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We have a fun week lined up on the Fringe- gonna squeeze the weekend recaps in as quickly as possible today, then start with some mid-season report cards. Shorter ones than last year, considering that I never actually got through them last year. Those should start tomorrow, grouped by conference, with each of the teams that has finished 6 games.
FIU 28, Western Kentucky 21- FIU jumped out to a 21 point lead, then hung on as the Hilltoppers fought to come back for the rest of the game. FIU gets the conference schedule off to a good start in a wide open Sun Belt. Next Week: FIU at North Texas, ULM at Western Kentucky
Arkansas State 24, North Texas 19- Read Post
The Sun Belt weekend can be summed up pretty easily- not very good. 0-4 out of conference, although the league game came down to the wire. Mostly though, Saturday was a precursor to Tuesday’s showdown for control of the league.
Auburn 52, ULM 3- I expected the Warhawks to put up something more of a fight than [...]
Not that it makes a difference, but technically the NCAA Football week runs Tuesday to Monday, meaning that the Troy-MTSU game, four days away, is technically a week 6 game. But since we give weeknight games their own space here, it doesn’t mess us up much. Just keep in mind that it’s around the corner, because that should be a good one and is the key Sun Belt game in the next week or two.
This weekend, though, most of the league will still be wrapping up nonconference play. We do have one league game, featuring a preseason contender and a team unbeaten in league play.
12:00 PM, ESPNU- ULM at #11 Auburn: The Warhawks have stumbled out of the gate so far, including squeaking by Southeastern Louisiana last week. Meanwhile, the Tigers have survived games against Clemson and South Carolina without a loss so far. ULM is going to have their hands full, and that’s putting it gently. Line: Auburn by 35. While I think Auburn will win comfortably, I think this is too generous- Arkansas State scored 26 on the Tigers, and I can see the Warhawks getting 14-20 of their own. Let’s say something like 49-17.
3:30 PM- FIU at Pittsburgh: FIU is the best looking 0-3 team in the Sun Belt, making life difficult for 3 BCS schools so far this season. There has been more than one call for the upset this week, but I’m more inclined that Pitt comes out to make a statement, if one can make a statement at all against a winless Sun Belt team. Line: Pitt by 17.5. I will be rooting eagerly for the southern Panthers, but I think Pitt will take this game seriously and win by 20. 30-10.
7:00 PM- Florida Atlantic at USF: The Owls were a thorn in USF’s side last time before USF pulled away for a 35-23 win. I could see FAU doing the same thing again, having already put a scare into Michigan State. Line: USF by 21.5. I’ll take the points this time, USF 24, FAU 14.
7:00 PM- Louisville at Arkansas State: On my drive to Kansas State last week, we passed through Jonesboro. Just outside of town, I got pulled over by a cop who was, no joke, at least 80 years old. Read Post
The Fringe is back after a long trip to Kansas followed by another day away from a computer, so it’s time to power through the week that was so we can get on with the week coming up. The good news from a quantity standpoint is that we’re finally getting into conference play, so there aren’t quite so many games to keep track of.
For the purposes of moving quickly, not every game needs to be broken down, ie, games involving Ohio State. Attention will be focused on conference games and upsets. The What We Learned This Week sections will be abbreviated too. Without further ado, the Sun Belt:
Maryland 42, FIU 28- FIU pushes another BCS team to the brink, but can’t match the Terps late scores.
Troy 35, Arkansas State 28- Arkansas State took the lead with 50 seconds remaining in the game, but Corey Robinson engineered a 5 play, 67 yard drive to steal the game back just 28 seconds later.
Middle Tennessee State 34, Louisiana 14- The Blue Raiders came into Lafayette and steamrolled a team that was expected to compete with them for the conference title. This should be MTSU’s last game without Dwight Dasher, which sets up nicely for their championship chances.
North Texas 21, Florida Atlantic 17- James Hamilton helped the injury-riddled passing game by rushing for 122 yards, leading the Mean Green to its first win of the season and first win ever over Florida Atlantic.
ULM 21, Southeastern Louisiana 20- ULM needed a 4th quarter touchdown to reclaim the lead and the win from their FCS competition.
South Florida 24, Western Kentucky 12- USF led the whole way in this one, which concludes WKU’s four games against the BCS, with only league games left from here on in.
What We Learned This Week Read Post
First, a programming note: Starting Thursday morning, I will be venturing to Manhattan, Kansas to see UCF play Kansas State (and hopefully not lose by 30). If all goes according to plan, the weekend previews will still appear at their regularish time on Thursday and Friday, but may be missing any late breaking news. Twitter will probably be quiet too, since I’ll be playing fan all weekend. Now, on to the Sun Belt’s dreadful weekend.
Things went badly for the Belt Saturday- they couldn’t have gone much worse. Blown leads, blowout losses, and zero wins out of conference. I’ll try to make this quick…
Army 24, North Texas 0- North Texas was forced to start backup QB Derek Thompson after the primary starter went down last week with a dislocated hip, but Thompson was knocked out early with a broken leg. Riley Dodge, who played QB but moved out to WR this year, was brought back over to QB the rest of the game, but was understandably unsuccessful. Army picks up its first shutout since 2005 in their most complete game of the season. Next Week: North Texas at Florida Atlantic, Army at Duke
UAB 34, Troy 33- Read Post
The Sun Belt had a respectable weekend, lacking a big upset but most of the conference played well against tough opposition- eight of the nine teams put up at least 14 points, and once again nobody lost to a FCS squad.
Michigan State 30, Florida Atlantic 17- FAU never threatened to steal this one, down 20-7 at halftime, but kept pace with the Spartans in the second half to never be completely out of contention. Next Week: FAU is idle. North Texas comes to FAU September 25.
Louisiana 31, Arkansas State 24- Louisiana led big early, then held off a furious 17 point 4th quarter from the Red Wolves to grab the win and first place in the conference. Next Week: Louisiana is idle, ULM at Arkansas State (0-1)
Oklahoma State 41, Troy 38- Read Post
The Sun Belt has their first league game on Saturday, and two of the schools are just now starting their seasons. Nobody gets a week off and everybody plays on Saturday, so here’s what to look for (all times Eastern, lines as of Thursday morning on Vegas.com).
12:00 PM, ESPNU- Florida Atlantic at Michigan State (Detroit): The Owls head north again, a bit farther this time, after last Thursday’s big upset over UAB. Their offensive attack looked good in Birmingham, but a Big 10 defense is going to be a big step up in competition. Line: Michigan State by 28. I think the Spartans will win comfortably, but Western Michigan did put up 14 on them. I see this one going more like 31-10.
3:30 PM, CSS/Regional TV- Arkansas State at Louisiana: Arkansas State is coming off a good offensive performance against Auburn, while both teams allowed over 50 to SEC schools last week. This one may come down to which team’s defense comes to life this week. Line: Louisiana by 2. Games against bigger and better schools are really not a good place to judge a team, but the Red Wolves still looked the better last week. So I think they win this outright, 34-24.
7:00 PM- Rice at North Texas: Read Post
In the end, the Sun Belt won only two games this weekend, but that’s more than the MAC won against FBS competition so it wasn’t all bad. They didn’t get the big upset they wanted against the BCS leagues, but they’ll take one against C-USA from opening night.
Minnesota 24, Middle Tennessee State 17: I had imagined MTSU winning this game, starting off with four or five wins and breaking into the top 25. That may not play out, but MTSU did come back from 14 down to even things out, depth and mistakes just got them in the end (Predicted: MTSU to cover 2, incorrect). Next Week: Austin Peay at Middle Tennessee State
Florida Atlantic 32, UAB 31: Lost in the excitement of the ESPN games was a great effort by FAU, who engineered a fourth quarter comeback and blocked UAB’s final field goal. Of the teams I thought would be bad in rebuilding years, UAB might be living up to the hype the most, but a road win is a big step in the right direction for FAU regardless (Predicted: UAB to cover 14. Wrong again). Next Week: FAU at Michigan State Read Post
The Sun Belt got an upset last night, although not the one they might have preferred. They’ll have a lot more opportunities this weekend, but I don’t have a good feeling about any of them. Also, I said I’d put Navy & Army here when they don’t play Fringe schools, but Navy plays on Monday so I’ll get them then.
12:21 PM, SEC Network- Louisiana at #21 Georgia: The Rajin’ Cajuns could make a game of this one for a while, but these games against the SEC always come down to depth, and most non-BCS teams just don’t have enough. Line: Georgia by 28. Seems high to me, Georgia should win comfortably but not by that much. Probably something like 38-17.
Read Post
Until about a week ago, the Sun Belt looked like it belonged to Middle Tennessee State. Then it was discovered that star QB Dwight Dasher had taken a $1500 loan from a known gambler, lost it in a poker game, and failed to pay it back. He’s now been ruled ineligible by the NCAA and will be out at least 2-3 games depending on the success of MTSU’s appeals.
All is not lost for the Blue Raiders, as they have two experienced JuCo quarterbacks ready to go behind Dasher, and a talented backfield, so the suspension isn’t going to turn MTSU into Western Kentucky overnight, but it does close the gap back to the rest of the league. It does, however, diminish their chances for a big non-conference win.
Chasing down the Blue Raiders will be the Troy Trojans, who have shared or won the league outright each of the last three years, but face a big rebuilding project this year. Louisiana too will be a contender, with a lot of players returning from last year’s 6-6 club.
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