolled the Aggies up 52-6.

Arkansas State needed a win, and how better to get one than to go up against an FCS opponent. As has been the story 10 times in 2016, the FCS squad, in this case Central Arkansas, took care of business. The UCA Bears scored the final 12 points of the game in the 4^th, holding ASU scoreless in the final period to steal a 28-23 win. The Red Wolves turned the ball over 4 times in the loss.

Georgia Southern needed to show some moxie by going on the road to play Western Michigan, but the Eagles were never truly in the game. GSU trailed 35-17 at the half, and the Eagles turned the football over 4 times in the road loss.

ULL wasted a huge scoring night from Elijah McGuire in which he scored 3 TDs on the ground, and the Ragin Cajuns lost to Tulane in 4 OTs 41-39. His overall performance on the other hand fell short, as he ran for just 89 yards on 38 carries. ULL also turned the ball over 4 times in the loss, which is a recurring theme.